In Michigan, the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan is an ordained Zen Buddhist. Northern Michigan's Episcopal congregations and delegates overwhelmingly elected the Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester at their convention on Saturday.

The diocesan website says Thew Forrester "has practiced Zen meditation for almost a decade," and the Buddhist community welcomed his commitment by granting him "lay ordination." The website also says Northern Michigan's new bishop "resonates deeply" with "his own interfaith dialogue with Buddhism and meditative practice."
 
Meanwhile,  Presbyterian Church (USA) representatives in Arkansas and central North Carolina have endorsed amending the church constitution to allow non-celibate homosexuals to be ordained as ministers, elders and deacons. The votes were taken at regional presbytery meetings on Saturday.

Homosexual men and women can be ordained in the PCUSA, but church standards currently forbid sex outside of traditional marriage between a man and woman.

The amendment goes into effect if a majority of the denomination's 173 presbyteries approve it. So far, 24 presbyteries have voted for the amendment and 39 have voted against it, according to the Presbyterian Lay Committee, a group that opposes ordaining non-celibate homosexuals.  What are your thoughts on this article?