In the World

In the Church

in The Oasis

1/20 -  George H. W. Bush succeeds Ronald Reagan

2/14 - Union Carbide settles Bhopal disaster for $470,000,000

2/24 - Ayatollah Khomeini puts $3,000,000 bounty on head of Salman Rushdie

3/29 - Exxon Valdez spills 11,000,000 gallons of oil in Alaska

4/21 - Tiananmen Square protests begin

6/4 - Tiananmen Square massacre

11/28 - Czechoslovakian Velvet Revolution succeeds

12/3 - Bush and Gorbachev announce Cold War is coming to an end

In December, Bishop John Shelby Spong ordains Robert Williams, believed to be the first out gay male priest in the Episcopal Church

The Oasis is created.

The First Board is called.

All Saints, Hoboken becomes the first Oasis home.

The Rev. Robert Williams is named the first Executive Director of The Oasis.

Four sites are chosen in the diocese for monthly Oasis worship services, each with its own convenor.

1/13 - Douglas Wilder becomes first elected African-American governor, Virginia

2/11 - Nelson Mandela released from prison after 27 years

4/24 - Hubble Space Telescope put in orbit

5/17 - World Health Organization removes homosexuality from its list of diseases

8/2 - Iraqi invades Kuwait, leading to Gulf War

10/14 -  Leonard Bernstein dies

Bishop Walter Righter (Newark – Assistant) ordains Barry Stopfel as a deacon.  Because Stopfel is in a gay relationship, Righter is charged with heresy.

April - A group calling itself the "Episcopal Synod of America" seeks to be recognized as a separate province within the Anglican Communion. The request is denied by a "very disappointed" Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning.

6/24 - Kathleen Young and Irene Templeton are ordained as the first female priests in the UK, at St. Anne's Cathedral in Belfast.

7/25 - Lord George Carey named 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury

In January, Robert Williams resigns as director after publicly disagreeing with the church's and the OASIS's stance on monogamy and celibacy.

Service in support of Bishop Righter held at St. Luke’s, Montclair – Elizabeth Kaeton preaches powerful ‘Wade in the Water’ sermon

In September, David Norgard becomes the second director of The OASIS

1/12 - U.S. Congress authorizes Gulf war

3/3 - Amateur video captures beating of Rodney King by LA cops

4/1 - Comedy Central is launched

7/1 - Warsaw Pact dissolved

8/1 to 8/31 - Soviet Union collapses as member nations declare independence

12/4 – Pan Am ceases operations

In March, a church committee reports after three years of study that the decision whether to elect gay or lesbian clergy should be left to individual diocese.

On March 22nd, the Rev. James Ferry, an Anglican priest in Canada is inhibited by Bishop Terence Finlay of Toronto after it is revealed he is in a gay relationship. He becomes an MCC minister but is later reinstated.

On June 5th, Bishop Ronald H. Haines of Washington ordains Elizabeth L. Carl, a lesbian, as a priest.

In July, the General Convention affirms that “physical sexual expression” is only appropriate for married heterosexuals.

In September, Bishop Spong ordains Barry Stopfel as a priest at the Church of the Atonement in Tenefly.

18 congregations are sponsoring churches

World

Church

Oasis

2/7 - Maastricht Treaty signed, forming the EU

4/20 - Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium televised live to more than one billion people, raises millions for AIDS research

4/29 - Rodney King acquitted in California; 1992 LA riots follow

5/25 - Jay Leno takes over Tonight Show

10/31 - Pope John Paul II issues apology, lifts edict against Galileo

In July, Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning addresses the Integrity convention in Houston, telling gay and lesbian Episcopalians to "hang in there" despite the church's ambiguity.

In December, Rev. Robert Williams, first director of the OASIS and the first out gay priest, dies.

27 congregations are sponsoring churches

1/20 - Bill Clinton inaugurated.  At the Triangle Ball, singer Melissa Etheridge comes out as a lesbian.

2/26 - First World Trade Center attack, truck bomb in basement

2/28 - Branch Davidian Compound raided, 51 day standoff

4/22 - Holocaust museum dedicated in DC

4/30 - World Wide Web established

6/11 – In its case Wisconsin Vs. Mitchell, the U.S. Supreme Court  unanimously holds that state penalty-enhancement laws for hate crimes are constitutional and do not violate the First Amendment right to free speech.

In May, midst the dismissal of several lesbian and gay clergy, Integrity reports that at least fifty have been ordained since 1977.

On October 10th, Bishop E. Otis Charles (Utah – Retired) becomes the first Christian bishop to come out as gay.

33 congregations are sponsoring churches

Oasis celebrates its 5th anniversary on June 1st

1/1 - NAFTA goes into effect

2/5 - Byron De La Beckwith convicted of 1963 murder of Medgar Evers

3/12 - Church of England ordains first female priests

9/13 - Bill Clinton signs assault weapons ban

11/8 - Republicans take control of both houses of Congress

On August 24th, 88 Bishops sign a “Statement in Koinonia” drafted by Bishop Spong, affirming support for gay and lesbian clergy.

On August 25th, the Standing Commission on Human Affairs issues a study on homosexuality and the church.  Among other things it urges the support of “our sisters and brothers in Christ who find themselves to be gay”

34 congregations are sponsoring churches

3/1 - Yahoo! founded in California

3/6 - On Jenny Jones show, Scott Amedure reveals a crush on his heterosexual friend Jonathan Schmitz.  Schmitts kills Amedure several days later

3/16 - Mississippi ratifies 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery

4/19 - Oklahoma City bomb

5/25 - Canadian Supreme Court rules that discrimination based on sexual orientation is unconstitutional in Canada

7/11 - Bosnian Serbs commit Srebenica massacre

10/3 - O.J. Simpson acquitted

11/4 - Yitzhak Rabin assassinated at a peace rally in Tel Aviv

On February 9th, the Diocese of Washington DC passes two resolutions stating that gay men and lesbians who live in monogamous relationships should be "honored".

In June, the Rev. John K. Mount, aged 85, is inhibited after performing a blessing ceremony for a gay couple in Maryland.

37 congregations are sponsoring churches
6/6 – Sixth Anniversary of The Oasis at All Saints, Hoboken
The Rev Harker McHugh,OASIS Missioner, is the celebrant and Bishop Spong, is the preacher.

9/22-9/24 – Retreat at Kirkridge

12/2 – “A Time for A Love Song” – a gala evening with Barbara Cook at the John Harms Theatre in Englewood

World

Church

Oasis

4/6 - Massacre of Hutus by Tutsis in Burundi

5/20 - US Supreme Court strikes down Colorado law prohibiting local governments from taking any action to protect homosexuals (Romer v. Evans)

6/19 - Boris Yeltsin elected president of Russia

7/5 - Dolly the sheep is born, first cloned mammal

9/21 - United States Congress passes the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman

9/27 - Taliban take over Afghanistan

5/15 - Heresy charges against Bishop Walter Righter for ordaining Barry Stopfel a deacon are dropped by the ecclesiastical court, which states that “no clear doctrine prohibits ordaining a gay or lesbian person in a committed relationship”

44 congregations are sponsoring churches

On June 4th, Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning speaks at the 7th anniversary of the Oasis at All Saints, Hoboken. Bishops Spong, Righter, Roskam and Charles are also participants.

11/9 - Celebration of new ministry of The Rev. Canon Elizabeth Kaeton as Oasis Missioner at the Cathedral

4/30 – Comedian Ellen Degeneris comes out as a lesbian during an award-winning episode of her TV series

5/1 - Tasmania becomes the last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality

5/16 - Bill Clinton issues a formal apology to the subjects of the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.

8/31 - Princess Diana killed in car crash

In July, Frank T. Griswold of Chicago is elected as Presiding Bishop in Philadelphia.

April – The Oasis graduates its first class of Eucharistic Ministers

6/3 – The Oasis celebrates its eighth anniversary at All Saints Church in Hoboken.  Bishops Jack McKelvey and Walter Righter co-celebrate. The Hon. Byron Rushing preaches.

10/7 – Blessing of The Animals at All Saints, Hoboken

11/19 – Thanksgiving Service at Christ Church, Ridgewood

12/2 – World AIDS Day at St. Paul’s, Jersey City

1/1 - The Netherlands introduces registered partnerships for same-sex couples, the first country to do so.

1/26 - Bill Clinton denies, on television, that he had sex with Monica Lewinsky

2/10 - Voters in Maine repeal previously-passed gay rights law

3/4 - US Supreme Court rules that anti-sexual harassment laws apply when both parties are of the same sex

4/10 - Belfast Good Friday Agreement ends strife in Northern Ireland

9/7 - Google is founded

10/6 - Matthew Shepard, a gay Episcopal college student in Laramie, Wyoming, is beaten and left hanging on a fence by two young men he met in a bar.  He dies on 10/12 in Fort Collins, Co.

12/1 - Exxon and Mobil merge, forming world's largest corporation. Exxon takes away domestic-partner benefits from former Mobil employees.

Lambeth Conference calls homosexuality “contrary to the scriptures and the teaching of the church” and upholds heterosexual marriage and celibacy as the only choices for faithful Christians.

June - John Palmer "Jack" Croneberger,rector at the Church of the Atonement, is elected Bishop Coadjuter and consecrecated that November.

On June 21st, the relationship of a male couple (Jon Holden and Michael Galluccio) plaintiffs in New Jersey's same-sex marriage lawsuit, is blessed at the Church of the Atonement in Fair Lawn.

10/13 – The Episcopal Church joins the nation in mourning Matthew Shepard, one of its own. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold issues a pastoral letter to the church, and memorial services are held, including at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC.

1/13 – Oasis Co-sponsors Celebration of 21 years of Women’s Ordination at St. Paul’s, Paterson

2/10 – Celebration of Committed Relationships – St. George’s, Maplewood

3/10 – Interfaith Celebration of PFLAG at Atonement, Tenafly

“We Are Family”  Eucharist at Christ Church, Hackensack  celebrates same-sex couples and their children

6/2 – The Oasis celebrates its ninth anniversary at All Saints Church in Hoboken.  Bishop Spong celebrates the Eucharist and Deacon Minka Sprague preaches.

10/6 – Blessing of The Animals at St. Paul’s, Chatham

10/22 – The Oasis hosts a memorial service for Matthew Shepard at Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral

11/17 – Thanksgiving Service at St. Elizabeth’s, Ridgewood

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Church

Oasis

3/26 - Jack Kevorkian convicted of second-degree murder

4/5 - Russell Henderson pleads guilty to kidnapping and felony murder in Laramie, Wyoming, to avoid death penalty for Matthew Shepard murder

4/20 - Columbine High School massacre

5/1 - First episode of SpongeBob SquarePants

5/7 - Jury finds Jenny Jones Show and Warner Bros. liable for Amedure/Schmitz murder

7/16 - JFK Jr. crashes plane after takeoff from Fairfield, NJ, killing self, wife and sister-in-law

7/26 - The last Checker cab is retired, auctioned off for $135,000

12/31 - US turns canal over to Panama

1/27 - Bishop-elect William Persell of Chicago states in an interview that he supports the blessing of same-sex unions by the church.

1/27 - Bishop Michael Ingham of New Westminster (British Columbia) describes his decision to withhold consent to his diocese's resolution bless same-sex unions.

3/18 - Episcopalians in Alabama including Bishop Henry Parsley join the outcry against the murder of Billy Jack Gaither.

In April, a conference on inclusion of gays & lesbians in the church includes Episcopal, Presbyterian, and American Baptist (USA) Churches; the United Church of Christ and Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

In May, the second "Beyond Inclusion" conference takes place conference in New York.

In August, Presiding Bishop Griswold urges the whole church to pray for those affected by HIV/AIDS.

On September 3rd, at the closing of the Lambeth Conference, Presiding Bishop Griswold reaffirms his support for the gay and lesbian members of the Episcopal Church in a pastoral letter.

In October, citing the strain the controversy of his appointment has placed on his relationship, the Rev. Barry Stopfel resigns as rector from St. George's in Maplewood after six years.

In November, ten bishops (including three primates) of "diverse convictions" about homosexuality meet at Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, NY at the behest of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

48 congregations are sponsoring churches

2/9 – Celebration of Committed Relationships at Calvary, Summit

2/27 – Oasis Gala at The Morris Museum

3/9 – Oasis co-sponsors Pauli Murray service at St. Paul’s, Englewood

3/27 – Oasis co-sponsors “Today’s Woman” a liturgy of hope at St. Paul’s, Chatham

4/20 – The Oasis sponsors an interfaith celebration of PFLAG at All Saints Church in Leonia.

6/1 – Oasis celebrates its 10th Anniversary at All Saints, Hoboken – Bishop Spong celebrant and preacher. Michael Rehill, diocesan chancellor and chief respondent in the presentment charge against Bishop Walter Righter,is presented with a special award.

10/5 – The Oasis celebrates Blessing of the Animals at St. James Church in Hackettstown

10/20 – The Oasis co-sponsors a celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the ordination of women at Holy Innocents, West Orange

11/16 – The Oasis holds a Thanksgiving service at St. Peter’s Church in Clifton

World

Church

Oasis

1/1 - Y2K computer scare turns out to be no big deal

2/11 – jetBlue begins service at JFK airport

3/12 - Pope John Paul II apologizes for wrongdoing of RC Church throughout the ages

3/26 -  Putin elected president of Russia

4/25 - Vermont legalizes same-sex unions

10/30 - International Space Station goes into orbit, continuously crewed ever since

11/7 – George W. Bush elected

1/13 - The Bishops for the Armed Forces issue a joint statement decrying the murder of Pvt. Barry Winchell, a 21 year-old gay soldier at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky.

2/12 - St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle appoints the Rev. Robert V. Taylor, the first openly gay person to serve as Dean.

2/26 - John Shelby Spong retires. John Palmer Croneberger succeeds him as the 9th Bishop of Newark.

In April, the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition warns against growing complacency surrounding the disease.

In July, the General Convention of the ECUSA in Denver votes to acknowledge and accept same-sex couples in the church, while upholding traditional views on marriage. The American Anglican Council launches a campaign called "God's Love Changed Me" implying that homosexuality can be "cured"

2/8 – A Celebration of Committed Relationships, Redeemer, Morristown

3/7 – The Oasis co-celebrates a Celebration of The Life of Pauli Murray, Christ Church, East Orange

4/4 – The Oasis offers an ecumenical service at St. John’s Church in Montclair for those in 12-step recovery programs

6/6 – The Oasis celebrates its 11th anniversary at Christ Church in Hackensack. 

10/3 – Blessing of The Animals at St. John the Divine, Hasbrouck Heights

1/20 - Bush inaugurated

4/1 - Same-sex marriage legalized in the Netherlands, the first country on Earth to allow it.

5/11 – Fifty-two men are arrested aboard the Queen Boat, a floating gay nightclub in Cairo, Egypt.  The case brings world attention to the harsh treatment of gay people in the country.

6/5 - Jim Jeffords switches parties

9/11 - Terrorists overtake four American airliners.  Two of them crash into New York’s World Trade Center.  The third hits the Pentagon in Washington . The fourth crashes in a Pennsylvania field.  It is later believed that its passengers fought back against the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting another high-profile target.

10/7 - US invades Afghanistan

12/1 – TWA absorbed into American Airlines

12/2 - Enron files for bankruptcy

In April, Bishop Jerry Winterrowd of Colorado blocks the consideration of gay and lesbian candidates for positions within his diocese.

In June, a new catechism commissioned by Archbishop of York David Hope suggests that homosexuality may be "divinely ordained".

Also in June, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA vote to lift the ban on gay and lesbian clergy, but it is later defeated at the local level. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America launches is own study of homosexuality and the church.

Clergy at Trinity Wall Street give an eyewitness account of events there when the World Trade Center is attacked. Archbishop of Wales Rowan Williams is among them.

2/13 – A Celebration of Committed Relationships, Messiah, Chester

6/5 – The Oasis celebrates its 12th anniversary at St. Paul’s Church in Englewood.  Bishop Croneberger celebrates and Bishop Bennison of Pennsylvania preaches.

6/20 – The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told at Nutley Little Theatre

6/24 – Bishop Roskam celebrates Street Eucharist at Pride March

2/1 -  Kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl murdered in Pakistan

2/9 - Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon and sister of Queen Elizabeth II, dies in London at age 71.

3/30 - Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, wife of King George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II, dies at age 101.

5/7 - Canadian teenager Marc Hall granted an injunction permitting him to take his boyfriend to the high school prom

7/1 - International Criminal Court established

In June,after passing the resolution three times in convention, the Diocese of New Westminster, British Columbia votes 63% in favor of authorizing same-sex blessings within the diocese.

Also in June, Integrity president Michael Hopkins spends two weeks in Uganda, where the organization has a small community center led by Bishop Christopher Senyonjo.

Also in June, the Times reports that the Archbishop of Wales, Rowan Williams, is the favorite to succeed Lord Carey as Archbishop of Canterbury. His tolerant stance towards homosexuals is viewed as "a concern"

54 Sponsoring Congregations, The Rev. Rose Hassan serves as Interim Missioner.

2/5 – The Oasis celebrates Valentines Day with a service honoring committed relationships of all kinds at Christ Church in Ridgewood.

3/12 – The Oasis co-sponsors a Celebration of The Life of Pauli Murray, Christ Church, Pompton Lakes

4/16 – The Oasis sponsors a service honoring the Earth at St. Luke’s Church in Montclair

6/4 – The Oasis celebrates its 13th anniversary at Grace Church in Newark.  Bishop Croneberger celebrates and the Rev. Michael Hopkins preaches.

In November, the Oasis takes part in the Claiming the Blessing Conference in St. Louis

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Church

Oasis

1/30 – Belgium becomes the second country to allow same-sex marriage

2/1 - Space shuttle Columbia breaks up on reentry, all 7 astronauts killed

3/22 - Bombardment of Iraq begins

4/14 – Sirius Satellite Radio launches Out-Q, a fully LGBT radio station

5/1 - Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech

5/11 – Sakia Gunn, a lesbian high school student, is murdered in Newark

5/23 – A boiler aboard the SS Norway explodes while the ship is docked in Miami, killing eight people.

6/26 - US Supreme Court declares Texas sodomy laws unconstitutional (Lawrence vs. Texas)

10/15 - Staten Island ferry crash

In December, the RMS Queen Mary 2 makes her maiden voyage, becoming the largest transatlantic liner ever built.

In January, Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane issues a statement calling for understanding of homosexuals.

in March, the Episcopal Church joined others calling for the repeal of Texas' sodomy laws in the case of Lawrence vs. Texas.

3/25 - Integrity and others condemn a theological statement from theTheology Committee House of Bishops known as "The Gift of Sexuality", while conservative grous praise it.

3/23 – Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Wales and a published poet, becomes the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury

In April, Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of South Africa issues another statement urging the church to keep considering the blessing same-sex relationships, citing traditional examples from indigenous African societies.

On May 1st, the Right Rev. Paul Moore, Jr., retired bishop of New York and author, dies at age 83.

May 7th-11th - Episcopalians representing both sides gather in Los Angeles to discuss the blessing of same-gender unions.

In May, the Church of England appoints Jeffrey John as the Suffragan Bishop of Reading, which would have made him the first person in a same-sex relationship in the Episcopate.  The resulting uproar leads the Archbishop of Canterbury, who originally supported the move, to pressure John to withdraw in July.

In June, The Diocese of New Hampshire elects V. Gene Robinson as its bishop, making him the first openly gay and partnered member of the Episcopate when he is consecrated in November. Two complaints of misconduct are filed after he is elected, but an investigation exonerates him in August and his election is approved by the House of Bishops.

A resolution calling for the adoption of services for blessing of same-sex relationships is defeated by he House of Bishops. A compromise bill passed by the House of Deputies acknowledge that such blessing services exist without adopting an official churchwide rite.

In response, a number of provinces around the world, notably the Churches of Nigeria and South East Asia, declare themselves “in impaired communion” with the ECUSA, and The dioceses of Ft. Worth, Pittsburgh, and South Carolina held special conventions repudiating the actions of convention. Pope John Paul II describes "new obstacles to unity" in a meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In October, the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies are denied entry to a meeting of the American Anglican Council in Texas, which required signing a "faith statement" in order to attend.

On November 2nd, Gene Robinson is consecrated Bishop Coadjuter of New Hampshire in a hockey arena at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Other than a protestor luridly describing sex acts, the service is mainly peaceful.

Under Bishop Croneberger, Lyn-Headley Deavours is named Justice Missioner, overseeing the OASIS, the Bethsaida Team on disabilities, and the Mission to Dismantle Racism. John Simonelli is named chair of the OASIS.

3/3 – The Oasis sponsors a reading and book signing by Louis Crompton, author of Homosexuality and Civilization at St. Paul’s in Morris Plains

6/3 – The Oasis celebrates its 14th anniversary at St. Peter’s Church in Morristown.  Bishop Croneberger celebrates and the Rev. Susan Russell, Executive Director of Claiming the Blessing, preaches.

10/2 – The Oasis begins a series of “coffeehouse socials” in Montclair, NJ

10/3 – The Oasis co-sponsors a Celebration of The Life of Pauli Murray at the Cathedral

12/1 – The Oasis partners with Christ Church in Belleville to observe World AIDS Day with 14 panels of the Quilt overhead. A concert by the "gender-bending" folk-rock band Girlyman launches the exhibit.

2/3 - CIA admits that there were no weapons of mass destruction threat in Iraq

2/10 – Singer Melissa Etheridge releases a song “Tuesday Morning” honoring Mark Bingham, a gay man who was among the heroes of Flight 93 on 9/11.

2/12 - San Francisco, California, begins issuing marriage licenses to gay couples in an act of civil disobedience

4/28 - Abu Ghraib scandal breaks

5/17 - Massachusetts legalizes same sex marriage, complying with ruling from the state's Supreme Court (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health)

7/10 – New Jersey begins registering domestic partnerships for same-sex couples

8/12 - New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey comes out, resigns

11/2 - Bush reelected

12/26 - A 9.3 earthquake under the Indian Ocean triggers a series of tsunamis that kill 230,000 people in fourteen countries, one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Over $14 billion in donations are received worldwide to fund the aid response.

On January 14th, the Washington Post discloses a confidential memo describing the American Anglican Council's strategy for it to replace the Episcopal Church as the Anglican province in the U.S.

On February 10th, the Archbishop of Canterbury is presented with a petition signed by 8,500 people calling for the Church of England to be inclusive.

In March, the church speaks out against George's Bush's endorsement of a constitutional amendment limiting the definition of marriage to a heterosexual couple.

On March 8th, the BBC's Sir David Frost interviews Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, who states "The Church is for the sake of the world"

On March 9th, Gene Robinson is invested as Diocesan Bishop of New Hampshire at St. Paul's Church in Concord.

On March 30th, Via Media, a collection of continuing churches in disaffected dioceses who seek to remain in communion with the mother church, meets in Atlanta.

In May, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to allow marriage between members of the same sex.  The Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts forbids priests in his charge from conducting civil marriages.  In response, the trustees of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, led by former Alaksa bishop Steven Charleston, issue a statement that no Episcopal marriages may be conducted in the school’s chapel until the policy is changed.

In June, the then-Archbishop of New Zealand, Whakahuihui Vercoe, describes to a newspaper his vision of “a world without gays”

Also in June, members of the American Anglican Council meet in Long Beach, California and discuss plans to separate from the Episcopal Church and seek recognition from another Anglican province.

In August, the vestries three congregations in the Diocese of Los Angeles vote to place themselves under the jurisdiction of a Ugandan bishop. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold writes to the Archbishop of Uganda, Henry Orombi to express concern about boundaries.

In October The Lambeth Commission under Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams issues the Windsor Report, which challenges the ECUSA to explain how scripture condones allowing those in same-gender unions to become clergy. 

In December, 13 dioceses unite in opposition to the church's stance on homosexuality. The next day, three dioceses change their mind.

2/10 – The Oasis offers a service celebrating committed relationships at St. Stephen’s Church in Millburn. 

3/30 – Serenity Mass at St. Peter’s, Clifton. The Rev. Hank Dwyer celebrates and The Rev. Bernie Poppe, Rector of St. George's, Maplewood, preaches..

4/21 - The Oasis sponsors a free financial seminar for same-sex couples entitled "Protecting Our Assets and Planning for Our Future" at St. Mark's, Teaneck.

4/25 – The Oasis sponsors a performance of The Laramie Project, a play about the death of Matthew Shepard and its effect on the town where it occurred, at the Nutley Little Theater.

6/1 – The Oasis celebrates its 15th anniversary at Christ Church in Ridgewood.  Bishop Croneberger celebrates the Eucharist and Bishop Gene Robinson is the preacher.

10/12 - The OASIS Celebrates National Coming Out Day at Trinity Church in Kearny. The Rev. Rose Hassan celebrates and The Rev. Randall Day, Rector of St. Mark's, Teaneck, preaches.

12/1 - The Oasis co-sponsors a service for World AIDS Day at St. John’s in Union City.

2/16 - Kyoto Protocol goes into effect without support of US and Australia

3/23 - United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refuses to order reinsertion of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube

4/2 - Pope John Paul II, born Karol Józef Wojtyła, dies at age 84. His tenure as pontiff, 26 1/2 years, is the second longest in recorded history.

4/16 – Joseph Alois Ratzinger is chosen by the College of Cardinals to succeed John Paul II as Pope Benedict XVI.  A staunch conservative, his previous role, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was known until 1959 as the Grand Inquisitor.

June – Vicacom launches LOGO, an LGBT television station

6/5 - Switzerland allows same sex partnerships

6/30 -  Spain permits same-sex marriage

7/20 - Canada’s Civil Marriage Act, legalizing same-sex marriage, receives Royal assent and goes into effect

7/28 - Provisional IRA disarms

8/24 - Sodomy laws ruled unconstitutional in Hong Kong

8/29 - Hurricane Katrina devastates the Gulf Coast of the United States, displacing one million people and causing nearly $90 billion in damage.

10/1 - Civil unions are permitted in Connecticut

On January 13th, the House of Bishops, meeting in Salt Lake City, issue a "Word to the Church" regarding the Windsor Report, followed by one from the Executive Council in February.

In February, at their meeting in Dromantine, Northern Ireland, the Primates issue a communiqué asking the ECUSA and the Church of Canada to voluntarily withdraw from the Anglican Consultative Council (the Communion’s main international body) until the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

In March, the Scottish Episcopal Church issues a statement that it has never considered a same-sex relationship grounds from preventing someone from pursuing ordained ministry.

In June in Nottingham England Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold provides the Anglican Consultative Concil with a 135-page response to the Windsor Report titled "To Set Our Hope on Christ"

In October, the Most Rev. Robin Eames, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, delivered lectures at Virginia Theological Seminary and Berkeley Divinity School at Yale about the real state and future of the Anglican Communion

In November, Presiding Bishop Griswold leads a Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion in New York, in response to the Anglican Consultative Council's actions at Dromantine.

2/15 – The Oasis celebrates a service of Committed Relationships at St. Paul’s in Chatham.  Elizabeth Kaeton is the celebrant and the entire Killian-Meneghin family offers the sermon.

3/24 - The OASIS mourns the death of commissioner The Rev. Hank Dwyer, Rector of St. Peter's Church in Clifton and a long time champion of equality.

4/16 – The Oasis hosts a performance of a musical play, Journey, at St. Peter’s in Clifton

5/11 – A service at the Cathedral honors hate-crime martyrs, particularly Sakia Gunn.  Dean Williams celebrates and the Rev. Jacquelyn Holland, founder of Liberation in Truth Community Fellowship, preaches.

5/18 - The Oasis sponsors a breakfast meeting for clergy at which a representative from Lambda Legal presented an update on the same-sex marriage case then being heard in NJ Appelate Court.

May and June – The Oasis hosts a series of cabaret performances by Elaine St. George called The Girl that I Marry

6/1 – The Oasis celebrates its 16th anniversary at All Saints, Hoboken.  Bishop Croneberger celebrates the Eucharist and Bishop Paul Marshall of Bethlehem, PA, is the preacher.

9/18 – Five organizations, including The Oasis, honor the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray at a service at the Cathedral.

11/4 - The Oasis sponsors a benefit performance of Diana Son's Stop Kiss at Nutley Little Theatre

12/1 – The Oasis observes World AIDS Day at St. Mark’s Teaneck.  The Rev. Cooper Conway preaches and the Rev. Dennie Bennett celebrates.  The Rev. Dana Rose, who worked with the AIDS community for many years, offered a solo and poem.

12/3 – The Oasis offers possibly the first-ever religious retreat weekend for transgendered people at the Stella Maris Center in Elberon, NJ.

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Oasis

5/27 - First demonstration for gay rights in Moscow broken up by police

7/31  - Fidel Castro hands power over to Raul Castro

9/15 - Spinach contaminated with E. coli kills two, poisons more than 100, over 20-state area

4/7 - Bishop Griswold's Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion issues its report.

6/21 – At the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Columbus, the House of Bishops passes resolution B033, which discourages consecrating as bishop anyone whose “manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church.”  Buttons and t-shirts designed by Katie Sherrod identifying one's self as such a person quickly become the summer’s “must have” accessory.

In August, the Anglican Diocese of Venezuela joins the Episcopal Church.

9/16 - The Diocese of South Carolina elects Mark Lawrence, a priest from the Diocese of San Joachin, as its next bishop. Via Media and others express concern about Lawrence's involvement with groups seeking extraordinary episcopal oversight from outside the ECUSA, but he eventually receives consent.

9/22 - A group of 21 bishops meet at Camp Allen, Texas, and send a statement to their peers affirming the Windsor Report.

9/23 - At its convention at the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark, the Diocese of Newark elects Mark Beckwith as the tenth Bishop of Newark.

11/1 - Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada, becomes Presiding Bishop and the first female Primate in the Communion.  An oceanographer and licensed pilot, she favors same-sex unions and the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy

12/1 - The Archbishop of Canterbury comments on an appeal from bishops with in the ECUSA about "extra-provincial primatial oversight."

9/22 - A meeting of "Global South Primates" in Kigali, Rwanda, condemns the reconciliatory actions of the 75th General Convention as inadequate and suggests that they will not be able to recognize the Presiding Bishop as their peer. It is echoed by the "Camp Allen bishops"

9/20 -  Robert Duncan is deposed as bishop of Pittsburgh. Between September and December the conventions of the dioceses of Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, San Joachin (Calif.) and Quincy (Ill.) vote to leave the ECUSA in favor of the Province of the Southern Cone.  Each of these dioceses is assigned a provisional bishop and begins the work of rebuilding with loyal Episcopal parishes and members.

In December, eleven parishes in the Diocese of Virginia, including the historic Falls Church, vote to leave the ECUSA.  The diocese and the national church sue the congregations to recover the property.

Terence Finley, the retired Archbishop of Toronto, is disciplined for conducting a same-sex wedding.

6/1 – The Oasis celebrates its 17th anniversary at Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral.  Dean David Williams celebrates and Bishop Croneberger preaches.

8/12 - The Rev. Dana Rose, priest, poet, and friend of the OASIS, dies in Glen Ridge, NJ.

10/1 – The Oasis sponsors an overnight retreat featuring the Rev. Dr. Erin Swensen, believed to be the first active clergy person to make an open gender transition.

11/3 - The OASIS sponsors a benefit performance of The Elephant Man at the Nutley Little Theatre

12/6 – World AIDS Day – observing the 25th Anniversary of the Pandemic – Trinity, Cliffside Park

1/4 - Nancy Pelosi becomes first female speaker of the US House of Representatives

2/19 -  New Jersey’s Civil Union Act goes into effect

5/3 - US House of Representatives passes Matthew Shepard Act, the first time the House brings gay rights to the floor for a vote.  The bill, which would expand hate crimes law to cover gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability, is stalled in the Senate.

10/20 to 11/9 - California wildfires result in evacuation of more than one million people, destroy more than 1,600 homes and businesses

1/27 – John Palmer Croneberger retires.
Mark Beckwith is consecrated at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori preaches.

In May, the Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, crosses provincial lines to ordain Martyn Minns a Bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans of North America, an offshoot of the Nigerian Anglican Church.

A communiqué issued at the Primates’ Meeting in Tanzania asks the Episcopal Church not to bless same-sex unions and not elect any more partnered gay bishops, imposing a deadline of 30th September of that year.

The Archbishop of Canterbury declines to invite either Bishop Robinson or Martin Minns to the 2008 Lambeth Conference, saying “I reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the communion.”

The Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada debates the best response to legal same-sex weddings in that country.

3/30 – The Oasis organizes a screening of The Saint of 9/11, a biography of FDNY chaplain Mychal Judge, at St. Andrew’s  and Holy Communion in South Orange

6/3 – The Oasis celebrates its 18th anniversary at St. Mark’s in Teaneck.  The Rev. Randall Day is the celebrant and Bishop Mark Beckwith preaches.

6/18 – The Oasis hosts a dinner and silent auction to assist the work of Davis Mac-Iyalla of Changing Attitudes: Nigeria

12/1 – The Diocesan Civil Union Task Force is formed, at the direction of the Bishop to study the impact of civil unions on Episcopalians in the diocese. John Simonelli, Chair of The OASIS is named to the team.

12/1 – The Oasis and the Liberation in Truth Community Fellowship observe World AIDS Day together with a service and gospel concert at the Cathedral.  Dean Williams is the celebrant and the Rev. Joseph Harmon preaches.

World

Church

Oasis

1/2 - Petroleum hits $100/barrel for first time

1/21 - US stock markets plunge, fueled by fear of recession, caused by subprime crisis which began in 2007

5/12 - Sichuan earthquake, China, kills 69,000 people

5/15 – California Supreme Court rules in favor of same-sex marriage.

8/17 - Michael Phelps wins eight gold medals at Olympics, sets record

9/15 - Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy

10/3 - Bush signs TARP fund into law

10/10 – Connecticut Supreme court rules in favor of same-sex marriage.  First licenses issued 11/12.

10/29 – Delta Air Lines acquires Northwest

11/4  - Barack Obama is elected

11/4 – California’s Proposition 8 changes the state’s constitution to eliminate same-sex couples’ right to marry after 18,000 weddings have already taken place.  Lawsuits challenging the ruling ensue.

11/27 – The ocean liner RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 is retired after 40 years of service to become a hotel in Dubai.

12/23 – Pope Benedict says that “saving” humanity from homosexuality is just as important as saving the rain forests.

1/11- Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori inhibits John-David Schofield, former bishop of San Joaquin. In March, Schofield is deposed by the House of Bishops.

7/16 – The fourteenth Lambeth Conference takes place at the University of Kent, Canterbury.  The Archbishop of Canterbury declines to reopen debate on human sexuality. 

7/22  - The Archbishop of the Church of Sudan calls on Gene Robinson to resign, and for all those who participated in his consecration to “confess their sin”.

10/28- The continuing Diocese of San Joaquin votes at its convention to affirm marginalized communities within the diocese, including lesbian and gay members.

12/4 - Robert Duncan and others announce plans for their own Anglican denomination and suggest that alliance with Canterbury is optional.

12/19 – Court rules in favor of The Falls Church and ten other parishes who left the Diocese of Virginia.  Diocese and ECUSA file appeal in Virginia Supreme Court.

1/27 – The Oasis premiers a transgender educational program for parishes at St. David’s in Kinnelon.

MAY - The Oasis participates with Episcopal Response to AIDS in the New York AIDS Walk

6/7 – 19th Anniversary service at St. David’s Church in Kinnelon. The Rev. David DeSmith is the celebrant and preacher

6/29 – The Oasis is joined by Bishop Beckwith and the Most. Rev. Carlos Touché-Porter, Presiding Bishop of Mexico at the Heritage of Pride March in New York.

9/5 The Oasis sponsors a benefit performance of And The Little Dog Laughed at the Nutley Little Theatre

12/1 – The Oasis observes World AIDS Day with Christ Church in Belleville.  The Rev. Paul Walker celebrates and the Rev. Kevin Morris, chaplain at Christ Episcopal Hospital in Jersey City is the preacher.

The Oasis contributes towards the purchase of a computer for the Other Sheep ministry of the Rev. Michael Kimindu in East Africa.

The Oasis partners with the Rainbow Café Coalition for LGBT youth in Ridgewood to screen the film For the Bible Tells Me So, a biography of LGBT Christians including Gene Robinson.  Three additional movie nights for the youth group are held.

9/30 - The OASIS sponsors a reading and book signing by Honor Moore, author of The Bishop's Daughter, at St. Paul's Church in Chatham.

World

Church

Oasis

1/15 - US Airways Flight 1549 ditches in the Hudson River after striking a flock of birds.  Everyone aboard escapes safely.

1/20 - Barack Obama inaugurated

2/1 – Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir becomes Prime Minister of Iceland and the world’s first out gay head of state

2/27 – the Rocky Mountain News ceases publication, the largest in a string of daily newspapers to fail

1/5 – California Supreme Court rules in favor of the Diocese of Los Angeles in a property dispute with three breakaway parishes

10/20 - The Vatican announces plans for an "Ordinariate" to lure Anglicans who are uncomfortable with the progress in the church.

In January, the Civil Unions Task Force created by Bishop Mark Beckwith releases its report on the effect of civil unions on the LGBT population of New Jersey, as well as suggested blessings for such services in English and Spanish.

4/7 – Vermont’s legislature overrides its governor’s veto to pass a law allowing same-sex marriage from September 1st, making it the fourth such state.

4/23 – Connecticut legislature votes to replace all marriage laws with gender-neutral terminology. 

4/24 - Swine flu outbreak, American news media go nuts

4/27 – Iowa becomes the third US state to allow same-sex marriage

4/29 – The Matthew Shepard Act expanding hate crime law to cover sexual orientation and gender identity passes in the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 249-175. 

5/6 – Maine’s legislature passes a law which will make it the fifth state to allow same-sex marriage on September 14th.

5/16 – Police again disrupt a gay & lesbian protest in Moscow

5/26 – California’s Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of Proposition 8 which bans same-sex marriage in the state.  The 18,000 couples who were wed during the brief time such unions were permitted are ruled to be still married.

6/25 - Michael Jackson "The King of Pop" dies of a drug overdose in Los Angeles, later ruled a homicide.

6/28 – 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots

5/25 Bishop Marc Andrus of San Francisco hosts an interfaith prayer vigil for 300 people in anticipation of a ruling on Proposition 8.  All six California bishops opposed the ruling.

5/26 – Bishop Robert Bennett of the Diocese of Huron in Ontario directs a committee to develop a liturgy for same-sex blessings that does not include a nuptial, in an attempt to compromise between the House of Bishops’ desire to “develop the most generous pastoral response possible” while still respecting the request of the Archbishop of Canterbury to exercise restraint.

5/28 - The Archbishop of Canterbury, in his Pentecost letter to the church, proposes a banishment from communion-wide leadership by provinces of the church who have broken several moratoria, including blessing same-sex unions and consecrating bishops in same-sex relationships.

5/30 – 20th Anniversary of The Oasis, entitled "Let the Circle Be Unbroken" is celebrated at All Saints, Hoboken.  The Rt. Rev. Mark Beckwith celebrates, the Rt Rev. John Shelby Spong preaches.

6/7 – OASIS partners with Christ Church: Belleville to attend New Jersey Pride in Asbury Park

6/12 – OASIS benefit performance of The Lonesome West at Nutley Little Theatre

6/28 – Heritage of Pride March in New York

9/1 – Same-sex marriages begin in Vermont

9/14 – Same-sex marriages begin in Maine

8/29 – OASIS partners with St. John’s Union City to attend Jersey City Pride

In December, Houston becomes the largest city to elect a lesbian mayor.

Also in December, bills allowing same-sex marriage in New Jersey and New York fail to pass.

In November, the Archbishop of Canterbury tells Pope Benedict that the Anglican Communion "will not turn back" on ordaining female clergy.

In December, the church is alarmed by discussions in the Ugandan parliament of a "kill-the-gays bill" with many calling on the Archbishop of Canterbury to act. Presiding Bishop Catherine Jefferts Schori issues a statement decrying the bill, and even evangelist Rick Warren, who has been credited among others with spreading anti-gay sentiment in the country, speaks out against it.

Also in December, the Right Rev. Thomas Shaw, S.S.J.E., the 15th Bishop of Massachusetts, decrees that clergy in the diocese may solemnize and marry same-sex couples as permitted by the law of the Commonweath.

In November, The OASIS and other diocesan LGBT ministries are approached by Integrity to discuss a churchwide program for welcoming congregations

On November 6th, the OASIS sponsors a performance of Paul Zindel's play And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little at the Nutley Little Theatre .

In December, the OASIS and Bishop Beckwith join Bruce Springsteen and many other New Jerseyans campaigning for marriage equality in New Jersey, but the bill does not pass.

1/12 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Haiti, killing a quarter of a million people, injuring 300,000 more, and leaving more than a million homeless.

2/12 Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili is killed during a training run for the 2010 Olympics in British Columbia

On February 22, Robert Carter, who as an out gay Jesuit priest founded Dignity, the organization for gay Catholics, dies at age 83 in New York. Carter, who later became an athiest, also founded the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and was partner to playwright Tennessee Williams.

In March, a Mississippi high school canceled its prom rather than let student Constance McMillen attend with a female date. It later set up a "decoy prom" to distract her from the actual event. McMillen later successfully sued the school and was the subject of a made-for-TV movie.

On January 1st, the Bishop of Massachusetts celebrates the wedding of Rev. Katherine Ragsdale, dean and president of the Episcopal Divinity School, to her partner, the Rev. Mally Lloyd.

1/12 - The cathedral complex in Port-au-Prince, along with many other churches, schools, and other buildings serving 100,000 people are destroyed as an earthquake devastates the Episcopal Church's largest diocese. The church launches an appeal to fund a massive rebuilding effort.

In April, President Obama orders hospital visitation rights for LGBT families.

4/14 a volcano under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier in Iceland erupts, shutting down air traffic across Europe and Asia and stranding millions of passengers

4/20 the Deepwater Horizon, an oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico explodes, triggering the largest accidental oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.

A bedbug infestation unseen since before World War II sweeps across the United States

In May the OASIS takes part in AIDS Walk New York

In June, Federal Judge Vaughn Walker rules against Proposition 8, but issues a stay of ruling while the case is appealed.

On June 27th, Hjónaband samkynhneigðra (same-sex marriage) becomes legal in Iceland.

Floods in July submerge millions of acres in Pakistan, destroying crops and killing livestock.

In July, a federal court rules that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. President Obama orders the Justice Department to stop defending it.

7/7 - Lonnie David Franklin Jr., aka "the grim sleeper" is arrested and charged with ten counts of homicide, but is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of women dating back 30 years.

7/12 - the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church votes to allow gay clergy.

8/5 33 Chilean miners are trapped 2,300 feet underground. All are rescued safely 69 days later.

A series of suicides by teenagers in September, some gay and some just bullied, leads to the creation of the "It Gets Better" project. Videos of encouragement are produced by thousands of ordinary citzens and public figures, including President and Mrs. Obama and New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson.

On June 10th, the Supreme Court of Virginia overturned a December 2008 ruling in favor of seven breakaway congregations in that state, saying the "Division Statute" used in the case does not apply. The case is remanded to a lower court.

On June 13th, Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, a retired bishop and human rights activist from Uganda, preached at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in and told New Yorkers about the anti-gay sentiment in his country.

On June 27th, Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan forbids the congregation of St. Francis Xavier from marching in the Heritage of Pride parade with a banner bearing the church's name. So the parishioners march with a blank white banner... and t-shirts bearing the church's name!

On June 28th, the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music begins amassing materials for blessing same-sex relationships.

On July 12th, the Church of England approves female bishops.

On June 27th, the OASIS partners with Integrity and the LGBT Concerns Committee of the Diocese of New York to present a massive Episcopal presence at New York's LGBT pride parade, including a large Episcopal Church float and 2 1/2 blocks of marchers. The service is preceded by a Eucharist at the Church of the Transfiguration, and followed by Evensong at St. Luke-in-the-Fields.

In August, the OASIS takes part in Hudson Pride, a street fair in Jersey City. Members of an "ex-gay" ministry protesting the event are countered by a spontaneous "hymn-sing" by Episcopalians and Lutherans.

In October, Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange begin leaking classified information about the U.S. and other governments.

On October 4th, one million cubic meters of red mud was released from an alumina plant near Kolontár, in western Hungary, contaminating the Danube River.

A series of mass animal deaths, called "aflockalypse" occurs in North and South America.

Beginning in December, everal huge floods strike metropolitan areas in Brazil and Australia

In December, the Senate passes the bill that leads to the ending of Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the U.S. military in early 2011.

On September 4th, a 7.0 earthquake strikes in the vicinity of Christchurch, New Zealand.

In October, a Ugandan magazine called Rolling Stone (no connection to the U.S. music magazine) published photos and addresses of 100 LGBT people and their supporters with the headline "HANG THEM". The victims successfully sued and the magazine was shut down.

In December, the U.N. voted to restore sexual orientation to its resolution condemning executions.

In October, the OASIS takes part in the Believe Out Loud Power Summit in Orlando, where 300 leaders from Christian and secular LGBT ministries gather.

On November 5th, The OASIS sponsors a performance of Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? at the Nutley Little Theatre

On December 1st, World AIDS Day is observed at St. Peter's Church in Clifton, home of the Positive Connections HIV/AIDS support group. Gary Paul Wright, who has worked on HIV/AIDS issues in Newark for many years, is the guest speaker.

On December 18th, Bishop Beckwith and a panel of diocesan leaders meet with Bishop Christopher Senyonjo to discuss the plight of LGBT Ugandans.

1/1 - Ireland's Civil Partnership Act, with rights for same-sex couples, goes into effect.

1/8 - U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords is shot in the head in an assassination attempt near Tucson. She survives but six others, including a federal judge and a child born on 9/11 die.

1/14 - Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali flees riots in his country, touching off the "Arab Spring" which will spread across North Africa and the Middle East, seeing the ouster of longtime Egyptian president Hasni Mubarak and the death of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi on October 20th.

On February 1st, a 19 y.o. university student named Zach Walls, son of a lesbian couple, addressed a public forum regarding House Resolution 6 which would end civil unions in that state.

3/11 - A 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan kills 15,000 people, moves parts of the country 16 feet, and shifts the Earth's axis. A nuclear plant is destroyed, triggering widespread fear of contamination, but the civility and cooperation of the Japanese in the aftermath is noted by the world.

3/23 - Dame Elizabeth Taylor, actress and friend of the HIV/AIDS community, dies in Los Angeles at age 79.

On January 26th, David Kato, an Anglican LGBT activist in Uganda, was murdered in his home. Kato had been on the list of 100 people whose death was urged in the magazine Rolling Stone (no connection to the U.S. publication).

On February 22, another earthquake hits Christchurch, New Zealand, damaging the city's iconic Anglican cathedral beyond repair.

On Welcoming Church Sunday (January 31st) Believe Out Loud is formally unveiled to the public.

Bishops Beckwith and Spong are among the attendees at a Believe Out Loud reception at Newark's Diocesan Convention.

In February, The OASIS takes part in the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's Creating Change Conference in Minneapolis. Over 400 religious leaders have an impact on this mostly-secular conference. Frank Mushiga, an LGBT activist from Uganda, is honored at an Episcopal evensong memorializing his friend David Kato, whose murder is documented at left.

On February 20th, Believe Out Loud staged Break the Silence, an afternoon of spectacular music and celebration featuring the Anna Crusis Women’s Choir, the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus and the  Lavender Light Gospel Choir at Marble Collegiate Church in New York City.

4/29 - Prince William of England, Duke of Cambridge and second in line to the throne, marries a commoner named Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey.

5/1 - American special forces kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

5/23- Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" becomes an inevitable LGBT anthem.

6/17 - U.N. passes its first specific LGBT-rights bill.

6/18 - Saxophonist Clarence Clemons, longtime member of Bruce Springsteen's band, dies at age 69 following a stroke.

6/24 - New York legalizes same-sex marriage

In May, the OASIS participated with Episcopal Response to AIDS in AIDS Walk New York.

In May, a video produced by Believe Out Loud for Mother's Day was rejected by the progressive evangelical website Sojourners for being "too controverisal". The resulting conversation led to thousands of new Facebook fans for the campaign.

In June, the Episcopal Church is again well-represented at the Heritage of Pride Parade with an even larger float. The Right Rev. Kathy Roskam, a fixture at the parade for years, is honored in light of her imminent retirement.

7/5 - At the completion of a sensational trial, Casey Anthony is acquitted in the murder of her two-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008.

7/19 - President Obama voices support for Respect for Marriage Act which will invalidate the current Federal ban on recognizing same-sex marriage in the U.S.

7/23 - Singer Amy Winehouse is found dead from alcoholic poisoning in her London home.

8/28 - Hurricane Irene causes the worst flooding in centuries across upstate New York and Vermont after clobbering the Caribbean.

9/16 - UK Prime Minister David Cameron calls same-sex marriage in Britain "inevitable".

9/17 - "Occupy" protests against wealth disparity begin on New York's Wall Street and in cities across America and beyond.

9/20 - the United States repeals "don't ask, don't tell" which prevented gay soldiers from serving openly

In July, the Dean of Leighlin Cathedral, the Very Rev. Tom Gordon, becomes the first Church of Ireland clergyman to enter a same-sex Civil Partnership.

On September 16th, The Right Rev. Walter C. Wrighter, once charged as a heretic for ordaining a gay man, dies at age 87 at his home outside Pittsburgh. He at one time had personalized license plates reading "Heretic".

On November 6th, The Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson announces he plans to retire.

In December, Republican presidential primary hopeful and Texas governor Rick Perry releases a campaign video with an anti-gay message on YouTube, which viewers "thumb down" by a 30-1 margin.

Hurricane Irene puts a damper on the Hudson Pride celebration, which is postponed until Columbus Day Weekend.

10/31 - The freak "Snowtober" storm on Halloween weekend caused massive tree damage and power outages across our area.

11/5 - The Penn State football program is rocked by the arrest of former defense coordinator Jerry Sandusky on charges related to child abuse on campus, leading to the dismissal of the university president and head coach Joe Paterno.

12/2 - Australia's ruling Labour Party adds marriage equality to its platform.

12/6 - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gives a historic speech to the U.N. in Geneva, announcing that the U.S. will consider treatment of LGBT people by foreign governments receiving American aid.

On December 11th, Presiding Bishop Catherine Jefferts-Schori visits our area for the 100th anniversary of the Church of the Incarnation in Jersey City, then preaches her Christmas Sermon from General Theological seminary in New York.

On the first Sunday in Advent, the Roman Catholic Church institutes changes to its Eucharist for the first time since the Second Vatican Council.

1/2 - Delaware and Hawaii begin conducting civil unions.

1/5 - Tennesee introduces bill which would permit anti-gay bullying on religious and political grounds

1/8 - The New Jersey state legislature announced bills in both houses to legalize same-sex marriage in New Jersey. Governor Christie, who previously stated he would veto such a bill if it reached his desk, offered a more nuanced response but suggested that a ballot initiative would be the best approach, which drew ire from leaders including state senator Loretta Weinberg and Newark mayor Cory Booker.

1/13 - The Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia srikes a rock and capsizes off the Tuscan coast, becoming the largest passenger ship ever to be lost in peacetime.

1/22 - Long-time Penn State football coach Joe Paterno dies at age 85.

2/2 - Madison Galluccio, 15, testifies at the New Jersey Assembly Judciiary Committee hearings for a marriage quality bill in NJ. Madison's fathers Michael and Jon had their relationship blessed by Bishop Croneberger in 1998.

2/6 - HRH Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee, marking 60 years on the throne.

2/7 - The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms Judge Walker's decision that California's Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

2/9 - The Washington state legislature passes bills legalizing same-sex marriage, which the governor has said she will sign; however opponents can force a public referendum by petition.

2/11 - Pop music legend and actress Whitney Houston, whose promising career was marred by drug and alcohol abuse, dies in Beverly Hills at age 48.

2/13 - Bills legalizing same-sex marriage in New Jersey pass in the Senate and Assembly (2/16) but are vetoed by Governor Christie.

3/1 - Maryland governor Martin O'Malley signs that state's same-sex marriage bill into law effective January 1, 2013, allowing time for a ballot referendum on the matter if opponents are able to obtain enough signatures to require one.

3/13 - Encyclopedia Britannia ceases print production

3/16 - Dharun Ravi a former Rutgers student, is found guilty of hate crime charges related to his use of a webcam to spy on his roommate, Tyler Clementi, during an encounter with another man. Clementi's subsequent suicide was not admissable as evidence.

3/27 - A jetBlue pilot displaying erratic behavior is subdued by passengers while the plane makes an emergency landing. After radio host Carson Daly made a joke suggesting that a planeload of gay men "going to a floral convention" would not have been able to restrain the man, Alice Hoagland reminds him and the world about her late son, gay rugby player and 9/11 hero Mark Bingham.

1/2 - The first civil union service in Delaware is held at Trinity Episcopal Church, Wilmington. U.S. Senator Chris Coons gives the sermon.

1/10 - A judge in Fairfax County, Va., orders breakaway congregations to return property owned by the Diocese of Virginia, including the Falls Church and Truro Church.

1/24 - As New Jersey's legislature again takes up the subject of same-sex marriage, Bishop Beckwith again joins supporters at the State House.

1/25 - Love Free or Die, a biography of Bishop Gene Robinson, premiers at the Sundance Film Festival.

3/10 - The Rev. Canon Andrew Dietche is consecrated Bishop Coadjuter of the Diocese of New York by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine.

3/16 - The Most Rev.& Right Hon. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury & Primate of All England, titular head of the Anglican Communion, announces his intention to resign at the end of the year to become Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

3/30 - The General Synod of the Church of England shelves discussion of the Anglican Covenant until at least 2015 after a wide majority of dioceses vote against it. The failure to gain approval in England makes communion-wide adoption of the Covenant, which would expect member churches to refraiin from "controversial" actions such as ordination of LGBT clergy, unlikely.

1/28 - At the Convention of the Diocese of Newark, The OASIS announces The Louie Crew Scholarship, for those pursuing education or ministry that helps fulfill our mission.

Also at Convention, the OASIS and Integrity present a Believe Out Loud workshop, and plans are made for a half-day workshop within the diocese. A series of parish conversations about the campaign begins Feb. 12th and continues until Holy Week.

4/9 - TV Anchorman Mike Wallace, who narrated a controversial documentary about homosexuality in 1967, dies at age 93. In 1992 he expressed regret at some of the generalizations made in the report.

4/12 - Psychiatrist Robert Spitzer stated that critics of his 2001 study that claimed gay men and lesbians could become straight through therapy were largely correct.

4/26 - Former Liberian President Charles Taylor is convicted of war crimes

5/6 - President Obama announces on television that he personally supports same-sex marriage.

5/20 - Facebook goes public ... and it goes badly. CEO Mark Zuckerberg marries the following day.

5/22 - World's tallest self-supporting structure, the Tokyo Skytree, opens

5/30 - A Federal appeals court in Boston rules that key portions of the Defense of Marriage Act are unconstitutional, suggesting the matter may end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

6/1 - Following the backfire of the National Organization for Marriage's boycott of J.C. Penney over its hiring Ellen DeGeneris as a spokesmodel, the company launches a "my two dads" print ad for Father's Day.

4/18 - The Vatican announces an investigation of the largest group of American nuns, stating they are not doing enough to uphold church teachings on homosexuality and other issues.

5/12 - The Vatican announces an investigation of its relationship with the Girl Scouts of America, alleging ties to Planned Parenthood and concerns about compatibility with church teachings.

5/12-5/30 - A series of videotaped sermons by anti-gay ministers, including one featuring a singing toddler, go viral on the internet. A blogger suggests making donations to organizations like The OASIS and Integrity "in honor of" these men so they will receive "thank you notes" from pro-LGBT organizations for their "support"

June - IntegrityUSA releases a YouTube video called Vioces of Witness: Out of the Box featuring testimony from transgender clergy and mails copies to all bishops and delegates to the upcoming General Convention

4/13 - The OASIS co-sponsors (with Integrity NYC-Metro and Hudson Pride Connections) a screening of Love Free or Die, the biography of Bishop Gene Robinson at Grace Church Van Vorst

5/20 - The OASIS participates with Episcopal Response to AIDS in AIDS Walk New York

6/3 - The OASIS honors IntegrityUSA founder Louie Crew with a reception at the home of Newark's Bishop, Mark Beckwith. The first recipient of the Louie Crew Scholarship, a writer named Darnell Moore, is announced. Additionally, a grant is awarded to the Rev. Deacon Diana Wilcox, chaplain of the campus ministry at Montclair State University.

6/10 - Love Free or Die screening at Redeemer, Morristown

6/24 - The OASIS participates in Heritage of Pride NYC

6/29 - Love Free or Die screening at St. James's, Hackettstown

7/30-31 - India suffers the world's largest power failure, with over 600 million people left without electricity

8/6 - Curiosity rover lands on Mars

9/11 - A series of terrorist attacks are launched against US interests. The US Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, is among those killed.

July - At its triennial General Convention, the Episcopal Church takes four very positive steps for LGBT people:

• The adoption of a trial rite for blessing same-sex relationships, use of which begins on the first Sunday in Advent
• Declaring that being transgender is not a barrier to consideration for ministry
• Urging the repeal of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act
• Condemning bullying in schools

The majority of the delegation from the Diocese of South Carolina leaves the Convention early and expresses doubt on its continued relationship with the church.

Also in July, a NBC article explores a rise of membership in Episcopal churches among Hispanics, particularly in the Northwest, citing the church's progressive stance on social issues as a major cause.

8/18 - The OASIS participates in Hudson Pride

10/14 - Felix Baumgartner becomes the first person to break the sound barrier without mechanical assistance, during a skydive.

10/31-11/1 - Hurricane Sandy collides with a nor'easter over New Jersey, causing unprecedented damage, flooding and injuries in the greater NYC area. Some residents are without power for two weeks and gasoline shortages follow.

11/6 - Barack Obama is elected to a second term as President. Three additional states (Maine, Maryland and Washington) vote to allow marriage equality. A referendum for a constitutional ban on marriage equality fails in Minnesota. Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin becomes the first openly gay person in the U.S. Senate. Kyrsten Sinema becomes the first out bisexual person in Congress. The city of San Francisco votes to fund gender reassignment surgery for uninsured residents who seek it. A number of states elect their first out LGBT state legislators.

11/14 - Israel launches a military offensive against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip

12/4 - Besse Cooper, the world's oldest parson at 116, dies in Georgia.

12/12 - The first same-sex marriages occur in the chapel at West Point.

10/15 - The majority of the Diocese of South Carolina opts to remove itself from the Episcopal Church after its bishop, Mark Lawrence, is inhibited by the House of Bishops. A provisional diocese is organized for those opting to remain.

November - Episcopal churches across the NYC area participate in Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, ranging from operating "charging stations" and offering hot meals, to becoming the hub of operations for Occupy Sandy in Brooklyn.

11/9 - The Right Rev. Justin Portal Welby, a former oil executive who has been Bishop of Durham for just a year, is selected to succeed The Most Rev. Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury.

11/21 - A vote to ordain women as bishops fails to obtain a super-majority in the General Synod of the Church of England.

11/24 - Ellinah Wamukoya is seated as Bishop of Swaziland in the Church of Southern Africa, becoming the first female bishop on the continent.

12/2 - The rite for blessing same-sex unions authorized at General Convention enters into use. In Western Massachusetts, The Rt. Rev. Douglas John Fisher, was consecrated on Saturday and performed his first blessing of a civil marriage on Sunday, one of three in the diocese that day.

10/4 - Love Free or Die is screened at Drew University

10/14 - Out of the Box is screened at St. Mark's, Teaneck

10/23 - Love free or Die is screened at Ramapo College

11/10 - Believe Out Loud Congregational Workshop at Calvary Church in Summit

11/17 - Love Free or Die is screened at St. Mark's in Teaneck.

11/25 - Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed at the Church of the Redeemer in Morristown. Former OASIS board member Stephanie Battagliano gives the sermon.