From the CANA website:
September 27, 2008
Asks Diocese and National Church to End Needless Litigation Completely
FAIRFAX, Va. (September 26, 2008) – Today, the Fairfax County Circuit Court signed an Order stipulating that the nine Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) congregations that filed petitions under the Virginia Division Statute (§57-9) have satisfied the voting requirements of §57-9. In that Order, The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Diocese of Virginia also stipulated that they will not contest such findings by the Court. This Order substantially narrows the scope of the church property trial that will take place in October.
ADV also announced that the remaining two of the 11 ADV congregations sued by TEC and the Diocese have settled. Potomac Falls Church, Sterling, Va., and Christ the Redeemer Church, Centreville, Va., have each agreed to a modest monetary settlement with TEC and the Diocese which will end the litigation between them. Neither congregation filed Virginia Division Statute (§ 57-9) petitions because they did not have real property at stake, only personal property.
“Any decision that releases any of our member congregations from the cloud of litigation is a positive step. We are pleased that the settlement has been reached. We look forward to the day when we can all get this behind us and move forward with the work we have to do,” said Jim Oakes, vice chairman of ADV.
“Yet the Diocese should have settled a year and a half ago since these two congregations both meet in elementary schools and have no real property. Not only that, but since Christ the Redeemer Church is not a former Episcopal congregation, today’s settlement is a nuisance value payment.
“We are grateful that the Diocese and TEC took heed of our repeated call to settle this litigation amicably for a modest payment from the two congregations – payments which are restricted to be given to a limited number of ministries jointly approved by the congregations and the Diocese.
“We had hoped that the Diocese and TEC would have used this model as a way to work with us to drop the remaining lawsuits which we never wanted, did not initiate and consistently said that we would like to resolve amicably. Despite the promise of appeal from the Diocese, we are ready to put this litigation behind us for all of the parishes so that we can focus our time, money and effort solely on the work of the Gospel,” Oakes concluded.
The remaining items for the October trial are whether four parcels of property and one set of personal property owned by the Anglican congregations are covered by the congregations’ Division petitions. The trial will start October 14 in the Fairfax County Circuit Court.
The Episcopal Church and the Diocese abruptly broke off settlement negotiations in January 2007 and filed lawsuits against the Virginia churches, their ministers and their vestries. The decision of The Episcopal Church and the Diocese to redefine and reinterpret Scripture caused the 11 Anglican churches to sever their ties.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The almost deposition of the PB
From VirtueOnline:
In a humorous aside, sources at The Episcopal Church ? Headquarters in
New York said that the Rt. Rev. Katherine Jefferts-Schori, the Presiding
Bishop of The Episcopal Church ?, almost deposed herself. Deposition
prevents a priest from saying Mass and removes their ordination.
Jefferts-Schori, who just this week deposed the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan
for holding traditional Christian views, was preparing 36 other
depositions "as a precaution" and accidentally got the "To:" and "From"
lines mixed up on one of them. "David (Chancellor David Booth-Beers)
can't stop laughing about it," said Jefferts-Schori, "He's been emailing
me all day, inviting me into a deeper relationship with my
spell-checker."
Once the error was discovered, Jefferts-Schori convened an emergency
meeting of the House of Bishops in her office and the deposition was
rejected. Since only Bishops in attendance may cast ballots on
depositions, the 1-0 outcome against the deposition conforms to Church
canons, according to Booth-Beers. It doesn't take much to read between
these lines...
In a humorous aside, sources at The Episcopal Church ? Headquarters in
New York said that the Rt. Rev. Katherine Jefferts-Schori, the Presiding
Bishop of The Episcopal Church ?, almost deposed herself. Deposition
prevents a priest from saying Mass and removes their ordination.
Jefferts-Schori, who just this week deposed the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan
for holding traditional Christian views, was preparing 36 other
depositions "as a precaution" and accidentally got the "To:" and "From"
lines mixed up on one of them. "David (Chancellor David Booth-Beers)
can't stop laughing about it," said Jefferts-Schori, "He's been emailing
me all day, inviting me into a deeper relationship with my
spell-checker."
Once the error was discovered, Jefferts-Schori convened an emergency
meeting of the House of Bishops in her office and the deposition was
rejected. Since only Bishops in attendance may cast ballots on
depositions, the 1-0 outcome against the deposition conforms to Church
canons, according to Booth-Beers. It doesn't take much to read between
these lines...
Chane in lawsuit against homeless mission
From VirtueOnline:
This past week, Bishop John Chane of the DIOCESE OF WASHINGTON once
again showed his true colors. He filed a lawsuit against Central Union
Mission, a highly -respected mission outreach to the homeless of
Washington, D.C., saying that a land swap giving the dilapidated Gales
School, on Massachusetts Avenue NW near Union Station, to the Central
Union Mission, would violate laws regarding the separation of church and
state.
After I wrote this story, Brad Hutt, an activist layman and chair of the
American Anglican Council - Washington, wrote VOL to say that there was
more to this story than I knew. He uncovered the nasty truth that the
underlying issues behind this lawsuit were far more important than what
is on the surface --- the mission's refusal to hire homosexuals and that
a CANA Mission, St. Brendan's in the City holds Sunday evening services
in the Central Union building!
Diocesan officials vigorously denied this, but no one has officially
contradicted anything Hutt has written. Here's a bishop that keeps
bashing Global South primates like Nigerian Primate Peter Akinola for
being obsessed with the homosexual agenda and ignoring pressing issues
of poverty, AIDS and injustice.
Chane has shown himself to be precisely interested in gay sex and is
trying to prevent the homeless from getting shelter in the nation's
capitol! Chane thy name is hypocrisy. According to an official blurb at
their website, "Central Union Mission is a highly-respected mission
outreach to the homeless of Washington, D.C. Where other city outreaches
to the homeless fail, Central Mission remains a crucial component to the
church's commitment for justice and compassion for all." You can read
more about the amazing work of Central Mission here.
http://missiondc.org/
This past week, Bishop John Chane of the DIOCESE OF WASHINGTON once
again showed his true colors. He filed a lawsuit against Central Union
Mission, a highly -respected mission outreach to the homeless of
Washington, D.C., saying that a land swap giving the dilapidated Gales
School, on Massachusetts Avenue NW near Union Station, to the Central
Union Mission, would violate laws regarding the separation of church and
state.
After I wrote this story, Brad Hutt, an activist layman and chair of the
American Anglican Council - Washington, wrote VOL to say that there was
more to this story than I knew. He uncovered the nasty truth that the
underlying issues behind this lawsuit were far more important than what
is on the surface --- the mission's refusal to hire homosexuals and that
a CANA Mission, St. Brendan's in the City holds Sunday evening services
in the Central Union building!
Diocesan officials vigorously denied this, but no one has officially
contradicted anything Hutt has written. Here's a bishop that keeps
bashing Global South primates like Nigerian Primate Peter Akinola for
being obsessed with the homosexual agenda and ignoring pressing issues
of poverty, AIDS and injustice.
Chane has shown himself to be precisely interested in gay sex and is
trying to prevent the homeless from getting shelter in the nation's
capitol! Chane thy name is hypocrisy. According to an official blurb at
their website, "Central Union Mission is a highly-respected mission
outreach to the homeless of Washington, D.C. Where other city outreaches
to the homeless fail, Central Mission remains a crucial component to the
church's commitment for justice and compassion for all." You can read
more about the amazing work of Central Mission here.
http://missiondc.org/
RICK WARREN to the rescue.
From VirtueOnline:
Dr. Warren, known to the world as the author of The Purpose Driven Life wrote to VOL this week saying that if any orthodox Episcopalians in Orange County, CA loses their building to TEC, or if they simply want to plant a new Anglican church in Orange County, he wants them to know that the Pastors and Elders of Saddleback will
gladly share their 120 acre campus with a new congregation on Sunday afternoons.
"We stand in complete solidarity with you all. We now have 7 Sunday services (and 2 Saturday), but we're always ready to help a sister church," he told VOL. You can write to david@virtueonline.org and I will pass the message along to him. One church and an overseas bishop have already been in touch with Dr. Warren. It's amazing, just when you think things will never get better, a brother in Christ from a totally different denomination comes to the rescue. That is true ecumenicity.
Dr. Warren, known to the world as the author of The Purpose Driven Life wrote to VOL this week saying that if any orthodox Episcopalians in Orange County, CA loses their building to TEC, or if they simply want to plant a new Anglican church in Orange County, he wants them to know that the Pastors and Elders of Saddleback will
gladly share their 120 acre campus with a new congregation on Sunday afternoons.
"We stand in complete solidarity with you all. We now have 7 Sunday services (and 2 Saturday), but we're always ready to help a sister church," he told VOL. You can write to david@virtueonline.org and I will pass the message along to him. One church and an overseas bishop have already been in touch with Dr. Warren. It's amazing, just when you think things will never get better, a brother in Christ from a totally different denomination comes to the rescue. That is true ecumenicity.
How's your diocese doing?
From VirtueOnline:
From the DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA come more details of a diocese in decline. In 2002, voluntary pledges made in support of the Diocesan program budget (Mission and Ministry of the diocese) were $2.440 million. In 2009 the proposed budget is $1.089 million a 124% decrease. Under Mandatory Assessments to support an Episcopate budget, which includes Clergy Financial Assistance and Retired Clergy Medical Assistance the picture is different. In 2002 the amount was $908,000. In 2009 a proposed budget is $1.664 million - an 83% increase.
From the DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA come more details of a diocese in decline. In 2002, voluntary pledges made in support of the Diocesan program budget (Mission and Ministry of the diocese) were $2.440 million. In 2009 the proposed budget is $1.089 million a 124% decrease. Under Mandatory Assessments to support an Episcopate budget, which includes Clergy Financial Assistance and Retired Clergy Medical Assistance the picture is different. In 2002 the amount was $908,000. In 2009 a proposed budget is $1.664 million - an 83% increase.
A message from Bishop David Anderson
Dearly Beloved,
There are a number of issues to look at this week. In the United States, the financial crisis continues to deepen, with concerns about jobs, homes, and savings being an increasing topic of conversation among ordinary folks. People are not of one mind as to what the solution is, but with the people feeling uncertain, churches and charitable organizations may feel the impact of this insecurity. Another area that individuals, churches and organizations are looking at is the security and strength of their personal bank accounts, and whether the US Government provides insurance for those accounts. Some people and organizations may be thinking they have more insurance for their bank accounts than they really do. Sitting down and talking with your banker about your situation might be a good thing to do fairly soon.
I would urge churches especially to look at their financial assets, talk to their banker, and see if they need to spread their accounts over two or more banks, so that each account is fully FDIC insured. It also calls to mind the fact that we ought not to put our trust in wealth, but in the one who saves us, blesses us, and provides for our needs.
On a happier note, support for Bishop Duncan is pouring in from around the world. Of course, The Episcopal Church doesn't much care whether the Anglican World disapproves of the way she handled the situation, she would say that the rest of the world was just ignorant of the facts as she has determined them, and if they were properly briefed, they would naturally agree with her. Six English bishops have said that they continue to regard Duncan as a bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion, and this is in addition to messages sent from all corners of the Communion.
Now the countdown is on to the Pittsburgh Diocesan Convention on October 4 - what will happen? Will Katharine Jefferts Schori attempt to intervene in the proceedings, or will she wait until the meeting is concluded to take any actions she may be planning? I suspect a great many would agree with the Rt. Rev. Colin Basley, who wrote a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury calling for the immediate suspension of the Episcopal Church from any further participation in activities of the Anglican Communion, and calling for recognition of a new orthodox North American Anglican Province named Common Cause Partners Federation.
In many ways, the spiritual/ecclesiastical Anglican Communion meltdown is comparable to the financial meltdown in the US business world. In the latter, people bought sub-prime loans that were in effect bad paper, passed them on to others as if they were the real thing, trust was broken, and lies and deceit led to the economic ruination of many - and it isn't over yet! In the spiritual/ecclesiastical realm, church leaders in North America put together sub-prime, bogus spiritual truths, passed them on to others as if they were the real thing, persecuted those who raised the alarm, and as a result, trust has been broken, lives spiritually ruined, lies and deceit have caused many to leave their churches and reorganize in line with traditional Christian beliefs, and this is leading to the ecclesiastical ruination of many. The problem with spiritual ruination is that you might wind up in hell (yes, that place that TEC leaders don't believe in - or if it does exist, only a few of us will be in it!).
Meanwhile, the bishop of Washington DC, John Chane, has sued the Central Union Mission over their receipt of government funds to provide help for the homeless in the city. The Mission is a Christian organization, and as part of their feeding and assistance program, they require those participating to attend nightly religious services. Why is Bishop Chane attacking those who help the poor and homeless? Could it be because the Central Union Mission has provided space for an Anglican congregation associated with CANA (St. Brendan's in the City), to hold weekly Sunday evening services? The official reason that Bishop Chane claims is that government help to Central Union Mission is supposedly a violation of the US Constitution, since they require attendance at religious services.
In his opinion, the government isn't supposed to give money to churches: separation of church and state and all that, you know. However, Chane is the bishop of the Washington National Cathedral, and one wonders if the Cathedral hasn't accepted money from the government in one form or another, perhaps for major events held there, or for arts programs, or some other types of event. We know that the Washington DC police department has a police radio relay unit at the very top of the main tower of the Cathedral, and one wonders what other joint ventures the Cathedral has had with city or federal government. It may be that Bishop Chane hasn't had time to see the plank in his own eye.
Let us hope and pray that the ministry of Central Union Mission to the hungry and homeless and to those who need to find God in their lives, is able to continue unimpeded by any Chane-sponsored litigation.
Blessings and Peace in Christ Jesus,
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
There are a number of issues to look at this week. In the United States, the financial crisis continues to deepen, with concerns about jobs, homes, and savings being an increasing topic of conversation among ordinary folks. People are not of one mind as to what the solution is, but with the people feeling uncertain, churches and charitable organizations may feel the impact of this insecurity. Another area that individuals, churches and organizations are looking at is the security and strength of their personal bank accounts, and whether the US Government provides insurance for those accounts. Some people and organizations may be thinking they have more insurance for their bank accounts than they really do. Sitting down and talking with your banker about your situation might be a good thing to do fairly soon.
I would urge churches especially to look at their financial assets, talk to their banker, and see if they need to spread their accounts over two or more banks, so that each account is fully FDIC insured. It also calls to mind the fact that we ought not to put our trust in wealth, but in the one who saves us, blesses us, and provides for our needs.
On a happier note, support for Bishop Duncan is pouring in from around the world. Of course, The Episcopal Church doesn't much care whether the Anglican World disapproves of the way she handled the situation, she would say that the rest of the world was just ignorant of the facts as she has determined them, and if they were properly briefed, they would naturally agree with her. Six English bishops have said that they continue to regard Duncan as a bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion, and this is in addition to messages sent from all corners of the Communion.
Now the countdown is on to the Pittsburgh Diocesan Convention on October 4 - what will happen? Will Katharine Jefferts Schori attempt to intervene in the proceedings, or will she wait until the meeting is concluded to take any actions she may be planning? I suspect a great many would agree with the Rt. Rev. Colin Basley, who wrote a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury calling for the immediate suspension of the Episcopal Church from any further participation in activities of the Anglican Communion, and calling for recognition of a new orthodox North American Anglican Province named Common Cause Partners Federation.
In many ways, the spiritual/ecclesiastical Anglican Communion meltdown is comparable to the financial meltdown in the US business world. In the latter, people bought sub-prime loans that were in effect bad paper, passed them on to others as if they were the real thing, trust was broken, and lies and deceit led to the economic ruination of many - and it isn't over yet! In the spiritual/ecclesiastical realm, church leaders in North America put together sub-prime, bogus spiritual truths, passed them on to others as if they were the real thing, persecuted those who raised the alarm, and as a result, trust has been broken, lives spiritually ruined, lies and deceit have caused many to leave their churches and reorganize in line with traditional Christian beliefs, and this is leading to the ecclesiastical ruination of many. The problem with spiritual ruination is that you might wind up in hell (yes, that place that TEC leaders don't believe in - or if it does exist, only a few of us will be in it!).
Meanwhile, the bishop of Washington DC, John Chane, has sued the Central Union Mission over their receipt of government funds to provide help for the homeless in the city. The Mission is a Christian organization, and as part of their feeding and assistance program, they require those participating to attend nightly religious services. Why is Bishop Chane attacking those who help the poor and homeless? Could it be because the Central Union Mission has provided space for an Anglican congregation associated with CANA (St. Brendan's in the City), to hold weekly Sunday evening services? The official reason that Bishop Chane claims is that government help to Central Union Mission is supposedly a violation of the US Constitution, since they require attendance at religious services.
In his opinion, the government isn't supposed to give money to churches: separation of church and state and all that, you know. However, Chane is the bishop of the Washington National Cathedral, and one wonders if the Cathedral hasn't accepted money from the government in one form or another, perhaps for major events held there, or for arts programs, or some other types of event. We know that the Washington DC police department has a police radio relay unit at the very top of the main tower of the Cathedral, and one wonders what other joint ventures the Cathedral has had with city or federal government. It may be that Bishop Chane hasn't had time to see the plank in his own eye.
Let us hope and pray that the ministry of Central Union Mission to the hungry and homeless and to those who need to find God in their lives, is able to continue unimpeded by any Chane-sponsored litigation.
Blessings and Peace in Christ Jesus,
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
The Diocese of Virginia Announces a Settlement with Potomac Falls Church and Christ the Redeemer Church
September 26 , 2008
The Diocese of Virginia today announced that it has reached a legal settlement with Potomac Falls Church in Potomac Falls and Christ the Redeemer Church in Chantilly. The mission churches, which do not hold any real property, will make a payment to the Diocese as part of the settlement ending the litigation between the parties. The settlement also includes the Episcopal Church.
Under the agreement, the Diocese will release the two churches from any claims or future liability arising from the litigation. In recognition of past diocesan efforts to build, grow and support Potomac Falls and Christ the Redeemer – two mission churches that built and continued meaningful ministries in their communities, conducting worship services in local elementary schools – the churches’ payment will support diocesan ministries, including overseas mission work and Shrine Mont camps, among others.
“We are grateful to the leadership of Potomac Falls Church and Christ the Redeemer for their courage and willingness to resolve this dispute in a mutually satisfactory manner,” said the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, Bishop of Virginia. “The Diocese’s main concern has always been to safeguard the legacy of Episcopal faith and worship in Virginia. This litigation is unfortunate and we are grateful to have found an agreement that allows Potomac Falls Church and Christ the Redeemer to return to what matters most: knowing and serving God through Jesus Christ.”
Today’s settlement does not include the other nine churches that voted to leave the Diocese. The Diocese remains firmly committed to the continuing congregations left behind when those churches departed and will take all steps necessary to ensure that loyal Episcopalians will be able to return to their Episcopal homes. Generations of Episcopalians pledged themselves to the Diocese in order to ensure a lasting legacy of Episcopal faith and worship in Virginia. “We will continue every effort to protect the legacy of our past and the promise of our shared future,” said Henry D.W. Burt, Secretary of the Diocese.
h/t SFIF
The Diocese of Virginia today announced that it has reached a legal settlement with Potomac Falls Church in Potomac Falls and Christ the Redeemer Church in Chantilly. The mission churches, which do not hold any real property, will make a payment to the Diocese as part of the settlement ending the litigation between the parties. The settlement also includes the Episcopal Church.
Under the agreement, the Diocese will release the two churches from any claims or future liability arising from the litigation. In recognition of past diocesan efforts to build, grow and support Potomac Falls and Christ the Redeemer – two mission churches that built and continued meaningful ministries in their communities, conducting worship services in local elementary schools – the churches’ payment will support diocesan ministries, including overseas mission work and Shrine Mont camps, among others.
“We are grateful to the leadership of Potomac Falls Church and Christ the Redeemer for their courage and willingness to resolve this dispute in a mutually satisfactory manner,” said the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, Bishop of Virginia. “The Diocese’s main concern has always been to safeguard the legacy of Episcopal faith and worship in Virginia. This litigation is unfortunate and we are grateful to have found an agreement that allows Potomac Falls Church and Christ the Redeemer to return to what matters most: knowing and serving God through Jesus Christ.”
Today’s settlement does not include the other nine churches that voted to leave the Diocese. The Diocese remains firmly committed to the continuing congregations left behind when those churches departed and will take all steps necessary to ensure that loyal Episcopalians will be able to return to their Episcopal homes. Generations of Episcopalians pledged themselves to the Diocese in order to ensure a lasting legacy of Episcopal faith and worship in Virginia. “We will continue every effort to protect the legacy of our past and the promise of our shared future,” said Henry D.W. Burt, Secretary of the Diocese.
h/t SFIF
Friday, September 26, 2008
DIOCESE OF CALIFORNIA COMPLICIT IN PERVERTED "GAY PRIDE PARADE"
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click here to view the post.
Viewpoints : Williams Silent on Duncan...ABC at Lourdes Looks for Miracle...More
Posted by David Virtue at VirtueOnline on 2008/9/26 15:10:00:
"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis" - Dante
"The egregious misapplication of God's approval from Jesus to us denies any need for repentance, justification, sanctification, atonement, incarnation or salvation. It blesses our sinful condition and eliminates any need for forgiveness. This misapplication panders to our native self-righteousness. Such self-approval leaves us bereft of any hope of redemption. A church leader who teaches such a substitute for Christianity is without the biblical and creedal authority to depose Bishop Robert Duncan. The kindest thing that can be said of Jefferts Schori and the clergy, who went along with this travesty, is that they are innocent of any knowledge of the contradiction that their views have with the creedal vows they regularly assert.". - Rt. Rev. C. FitzSimons Allison, Bishop of SC (ret.)
'By faith alone'. Three times in one paragraph, Paul underlines the necessity of faith" through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Rom. 3:22); through faith in his blood (25) or, more probably, 'by his blood, to be received by faith' (RSV); and God justifies those who have faith in Jesus (26). Indeed, justification is 'by faith alone', sola fide, one of the great watchwords of the Reformation. True, the word 'alone' does not occur in Paul's text of verse 28, where Luther added it. It is not altogether surprising, therefore, that the Roman Catholic Church accused Luther of perverting the text of Holy Scripture. But Luther was following Origen and other early Church Fathers, who had similarly introduced the word 'alone'. A true instinct led them to do so. Far from falsifying or distorting Paul's meaning, they were clarifying and emphasizing it. It was similar with John Wesley, who wrote that he felt he 'did trust in Christ, in Christ alone, for salvation'. Justification is by grace alone, in Christ alone, through faith alone. --- From "The Message of Romans" (The Bible Speaks Today)
The sin of unbelief. Unbelief is not a misfortune to be pitied; it is a sin to be deplored. Its sinfulness lies in the fact that it contradicts the word of the one true God and thus attributes falsehood to him. --- From "The Letters of John" (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries)
The gift of faith. We must never think of salvation as a kind of transaction between God and us in which he contributes grace and we contribute faith. For we were dead, and had to be quickened before we could believe. No, Christ's apostles clearly teach elsewhere that saving faith too is God's gracious gift.--- From "The Message of Ephesians" from The Bible Speaks Today)
Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
9/26/2008
"No comment," said a defiant Lambeth Palace spokesman on the deposition of the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh. This week the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams was in Lourdes looking for a miracle, no doubt hoping and praying for a way forward for the Anglican Communion, perhaps even hoping that Our Lady can offer him a salvific plan to save the Anglican Communion from the egregious behavior of the American Episcopal Church.
His silence about the "deposition" of a godly orthodox bishop demonstrates an appalling lack of leadership and abdication of responsibility in the face of one of the worst acts of ecclesiastical betrayal in contemporary Anglican history.
Ironically, Williams and John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, have nothing to say about this act of ecclesiastical treachery, but have plenty to say about the financial meltdown going on in the US! Sentamu is in New York playing up Millennium Development Goals and won't say a word to Jefferts Schori about her flagrantly abusive power play to get rid of a bishop. From one end of the globe to the other, the outrage at this sham "deposition" has been swift and condemnatory.
The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali said in an interview with The Times that the time has now come for Dr Williams to create a new province for conservatives in the US.
Six senior Church of England bishops came out in support of deposed US bishop Duncan, declaring themselves "deeply saddened and shocked."
The Bishop of Winchester, the Right Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, the Bishops of Blackburn, Chester, Chichester, Exeter and Rochester joined in declaring their belief that the deposed Bishop of Pittsburgh remains "a bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion."
Another senior bishop, a former primate of the Southern Cone province in Latin America, also wrote an open letter to Dr Williams demanding the immediate suspension of The Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion and for the recognition of a new conservative province.
Still Williams said nothing.
It was the Primate of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi who came out with the strongest statement of all. "We continue to recognize you (Duncan) as a Bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion, and we whole-heartedly support the action of Archbishop Greg Venables and the House of Bishops of the Province of the Southern Cone to receive you into their House of Bishops. We continue in full communion with you and we do not recognize the action of the TEC House of Bishops to depose you."
Then he went a step further and said this, "This vote reveals how spiritually lost TEC is and why North America needs a new Province that authentically represents historic and Biblical Anglicanism. The Instruments of the Anglican Communion could have averted this crisis. Instead, institutional inertia is preferred, and meanwhile, the tear in the fabric of our communion is now deeper and wider, the mission of the church suffers, and many people miss out on hearing the good news that a Saviour has come. "I look forward to the day when you are not only the Moderator of the Common Cause Partnership, but when we can also welcome you to the table of Primates as the Archbishop of a new, Biblically faithful Province in North America." Slam dunk.
There is an exquisite irony in the "deposition" of Bishop Duncan. The mostly liberal and revisionist HOB who couldn't wait to deep six one of its own ("prayerfully" of course as Mrs. Jefferts Schori stated) is now faced with a crisis as to who will fill Bishop Duncan's shoes as the see of Pittsburgh is technically "vacant" or at least Dr. Louie Crew thinks so.
Since the Episcopal Church is a hierarchical church, as we are so frequently told by the heavy hitters at 815 Second Avenue, then presumably the diocese will be run from the headquarters of the Episcopal Church by someone appointed by Jefferts Schori, the Executive Council, or the HOB. That someone could even be Jefferts Schori herself!
Nope. The diocese is going to be run by Pittsburgh's Diocesan Standing Committee, clergy and parishioners of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. That's some hierarchy. Were this the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope or a Cardinal would have a new bishop in the office on Monday. Not here. According to a press release, the diocesan convention will go forward as planned in "an orderly and grace-filled manner" on October 4.
The Episcopal Church's own documents show that the vote to "depose" Bishop Duncan fell far short of the majority required by TEC's canons. Mark Mccall's story, Do Bishops Deserve Due Process should be read as a reminder that they do. Click here. http://tinyurl.com/3pphel Allan Haley's argument Why the Vote was Wrong is also must reading: http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=9054
One person who has fond memories of Bishop Duncan is Fr. Jerry Kramer of the Church of the Annunciation in Broadmore, New Orleans. In an e-mail to VOL, he said the Pittsburgh bishop raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Annunciation, post Katrina. "Without him we would likely have closed," he told VOL. We have not heard the end of this debacle. Watch for more fall out from this supreme act of stupidity. VOL has posted a number of stories in today's digest covering this ongoing saga.
"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis" - Dante
"The egregious misapplication of God's approval from Jesus to us denies any need for repentance, justification, sanctification, atonement, incarnation or salvation. It blesses our sinful condition and eliminates any need for forgiveness. This misapplication panders to our native self-righteousness. Such self-approval leaves us bereft of any hope of redemption. A church leader who teaches such a substitute for Christianity is without the biblical and creedal authority to depose Bishop Robert Duncan. The kindest thing that can be said of Jefferts Schori and the clergy, who went along with this travesty, is that they are innocent of any knowledge of the contradiction that their views have with the creedal vows they regularly assert.". - Rt. Rev. C. FitzSimons Allison, Bishop of SC (ret.)
'By faith alone'. Three times in one paragraph, Paul underlines the necessity of faith" through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Rom. 3:22); through faith in his blood (25) or, more probably, 'by his blood, to be received by faith' (RSV); and God justifies those who have faith in Jesus (26). Indeed, justification is 'by faith alone', sola fide, one of the great watchwords of the Reformation. True, the word 'alone' does not occur in Paul's text of verse 28, where Luther added it. It is not altogether surprising, therefore, that the Roman Catholic Church accused Luther of perverting the text of Holy Scripture. But Luther was following Origen and other early Church Fathers, who had similarly introduced the word 'alone'. A true instinct led them to do so. Far from falsifying or distorting Paul's meaning, they were clarifying and emphasizing it. It was similar with John Wesley, who wrote that he felt he 'did trust in Christ, in Christ alone, for salvation'. Justification is by grace alone, in Christ alone, through faith alone. --- From "The Message of Romans" (The Bible Speaks Today)
The sin of unbelief. Unbelief is not a misfortune to be pitied; it is a sin to be deplored. Its sinfulness lies in the fact that it contradicts the word of the one true God and thus attributes falsehood to him. --- From "The Letters of John" (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries)
The gift of faith. We must never think of salvation as a kind of transaction between God and us in which he contributes grace and we contribute faith. For we were dead, and had to be quickened before we could believe. No, Christ's apostles clearly teach elsewhere that saving faith too is God's gracious gift.--- From "The Message of Ephesians" from The Bible Speaks Today)
Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
9/26/2008
"No comment," said a defiant Lambeth Palace spokesman on the deposition of the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh. This week the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams was in Lourdes looking for a miracle, no doubt hoping and praying for a way forward for the Anglican Communion, perhaps even hoping that Our Lady can offer him a salvific plan to save the Anglican Communion from the egregious behavior of the American Episcopal Church.
His silence about the "deposition" of a godly orthodox bishop demonstrates an appalling lack of leadership and abdication of responsibility in the face of one of the worst acts of ecclesiastical betrayal in contemporary Anglican history.
Ironically, Williams and John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, have nothing to say about this act of ecclesiastical treachery, but have plenty to say about the financial meltdown going on in the US! Sentamu is in New York playing up Millennium Development Goals and won't say a word to Jefferts Schori about her flagrantly abusive power play to get rid of a bishop. From one end of the globe to the other, the outrage at this sham "deposition" has been swift and condemnatory.
The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali said in an interview with The Times that the time has now come for Dr Williams to create a new province for conservatives in the US.
Six senior Church of England bishops came out in support of deposed US bishop Duncan, declaring themselves "deeply saddened and shocked."
The Bishop of Winchester, the Right Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, the Bishops of Blackburn, Chester, Chichester, Exeter and Rochester joined in declaring their belief that the deposed Bishop of Pittsburgh remains "a bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion."
Another senior bishop, a former primate of the Southern Cone province in Latin America, also wrote an open letter to Dr Williams demanding the immediate suspension of The Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion and for the recognition of a new conservative province.
Still Williams said nothing.
It was the Primate of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi who came out with the strongest statement of all. "We continue to recognize you (Duncan) as a Bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion, and we whole-heartedly support the action of Archbishop Greg Venables and the House of Bishops of the Province of the Southern Cone to receive you into their House of Bishops. We continue in full communion with you and we do not recognize the action of the TEC House of Bishops to depose you."
Then he went a step further and said this, "This vote reveals how spiritually lost TEC is and why North America needs a new Province that authentically represents historic and Biblical Anglicanism. The Instruments of the Anglican Communion could have averted this crisis. Instead, institutional inertia is preferred, and meanwhile, the tear in the fabric of our communion is now deeper and wider, the mission of the church suffers, and many people miss out on hearing the good news that a Saviour has come. "I look forward to the day when you are not only the Moderator of the Common Cause Partnership, but when we can also welcome you to the table of Primates as the Archbishop of a new, Biblically faithful Province in North America." Slam dunk.
There is an exquisite irony in the "deposition" of Bishop Duncan. The mostly liberal and revisionist HOB who couldn't wait to deep six one of its own ("prayerfully" of course as Mrs. Jefferts Schori stated) is now faced with a crisis as to who will fill Bishop Duncan's shoes as the see of Pittsburgh is technically "vacant" or at least Dr. Louie Crew thinks so.
Since the Episcopal Church is a hierarchical church, as we are so frequently told by the heavy hitters at 815 Second Avenue, then presumably the diocese will be run from the headquarters of the Episcopal Church by someone appointed by Jefferts Schori, the Executive Council, or the HOB. That someone could even be Jefferts Schori herself!
Nope. The diocese is going to be run by Pittsburgh's Diocesan Standing Committee, clergy and parishioners of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. That's some hierarchy. Were this the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope or a Cardinal would have a new bishop in the office on Monday. Not here. According to a press release, the diocesan convention will go forward as planned in "an orderly and grace-filled manner" on October 4.
The Episcopal Church's own documents show that the vote to "depose" Bishop Duncan fell far short of the majority required by TEC's canons. Mark Mccall's story, Do Bishops Deserve Due Process should be read as a reminder that they do. Click here. http://tinyurl.com/3pphel Allan Haley's argument Why the Vote was Wrong is also must reading: http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=9054
One person who has fond memories of Bishop Duncan is Fr. Jerry Kramer of the Church of the Annunciation in Broadmore, New Orleans. In an e-mail to VOL, he said the Pittsburgh bishop raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Annunciation, post Katrina. "Without him we would likely have closed," he told VOL. We have not heard the end of this debacle. Watch for more fall out from this supreme act of stupidity. VOL has posted a number of stories in today's digest covering this ongoing saga.
Letter from Archbishop Orombi
24th September 2008
The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan
Pittsburgh, PA
USA
Dear Bishop Duncan,
I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the name above all names, and the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I have very intentionally addressed this letter to you as Bishop Duncan, for, indeed, you are a Bishop.
I was upcountry tending to pastoral business when the TEC House of Bishops took their vote to supposedly depose you, so I am very sorry that I could not add my name at the time to the very good statement issued by my esteemed colleagues, Archbishops Venables, Gomez, and Nzimbi. I hope you know of the unqualified support you have from me and our entire House of Bishops.
In 2004, when the Church of Uganda broke communion with TEC, we stated that, although we were breaking communion with TEC, we remained in communion with you, the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and all who uphold the historic and Biblical faith of Anglicanism and did not support the unbiblical decision of confirming the election of Gene Robinson to the episcopate.
Despite the shameful action taken last week by the majority of TEC Bishops, nothing about our position has changed. We continue to recognize you as a Bishop of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We continue to recognize you as a Bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion, and we whole-heartedly support the action of Archbishop Greg Venables and the House of Bishops of the Province of the Southern Cone to receive you into their House of Bishops. We continue in full communion with you and we do not recognize the action of the TEC House of Bishops to depose you.
Furthermore, we are praying that on 4th October the majority of the Diocese of Pittsburgh will vote to be reunited with you as their Bishop. When the King of Buganda tried to destroy the Christian movement in 1886 by killing the converts in his court, he instead fueled the spread of the Gospel among our people. I believe that can also happen in North America. So, do not be discouraged. Our God is a God of redemption, and He will take what was intended for evil and bring good out of it.
Finally, if the world couldn’t see it before, this vote reveals how spiritually lost TEC is and why North America needs a new Province that authentically represents historic and Biblical Anglicanism. The Instruments of the Anglican Communion could have averted this crisis. Instead, institutional inertia is preferred, and meanwhile, the tear in the fabric of our communion is now deeper and wider, the mission of the church suffers, and many people miss out on hearing the good news that a Saviour has come.
I look forward to the day when you are not only the Moderator of the Common Cause Partnership, but when we can also welcome you to the table of Primates as the Archbishop of a new, Biblically faithful Province in North America. May the Lord grant you wisdom and apostolic favour as you lead that movement, and may He add daily the number who are being saved.
Yours, in Christ,
The Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi
ARCHBISHOP OF CHURCH OF UGANDA
The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan
Pittsburgh, PA
USA
Dear Bishop Duncan,
I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the name above all names, and the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I have very intentionally addressed this letter to you as Bishop Duncan, for, indeed, you are a Bishop.
I was upcountry tending to pastoral business when the TEC House of Bishops took their vote to supposedly depose you, so I am very sorry that I could not add my name at the time to the very good statement issued by my esteemed colleagues, Archbishops Venables, Gomez, and Nzimbi. I hope you know of the unqualified support you have from me and our entire House of Bishops.
In 2004, when the Church of Uganda broke communion with TEC, we stated that, although we were breaking communion with TEC, we remained in communion with you, the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and all who uphold the historic and Biblical faith of Anglicanism and did not support the unbiblical decision of confirming the election of Gene Robinson to the episcopate.
Despite the shameful action taken last week by the majority of TEC Bishops, nothing about our position has changed. We continue to recognize you as a Bishop of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We continue to recognize you as a Bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion, and we whole-heartedly support the action of Archbishop Greg Venables and the House of Bishops of the Province of the Southern Cone to receive you into their House of Bishops. We continue in full communion with you and we do not recognize the action of the TEC House of Bishops to depose you.
Furthermore, we are praying that on 4th October the majority of the Diocese of Pittsburgh will vote to be reunited with you as their Bishop. When the King of Buganda tried to destroy the Christian movement in 1886 by killing the converts in his court, he instead fueled the spread of the Gospel among our people. I believe that can also happen in North America. So, do not be discouraged. Our God is a God of redemption, and He will take what was intended for evil and bring good out of it.
Finally, if the world couldn’t see it before, this vote reveals how spiritually lost TEC is and why North America needs a new Province that authentically represents historic and Biblical Anglicanism. The Instruments of the Anglican Communion could have averted this crisis. Instead, institutional inertia is preferred, and meanwhile, the tear in the fabric of our communion is now deeper and wider, the mission of the church suffers, and many people miss out on hearing the good news that a Saviour has come.
I look forward to the day when you are not only the Moderator of the Common Cause Partnership, but when we can also welcome you to the table of Primates as the Archbishop of a new, Biblically faithful Province in North America. May the Lord grant you wisdom and apostolic favour as you lead that movement, and may He add daily the number who are being saved.
Yours, in Christ,
The Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi
ARCHBISHOP OF CHURCH OF UGANDA
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Anglican Support Grows for Bishop Duncan
From The Living Church:
Posted on: September 25, 2008
The number of primates and bishops in the Anglican Communion publicly supporting Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh is growing since the House of Bishops voted to depose him from the ordained ministry of The Episcopal Church on Sept. 17.
Six diocesan bishops from the Church of England -‑ Blackburn, Chester, Chichester, Exeter, Rochester and Winchester -‑ said they continue to regard him as a bishop in good standing of the Anglican Communion.
The Bishop of Winchester, the Rt. Rev. Michael Schott-Joynt, has previously called for an “orderly separation” of liberal and conservative Anglicans following the Lambeth Conference last August.
The statement by the English bishops was preceded by statements of support for Bishop Duncan from the primates of Jerusalem and the Middle East, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Southeast Asia, the Southern Cone, Uganda and the West Indies.
“We continue to recognize the fidelity and validity of Bishop Duncan's orders, role, and ministry. Without reservation, we continue in full sacramental communion with him as an Anglican bishop,” said archbishops Peter Akinola of Nigeria, Drexel Gomez of the West Indies, Benjamin Nzimibi of Kenya and Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables of the Southern Cone. “We thank God that by the vote of the Provincial Synod he has been given membership in the House of Bishops of the Southern Cone. Our fellowship and shared ministry with him is not disrupted.”
Shortly after his deposition from The Episcopal Church, Bishop Venables and the provincial synod of the Southern Cone, which has its headquarters in Argentina, welcomed Bishop Duncan as a member in good standing of that church’s House of Bishops. That decision was welcomed by Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda.
“Despite the shameful action taken last week by the majority of [The Episcopal Church] Bishops, nothing about our position has changed. We continue to recognize you as a bishop of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church,” Archbishop Orombi said. “We continue to recognize you as a bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion, and we wholeheartedly support the action of Archbishop Greg Venables and the House of Bishops of the Province of the Southern Cone to receive you into their House of Bishops. We continue in full communion with you and we do not recognize the action of the TEC House of Bishops to depose you.
“If the world couldn’t see it before, this vote reveals how spiritually lost TEC is and why North America needs a new province that authentically represents historic and Biblical Anglicanism," Archbishop Orombi said. "The Instruments of the Anglican Communion could have averted this crisis. Instead, institutional inertia is preferred, and meanwhile, the tear in the fabric of our Communion is now deeper and wider, the mission of the church suffers, and many people miss out on hearing the good news that a Savior has come.”
Last week the Most Rev. Colin Bazley, former primate of the Southern Cone and now an assistant bishop in the Church of England’s Diocese of Chester, wrote an open letter to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams that calls for the suspension of The Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion and the creation of a new province for conservatives. In an interview with the Times of London, the Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester called on Archbishop Williams to create a new North American province.
“The behavior of The Episcopal Church House of Bishops shows that the promised moratorium at Lambeth is dead and their integrity in wishing to bring peace must now be questioned,” Bishop Nazir-Ali said, as quoted by the Times.
Posted on: September 25, 2008
The number of primates and bishops in the Anglican Communion publicly supporting Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh is growing since the House of Bishops voted to depose him from the ordained ministry of The Episcopal Church on Sept. 17.
Six diocesan bishops from the Church of England -‑ Blackburn, Chester, Chichester, Exeter, Rochester and Winchester -‑ said they continue to regard him as a bishop in good standing of the Anglican Communion.
The Bishop of Winchester, the Rt. Rev. Michael Schott-Joynt, has previously called for an “orderly separation” of liberal and conservative Anglicans following the Lambeth Conference last August.
The statement by the English bishops was preceded by statements of support for Bishop Duncan from the primates of Jerusalem and the Middle East, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Southeast Asia, the Southern Cone, Uganda and the West Indies.
“We continue to recognize the fidelity and validity of Bishop Duncan's orders, role, and ministry. Without reservation, we continue in full sacramental communion with him as an Anglican bishop,” said archbishops Peter Akinola of Nigeria, Drexel Gomez of the West Indies, Benjamin Nzimibi of Kenya and Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables of the Southern Cone. “We thank God that by the vote of the Provincial Synod he has been given membership in the House of Bishops of the Southern Cone. Our fellowship and shared ministry with him is not disrupted.”
Shortly after his deposition from The Episcopal Church, Bishop Venables and the provincial synod of the Southern Cone, which has its headquarters in Argentina, welcomed Bishop Duncan as a member in good standing of that church’s House of Bishops. That decision was welcomed by Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda.
“Despite the shameful action taken last week by the majority of [The Episcopal Church] Bishops, nothing about our position has changed. We continue to recognize you as a bishop of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church,” Archbishop Orombi said. “We continue to recognize you as a bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion, and we wholeheartedly support the action of Archbishop Greg Venables and the House of Bishops of the Province of the Southern Cone to receive you into their House of Bishops. We continue in full communion with you and we do not recognize the action of the TEC House of Bishops to depose you.
“If the world couldn’t see it before, this vote reveals how spiritually lost TEC is and why North America needs a new province that authentically represents historic and Biblical Anglicanism," Archbishop Orombi said. "The Instruments of the Anglican Communion could have averted this crisis. Instead, institutional inertia is preferred, and meanwhile, the tear in the fabric of our Communion is now deeper and wider, the mission of the church suffers, and many people miss out on hearing the good news that a Savior has come.”
Last week the Most Rev. Colin Bazley, former primate of the Southern Cone and now an assistant bishop in the Church of England’s Diocese of Chester, wrote an open letter to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams that calls for the suspension of The Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion and the creation of a new province for conservatives. In an interview with the Times of London, the Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester called on Archbishop Williams to create a new North American province.
“The behavior of The Episcopal Church House of Bishops shows that the promised moratorium at Lambeth is dead and their integrity in wishing to bring peace must now be questioned,” Bishop Nazir-Ali said, as quoted by the Times.
Closed Doors at Episcopal Church
From The NY Sun:
By JAY AKASIE | September 25, 2008
Just last month, the director of the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations, Maureen Shea, called on President Bush to open an "interests section" — essentially, a pared down embassy — in Tehran, Iran.
"For too long, the U.S. policy of non-engagement with Iran has brought us inflammatory words and provocative actions and has failed to reduce tensions or move toward a just and peaceful relationship," Ms. Shea wrote in the letter, which she also addressed to the presidential candidates. Ms. Shea's counterparts from the Quakers and the Mennonites also signed the letter.
It's amusing to watch the left-wing leadership of a religious group take President Bush to task for his administration's policy of non-engagement, because the leaders of the very same Episcopal Church last week voted to depose one its bishops for refusing to go along with the church's radical leftist agenda. And there was no debate or dialogue allowed.
The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katherine Jefferts Schori, apparently has no use for a similar policy of engagement when it comes to a bishop of her church, Robert Duncan, whose only fault is that he follows the authority of scripture — and not Ms. Schori's trendy politics. Last Friday, Ms. Schori signed a formal sentence deposing Bishop Duncan from the ordained ministry and removed him as bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Fortunately, the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone of southern South America immediately instated Bishop Duncan into its governing body. The idea here is that Bishop Duncan and the Episcopalians of greater Pittsburgh will be able to continue to worship the way they always have, but under new leadership, even if the diocese they are now a part of is non-geographical; i.e., far away in South America.
Bishop Duncan's attorney, John Lewis, said in a statement on Monday that he thinks Ms. Schori "believes that his 'deposition' will assist her in her desire to seize the property of the Diocese of Pittsburgh." It seems this mess all comes down to who can get his — or her — hands on valuable real estate.
For most Episcopalians, though, this tragic event speaks to more than just pricey real estate. The cornerstones of their beliefs, such as the apostolic succession, remain sacred and an integral part of their spiritual lives. Bishop Duncan was defrocked because he refused to go along with anything otherwise. His story is one of steadfastness and faith.
On the other hand, Ms. Schori's actions leading up to the bogus deposition of Bishop Duncan were ruthless. She did what many bishops of the Episcopal Church have been doing for the last three decades: Re-jiggering some canon law and boldly trampling over the rest of it in order to push what is essentially a new socialist religion on an entire church body.
A good example of her cavalier actions: In order to move toward deposing a clergyman, canon law requires that the bishop must first be "inhibited" — that is to say, restricted — in his church duties. Ms. Schori disregarded this canon and instead signed the sentence of deposition.
Concurrent with this sad episode is the Episcopal Church's inexplicable call for dialogue with the tyrannical Iranian president, who happens to be in New York City this week. In fact, this evening he attends a dinner in Midtown hosted by two church groups that have long partnered with the Episcopal Church and its radical socialist agenda: the Quakers and Mennonites, the same two groups who co-signed last month's open letter calling for diplomatic relations with Iran.
The folks over at the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights issued this statement yesterday: "To appease someone like Ahmadinejad is sickening, but for it to be done in the name of Christianity is enough to induce vomiting."
Indeed, we agree with our Roman Catholic friends that it's not too difficult to get a bit queasy watching those who preach a mean game about engagement then have trouble putting any of it into practice themselves.
Mr. Akasie, an Episcopalian, is a contributor to The New York Sun.
By JAY AKASIE | September 25, 2008
Just last month, the director of the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations, Maureen Shea, called on President Bush to open an "interests section" — essentially, a pared down embassy — in Tehran, Iran.
"For too long, the U.S. policy of non-engagement with Iran has brought us inflammatory words and provocative actions and has failed to reduce tensions or move toward a just and peaceful relationship," Ms. Shea wrote in the letter, which she also addressed to the presidential candidates. Ms. Shea's counterparts from the Quakers and the Mennonites also signed the letter.
It's amusing to watch the left-wing leadership of a religious group take President Bush to task for his administration's policy of non-engagement, because the leaders of the very same Episcopal Church last week voted to depose one its bishops for refusing to go along with the church's radical leftist agenda. And there was no debate or dialogue allowed.
The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katherine Jefferts Schori, apparently has no use for a similar policy of engagement when it comes to a bishop of her church, Robert Duncan, whose only fault is that he follows the authority of scripture — and not Ms. Schori's trendy politics. Last Friday, Ms. Schori signed a formal sentence deposing Bishop Duncan from the ordained ministry and removed him as bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Fortunately, the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone of southern South America immediately instated Bishop Duncan into its governing body. The idea here is that Bishop Duncan and the Episcopalians of greater Pittsburgh will be able to continue to worship the way they always have, but under new leadership, even if the diocese they are now a part of is non-geographical; i.e., far away in South America.
Bishop Duncan's attorney, John Lewis, said in a statement on Monday that he thinks Ms. Schori "believes that his 'deposition' will assist her in her desire to seize the property of the Diocese of Pittsburgh." It seems this mess all comes down to who can get his — or her — hands on valuable real estate.
For most Episcopalians, though, this tragic event speaks to more than just pricey real estate. The cornerstones of their beliefs, such as the apostolic succession, remain sacred and an integral part of their spiritual lives. Bishop Duncan was defrocked because he refused to go along with anything otherwise. His story is one of steadfastness and faith.
On the other hand, Ms. Schori's actions leading up to the bogus deposition of Bishop Duncan were ruthless. She did what many bishops of the Episcopal Church have been doing for the last three decades: Re-jiggering some canon law and boldly trampling over the rest of it in order to push what is essentially a new socialist religion on an entire church body.
A good example of her cavalier actions: In order to move toward deposing a clergyman, canon law requires that the bishop must first be "inhibited" — that is to say, restricted — in his church duties. Ms. Schori disregarded this canon and instead signed the sentence of deposition.
Concurrent with this sad episode is the Episcopal Church's inexplicable call for dialogue with the tyrannical Iranian president, who happens to be in New York City this week. In fact, this evening he attends a dinner in Midtown hosted by two church groups that have long partnered with the Episcopal Church and its radical socialist agenda: the Quakers and Mennonites, the same two groups who co-signed last month's open letter calling for diplomatic relations with Iran.
The folks over at the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights issued this statement yesterday: "To appease someone like Ahmadinejad is sickening, but for it to be done in the name of Christianity is enough to induce vomiting."
Indeed, we agree with our Roman Catholic friends that it's not too difficult to get a bit queasy watching those who preach a mean game about engagement then have trouble putting any of it into practice themselves.
Mr. Akasie, an Episcopalian, is a contributor to The New York Sun.
WEST TEXAS: St. John's, New Braunfels Departs Episcopal Church
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
9/24/2008
More than 300 members, 90% of the congregation of St. John's Episcopal Church in New Braunfels, have left The Episcopal Church citing the church's failure to uphold the authority of Holy Scripture and recent sexual innovations including the consecration of an openly homosexual priest to the episcopacy.
The departure process from the Diocese of West Texas under the Rt. Rev. Gary R. Lillibridge, a moderately conservative bishop, was fair, said the Rev. Dr. Chuck L. Thebeau rector of the Evangelical catholic parish, in a phone call to VOL. "We feel relieved that this has been accomplished in an amicable manner and that we are now set free to carry out the mission the Lord has given to us."
Thebeau and his congregation have not decided which overseas jurisdiction they will choose, but they have been getting advice from Kenyan bishops Bill Atwood and Bill Murdoch. "We're members of the Anglican Communion Network and we will stay under their oversight for the moment. Geographically we are close to the Diocese of Ft. Worth," he told VOL.
In a letter addressed to the clergy and senior/bishop's wardens of West Texas from Bishop Lillibridge, which VOL obtained, he said the diocese had signed an agreement that will enable both those remaining and those departing to move forward with their life and ministry.
Lillibridge said the assets of the St. John's, including all bank accounts, assets real and personal property, will remain with the continuing diocesan congregation. "The diocese will sell a 20-acre tract of land in New Braunfels to the departing group for $85,400 and will also assume responsibility for an outstanding note on the property for $36,000", wrote Lillibridge.
The bishop said those leaving must be gone from the church premises by September 30. "The agreement is conditioned on the fact that neither a member of the diocese nor the Presiding Bishop takes legal or canonical action by Sept. 26 to prevent the agreement from being consummated." Lillibridge said. Retired Diocesan Bishop Jim Folts will serve as interim priest for the remaining congregation.
Fr. Thebeau told VOL that the 300 departing members wanted to go because of the growing distance between what they believe and what the Episcopal Church has become.
"We are among the top 15 highest attended congregations in the diocese of 91 parishes," Thebeau told VOL. "We eagerly await a new North American Anglican Province."
Thebeau said he was not positive about women's ordination, but his congregation does use the 1979 Prayer Book.
Thebeau said he was glad and very impressed that Bishop Lillibridge voted no in the "deposition" of Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan at the recent House of Bishops in Salt Lake City.
Asked where he will take his congregation in the short term, Thebeau said they will worship at a facility formerly owned by the Lutherans and now owned by a Baptist group that uses it for counseling and social ministry. "We will have unfettered access to the sanctuary. We plan a vigorous evangelistic outreach to the community." New Braunfels is a city of 50,000.
Thebeau said St. Joseph's Anglican (APA) in New Braunfels has offered space at their facility for midweek meetings.
The priest said he does not plan to renounce his orders and hopes he can obtain letters Dimissory from the bishop so the relationship can end amicably. He said he was asked to renounce his orders, but he has refused to do so.
Thebeau, 52, holds a D. Min degree from Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA, and has been a priest for 27 years in The Episcopal Church. He was within three years of full retirement at age 55.
"I hate to think what this will do to me and my family, but the gospel is more important than money. "We will have a budget in excess of $400,000 and more has been promised once we leave. We have substantial givers and I have been told money will be forthcoming once we have broken free."
Thebeau said he would describe about a third of the parishes in the diocese as being orthodox.
END
www.virtueonline.org
9/24/2008
More than 300 members, 90% of the congregation of St. John's Episcopal Church in New Braunfels, have left The Episcopal Church citing the church's failure to uphold the authority of Holy Scripture and recent sexual innovations including the consecration of an openly homosexual priest to the episcopacy.
The departure process from the Diocese of West Texas under the Rt. Rev. Gary R. Lillibridge, a moderately conservative bishop, was fair, said the Rev. Dr. Chuck L. Thebeau rector of the Evangelical catholic parish, in a phone call to VOL. "We feel relieved that this has been accomplished in an amicable manner and that we are now set free to carry out the mission the Lord has given to us."
Thebeau and his congregation have not decided which overseas jurisdiction they will choose, but they have been getting advice from Kenyan bishops Bill Atwood and Bill Murdoch. "We're members of the Anglican Communion Network and we will stay under their oversight for the moment. Geographically we are close to the Diocese of Ft. Worth," he told VOL.
In a letter addressed to the clergy and senior/bishop's wardens of West Texas from Bishop Lillibridge, which VOL obtained, he said the diocese had signed an agreement that will enable both those remaining and those departing to move forward with their life and ministry.
Lillibridge said the assets of the St. John's, including all bank accounts, assets real and personal property, will remain with the continuing diocesan congregation. "The diocese will sell a 20-acre tract of land in New Braunfels to the departing group for $85,400 and will also assume responsibility for an outstanding note on the property for $36,000", wrote Lillibridge.
The bishop said those leaving must be gone from the church premises by September 30. "The agreement is conditioned on the fact that neither a member of the diocese nor the Presiding Bishop takes legal or canonical action by Sept. 26 to prevent the agreement from being consummated." Lillibridge said. Retired Diocesan Bishop Jim Folts will serve as interim priest for the remaining congregation.
Fr. Thebeau told VOL that the 300 departing members wanted to go because of the growing distance between what they believe and what the Episcopal Church has become.
"We are among the top 15 highest attended congregations in the diocese of 91 parishes," Thebeau told VOL. "We eagerly await a new North American Anglican Province."
Thebeau said he was not positive about women's ordination, but his congregation does use the 1979 Prayer Book.
Thebeau said he was glad and very impressed that Bishop Lillibridge voted no in the "deposition" of Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan at the recent House of Bishops in Salt Lake City.
Asked where he will take his congregation in the short term, Thebeau said they will worship at a facility formerly owned by the Lutherans and now owned by a Baptist group that uses it for counseling and social ministry. "We will have unfettered access to the sanctuary. We plan a vigorous evangelistic outreach to the community." New Braunfels is a city of 50,000.
Thebeau said St. Joseph's Anglican (APA) in New Braunfels has offered space at their facility for midweek meetings.
The priest said he does not plan to renounce his orders and hopes he can obtain letters Dimissory from the bishop so the relationship can end amicably. He said he was asked to renounce his orders, but he has refused to do so.
Thebeau, 52, holds a D. Min degree from Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA, and has been a priest for 27 years in The Episcopal Church. He was within three years of full retirement at age 55.
"I hate to think what this will do to me and my family, but the gospel is more important than money. "We will have a budget in excess of $400,000 and more has been promised once we leave. We have substantial givers and I have been told money will be forthcoming once we have broken free."
Thebeau said he would describe about a third of the parishes in the diocese as being orthodox.
END
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
UK: Statement from Bishop Wallace Benn and others supporting call for new province in America
by Canon Dr. Chris Sugden
Anglican Mainstream
www.anglican-mainstream.net
September 23rd, 2008
"The Jerusalem statement from almost 1200 confessing Anglican leaders urged the Archbishops of Nigeria, Kenya, Southern Cone, Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa and Rwanda to recognise a new Anglican province for North America.
'This has now become more urgent due to the aggressive illiberal and unprincipled behaviour of The Episcopal Church House of Bishops towards the Bishop of Pittsburgh who is currently moderator of the orthodox Common Cause Partnership.
'The behaviour of The Episcopal Church House of Bishops shows that the promised moratorium at Lambeth is dead and their integrity in wishing to bring peace must now be questioned.'
Bishop Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes and trustee of Anglican Mainstream
Dr Philip Giddings, Convenor of Anglican Mainstream
---Canon Dr Chris Sugden is Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream
Anglican Mainstream
www.anglican-mainstream.net
September 23rd, 2008
"The Jerusalem statement from almost 1200 confessing Anglican leaders urged the Archbishops of Nigeria, Kenya, Southern Cone, Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa and Rwanda to recognise a new Anglican province for North America.
'This has now become more urgent due to the aggressive illiberal and unprincipled behaviour of The Episcopal Church House of Bishops towards the Bishop of Pittsburgh who is currently moderator of the orthodox Common Cause Partnership.
'The behaviour of The Episcopal Church House of Bishops shows that the promised moratorium at Lambeth is dead and their integrity in wishing to bring peace must now be questioned.'
Bishop Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes and trustee of Anglican Mainstream
Dr Philip Giddings, Convenor of Anglican Mainstream
---Canon Dr Chris Sugden is Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream
Orthodox Episcopal Priest Goes Head to Head with Presiding Bishop over Biblical Interpretation
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
9/24/2008
When Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori recently visited the Diocese of Georgia she got more than she bargained for when she went head to head with the orthodox rector of St. John's Church in Savannah, Georgia.
At a meeting with the clergy of the diocese, she asked them to meditate on Mark 1:11, "You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased", the words spoken by "a voice from heaven" to Jesus at his baptism in Jordan.
"We were to apply this text directly to ourselves, and to ponder what it meant to be assured of God's unconditional love and approval. To judge from the responses, the assembled clergy loved this exercise, and in the discussion that followed the conventional themes of inclusiveness emerged - although a few did acknowledge a nagging sense that God might not be altogether "well-pleased" with them," wrote the Rev. Dr. Gavin G. Dunbar, rector of St. John's in his parish newsletter.
"What no-one acknowledged was that this approach to the biblical text rested on very thin ice. It simply ignored what the text actually says: "Thou art my beloved son" - the singular, and not the plural "you" - or, as it appears in St. Matthew's gospel, "This is my beloved son" - this person, and not any others.
"That (unacknowledged) exegetical fact has critical theological implications, likewise ignored. On the one hand it means that the human race does not by nature immediately enjoy divine sonship and God's love. On the other it means that only Jesus does. And therefore our share in the love of God is not by nature but by grace, not immediate but mediated, and mediated by Jesus. "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). As sole mediator of God and man, as the one through whom alone we may come to enjoy the Father's love and approval, Jesus has the right to command our faith and obedience to his word, as means and conditions for receiving the benefits of his mediation. And that opens up the whole question of what faith and obedience to him involves: in particular, the right ordering of the Church's life, and the right ordering of the human soul. And that brings us directly to the questions which Ms Jefferts Schori and her adulators dismissed as ungracious nit-picking by trouble-making conservatives. "We all believe in Jesus" she assured us, but what do we believe about Jesus? Who is this Jesus? In her account, a person of remarkably little consequence.
"When I ventured to raise this exegetical and theological problem, Ms Jefferts Schori made no answer. But other persons present were quick to refute me. One appealed to the immediacy of his feeling of God's love as proof that I was wrong about the need of mediation. Subjective experience trumped doctrine. Another dismissed the authority of Scripture and the Church's teaching as irrelevant, because, he said, (I kid you not) he had heard the voice of God when Ms Jefferts Schori spoke! An over-excited response, no doubt - but virtually the whole room then endorsed his comments with a standing ovation. Sad as it is that an officer of the Church gives so little importance to the mediating person and work of Christ, it is even more sad that so many Episcopalians see no problem there, and resent those who do.
"There were two places where Ms Jefferts Schori's grace and charm wore thin. The first was in her inability or uninterest (I couldn't tell which) in engaging with conservatives in rational exchange of views designed to set their doctrinal fears at rest. She hinted that attempts to do so were impolite.
The other was in the matter of church property - a "legacy", she said, which she has no moral right to abandon, even though it means spending enormous amounts of church money on litigation. That's a stark contrast to her attitude to the theological legacy of the Church - the priceless treasure of truth entrusted by Christ to his Church, the legacy which she is solemnly sworn to uphold, and which the constitution makes the fundamental commitment of the Episcopal Church. Apparently this legacy may be abandoned without a second thought."
Fr. Dunbar said he went away from the meeting "sad and sorry."
The rector said she employed language only to evacuate it of its content - theological baubles brought down from the attic to ornament a theological perspective that can only be called sub-creedal, because it fell below the level of what the Constitution of the Episcopal Church speaks of as "the historic Faith and Order as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer". "In so doing she perpetuates the illusion that the Church can be united as a spiritual community without coherent doctrine."
END
www.virtueonline.org
9/24/2008
When Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori recently visited the Diocese of Georgia she got more than she bargained for when she went head to head with the orthodox rector of St. John's Church in Savannah, Georgia.
At a meeting with the clergy of the diocese, she asked them to meditate on Mark 1:11, "You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased", the words spoken by "a voice from heaven" to Jesus at his baptism in Jordan.
"We were to apply this text directly to ourselves, and to ponder what it meant to be assured of God's unconditional love and approval. To judge from the responses, the assembled clergy loved this exercise, and in the discussion that followed the conventional themes of inclusiveness emerged - although a few did acknowledge a nagging sense that God might not be altogether "well-pleased" with them," wrote the Rev. Dr. Gavin G. Dunbar, rector of St. John's in his parish newsletter.
"What no-one acknowledged was that this approach to the biblical text rested on very thin ice. It simply ignored what the text actually says: "Thou art my beloved son" - the singular, and not the plural "you" - or, as it appears in St. Matthew's gospel, "This is my beloved son" - this person, and not any others.
"That (unacknowledged) exegetical fact has critical theological implications, likewise ignored. On the one hand it means that the human race does not by nature immediately enjoy divine sonship and God's love. On the other it means that only Jesus does. And therefore our share in the love of God is not by nature but by grace, not immediate but mediated, and mediated by Jesus. "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). As sole mediator of God and man, as the one through whom alone we may come to enjoy the Father's love and approval, Jesus has the right to command our faith and obedience to his word, as means and conditions for receiving the benefits of his mediation. And that opens up the whole question of what faith and obedience to him involves: in particular, the right ordering of the Church's life, and the right ordering of the human soul. And that brings us directly to the questions which Ms Jefferts Schori and her adulators dismissed as ungracious nit-picking by trouble-making conservatives. "We all believe in Jesus" she assured us, but what do we believe about Jesus? Who is this Jesus? In her account, a person of remarkably little consequence.
"When I ventured to raise this exegetical and theological problem, Ms Jefferts Schori made no answer. But other persons present were quick to refute me. One appealed to the immediacy of his feeling of God's love as proof that I was wrong about the need of mediation. Subjective experience trumped doctrine. Another dismissed the authority of Scripture and the Church's teaching as irrelevant, because, he said, (I kid you not) he had heard the voice of God when Ms Jefferts Schori spoke! An over-excited response, no doubt - but virtually the whole room then endorsed his comments with a standing ovation. Sad as it is that an officer of the Church gives so little importance to the mediating person and work of Christ, it is even more sad that so many Episcopalians see no problem there, and resent those who do.
"There were two places where Ms Jefferts Schori's grace and charm wore thin. The first was in her inability or uninterest (I couldn't tell which) in engaging with conservatives in rational exchange of views designed to set their doctrinal fears at rest. She hinted that attempts to do so were impolite.
The other was in the matter of church property - a "legacy", she said, which she has no moral right to abandon, even though it means spending enormous amounts of church money on litigation. That's a stark contrast to her attitude to the theological legacy of the Church - the priceless treasure of truth entrusted by Christ to his Church, the legacy which she is solemnly sworn to uphold, and which the constitution makes the fundamental commitment of the Episcopal Church. Apparently this legacy may be abandoned without a second thought."
Fr. Dunbar said he went away from the meeting "sad and sorry."
The rector said she employed language only to evacuate it of its content - theological baubles brought down from the attic to ornament a theological perspective that can only be called sub-creedal, because it fell below the level of what the Constitution of the Episcopal Church speaks of as "the historic Faith and Order as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer". "In so doing she perpetuates the illusion that the Church can be united as a spiritual community without coherent doctrine."
END
Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is David Booth Beers
From The Anglican Curmudgeon:
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
From the Memorandum written to the members of the House of Bishops on September 12, 2008:
There may also be raised at this meeting the question of whether consent to the deposition of a bishop who has been certified to have abandoned the Communion of this Church must be by a majority of bishops present at the meeting at which the matter is presented or, on the other hand, by a majority of all the voting members of the House whether or not in attendance. Canon IV.9(2) states that the vote to consent must, first, take place at a "regular or special meeting of the House" and, second, be "by a majority of the whole number of Bishops entitled to vote." My Chancellor and the Parliamentarian of the House have both advised me that the canon means that the vote must be by a majority of all the bishops who are at the meeting at which the vote must be taken and who are entitled to vote.
From the Opening Brief filed by Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia on [Section] 57-9 Voting Issues, prepared in part and signed on September 5, 2008 (one week before the above Memorandum) by the law firm Goodwin Procter, of which David Booth Beers is a partner (bold again added, except for the heading, which is in bold in the original):
V. The phrase "majority of the whole number" in § 57-9(A) requires a majority vote of the whole number of "members" eligible to vote, whether or not they voted.
Just as the Court can and should resolve the proper definition of the statutory term "members" as a matter of law, it should, if there is any dispute on this issue, resolve the meaning of the statutory phrase "majority of the whole number" as a matter of law. That is, does the statute require that the vote reflect a majority of "the whole number" of members or only a majority of those who actually cast a ballot?
In their efforts to invoke the statute, the CANA Congregations properly concluded that a majority of "the whole number" was required. . . .
. . . Furthermore, the Congregations did not simply schedule a congregational meeting at which a vote of those present could be taken. Instead, they went to great lengths to ensure a majority vote of all those who . . . were eligible to vote . . . .
The Congregations' own case law . . . confirms that the above understanding of "majority of the whole number" was correct. . . .
Accordingly, the phrase "majority of the whole number" in § 57-9(A) refers to and requires a majority of the total number of a congregation's "members" over the age of 18, regardless of how many or how few actually cast a ballot.
TEC's brief attached a copy of Merriam-Webster's definition of "member" to enhance its argument. Let us do the same here, and attach Merriam-Webster's definition of "hypocrite":
1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2 : a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
From the Memorandum written to the members of the House of Bishops on September 12, 2008:
There may also be raised at this meeting the question of whether consent to the deposition of a bishop who has been certified to have abandoned the Communion of this Church must be by a majority of bishops present at the meeting at which the matter is presented or, on the other hand, by a majority of all the voting members of the House whether or not in attendance. Canon IV.9(2) states that the vote to consent must, first, take place at a "regular or special meeting of the House" and, second, be "by a majority of the whole number of Bishops entitled to vote." My Chancellor and the Parliamentarian of the House have both advised me that the canon means that the vote must be by a majority of all the bishops who are at the meeting at which the vote must be taken and who are entitled to vote.
From the Opening Brief filed by Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia on [Section] 57-9 Voting Issues, prepared in part and signed on September 5, 2008 (one week before the above Memorandum) by the law firm Goodwin Procter, of which David Booth Beers is a partner (bold again added, except for the heading, which is in bold in the original):
V. The phrase "majority of the whole number" in § 57-9(A) requires a majority vote of the whole number of "members" eligible to vote, whether or not they voted.
Just as the Court can and should resolve the proper definition of the statutory term "members" as a matter of law, it should, if there is any dispute on this issue, resolve the meaning of the statutory phrase "majority of the whole number" as a matter of law. That is, does the statute require that the vote reflect a majority of "the whole number" of members or only a majority of those who actually cast a ballot?
In their efforts to invoke the statute, the CANA Congregations properly concluded that a majority of "the whole number" was required. . . .
. . . Furthermore, the Congregations did not simply schedule a congregational meeting at which a vote of those present could be taken. Instead, they went to great lengths to ensure a majority vote of all those who . . . were eligible to vote . . . .
The Congregations' own case law . . . confirms that the above understanding of "majority of the whole number" was correct. . . .
Accordingly, the phrase "majority of the whole number" in § 57-9(A) refers to and requires a majority of the total number of a congregation's "members" over the age of 18, regardless of how many or how few actually cast a ballot.
TEC's brief attached a copy of Merriam-Webster's definition of "member" to enhance its argument. Let us do the same here, and attach Merriam-Webster's definition of "hypocrite":
1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2 : a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings
Leaving the Episcopal Church
From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
It's not about lifestyles; it's about believing that Christ is God
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
By Wendy Scott Paff
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh will vote Oct. 4 on whether to secede from the Episcopal Church -- the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion -- and realign with a more theologically conservative Anglican province in South America. Robert Duncan, the bishop of the Pittsburgh diocese until he was removed last week by the Episcopal House of Bishops, has led this movement in Pittsburgh and nationally.
For centuries, all Christian denominations shared core beliefs, of which the most central is that Jesus Christ is God and is a member of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Wendy Scott Paff is an adjunct faculty member in the English departments of the University of Pittsburgh and La Roche College and a communicant member of the Church of the Ascension in Oakland (wsp1+@pitt.edu). She lives in Aspinwall.
Over several decades, many self-titled "progressive" Episcopalians have abandoned as superstition the faith as written and agreed to by the worldwide Anglican Church, of which the U.S. Episcopal Church is a fraction. They have rejected beliefs unquestioned in mainstream Christianity; for example, that Jesus is both man and God, as evidenced by his historical resurrection.
The core of our differences does not lie in the high-profile issues of lifestyle, such as gay marriage or ordination, but in our understanding of who Jesus is. Their departure from all that is Christian is now so great that most members of our worldwide Anglican Church cannot in good conscience celebrate the Lord's Supper with these progressive Episcopalians.
Many bishops and priests in the Episcopal Church today believe God is an impersonal spirit like "the force" in Star Wars, and that Jesus represents only a good example and teacher, but not God. That is not Christianity.
These leaders claim they represent a majority. They do not. The majority of Anglicans still believe in the tenets of Christianity, as do the majority of Christians worldwide.
The notes, phone calls and letters of support sent to former Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan following his deposition last week (and some in anticipation of it) from every corner of the globe, from "nonprogressive" Episcopal bishops and from leaders of other denominations indicate that any majority claimed by those who voted to depose him is a lie. The kangaroo court of the deposition itself broke every Episcopal rule for such proceedings and reported as a majority vote numbers which are questionable given the number of bishops eligible to vote who were not present.
A difference in beliefs within the Episcopal Church is distressing, but is not necessarily reason to leave. Unfortunately, many of those who hold "progressive" beliefs have gone further than disagreeing with Christian tenets. They have hijacked the denomination into which I was confirmed more than 30 years ago.
These leaders have become intolerant of the traditional Christians in their midst and have sought systemically to suppress those whose beliefs remain Christian by refusing to ordain or appoint them as priests or bishops. Faced with the inability to worship and witness as our faith dictates, we have sought to leave and maintain our membership in the worldwide church from which the Episcopal Church has alienated itself.
In response, we have been harassed by those who call themselves tolerant, as the deposition of Bishop Duncan illustrates. Remember, he was deposed in anticipation of an act not yet taken and with the intent to intimidate those in the Pittsburgh Diocese who soon will be voting on whether to leave the Episcopal Church. We have even been asked to heed his deposition as a warning.
As a good (and agnostic) friend of mine exclaimed, "If they don't believe in what the church teaches, let them leave and create their own group." Since they haven't, and since they have sought to silence us, we must leave.
I seek to leave the Episcopal Church because it no longer teaches or represents that which I believe as a member of the worldwide Anglican Church--that Jesus Christ is God and that He died for my sins and rose again.
Let me add a final note on the assets held by the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. We traditional Christians have been accused of attempting to "abscond" with that which belongs to the Episcopal Church.
I am leaving the Episcopal Church regardless of the eventual disposition of those assets. I am leaving as a matter of conscience and belief. However, those assets were entrusted to an institution which held fast to the beliefs I now hold by people who shared those beliefs. Those people would not recognize or validate the Episcopal Church as it now exists. That church now desires to use those assets in ways they would not agree to. Who is violating their trust?
First published on September 24, 2008 at 12:00 am
It's not about lifestyles; it's about believing that Christ is God
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
By Wendy Scott Paff
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh will vote Oct. 4 on whether to secede from the Episcopal Church -- the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion -- and realign with a more theologically conservative Anglican province in South America. Robert Duncan, the bishop of the Pittsburgh diocese until he was removed last week by the Episcopal House of Bishops, has led this movement in Pittsburgh and nationally.
For centuries, all Christian denominations shared core beliefs, of which the most central is that Jesus Christ is God and is a member of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Wendy Scott Paff is an adjunct faculty member in the English departments of the University of Pittsburgh and La Roche College and a communicant member of the Church of the Ascension in Oakland (wsp1+@pitt.edu). She lives in Aspinwall.
Over several decades, many self-titled "progressive" Episcopalians have abandoned as superstition the faith as written and agreed to by the worldwide Anglican Church, of which the U.S. Episcopal Church is a fraction. They have rejected beliefs unquestioned in mainstream Christianity; for example, that Jesus is both man and God, as evidenced by his historical resurrection.
The core of our differences does not lie in the high-profile issues of lifestyle, such as gay marriage or ordination, but in our understanding of who Jesus is. Their departure from all that is Christian is now so great that most members of our worldwide Anglican Church cannot in good conscience celebrate the Lord's Supper with these progressive Episcopalians.
Many bishops and priests in the Episcopal Church today believe God is an impersonal spirit like "the force" in Star Wars, and that Jesus represents only a good example and teacher, but not God. That is not Christianity.
These leaders claim they represent a majority. They do not. The majority of Anglicans still believe in the tenets of Christianity, as do the majority of Christians worldwide.
The notes, phone calls and letters of support sent to former Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan following his deposition last week (and some in anticipation of it) from every corner of the globe, from "nonprogressive" Episcopal bishops and from leaders of other denominations indicate that any majority claimed by those who voted to depose him is a lie. The kangaroo court of the deposition itself broke every Episcopal rule for such proceedings and reported as a majority vote numbers which are questionable given the number of bishops eligible to vote who were not present.
A difference in beliefs within the Episcopal Church is distressing, but is not necessarily reason to leave. Unfortunately, many of those who hold "progressive" beliefs have gone further than disagreeing with Christian tenets. They have hijacked the denomination into which I was confirmed more than 30 years ago.
These leaders have become intolerant of the traditional Christians in their midst and have sought systemically to suppress those whose beliefs remain Christian by refusing to ordain or appoint them as priests or bishops. Faced with the inability to worship and witness as our faith dictates, we have sought to leave and maintain our membership in the worldwide church from which the Episcopal Church has alienated itself.
In response, we have been harassed by those who call themselves tolerant, as the deposition of Bishop Duncan illustrates. Remember, he was deposed in anticipation of an act not yet taken and with the intent to intimidate those in the Pittsburgh Diocese who soon will be voting on whether to leave the Episcopal Church. We have even been asked to heed his deposition as a warning.
As a good (and agnostic) friend of mine exclaimed, "If they don't believe in what the church teaches, let them leave and create their own group." Since they haven't, and since they have sought to silence us, we must leave.
I seek to leave the Episcopal Church because it no longer teaches or represents that which I believe as a member of the worldwide Anglican Church--that Jesus Christ is God and that He died for my sins and rose again.
Let me add a final note on the assets held by the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. We traditional Christians have been accused of attempting to "abscond" with that which belongs to the Episcopal Church.
I am leaving the Episcopal Church regardless of the eventual disposition of those assets. I am leaving as a matter of conscience and belief. However, those assets were entrusted to an institution which held fast to the beliefs I now hold by people who shared those beliefs. Those people would not recognize or validate the Episcopal Church as it now exists. That church now desires to use those assets in ways they would not agree to. Who is violating their trust?
First published on September 24, 2008 at 12:00 am
Give us new province, say orthodox
From Times Online (UK):
September 23, 2008
Last week Colin Bazley, former primate of the Southern Cone and now an assistant bishop in the Chester diocese, wrote an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury calling for the suspension of The Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion and the creation of a new province for the conservatives. This was in response to the deposition of Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh, and which we covered last week. This is not going to go away. Even though Dr Rowan Williams is not planning to comment and has instead headed of to Lourdes with several busloads of Anglican pilgrims, hoping no doubt for a miraculous healing for his church, six of his bishops have today put out their own statement of support for Bishop Duncan. And as we report, one of those bishops, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali of Rochester, has in an interview with me today repeated the call for a new province first made by the Gafcon leaders at their conference this summer. I've always held out the hope in my own heart that the split would not come this side of the Atlantic. But I've recently spent a little time with some extremely senior laypeople in the conservative moment. They are not 'names' familiar to the blogosphere. But it seems there can be little doubt. What has happened there will happen here. Expect property battles and more in years to come. Read on for Bishop Michael's interview, and the response from Anglican Mainstream.
It has crossed my mind recently that Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is secretly one of the "orthodox". That can surely be the only reason that she has created a martyr who is now being venerated by evangelicals worldwide, and who is poised to become the sanctified leader of an orthodox movement that is demanding, and might well get, its own province.
Have we come so far from our Catholic tradition that we have forgotten the power of martyrdom, on which the Western church is built? Does no-one in TEC understand any more the meaning of sacrifice?
Because a martyr is what Bob Duncan now is. The Episcopal Church should not need a heretically catholic Anglican such as me to tell it that the next step up from martyrdom is sainthood. Bishop Duncan's office has been inundated with emails, phonecalls and letters of supportm since the ill-advised deposition. Since Friday, he has had personal messages from six primates, including ++Anis and ++Chew, indicating their intention not to recognise the deposition and to support the Pittsburgh "remnant". There have been all kinds of other ones as well from various bishops, clergy and laity all over the world. They are being catalogued on a new site, set up specially to venerate the deposed bishop.
And now in England, six bishops are pledging their support and saying they will continue to recognise him. Surely that is momentous enough to warrant an archiepiscopal comment? Or perhaps all pretence of episcopal collegiality has been abandoned.
This is what they say:
'As bishops in the Church of England, we are deeply saddened and shocked by the proposed deposition of Bishop Robert Duncan in the Episcopal Church, USA. We declare that we continue to believe that Bishop Bob is a bishop in the Church of God and a bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion. We continue to pray for him and for his diocese of Pittsburgh.
+Nicholas Blackburn
+Peter Cestr:
+John Cicester:
+Michael Exon:
+Michael Roffen:
+Michael Winton.'
Dr Nazir-Ali kindly enlarged for me. In a telephone interview he said:
'We believe that Bishop Duncan is a bishop in good standing. We hope that our belief is correct.
'The first thing is to express huge admiration for Bishop Bob, because for so many years he has borne the brunt of the anger of those who want to make changes in The Episcopal Church. He has stayed loyally within that Church.
'I have quite often watched him in the American house of bishops or general convention, taking flak. So given all of that, I am very sad and very shocked that he's been treated in this way.
'Quite a few American bishops had come to Lambeth, knowing that nothing would change afterwards. I do not think we can take seriously what they agreed at Lambeth. This is of a piece with other meetings where they have beehn present, have agreed things and where nothing has happened afterwards.
'This does show that a structural solution is needed for the orthodox in the American church. There must be immediate relief. No talk about panels doing things in the future. We need, they need more importantly, immediate relief from this kind of action taken against them. I hope that a province in due course of the orthodox in America will be recognised in the Anglican Communion.
'Here are loyal Anglicans whose only fault is not wanting to change what they have received.
'We have been hearing for some time that they orthodox want to be recognised in America. I am not saying that there might be a province straight away. There may be steps to recognising the constituency first, in some way, providing for oversight, which is absolutely essential, and recognising Common Cause Partnership and its leaders as Anglicans in good standing.
'But in the end I cannot see how we can avoid recognising some kind of entity of the orthodox in the US. I hope [the split] does not come to Britain. That is something we have been working on, to keep the unity of the Church of England intact.'
The Church of England is doing well right now. We carried a report last Saturday about the latest offering of the rapid response prayer unit, to help us all cope with the credit crunch. And while Dr Williams is seeking succour in Lourdes with the Holy See's Cardinal Walter Kasper no less - he should be able to pick up a few tips from him on church unity - the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu is flying off to New York where he will join Bill Clinton and Gordon Brown in promoting action on the Millennium Development Goals.
But a robust statement this evening from Bishop Wallace Benn of Lewes and others at Anglican Mainstream gives some indication of how serious the problems remain on the home front.
They said: 'The Jerusalem statement from almost 1200 confessing Anglican leaders urged the Archbishops of Nigeria, Kenya, Southern Cone, Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa and Rwanda to recognise a new Anglican province for North America.
'This has now become more urgent due to the aggressive liberal and unprincipled behaviour of The Episcopal Church house of bishops towards the Bishop of Pittsburgh whose currently moderator of the orthodox Common Cause Partnership.
'The behaviour of The Episcopal Church house of bishops shows that the promised moratorium at Lambeth is dead and their integrity in wishing to bring peace must now be questioned.'
My own view?
Let's all join in praying for a miracle at Lourdes. My own recent experience of visiting Lourdes this year, however, when I partook of the waters and became extremely sick, doesn't persuade me to hold out much hope at all.
September 23, 2008
Last week Colin Bazley, former primate of the Southern Cone and now an assistant bishop in the Chester diocese, wrote an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury calling for the suspension of The Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion and the creation of a new province for the conservatives. This was in response to the deposition of Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh, and which we covered last week. This is not going to go away. Even though Dr Rowan Williams is not planning to comment and has instead headed of to Lourdes with several busloads of Anglican pilgrims, hoping no doubt for a miraculous healing for his church, six of his bishops have today put out their own statement of support for Bishop Duncan. And as we report, one of those bishops, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali of Rochester, has in an interview with me today repeated the call for a new province first made by the Gafcon leaders at their conference this summer. I've always held out the hope in my own heart that the split would not come this side of the Atlantic. But I've recently spent a little time with some extremely senior laypeople in the conservative moment. They are not 'names' familiar to the blogosphere. But it seems there can be little doubt. What has happened there will happen here. Expect property battles and more in years to come. Read on for Bishop Michael's interview, and the response from Anglican Mainstream.
It has crossed my mind recently that Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is secretly one of the "orthodox". That can surely be the only reason that she has created a martyr who is now being venerated by evangelicals worldwide, and who is poised to become the sanctified leader of an orthodox movement that is demanding, and might well get, its own province.
Have we come so far from our Catholic tradition that we have forgotten the power of martyrdom, on which the Western church is built? Does no-one in TEC understand any more the meaning of sacrifice?
Because a martyr is what Bob Duncan now is. The Episcopal Church should not need a heretically catholic Anglican such as me to tell it that the next step up from martyrdom is sainthood. Bishop Duncan's office has been inundated with emails, phonecalls and letters of supportm since the ill-advised deposition. Since Friday, he has had personal messages from six primates, including ++Anis and ++Chew, indicating their intention not to recognise the deposition and to support the Pittsburgh "remnant". There have been all kinds of other ones as well from various bishops, clergy and laity all over the world. They are being catalogued on a new site, set up specially to venerate the deposed bishop.
And now in England, six bishops are pledging their support and saying they will continue to recognise him. Surely that is momentous enough to warrant an archiepiscopal comment? Or perhaps all pretence of episcopal collegiality has been abandoned.
This is what they say:
'As bishops in the Church of England, we are deeply saddened and shocked by the proposed deposition of Bishop Robert Duncan in the Episcopal Church, USA. We declare that we continue to believe that Bishop Bob is a bishop in the Church of God and a bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion. We continue to pray for him and for his diocese of Pittsburgh.
+Nicholas Blackburn
+Peter Cestr:
+John Cicester:
+Michael Exon:
+Michael Roffen:
+Michael Winton.'
Dr Nazir-Ali kindly enlarged for me. In a telephone interview he said:
'We believe that Bishop Duncan is a bishop in good standing. We hope that our belief is correct.
'The first thing is to express huge admiration for Bishop Bob, because for so many years he has borne the brunt of the anger of those who want to make changes in The Episcopal Church. He has stayed loyally within that Church.
'I have quite often watched him in the American house of bishops or general convention, taking flak. So given all of that, I am very sad and very shocked that he's been treated in this way.
'Quite a few American bishops had come to Lambeth, knowing that nothing would change afterwards. I do not think we can take seriously what they agreed at Lambeth. This is of a piece with other meetings where they have beehn present, have agreed things and where nothing has happened afterwards.
'This does show that a structural solution is needed for the orthodox in the American church. There must be immediate relief. No talk about panels doing things in the future. We need, they need more importantly, immediate relief from this kind of action taken against them. I hope that a province in due course of the orthodox in America will be recognised in the Anglican Communion.
'Here are loyal Anglicans whose only fault is not wanting to change what they have received.
'We have been hearing for some time that they orthodox want to be recognised in America. I am not saying that there might be a province straight away. There may be steps to recognising the constituency first, in some way, providing for oversight, which is absolutely essential, and recognising Common Cause Partnership and its leaders as Anglicans in good standing.
'But in the end I cannot see how we can avoid recognising some kind of entity of the orthodox in the US. I hope [the split] does not come to Britain. That is something we have been working on, to keep the unity of the Church of England intact.'
The Church of England is doing well right now. We carried a report last Saturday about the latest offering of the rapid response prayer unit, to help us all cope with the credit crunch. And while Dr Williams is seeking succour in Lourdes with the Holy See's Cardinal Walter Kasper no less - he should be able to pick up a few tips from him on church unity - the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu is flying off to New York where he will join Bill Clinton and Gordon Brown in promoting action on the Millennium Development Goals.
But a robust statement this evening from Bishop Wallace Benn of Lewes and others at Anglican Mainstream gives some indication of how serious the problems remain on the home front.
They said: 'The Jerusalem statement from almost 1200 confessing Anglican leaders urged the Archbishops of Nigeria, Kenya, Southern Cone, Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa and Rwanda to recognise a new Anglican province for North America.
'This has now become more urgent due to the aggressive liberal and unprincipled behaviour of The Episcopal Church house of bishops towards the Bishop of Pittsburgh whose currently moderator of the orthodox Common Cause Partnership.
'The behaviour of The Episcopal Church house of bishops shows that the promised moratorium at Lambeth is dead and their integrity in wishing to bring peace must now be questioned.'
My own view?
Let's all join in praying for a miracle at Lourdes. My own recent experience of visiting Lourdes this year, however, when I partook of the waters and became extremely sick, doesn't persuade me to hold out much hope at all.
New Province Recognition
From TexAnglican:
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Common Cause Partners Gathering for North Texas
Tonight St. Vincent's Cathedral hosted the third regional gathering of the Common Cause Partners in North Texas. The evening began with a service of Evensong in which the St. Vincent's choir sang their praises to God in their typically beautiful fashion. Then a well-attended potluck took place in the parish hall.
Following dinner the Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker, bishop of Fort Worth, the Rt. Rev. Ray Sutton of the Reformed Episcopal Church, and the Rt. Rev. C. O. Kanu, Bishop Suffragan for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) in Oklahoma offered their reflections on GAFCON, Lambeth and future of the Common Cause Partnership.
Of particular interest was the news that the Presiding Bishop of the REC , the Most Rev. Leonard Riches, had recently told Bishop Sutton not to be surprised if the primates of the GAFCON movement recognize Common Cause as the orthodox Anglican province of North America as early as December. Bishop Iker pointed out that this recognition could take place after the next meeting of the CCP, which will in fact take place in December. Bishop Iker and Bishop Sutton both expressed the view that the new province will not replicate the traditional "territorial" organization of the TEC, nor will it have potentially "repressive" structures built into it. Instead it will most likely be organized by liturgical and cultural affinity.
This was an exciting evening of prayer, news and fellowship. Thanks especially to Connie Sandlin for organizing it. Things are moving forward rapidly toward the new province! Thanks be to God!
The picture above features (left to right) Bishop Sutton, Bishop Kanu, Bishop Iker, and the Very Rev. Ryan S. Reed of St. Vincent's Cathedral, Bedford. Thanks to my father, Randy Foster, for taking these photos.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Common Cause Partners Gathering for North Texas
Tonight St. Vincent's Cathedral hosted the third regional gathering of the Common Cause Partners in North Texas. The evening began with a service of Evensong in which the St. Vincent's choir sang their praises to God in their typically beautiful fashion. Then a well-attended potluck took place in the parish hall.
Following dinner the Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker, bishop of Fort Worth, the Rt. Rev. Ray Sutton of the Reformed Episcopal Church, and the Rt. Rev. C. O. Kanu, Bishop Suffragan for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) in Oklahoma offered their reflections on GAFCON, Lambeth and future of the Common Cause Partnership.
Of particular interest was the news that the Presiding Bishop of the REC , the Most Rev. Leonard Riches, had recently told Bishop Sutton not to be surprised if the primates of the GAFCON movement recognize Common Cause as the orthodox Anglican province of North America as early as December. Bishop Iker pointed out that this recognition could take place after the next meeting of the CCP, which will in fact take place in December. Bishop Iker and Bishop Sutton both expressed the view that the new province will not replicate the traditional "territorial" organization of the TEC, nor will it have potentially "repressive" structures built into it. Instead it will most likely be organized by liturgical and cultural affinity.
This was an exciting evening of prayer, news and fellowship. Thanks especially to Connie Sandlin for organizing it. Things are moving forward rapidly toward the new province! Thanks be to God!
The picture above features (left to right) Bishop Sutton, Bishop Kanu, Bishop Iker, and the Very Rev. Ryan S. Reed of St. Vincent's Cathedral, Bedford. Thanks to my father, Randy Foster, for taking these photos.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
LIBERAL HYPOCRISY IN THE EPISCOPAL HOUSE OF BISHOPS
Making the canons mean what you want them to mean
Commentary
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
9/23/2008
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean-neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master-that's all."
Last week in Salt Lake City at the HOB meeting, Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church proved to be the "master" of the language of the canons of The Episcopal Church. She deposed a godly, faithful, Bible-believing bishop by castrating a canon and using it to filibuster it through the House of Bishops.She declared Bishop Robert Duncan guilty first and then held a vote to confirm what she had already decided. "Sentence first, verdict afterwards" said the queen in Alice in Wonderland. Jefferts Schori deftly skirted Roberts Rules of Order, but as Alice might have said, "I can make the canons mean whatever I want them to mean." Indeed.
She succeeded by a two to one vote even though the canons require a majority of all bishops entitled to vote (as Mrs. Jefferts Schori conceded in signing the "deposition") not merely a majority of those present. A majority of the bishops (150) were absent, only 127 were present. Within two hours, the Presiding Bishop claimed he was no longer the Bishop of Pittsburgh. Consider the irony of this situation.
This House of Bishops refuses to bring to trial one John Shelby Spong, former Bishop of Newark, for numerous heresies over the years culminating in his 12 Theses which is an open and public denial of most of the Christian Faith.
They would not, nor could not, in conscience because most of the bishops believe in Spong's "theology" and are unable to uphold 'the faith once for all delivered to the saints'. No presentment charges would ever hold up because the Episcopal Church has no "core doctrine" it can uphold or believe in. The Righter "trial" was evidence enough of that.
So consider the multiple statements of at least two Presiding Bishops' as well as resolutions passed at one General Convention after another that have chipped away at the faith. There is now no apparent turning back.
In 1979, Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning declared that he would "not obey or enforce the church's official traditional teaching on sexuality." The rot was already setting in. As Bishop Thad Barnum noted in his book, Never Silent, "His declared rebellion became the driving force behind the church's new morality."
Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold in 1997 stated publicly, without blushing and without shame, that the Episcopal Church was intentionally, and by God's decree, living in contradiction to the words of the Bible. "Broadly speaking, the Episcopal Church is in conflict with Scripture. The only way to justify it is to say, well, Jesus talks about the Spirit guiding the church and guiding believers and bringing to their awareness things they cannot deal with yet...this has led the church to in effect contradict the words of the Gospel," said Griswold.
Resolutions rejecting the church's received teaching on sexuality have flowed thick and fast over the years, enabled by the growing number of LGBT priests and activist lay persons all led by the indomitable first sodomite emeritus Dr. Louie Crew.
At GC2006 with Resolution A161, the church rejected any hint of a "moratorium" on ordaining more gay bishops or blessing gay marriages. Instead, they passed Resolution B033, which promised "to exercise restraint" for anyone "whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church." The resolution meant nothing. Within weeks, the Diocese of Newark put forward a gay candidate for bishop.
Resolution D058 asked that Episcopalians believe that through Christ alone, "the only name by which any person may be saved." It never made it out of committee, being vetoed by a 70 percent majority.
When Katharine Jefferts Schori, the successor to Frank Griswold, activist supporter of Gene Robinson and a campaigner for same-sex blessings was asked where she stood on the issues, she said, "Homosexuals were created by God," but when pressed about how blatantly she contradicted Scripture on Salvation, she replied: "I think, (it is) to put God in an awfully small box". Pressed on her views about the Bible she said, "The Bible was written in a very different historical context by people asking different questions." For her, the Bible no longer matters. When the church passed resolution D039 stating that sex outside of marriage was now acceptable to the church, clergy and senior leaders failed to inform their dioceses and congregations so great was the sin and even greater would have been the backlash by mostly sexually conservative Episcopalians had they known.
To this day, congregations are being kept in the dark about the resolutions passed at general conventions and sexual behaviors committed by priests and bishops. What would thousands of laity think and do if they knew that Jefferts Schori said she knew of a number of cases where homogenital bishops are living in same-sex partnered relationships (she wouldn't say who)? It is not just Gene Robinson, the Bishop of New Hampshire. He is carrying the freight for those who won't declare themselves in public. How many laity would be shocked to know that their own bishop was secretly gay with a partner? Is it any wonder that when Quincy Bishop Keith Ackerman introduced Resolution B001 asking that General Convention affirm "Holy Scripture as the foundation of authority in our Church" they could not do so. If they had, they would have had to reject Gene Robinson's consecration, so the sovereign authority of Scripture went out the window. The Lambeth Resolution 1:10, affirming heterosexual marriage and rejecting homosexuality, was deep-sixed. At that moment, it was over for The Episcopal Church. As the tables slowly turned on faithful Episcopalians, they became more and more the brunt of angry, aggrieved and vicious pansexualists who made it clear that the church was going in their direction and to hell with you.
Now we are seeing the spectacle of truth turned so entirely on its head that orthodox believers are now being told that their leaving TEC is nothing more than a pure power play for properties. Jesus said nothing about homosexuality and women's ordination is not enough of an issue to leave (or destroy) the Episcopal Church over. All our desires are mixed. We are all sinners. Why split the church over a couple of issues? Get over it.
"Then too one does question bishops and priests who try to gain power among their flocks like demagogues by promulgating simple, single-issue concepts like their objection to the ordination of women or their disapproval of homosexual practices," wrote an activist layman in the Diocese of Pittsburgh who is ready with his priest, the Rev. Harold Lewis, to pounce on diocesan properties once the diocese declares itself under the Province of the Southern Cone.
Liberal activists tell us that the people taking over this diocese will be as impure and driven by mixed motives and sin as those who are leaving. That is true, but they are not denying the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Being a sinner and publicly denying the gospel are two entirely different things. Peter was a sinner who denied his Lord and repented. Judas betrayed his Lord and killed himself.
Such people don't get it.
What is happening at the very deepest level is a suborning of Scripture, the rewriting of sacred text to suit our needs. Said Charles Bennison, the inhibited Bishop of Pennsylvania, "The Church wrote the Bible and the Church can rewrite the Bible". It comes as no surprise that Bennison is a close friend of Spong. It is about the bastardization of the texts of Scripture to suit our own devices and desires; it is not about a handful of biblical texts against sodomy. It is the total rejection of Scripture as "God's word written"...of its authority over us, not we over it.
What we are seeing now is the wholesale abandonment of the historic Christian Faith by a denomination that is slowly withering and dying, even as it eulogizes and plays up social activism in the form of Millennium Development Goals to cover its deficient theology of salvation. Secular salvation is the new mantra as spiritual salvation is devalued and killed off.
The liberals and revisionists laugh at the new "vagante orthodox" who leave TEC labeling them as just schismatics who can't get their act together. They may ridicule a new Anglican Province in North America, and think GAFCON is just about a lot of disgruntled orthodox Anglicans who don't like Rowan Williams. The liberals and revisionists certainly have no fear of the Archbishop of Canterbury who they and we know is with them in heart, soul, mind and theology.
When the Episcopal Church had only to contend with those in their ranks who opposed their political agenda, they were kept busy ordering their own house. Now they are free to direct their energies outward. Just look at the damage they are now doing. They are using the Trust funds, held in sacred trust to spread the true mission of God, to eradicate parishes and dioceses that are slipping from their grasp citing "civil rights" and "hate crimes" initiatives.
Even some orthodox clergy tells us, that TEC is just another side show in the Culture Wars and we will win if we stay. That, too, is a failure to see the true spiritual condition of TEC. We are in a SPIRITUAL WAR with godly laity, priests and a number of bishops fighting for their very spiritual lives. They are paying the price with defrocking, lost properties, truncated pensions, and smaller salaries...all for the sake of the cross of Christ. "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places," wrote the Apostle Paul.
The once clandestine takeover of The Episcopal Church is now out there for all to see. It is now a public war being played out in the media and on the Internet. It will not be covered up, spun, nor made to disappear because the "principalities and powers" would like it so.
The action of deposing Bishop Robert Duncan is a watershed, or turning point, like Stalingrad and Gettysburg were...make no mistake about it, wrote one blogger. He is right. This IS a war and it will have repercussions for all faithful Christians.
Absolute power is now in the hands of these phony Christian radicals. They have made it clear that their intention is to clean house, TEC's own version of the "Night of the Long Knives," wrote another Anglican blogger.
"For all intents and purposes, the battle for the possession of the Episcopal Church is over except for a few mopping up operations here and there. Remaining issues, such as whether or not the Diocese of San Joaquin will be able to keep their property and money in the conduct of their fighting retreat, are inconsequential. The forces that have retreated, whatever may become of them, are not coming back to retake the lost ground. The National Cathedral is lost, the University of the South is lost, and the Cathedral in Atlanta is lost, to the organized homosexuals and their allies who slugged it out in the "long march" to take over the Episcopal Church. They won completely and utterly."
He might have added the seven Episcopal seminaries, with the noted exception of two, the cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, millions of dollars in properties, some 450 clergy, reduced income to liberal dioceses and the hemorrhaging that will continue for years to come.
The Episcopal Church has sown to the wind and it is reaping the whirlwind. The Episcopal Church with its $10 billion in assets will not save it "in that day". Legal scum like David Booth Beers will die rich, but he will die and he won't be able to take it with him. He will be answerable for his actions. God is never mocked, never.
Jefferts Schori and her cronies are not merely heretics and apostates; they are traitors to the cause of Christ and His gospel. They have ripped the heart of repentance right out of the gospel and now laugh and mock it.
With the flight of yet more dioceses, we are seeing the slow end of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as we know it. At the end of the day, the Jefferts Schori's, Rowan Williams's, et al will have only themselves to blame.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
END
Commentary
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
9/23/2008
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean-neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master-that's all."
Last week in Salt Lake City at the HOB meeting, Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church proved to be the "master" of the language of the canons of The Episcopal Church. She deposed a godly, faithful, Bible-believing bishop by castrating a canon and using it to filibuster it through the House of Bishops.She declared Bishop Robert Duncan guilty first and then held a vote to confirm what she had already decided. "Sentence first, verdict afterwards" said the queen in Alice in Wonderland. Jefferts Schori deftly skirted Roberts Rules of Order, but as Alice might have said, "I can make the canons mean whatever I want them to mean." Indeed.
She succeeded by a two to one vote even though the canons require a majority of all bishops entitled to vote (as Mrs. Jefferts Schori conceded in signing the "deposition") not merely a majority of those present. A majority of the bishops (150) were absent, only 127 were present. Within two hours, the Presiding Bishop claimed he was no longer the Bishop of Pittsburgh. Consider the irony of this situation.
This House of Bishops refuses to bring to trial one John Shelby Spong, former Bishop of Newark, for numerous heresies over the years culminating in his 12 Theses which is an open and public denial of most of the Christian Faith.
They would not, nor could not, in conscience because most of the bishops believe in Spong's "theology" and are unable to uphold 'the faith once for all delivered to the saints'. No presentment charges would ever hold up because the Episcopal Church has no "core doctrine" it can uphold or believe in. The Righter "trial" was evidence enough of that.
So consider the multiple statements of at least two Presiding Bishops' as well as resolutions passed at one General Convention after another that have chipped away at the faith. There is now no apparent turning back.
In 1979, Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning declared that he would "not obey or enforce the church's official traditional teaching on sexuality." The rot was already setting in. As Bishop Thad Barnum noted in his book, Never Silent, "His declared rebellion became the driving force behind the church's new morality."
Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold in 1997 stated publicly, without blushing and without shame, that the Episcopal Church was intentionally, and by God's decree, living in contradiction to the words of the Bible. "Broadly speaking, the Episcopal Church is in conflict with Scripture. The only way to justify it is to say, well, Jesus talks about the Spirit guiding the church and guiding believers and bringing to their awareness things they cannot deal with yet...this has led the church to in effect contradict the words of the Gospel," said Griswold.
Resolutions rejecting the church's received teaching on sexuality have flowed thick and fast over the years, enabled by the growing number of LGBT priests and activist lay persons all led by the indomitable first sodomite emeritus Dr. Louie Crew.
At GC2006 with Resolution A161, the church rejected any hint of a "moratorium" on ordaining more gay bishops or blessing gay marriages. Instead, they passed Resolution B033, which promised "to exercise restraint" for anyone "whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church." The resolution meant nothing. Within weeks, the Diocese of Newark put forward a gay candidate for bishop.
Resolution D058 asked that Episcopalians believe that through Christ alone, "the only name by which any person may be saved." It never made it out of committee, being vetoed by a 70 percent majority.
When Katharine Jefferts Schori, the successor to Frank Griswold, activist supporter of Gene Robinson and a campaigner for same-sex blessings was asked where she stood on the issues, she said, "Homosexuals were created by God," but when pressed about how blatantly she contradicted Scripture on Salvation, she replied: "I think, (it is) to put God in an awfully small box". Pressed on her views about the Bible she said, "The Bible was written in a very different historical context by people asking different questions." For her, the Bible no longer matters. When the church passed resolution D039 stating that sex outside of marriage was now acceptable to the church, clergy and senior leaders failed to inform their dioceses and congregations so great was the sin and even greater would have been the backlash by mostly sexually conservative Episcopalians had they known.
To this day, congregations are being kept in the dark about the resolutions passed at general conventions and sexual behaviors committed by priests and bishops. What would thousands of laity think and do if they knew that Jefferts Schori said she knew of a number of cases where homogenital bishops are living in same-sex partnered relationships (she wouldn't say who)? It is not just Gene Robinson, the Bishop of New Hampshire. He is carrying the freight for those who won't declare themselves in public. How many laity would be shocked to know that their own bishop was secretly gay with a partner? Is it any wonder that when Quincy Bishop Keith Ackerman introduced Resolution B001 asking that General Convention affirm "Holy Scripture as the foundation of authority in our Church" they could not do so. If they had, they would have had to reject Gene Robinson's consecration, so the sovereign authority of Scripture went out the window. The Lambeth Resolution 1:10, affirming heterosexual marriage and rejecting homosexuality, was deep-sixed. At that moment, it was over for The Episcopal Church. As the tables slowly turned on faithful Episcopalians, they became more and more the brunt of angry, aggrieved and vicious pansexualists who made it clear that the church was going in their direction and to hell with you.
Now we are seeing the spectacle of truth turned so entirely on its head that orthodox believers are now being told that their leaving TEC is nothing more than a pure power play for properties. Jesus said nothing about homosexuality and women's ordination is not enough of an issue to leave (or destroy) the Episcopal Church over. All our desires are mixed. We are all sinners. Why split the church over a couple of issues? Get over it.
"Then too one does question bishops and priests who try to gain power among their flocks like demagogues by promulgating simple, single-issue concepts like their objection to the ordination of women or their disapproval of homosexual practices," wrote an activist layman in the Diocese of Pittsburgh who is ready with his priest, the Rev. Harold Lewis, to pounce on diocesan properties once the diocese declares itself under the Province of the Southern Cone.
Liberal activists tell us that the people taking over this diocese will be as impure and driven by mixed motives and sin as those who are leaving. That is true, but they are not denying the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Being a sinner and publicly denying the gospel are two entirely different things. Peter was a sinner who denied his Lord and repented. Judas betrayed his Lord and killed himself.
Such people don't get it.
What is happening at the very deepest level is a suborning of Scripture, the rewriting of sacred text to suit our needs. Said Charles Bennison, the inhibited Bishop of Pennsylvania, "The Church wrote the Bible and the Church can rewrite the Bible". It comes as no surprise that Bennison is a close friend of Spong. It is about the bastardization of the texts of Scripture to suit our own devices and desires; it is not about a handful of biblical texts against sodomy. It is the total rejection of Scripture as "God's word written"...of its authority over us, not we over it.
What we are seeing now is the wholesale abandonment of the historic Christian Faith by a denomination that is slowly withering and dying, even as it eulogizes and plays up social activism in the form of Millennium Development Goals to cover its deficient theology of salvation. Secular salvation is the new mantra as spiritual salvation is devalued and killed off.
The liberals and revisionists laugh at the new "vagante orthodox" who leave TEC labeling them as just schismatics who can't get their act together. They may ridicule a new Anglican Province in North America, and think GAFCON is just about a lot of disgruntled orthodox Anglicans who don't like Rowan Williams. The liberals and revisionists certainly have no fear of the Archbishop of Canterbury who they and we know is with them in heart, soul, mind and theology.
When the Episcopal Church had only to contend with those in their ranks who opposed their political agenda, they were kept busy ordering their own house. Now they are free to direct their energies outward. Just look at the damage they are now doing. They are using the Trust funds, held in sacred trust to spread the true mission of God, to eradicate parishes and dioceses that are slipping from their grasp citing "civil rights" and "hate crimes" initiatives.
Even some orthodox clergy tells us, that TEC is just another side show in the Culture Wars and we will win if we stay. That, too, is a failure to see the true spiritual condition of TEC. We are in a SPIRITUAL WAR with godly laity, priests and a number of bishops fighting for their very spiritual lives. They are paying the price with defrocking, lost properties, truncated pensions, and smaller salaries...all for the sake of the cross of Christ. "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places," wrote the Apostle Paul.
The once clandestine takeover of The Episcopal Church is now out there for all to see. It is now a public war being played out in the media and on the Internet. It will not be covered up, spun, nor made to disappear because the "principalities and powers" would like it so.
The action of deposing Bishop Robert Duncan is a watershed, or turning point, like Stalingrad and Gettysburg were...make no mistake about it, wrote one blogger. He is right. This IS a war and it will have repercussions for all faithful Christians.
Absolute power is now in the hands of these phony Christian radicals. They have made it clear that their intention is to clean house, TEC's own version of the "Night of the Long Knives," wrote another Anglican blogger.
"For all intents and purposes, the battle for the possession of the Episcopal Church is over except for a few mopping up operations here and there. Remaining issues, such as whether or not the Diocese of San Joaquin will be able to keep their property and money in the conduct of their fighting retreat, are inconsequential. The forces that have retreated, whatever may become of them, are not coming back to retake the lost ground. The National Cathedral is lost, the University of the South is lost, and the Cathedral in Atlanta is lost, to the organized homosexuals and their allies who slugged it out in the "long march" to take over the Episcopal Church. They won completely and utterly."
He might have added the seven Episcopal seminaries, with the noted exception of two, the cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, millions of dollars in properties, some 450 clergy, reduced income to liberal dioceses and the hemorrhaging that will continue for years to come.
The Episcopal Church has sown to the wind and it is reaping the whirlwind. The Episcopal Church with its $10 billion in assets will not save it "in that day". Legal scum like David Booth Beers will die rich, but he will die and he won't be able to take it with him. He will be answerable for his actions. God is never mocked, never.
Jefferts Schori and her cronies are not merely heretics and apostates; they are traitors to the cause of Christ and His gospel. They have ripped the heart of repentance right out of the gospel and now laugh and mock it.
With the flight of yet more dioceses, we are seeing the slow end of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as we know it. At the end of the day, the Jefferts Schori's, Rowan Williams's, et al will have only themselves to blame.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
END
PB's plan for Pittsburgh
Fr. Matt Kennedy of Good Shepherd, Binghamton picked this up from Anglicans United:
In an attempt to clarify the reasons for deposition of +Bob [Duncan] to the national press, the following was sent on Monday, September 22, 2008. The letters of deposition (below) were also emailed, and faxed to the diocesan offices and sent by Fed Ex, arriving on that date. The Presiding Bishop will send into Pittsburgh her Assisting Bishop to reconstitute the diocese. Only time will tell if she does this before their Diocesan Convention on October 4. I will be at that Convention and will be releasing updates at this website during the weekend. Cheryl M. Wetzel
In an attempt to clarify the reasons for deposition of +Bob [Duncan] to the national press, the following was sent on Monday, September 22, 2008. The letters of deposition (below) were also emailed, and faxed to the diocesan offices and sent by Fed Ex, arriving on that date. The Presiding Bishop will send into Pittsburgh her Assisting Bishop to reconstitute the diocese. Only time will tell if she does this before their Diocesan Convention on October 4. I will be at that Convention and will be releasing updates at this website during the weekend. Cheryl M. Wetzel
SAN DIEGO: Bishop Mathes Responds to Criticism of Bishop Duncan Deposition
Via VirtueOnline. Isn't it interesting that this bishop would talk about discipline when it concerns a bishop of impeccable orthodox belief. Where was the bishop during the Wrighter controversy, or Spong's posting of his 12 tenets of unbelief? Where has this bishop stood as the Anglican Communion has wrestled with discipling pecusa for her unilateral actions? We saw recently how the power of the office of bishop can be used abusively in the attempted discipline of Fr. Bollinger in the DCNY. I don't think many pecusa bishops have the moral standing to talk at all about church discipline. ed.
September 19, 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Yesterday was a difficult day in the House of Bishops and the Episcopal Church. I want you to hear directly from me about the House of Bishops' vote to depose the Bishop of Pittsburgh for abandoning the communion of this Church. The House of Bishops reached this decision after weighing considerable evidence. We also prayed and listened intentionally to each other; our decision was careful and informed.
The Bishop of Pittsburgh has led the efforts to separate the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh from The Episcopal Church by advocating for changes in the accession clause in that diocese's constitution and canons. He also supports a canonical change which would move the diocese to the Province of the Southern Cone. His actions supporting these changes were never in dispute.
Critically, he presided at the Diocesan Convention in 2007 at which the change in the constitution of diocese was approved in the first reading. His failure to rule the resolution out of order and his clear advocacy for its full passage at the upcoming convention in October by a second vote are demonstrative. The judgment of the House of Bishops was that by these actions Bishop Duncan made an open renunciation of the discipline of this church, thereby abandoning the communion of this Church.
There is an effort underway to suggest that the House of Bishops did not follow the canons of our Church in these proceedings. However these are the same procedures followed in three other depositions in the last few years, none of which were protested under the rules of the House of Bishops.
When these procedures were challenged, the House of Bishops sustained the ruling of the president. It has also been suggested that the abandonment of communion proceedings do not permit the bishop in question the benefit of due process.
Bishop Duncan could have ended these proceedings at any time by re-committing to the order and discipline of this Church and pledging to halt the contemplated actions of the convention by ruling the anticipated vote out of order when it was presented to the convention. Furthermore, he could have come before the house and offered a vigorous defense. His failure to do either places the outcome completely on his shoulders.
Finally, I believe that yesterday's action is essential to maintain the order and discipline of our Church and the collegiality of the House of Bishops. It permits the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh to move forward. Some individuals may decide not to do so, but your House of Bishops has empowered those committed to the mission of the Episcopal Church to carry forward that ministry in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. We acted as responsible pastors and stewards of the Church. I fully support the actions of our House of Bishops and voted for this action.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to forgive, yet we must also hold each other accountable. We must also pray for peace for all involved in these difficult events. I ask your prayers for Bishop Duncan and his family. Pray also for the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Faithfully,
The Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes
Bishop
September 19, 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Yesterday was a difficult day in the House of Bishops and the Episcopal Church. I want you to hear directly from me about the House of Bishops' vote to depose the Bishop of Pittsburgh for abandoning the communion of this Church. The House of Bishops reached this decision after weighing considerable evidence. We also prayed and listened intentionally to each other; our decision was careful and informed.
The Bishop of Pittsburgh has led the efforts to separate the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh from The Episcopal Church by advocating for changes in the accession clause in that diocese's constitution and canons. He also supports a canonical change which would move the diocese to the Province of the Southern Cone. His actions supporting these changes were never in dispute.
Critically, he presided at the Diocesan Convention in 2007 at which the change in the constitution of diocese was approved in the first reading. His failure to rule the resolution out of order and his clear advocacy for its full passage at the upcoming convention in October by a second vote are demonstrative. The judgment of the House of Bishops was that by these actions Bishop Duncan made an open renunciation of the discipline of this church, thereby abandoning the communion of this Church.
There is an effort underway to suggest that the House of Bishops did not follow the canons of our Church in these proceedings. However these are the same procedures followed in three other depositions in the last few years, none of which were protested under the rules of the House of Bishops.
When these procedures were challenged, the House of Bishops sustained the ruling of the president. It has also been suggested that the abandonment of communion proceedings do not permit the bishop in question the benefit of due process.
Bishop Duncan could have ended these proceedings at any time by re-committing to the order and discipline of this Church and pledging to halt the contemplated actions of the convention by ruling the anticipated vote out of order when it was presented to the convention. Furthermore, he could have come before the house and offered a vigorous defense. His failure to do either places the outcome completely on his shoulders.
Finally, I believe that yesterday's action is essential to maintain the order and discipline of our Church and the collegiality of the House of Bishops. It permits the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh to move forward. Some individuals may decide not to do so, but your House of Bishops has empowered those committed to the mission of the Episcopal Church to carry forward that ministry in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. We acted as responsible pastors and stewards of the Church. I fully support the actions of our House of Bishops and voted for this action.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to forgive, yet we must also hold each other accountable. We must also pray for peace for all involved in these difficult events. I ask your prayers for Bishop Duncan and his family. Pray also for the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Faithfully,
The Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes
Bishop
Archbishop of Canterbury urged to create new province for US conservatives
From Times Online (UK):
September 23, 2008
Senior bishops express "shock" at the Episcopal Church's decision to depose the Bishop of Pittsburgh
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent
The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams is facing growing pressure to create a new Anglican province for conservatives after a leading evangelical was effectively defrocked in the US.
Six senior Church of England bishops have come out in support of deposed US bishop Bob Duncan, declaring themselves “deeply saddened and shocked.”
Headed by the Bishop of Winchester, the Right Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, the Bishops of Blackburn, Chester, Chichester, Exeter and Rochester joined in declaring their belief that the deposed Bishop of Pittsburgh remains “a bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion.”
In an interview with The Times, the Bishop of Rochester Dr Michael Nazir-Ali said the time had now come for Dr Williams to create a new province for conservatives in the US.
Another senior bishop, a former primate of the Southern Cone province in Latin America, also wrote an open letter to Dr Williams demanding the immediate suspension of The Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion and for the recognition of a new conservative province.
Bishops of The Episcopal Church voted last week to depose Bishop Duncan after deciding that he had breached canon law by “abandonment of the communion of the church.”
Bishop Duncan has led his diocese, from the Church’s conservative evangelical wing, in a rebellion against the liberal direction of the wider church in the West.
Next month, under his leadership, the diocese had been expected to vote to join the Province of the Southern Cone, headed by British-born primate Bishop Gregory Venables.
Bishop Venables has already received Bishop Duncan into his province and a majority in the diocese is expected to go ahead with the vote and join him there.
But a minority will remain with the US-based province and work on re-establishing the Pittsburgh diocese, marking the beginning of myriad expensive and lengthy legal battles over who owns the churches and other valuable ecclesiastical properties attached to the diocese.
Bishops of the Episcopal Church voted by 88 to 35 at a meeting in Salt Lake City to remove Bishop Duncan from all ordained ministry.
It is significant that Church of England bishops as senior as Bishop Scott-Joynt and Dr Michael Nazir-Ali continue to recognise Bishop Duncan’s ministry.
Their statement will increase speculation that the split in the US church is heading over the Atlantic to Britain.
Dr Nazir-Ali told The Times: “I hope that a province of the orthodox in America will be recognised in the Anglican Communion.” He said that what had happened to Bishop Duncan showed that a structural solution was necessary.
A new province would be the 39th province of the communion. It would not be the first to share geographical territory with another province. In Europe, there are two Anglican jurisdictions operating already: the Church of England and The Episcopal Church.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, who is visiting Lourdes this week, made no comment. At Lourdes on Wednesday this week, he will be addressing a pilgrimage of Anglican bishops, clergy and laity. He will be sharing the platform with Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Holy See’s Council for Christian Unity.
Unless the springs at Lourdes work one of their rare miracles, Anglicans will emerge more aware than ever that innovations such as gay bishops, women bishops and women priests have ended all hopes of re-uniting the Anglicans and Catholic churches, split since the Reformation four centuries ago.
September 23, 2008
Senior bishops express "shock" at the Episcopal Church's decision to depose the Bishop of Pittsburgh
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent
The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams is facing growing pressure to create a new Anglican province for conservatives after a leading evangelical was effectively defrocked in the US.
Six senior Church of England bishops have come out in support of deposed US bishop Bob Duncan, declaring themselves “deeply saddened and shocked.”
Headed by the Bishop of Winchester, the Right Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, the Bishops of Blackburn, Chester, Chichester, Exeter and Rochester joined in declaring their belief that the deposed Bishop of Pittsburgh remains “a bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion.”
In an interview with The Times, the Bishop of Rochester Dr Michael Nazir-Ali said the time had now come for Dr Williams to create a new province for conservatives in the US.
Another senior bishop, a former primate of the Southern Cone province in Latin America, also wrote an open letter to Dr Williams demanding the immediate suspension of The Episcopal Church from the Anglican Communion and for the recognition of a new conservative province.
Bishops of The Episcopal Church voted last week to depose Bishop Duncan after deciding that he had breached canon law by “abandonment of the communion of the church.”
Bishop Duncan has led his diocese, from the Church’s conservative evangelical wing, in a rebellion against the liberal direction of the wider church in the West.
Next month, under his leadership, the diocese had been expected to vote to join the Province of the Southern Cone, headed by British-born primate Bishop Gregory Venables.
Bishop Venables has already received Bishop Duncan into his province and a majority in the diocese is expected to go ahead with the vote and join him there.
But a minority will remain with the US-based province and work on re-establishing the Pittsburgh diocese, marking the beginning of myriad expensive and lengthy legal battles over who owns the churches and other valuable ecclesiastical properties attached to the diocese.
Bishops of the Episcopal Church voted by 88 to 35 at a meeting in Salt Lake City to remove Bishop Duncan from all ordained ministry.
It is significant that Church of England bishops as senior as Bishop Scott-Joynt and Dr Michael Nazir-Ali continue to recognise Bishop Duncan’s ministry.
Their statement will increase speculation that the split in the US church is heading over the Atlantic to Britain.
Dr Nazir-Ali told The Times: “I hope that a province of the orthodox in America will be recognised in the Anglican Communion.” He said that what had happened to Bishop Duncan showed that a structural solution was necessary.
A new province would be the 39th province of the communion. It would not be the first to share geographical territory with another province. In Europe, there are two Anglican jurisdictions operating already: the Church of England and The Episcopal Church.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, who is visiting Lourdes this week, made no comment. At Lourdes on Wednesday this week, he will be addressing a pilgrimage of Anglican bishops, clergy and laity. He will be sharing the platform with Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Holy See’s Council for Christian Unity.
Unless the springs at Lourdes work one of their rare miracles, Anglicans will emerge more aware than ever that innovations such as gay bishops, women bishops and women priests have ended all hopes of re-uniting the Anglicans and Catholic churches, split since the Reformation four centuries ago.
Statement on the “Sentence of Deposition” of Bishop Duncan
From the Anglican Communion Institute:
Written by: Mr. Mark McCall
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
Prior to the meeting of the House of Bishops last week The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc. warned that the “proceeding against Bishop Duncan clearly belong[s] to a larger effort to create an office of Presiding Bishop, and a way of proceeding in the present season, at odds with the constitution and canons of this church.” Following the questionable vote, ACI noted that “the legitimacy of the House’s action and the Presiding Bishop’s leadership has been placed in serious question before the eyes of the Communion and the larger public. No one should minimize the role this may play in the unfolding re-establishment of the Communion’s common life.”
ACI’s concerns about canonical abuse and procedural legitimacy are not allayed by the purported “Sentence of Deposition” of Bishop Duncan now made public. In her memorandum to the House of Bishops, dated September 12, 2008, the Presiding Bishop addressed the question whether the canonically required vote by the House of Bishops was “by a majority of bishops present at the meeting at which the matter is presented or, on the other hand, by a majority of all the voting members of the House whether or not in attendance.” She concluded that “the vote must be by a majority of all the bishops who are at the meeting at which the vote must be taken and who are entitled to vote.”
The “Sentence of Deposition” does not reflect, however, her interpretation of the canon. It includes the recitation “a majority of the members of the House of Bishops entitled to vote having consented to this Deposition at a meeting of the House of Bishops in Salt Lake City , Utah , on 18 September, 2008….” That is, the Sentence does not read, following the Presiding Bishop’s own memorandum and ruling, “a majority of the members of the House of Bishops present,” nor does it recite the actual language of the relevant canon. Instead, the Sentence adopts the plain reading of the canon the Presiding Bishop overruled: “a majority of members of the House of Bishops entitled to vote having consented…”
Surely one thing all parties can agree on is that this did not happen in Salt Lake City . There are close to 300 members of the House of Bishops “entitled to vote.” Only 88 consented to the purported deposition. Far from a majority, this is fewer than a third of the bishops entitled to vote. So why does the “Sentence of Deposition” now concede the legal point made by bishops and others who requested canonical integrity? Is it because an accurate recitation, one using the Presiding Bishop’s own words, “a majority of bishops present at the meeting,” would be invalid on its face? This Sentence of Deposition only confirms ACI’s stated concern that the legitimacy of the House’s action and the Presiding Bishop’s leadership has been placed in serious question by this proceeding.
Written by: Mr. Mark McCall
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
Prior to the meeting of the House of Bishops last week The Anglican Communion Institute, Inc. warned that the “proceeding against Bishop Duncan clearly belong[s] to a larger effort to create an office of Presiding Bishop, and a way of proceeding in the present season, at odds with the constitution and canons of this church.” Following the questionable vote, ACI noted that “the legitimacy of the House’s action and the Presiding Bishop’s leadership has been placed in serious question before the eyes of the Communion and the larger public. No one should minimize the role this may play in the unfolding re-establishment of the Communion’s common life.”
ACI’s concerns about canonical abuse and procedural legitimacy are not allayed by the purported “Sentence of Deposition” of Bishop Duncan now made public. In her memorandum to the House of Bishops, dated September 12, 2008, the Presiding Bishop addressed the question whether the canonically required vote by the House of Bishops was “by a majority of bishops present at the meeting at which the matter is presented or, on the other hand, by a majority of all the voting members of the House whether or not in attendance.” She concluded that “the vote must be by a majority of all the bishops who are at the meeting at which the vote must be taken and who are entitled to vote.”
The “Sentence of Deposition” does not reflect, however, her interpretation of the canon. It includes the recitation “a majority of the members of the House of Bishops entitled to vote having consented to this Deposition at a meeting of the House of Bishops in Salt Lake City , Utah , on 18 September, 2008….” That is, the Sentence does not read, following the Presiding Bishop’s own memorandum and ruling, “a majority of the members of the House of Bishops present,” nor does it recite the actual language of the relevant canon. Instead, the Sentence adopts the plain reading of the canon the Presiding Bishop overruled: “a majority of members of the House of Bishops entitled to vote having consented…”
Surely one thing all parties can agree on is that this did not happen in Salt Lake City . There are close to 300 members of the House of Bishops “entitled to vote.” Only 88 consented to the purported deposition. Far from a majority, this is fewer than a third of the bishops entitled to vote. So why does the “Sentence of Deposition” now concede the legal point made by bishops and others who requested canonical integrity? Is it because an accurate recitation, one using the Presiding Bishop’s own words, “a majority of bishops present at the meeting,” would be invalid on its face? This Sentence of Deposition only confirms ACI’s stated concern that the legitimacy of the House’s action and the Presiding Bishop’s leadership has been placed in serious question by this proceeding.
Diocese of Virginia issues a Statement
From BabyBlueOnline:
PANTS ON FIRE ALERT: It's now official - Henry Burt is the Episcopal version of Baghdad Bob. From now on, he's Baghdad Burt.
The Diocese again noted the regrettable necessity of these proceedings. "While we have hoped that the CANA congregations would propose a reasonable alternative to litigation," said Henry D.W. Burt, Secretary of the Diocese, "the Church must vigorously protect the legacy of those faithful generations who have gone before for those who will follow."
Do we have to go through this again? It was Katharine Jefferts Schori and the Diocese of Virginia that sued the congregations, it was Bishop Lee who cut off negotiations and sued everyone. We all had the Standstill Agreement - our petitions were not deemed hostile by the Diocese. The litigation was initiated by TEC and the Diocese. "While we have hoped that the CANA Congregations would propose a reasonable alternative to litigation ..."
That has got to be the Pants on Fire Statement of the Year.
NOTE VERY CAREFULLY THE SPINMEISTING - Can you read between the lines?
Diocese Forgoes Voting Issue, Prepares for Appeal (find post below, ed.)
September 22, 2008
PANTS ON FIRE ALERT: It's now official - Henry Burt is the Episcopal version of Baghdad Bob. From now on, he's Baghdad Burt.
The Diocese again noted the regrettable necessity of these proceedings. "While we have hoped that the CANA congregations would propose a reasonable alternative to litigation," said Henry D.W. Burt, Secretary of the Diocese, "the Church must vigorously protect the legacy of those faithful generations who have gone before for those who will follow."
Do we have to go through this again? It was Katharine Jefferts Schori and the Diocese of Virginia that sued the congregations, it was Bishop Lee who cut off negotiations and sued everyone. We all had the Standstill Agreement - our petitions were not deemed hostile by the Diocese. The litigation was initiated by TEC and the Diocese. "While we have hoped that the CANA Congregations would propose a reasonable alternative to litigation ..."
That has got to be the Pants on Fire Statement of the Year.
NOTE VERY CAREFULLY THE SPINMEISTING - Can you read between the lines?
Diocese Forgoes Voting Issue, Prepares for Appeal (find post below, ed.)
September 22, 2008
And now, for something completely different
I found this lol funny, but I know that some of our DCNY readers might not:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgGDA8spnl8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgGDA8spnl8
Fr. Dan Martins: On the Art of Abandoning Hope
Monday, September 22, 2008
I try to hold charity as a default disposition. I try to assume the best about people, and to give every possible benefit of the doubt. I am not inherently suspicious, nor am I easily offended personally (it can be done, but you have to really want to). I try to be irenic and empathetic in my discourse, particularly my public discourse (I do have some unguarded moments among close friends), and particularly when I am engaging those with whom I have strong disagreements. I live up to these ideals with varying degrees of success, something that probably comes as no surprise to you if you are a regular reader of this irregular blog. However, trusted feedback from multiple sources over a sustained length of time tells me that I succeed more often than I fail.
I mention all this in an attempt to set the context for some reflections on what transpired last week in the House of Bishops, and then on the larger Anglican scene. It is probably a good thing (for my soul's health, that is) that I was away from home and without constant internet access when the news broke about the deposition (once again, canonically flawed) of the Bishop of Pittsburgh. Since getting back home on Friday, I've been able to absorb both the news itself and bits and pieces of analysis and commentary. There is little of either that is very surprising—save, perhaps, for the fact that there were indeed 35 bishops who voted No, some prominent "progressives" among them. And even though the raw vote seems overwhelming (87-35-5), when you limit the statistical pool to Bishops Diocesan (i.e. excluding Suffragans, Coadjutors, Assistants, and retired), only a slight majority voted to depose Bishop Duncan. What this disparity means I am not prepared to say, but it is certainly worthy of note.
Anyway, the deed is done—for all practical purposes, at any rate, Bishop Duncan having decamped to the Southern Cone within hours of the vote, and two-thirds or so of his diocese poised to follow him there in a matter of weeks. This makes me angry and sad, on numerous levels.
First, I am dismayed that Bishop Duncan has taken several actions that he has. Now, I should say, I count myself generally among his admirers. I don't know him well, but I've met him and spent time around him on several occasions. I find him humble and prayerful and, frankly, suffused with an inner joy that transcends the rigors to which his vocation of leadership subjects him. In "normal" circumstances, I would be proud to have him as my bishop. But, in the midst of the fray, he has seemed to abet rhetoric that, while intended to galvanize his "base" (to borrow a term from secular political discourse), has also galvanized the opposition by crossing the line into inflammatory polemical hyperbole. I refer particularly to the Choose This Day DVD that received wide circulation some years ago, but which many Episcopalians who consider themselves creedally orthodox, even right-of-center, found wounding and offensive, making it counter-productive to the larger cause that all "reasserters" share. And, speaking of that cause, and as I have made clear numerous times, I lament the decision to which Bishop Duncan has led his diocese. I greatly empathize with the reasons behind it, but believe it does more harm than good in the larger project of stabilizing worldwide Anglicanism in its proper theological and ecclesiological roots.
But the bulk of my sadness and anger is reserved for the Presiding Bishop and those who have attempted to buttress her course of action. No, I'm not a lawyer and I've never played one on TV. But I do read and write English with a modicum of fluency. I know what lots of words mean. I can diagram sentences. And I can spot ambiguity from a mile away. There is nothing ambiguous about Canon IV.9. That the HOB's lawyer-bishops cast aside common sense in order to "find" ambiguity that they could then resolve in favor of the Presiding Bishop's desires is to their shame. So … shame on them. As a result of their work, the best hermeneutical tool for understanding the polity and discipline of the Episcopal Church these days is, alas, Alice in Wonderland, where words mean only what those in power say they mean.
I am also sad and angry—well, mystified might be a more accurate term—at the tunnel vision of the HOB majority. It is actually doing harm to their own cause. Before they took on the Duncan matter, our bishops took some time to bask in the afterglow of the Lambeth Conference, wherein they made lots of new friends and reached deeper levels of mutual understanding with their episcopal peers from other provinces. So it is incredible to me that they cannot see how their action in deposing Bishop Duncan is likely to be interpreted abroad as a pre-emptive purge of an annoying colleague, convicting a man for what he thinks and plans rather than for what he has done (shades of the film Minority Report), yet another example of TEC's "progressive" juggernaut steamrolling all opposition. Even a lowly parish priest in a backwater small town such as myself knows the truth of the maxim "Perception is reality." How can our purple-shirted friends be so clueless?
The rapidity with which the verities—the "old eternal rocks" (per St Patrick)—of the American financial system have vaporized over the past week seems an apt parallel—in a condensed, fast-forward sort of way—to the ongoing meltdown of everything we only recently took for granted about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. It is slowly but surely sinking in to this Anglo-Catholic's brain that the Episcopal Church may well not survive. Oh, there will doubtless be an institutional entity by that name long after my bones have assumed the ambient temperature of the surrounding earth. But it will no longer be that which I and many others believed we were embracing when we joined up—that is, a local (national) manifestation of the historic diversity of Anglicanism: grounded in Catholic faith and order, renewed by evangelical fervor, and, yes, maintaining an intellectual capaciousness that allows fuzziness where clarity is not essential. The trajectory of my church is one of growing insularity and isolation—indeed, isolationism, driven by a notion of justice that is so overwrought as to be no longer recognizably linked to the Christian moral virtue of the same name.
Moreover, it must be admitted, Anglicanism itself may not survive. That's a terrifying prospect for me, because I believe myself to have an "Anglican soul," if there can be said to be such a thing. Rome has its attractions, and if I had my 'druthers I would die in communion with the See of Peter without having renounced my Anglican identity. But if Anglicanism were to simply implode as a viable option for one who wants to be a Catholic Christian, I would be truly bereft. I do remain hopeful on this front, but it is good to face reality, and develop the skill of not making an idol of anything, even something as fine and life-giving as the Anglican tradition.
Of this much I am fairly certain: The picture will get darker and more confusing for orthodox Anglicans in the U.S. before it gets lighter and clearer. I can't even in all honesty bring myself to say something encouraging like "This is the darkness just before dawn." The truth is, things can, in fact, get a lot darker than they are now. We can pretty much count on that happening. It is a time for letting go of expectations, not with pollyannish nostrums that a deus ex machina will rescue us, but with a willingness to be conformed to the shape of the cross. A passage from a meditation by the late James Griffiss, priest and seminary professor, seems apt here:
How easy it is for us to be deceived about hope. What we want to believe is that God will work out everything for our good in the end. The way may be difficult; things may get bad at times, but in the end all will be well. And sometimes, indeed, it does happen that way, and we are deceived all the more. We even try to do it with Jesus himself. We interpret his death according to our own understanding and our own idols: God made it alright for him, so he will make it alright for us. And so we avoid the cross and what it says, for it is not too difficult to turn the cross into that which puts God to the test. "I am your son, your chosen one, surely you are not going to abandon me now." We can imagine that Jesus might have said that, might perhaps have thought it, because we have said it so many times ourselves. ... The cross frees us from that temptation, and it is our only hope. ... The cross frees us from the sin of testing, because Jesus died there; it is the end. Nothing is left, nothing on which he or we can depend except the cross, and the cross offers us nothing, not even itself. It offers only the God who led Jesus there and who leads us there to be crucified with him. (From A Silent Path to God.)
Hope that is a Christian virtue is hope that has been smelted in the crucible of the cross. And before we can embrace such true hope, we must renounce the idol of false hope.
In the meantime, how shall we then live? (Here I speak from my own position as a pastor and priest, hoping that what I say can be "translated" by those in other vocations.) Of this much I am equally certain: I am surrounded by people—people in my parish and people in the larger community—who are ravenous for good news in the midst of their fragmented lives, thirsty for the water of life, eager to both receive and give witness to the love and mercy of God in Christ. They are, at most, only marginally interested in the intricacies of ecclesial politics that appear so prominently on my computer screen, and, with occasional exceptions, it is possible to minister to their needs without involving them in those matters. My ordination vows as a priest include "tak[ing my] share in the councils of the Church." I intend to be faithful to that vow, and I see this haphazard blog as part of that effort. But I will also, God being my helper, never lose sight of my calling, equally part of my ordination vows, to be a living and authentic icon of Christ the Good Shepherd to all those who are and will be entrusted to my care.
Kyrie eleison.
Posted by Dan Martins at 10:58 AM
I try to hold charity as a default disposition. I try to assume the best about people, and to give every possible benefit of the doubt. I am not inherently suspicious, nor am I easily offended personally (it can be done, but you have to really want to). I try to be irenic and empathetic in my discourse, particularly my public discourse (I do have some unguarded moments among close friends), and particularly when I am engaging those with whom I have strong disagreements. I live up to these ideals with varying degrees of success, something that probably comes as no surprise to you if you are a regular reader of this irregular blog. However, trusted feedback from multiple sources over a sustained length of time tells me that I succeed more often than I fail.
I mention all this in an attempt to set the context for some reflections on what transpired last week in the House of Bishops, and then on the larger Anglican scene. It is probably a good thing (for my soul's health, that is) that I was away from home and without constant internet access when the news broke about the deposition (once again, canonically flawed) of the Bishop of Pittsburgh. Since getting back home on Friday, I've been able to absorb both the news itself and bits and pieces of analysis and commentary. There is little of either that is very surprising—save, perhaps, for the fact that there were indeed 35 bishops who voted No, some prominent "progressives" among them. And even though the raw vote seems overwhelming (87-35-5), when you limit the statistical pool to Bishops Diocesan (i.e. excluding Suffragans, Coadjutors, Assistants, and retired), only a slight majority voted to depose Bishop Duncan. What this disparity means I am not prepared to say, but it is certainly worthy of note.
Anyway, the deed is done—for all practical purposes, at any rate, Bishop Duncan having decamped to the Southern Cone within hours of the vote, and two-thirds or so of his diocese poised to follow him there in a matter of weeks. This makes me angry and sad, on numerous levels.
First, I am dismayed that Bishop Duncan has taken several actions that he has. Now, I should say, I count myself generally among his admirers. I don't know him well, but I've met him and spent time around him on several occasions. I find him humble and prayerful and, frankly, suffused with an inner joy that transcends the rigors to which his vocation of leadership subjects him. In "normal" circumstances, I would be proud to have him as my bishop. But, in the midst of the fray, he has seemed to abet rhetoric that, while intended to galvanize his "base" (to borrow a term from secular political discourse), has also galvanized the opposition by crossing the line into inflammatory polemical hyperbole. I refer particularly to the Choose This Day DVD that received wide circulation some years ago, but which many Episcopalians who consider themselves creedally orthodox, even right-of-center, found wounding and offensive, making it counter-productive to the larger cause that all "reasserters" share. And, speaking of that cause, and as I have made clear numerous times, I lament the decision to which Bishop Duncan has led his diocese. I greatly empathize with the reasons behind it, but believe it does more harm than good in the larger project of stabilizing worldwide Anglicanism in its proper theological and ecclesiological roots.
But the bulk of my sadness and anger is reserved for the Presiding Bishop and those who have attempted to buttress her course of action. No, I'm not a lawyer and I've never played one on TV. But I do read and write English with a modicum of fluency. I know what lots of words mean. I can diagram sentences. And I can spot ambiguity from a mile away. There is nothing ambiguous about Canon IV.9. That the HOB's lawyer-bishops cast aside common sense in order to "find" ambiguity that they could then resolve in favor of the Presiding Bishop's desires is to their shame. So … shame on them. As a result of their work, the best hermeneutical tool for understanding the polity and discipline of the Episcopal Church these days is, alas, Alice in Wonderland, where words mean only what those in power say they mean.
I am also sad and angry—well, mystified might be a more accurate term—at the tunnel vision of the HOB majority. It is actually doing harm to their own cause. Before they took on the Duncan matter, our bishops took some time to bask in the afterglow of the Lambeth Conference, wherein they made lots of new friends and reached deeper levels of mutual understanding with their episcopal peers from other provinces. So it is incredible to me that they cannot see how their action in deposing Bishop Duncan is likely to be interpreted abroad as a pre-emptive purge of an annoying colleague, convicting a man for what he thinks and plans rather than for what he has done (shades of the film Minority Report), yet another example of TEC's "progressive" juggernaut steamrolling all opposition. Even a lowly parish priest in a backwater small town such as myself knows the truth of the maxim "Perception is reality." How can our purple-shirted friends be so clueless?
The rapidity with which the verities—the "old eternal rocks" (per St Patrick)—of the American financial system have vaporized over the past week seems an apt parallel—in a condensed, fast-forward sort of way—to the ongoing meltdown of everything we only recently took for granted about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. It is slowly but surely sinking in to this Anglo-Catholic's brain that the Episcopal Church may well not survive. Oh, there will doubtless be an institutional entity by that name long after my bones have assumed the ambient temperature of the surrounding earth. But it will no longer be that which I and many others believed we were embracing when we joined up—that is, a local (national) manifestation of the historic diversity of Anglicanism: grounded in Catholic faith and order, renewed by evangelical fervor, and, yes, maintaining an intellectual capaciousness that allows fuzziness where clarity is not essential. The trajectory of my church is one of growing insularity and isolation—indeed, isolationism, driven by a notion of justice that is so overwrought as to be no longer recognizably linked to the Christian moral virtue of the same name.
Moreover, it must be admitted, Anglicanism itself may not survive. That's a terrifying prospect for me, because I believe myself to have an "Anglican soul," if there can be said to be such a thing. Rome has its attractions, and if I had my 'druthers I would die in communion with the See of Peter without having renounced my Anglican identity. But if Anglicanism were to simply implode as a viable option for one who wants to be a Catholic Christian, I would be truly bereft. I do remain hopeful on this front, but it is good to face reality, and develop the skill of not making an idol of anything, even something as fine and life-giving as the Anglican tradition.
Of this much I am fairly certain: The picture will get darker and more confusing for orthodox Anglicans in the U.S. before it gets lighter and clearer. I can't even in all honesty bring myself to say something encouraging like "This is the darkness just before dawn." The truth is, things can, in fact, get a lot darker than they are now. We can pretty much count on that happening. It is a time for letting go of expectations, not with pollyannish nostrums that a deus ex machina will rescue us, but with a willingness to be conformed to the shape of the cross. A passage from a meditation by the late James Griffiss, priest and seminary professor, seems apt here:
How easy it is for us to be deceived about hope. What we want to believe is that God will work out everything for our good in the end. The way may be difficult; things may get bad at times, but in the end all will be well. And sometimes, indeed, it does happen that way, and we are deceived all the more. We even try to do it with Jesus himself. We interpret his death according to our own understanding and our own idols: God made it alright for him, so he will make it alright for us. And so we avoid the cross and what it says, for it is not too difficult to turn the cross into that which puts God to the test. "I am your son, your chosen one, surely you are not going to abandon me now." We can imagine that Jesus might have said that, might perhaps have thought it, because we have said it so many times ourselves. ... The cross frees us from that temptation, and it is our only hope. ... The cross frees us from the sin of testing, because Jesus died there; it is the end. Nothing is left, nothing on which he or we can depend except the cross, and the cross offers us nothing, not even itself. It offers only the God who led Jesus there and who leads us there to be crucified with him. (From A Silent Path to God.)
Hope that is a Christian virtue is hope that has been smelted in the crucible of the cross. And before we can embrace such true hope, we must renounce the idol of false hope.
In the meantime, how shall we then live? (Here I speak from my own position as a pastor and priest, hoping that what I say can be "translated" by those in other vocations.) Of this much I am equally certain: I am surrounded by people—people in my parish and people in the larger community—who are ravenous for good news in the midst of their fragmented lives, thirsty for the water of life, eager to both receive and give witness to the love and mercy of God in Christ. They are, at most, only marginally interested in the intricacies of ecclesial politics that appear so prominently on my computer screen, and, with occasional exceptions, it is possible to minister to their needs without involving them in those matters. My ordination vows as a priest include "tak[ing my] share in the councils of the Church." I intend to be faithful to that vow, and I see this haphazard blog as part of that effort. But I will also, God being my helper, never lose sight of my calling, equally part of my ordination vows, to be a living and authentic icon of Christ the Good Shepherd to all those who are and will be entrusted to my care.
Kyrie eleison.
Posted by Dan Martins at 10:58 AM
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