A Message from Bishop David Anderson
Beloved in Christ,
Breaking news in the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York: the Bishop of CNY is trying to seize a trust set up through the will of a now-deceased member of the Church of the Good Shepherd. Money left in a trust for the parish is being contested by Bishop Skip Adams, claiming that when Good Shepherd left the Episcopal Church it "ceased to exist" and therefore the Diocese of CNY and Christ Episcopal Church in Binghamton, who are alternative beneficiaries, should have the money.
Not content with seizing Good Shepherd's church buildings, rectory and tangible property, they want this trust fund as well. Since the parish has not ceased to exist in a legal sense, the parish is asserting that the trust goes with the parish. It is the same congregation, using the same name, still meeting, still filing the same state corporation papers as a non-profit religious corporation. The Episcopal Diocese's assertion seems to rest on the premise "you only exist if we say you exist." One might well add, "...and hand over everything including the trust fund." The parish, meanwhile, having lost use of their own church building, is now holding services in a former Roman Catholic Church just over a mile from their former site, and is experiencing increased attendance and growth.
In Texas, The Episcopal Church's (TEC) faux diocese meant to replace the Diocese of Fort Worth (which is now attached to the Province of the Southern Cone), has demanded that Bishop Iker and the original and enduring Diocese of Fort Worth turn over to them all of the assets. Even the wording of their demand is demeaning and insulting. The letter says, "The standing committee of the continuing Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth (Texas) and Provisional Bishop Edwin Gulick have written to former bishop Jack Iker to request a 'Logo for Blueprintpeaceful and orderly transfer of property and other assets.'" Small things such as the capitalization of "Provisional Bishop" for Edwin Gulick, and the lower case past tense use of "former bishop" for Jack Iker continue the intentional refusal to recognize that Bishop Iker is still a bishop, recognized by most of the Anglican Communion, and a member bishop of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. The use of the word "peaceful" for their demand reminds me of a satirical cartoon seen on the internet (at left): a hand holding a loaded pistol, with the caption "Hand over the money and nobody gets hurt." That about sums up the Episcopal Church's concept of peaceful. . .their way or else.
A group within the Episcopal Church calling itself the "Consultation Platform" is preparing for a large presence at TEC's General Convention in July, 2009, in Anaheim, California. They say of themselves, "The Consultation is a coalition of thirteen independent organizations in the Episcopal Church committed to peace and justice." While nearly everyone is committed to peace and justice, many liberal groups have co-opted the words to be code words for their own radical agenda, and only tangentially connected to either peace or justice per se. An examination of their platform for GC2009: Section 1 is titled "Continue the reformation of the Church." It has three bullet points: first, "equip all the baptized for their ministry in the world and for their share in the governance and mission of the Church at every level of its life." This sounds good until you realize that it means inclusion of homosexual practices, transgender issues, and something now being called "intersex." So everyone in the church, with all kinds of beliefs about Jesus and Holy Scripture, and of every permutation of moral/immoral activity, is to be equipped to share in the governance and mission of the church at every level.
The second bullet point of Section 1 is, "remove all canonical obstacles to exercising the full baptismal ministry in the whole life of the Church." What does this mean? What canons are obstacles, you ask? Those canons which call for the exercise of historic beliefs about Jesus and Holy Scripture, and classical perspectives on moral/immoral activity, and especially canons barring same-sex blessings/marriage, and ordination of homosexual bishops are but a few of the obstacles.
The third bullet point is, "conform the canons to the baptismal theology of The Book of Common Prayer." They are referring to TEC's 1979 BCP, and specifically the line in the Baptismal Covenant on page 305 (which you might have thought was the Apostles Creed, but has been expanded to be the additional promises made in baptism) which says in part "...respect the dignity of every human being." This is interpreted to mean that in respecting the dignity, you tolerate and respect the behaviors which morally the Holy Scripture forbids, especially those pertaining to sexuality. So the third point means to conform the canons of TEC to this interpretation of "respect."
Later in Section 8, there are two bullet points, and the first is, "affirm that all orders of ministry are open to all the Baptized who are otherwise qualified." This means that homosexuals living an active homosexual life should be able to be consecrated bishops, priests and deacons. By further extension, the transgendered or those with alternative sexual preferences should be able to also be ordained and consecrated. The second bullet point is, "urge clergy to refuse to function as civil magistrates in marriage and to re-affirm their authority to bless all faithful relationships." This means that the priest would not sign a state marriage license for a couple. The couple would have to have a civil marriage, then come to the church for a religious marriage ceremony - and note especially that they would bless ALL "faithful" relationships, the meaning of faithful being left open.
Pre-filed resolutions for General Convention add gender identity or the expression of gender identity to "protected categories" for ordination (C001); seven resolutions conform the marriage canons to the language of civil laws permitting same-sex unions (C019, C025, C028), or remove restrictions and/or authorize the development of liturgies for same sex blessings (C004, C009, C017, C031). Five resolutions (C007, C010, C015, C024, C033) repudiate and reverse Resolution B033 from GC2006, which asked TEC to observe the Communion moratorium on any further consecrations of non-celibate homosexuals as bishops in the Church.
All that, and I'm sure more, is waiting for Episcopalians when they get to GC2009. Pray for the orthodox bishops, clergy and laity who will be deputies to General Convention. The AAC will be there to assist the orthodox in their witness.
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Vermont has testified in the State Senate of Vermont on behalf of gay marriage. Bishop Thomas Ely advocates not just a blessing of same sex unions, which Vermont already has, but the full inclusion of homosexuals in the marriage laws.
This battle which is raging in the Anglican Communion is also underway in the Presbyterian Church, as the Presbyterian Church in the USA votes on whether to change their behavior requirements for ordinands and pastors. A proposed amendment would strike language that calls for faithfulness in heterosexual marriage and chastity outside of that, and replace it with permissive language that would permit homosexual practice and non-fidelity. The number of votes needed to pass the amendment is 173, and to date the vote is 77 to 47 against changing the moral standard. Pray for the orthodox Presbyterians that they may hold fast to the Biblical standards of behavior. You can find the article at http://www.layman.org/Home.aspx
Finally and on a very positive note, the AAC applauds the statement by the Anglican Church of Nigeria declaring full and complete communion with the ACNA province. It is the witness of our brothers and sisters in the GAFCON provinces that gives the faithful in North America our encouragement to carry forward.
Blessings and peace in Christ Jesus,
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
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