Beloved in Christ,
Is there a fraud upon the Communion, the courts and the world?
Following in the tradition of several former totalitarian states, TEC has been using the tactic of disinformation. The concept is to tell the opposite of the truth as often as you can, so that people begin to believe that your assertion must be true. The Episcopal Church has been doing just this, and in the process one has to ask, "Is this not a fraud perpetuated on the Communion, the courts and the world?"
One example of this dating back several years is the validity of the so-called Dennis Canon, which purports to create a trust in favor of TEC on property owned by local churches. If all parties wish to establish a trust on property owned by one entity and in favor of the other, and they both are consenting adults or consenting legal entities, it would seem legitimate. The problem occurs when the party who owns the property is either unaware of the attempted imposition of a trust, or does know but doesn't agree to it. Common sense says that someone else shouldn't decide to create a trust in their favor on your property without your permission. The local churches did not consent to the concept of the Dennis Canon trust establishment before the fact, since they did not have direct agents acting for this purpose at the point of establishment. Local churches likewise didn't, in most cases, read the news in the media, and then call a meeting to ratify or confirm such a trust establishment. The concept of imposing without actual consent a trust on another's property seems dishonest, illegal, and when asserted in a legal framework in order to take possession of the same, fraudulent. Courts, relying on the trustworthiness of the Episcopal Church, have taken the assertion as if it were true, and so have become parties themselves to actions that seem to perpetuate the fraud.
Another example is whether Dioceses can leave the Episcopal Church, and TEC argues that they cannot - like a massive black hole in the universe, all matter and churches that come within a certain distance of TEC are forever a part of the whole, unable to escape. The reality is that during the sad period of American history known as the Civil War, or The War Between the States, the Episcopal dioceses that were part of the Confederate States of America did secede from the Episcopal Church. Granted, the Episcopal Church didn't accept their departure, left empty chairs, and called their names during roll call. No lawsuits were filed. No bishops were deposed. And the Confederate dioceses did not stand by passively - they organized The General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America, held in Columbia, SC, and presided over by the venerable Bishop Meade of Virginia himself. They structured their General Convention to have a House of Bishops and a House of Deputies. After the war ended, the dioceses that had been part of the Confederate States of America gradually came back and found their seats, but their return did not negate that they had, in fact, left. Can dioceses leave? Historically, yes, though at the time of the Civil War they didn't have a Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori to sue them.
In a similar vein is the assertion that the Episcopal Church is hierarchical, and that the role of the Presiding Bishop is like a chief executive's, or in ecclesial terms, someone with the authority to function with power like that of the Roman Catholic Pope. The exceptionally well-written and well-reasoned article, "Bishops' Statement on the Polity of The Episcopal Church," published by the Communion Partners and the Anglican Communion Institute, argues in detail why the diocese and its bishop form the basic unit of the larger church, and the coming together of dioceses to form the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America was more of a federation than a federal union. Their article says it better than I can in limited space, but do read the entirety of the publication. The American Anglican Council thanks those who put it together and those bishops who have signed it.
Still another example of the false statements that TEC is spreading to all who will listen was picked up at the Lambeth Conference by the Rt. Rev. Jonathan Gledhill, Bishop of Litchfield, who reported on his weblog: "We are told that in the lawsuits in America between parishes and their dioceses, it is the dioceses who are the defendants and the conservative parishes who are the accusers." As the AAC's research shows, this is manifestly untrue. The actual record, the record that can be substantiated from courthouse to courthouse, is that TEC and its Dioceses have followed a pattern of suing any church that chooses to leave for another Anglican jurisdiction. The AAC has on file most, but not all, of the incredible number of suits by TEC leadership against parishes, and now against dioceses that are leaving. The rate of litigation is actually increasing, and that was why it was so important for the 4th Moratorium to be included in the Covenant Draft, and why TEC worked so hard to make sure it didn't get included. Bishop Gregory Cameron's lame reply, when directly asked as the chairman of the committee, why the 4th Moratorium didn't make it from the earlier document to the presented draft, could only say, "I don't know." Doesn't know, or doesn't dare tell? The question is not, "Is there a conspiracy to deceive the Anglican Communion?" The question is "Who is involved and why?" Many of us think we know. The smoking gun is on the table, now we want to know why certain people have their fingerprints on the handle. But wait, the Communion leadership doesn't want to know, they want to Indaba daba do(nothing) and talk until all of us are too old to remember the facts.
The principles of prevarication and deception are being honed by TEC and we should look for additional examples to continue surfacing.
I realize that often my articles are not good news, and do not convey wonderful messages of Christian unity. We try to include positive stories and articles in our weekly updates, but the purpose of my articles is to examine the truth, good or bad, and make it clear in the light of day. For those soldiers of the Cross who are on the front lines of this conflict, we pray for God's full equipage for the spiritual battle ahead, for we war not with flesh and blood but with the powers of darkness which use men and women in support of their shadowy plans.
In the battle for Christ's truth and the enlargement of His Church, may our Lord bless and strengthen you abundantly,
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
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