Message from Bishop David Anderson  Bishop Anderson Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Last week I commented briefly on the fact that the Methodist Church may stop short of following the Episcopal, Lutheran and Presbyterian churches over the theological Niagara Falls. Reports from their 2012 General Conference in Florida would seem to bear this out. I quote from the New York Times: "The United Methodist Church, at its convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, voted not to change long-contested wording in its book of laws and doctrines that calls homosexuality 'incompatible with Christian teaching'." And also, "The vote was 61 percent to 39 percent against the change to the church's "Book of Discipline," indicating little change to the deadlock on an issue the church has been debating for the last four decades. The delegates also defeated a compromise amendment proposed by the advocates of equality for gay members, which said that Methodists can agree to disagree on homosexuality and still live together as a church. The debate on the floor of the convention, which is held only once every four years and draws about 1,000 delegates, illustrated the deep divisions and demographic shifts in the church. A delegate from Africa likened homosexuality to bestiality only moments after several American delegates pleaded with the conference to "hear the pain" of gay church members. When protesters supporting gay rights interrupted the convention with loud singing after the vote, the moderator ended the morning session early and closed the convention hall to visitors." It is not impossible that after the General Conference adjourns and there are four years left until the next, some Methodist bishops might decide to ignore this vote and/or make exceptions in their own jurisdictions, circumventing the will of the General Conference.

In the revisionist mind, nothing is ever over until they win, while the traditionalists tend to be more focused on fair play and living within the rules and agreements. The only saving grace is that the revisionist Methodists are diminishing in the USA as the false gospel of inclusive toleration fails to bring enough new people into the church to balance deaths and departures. Some areas of Methodism are more conservative and run counter to this decline, and are seeing growth, such as in North Georgia. Additionally, the international component of the Methodists' General Conference is more orthodox and is also growing, so the demographic future argues for increased orthodoxy, if catastrophe in the short term can be prevented. The New York Times article is here. Speaking of staying the course, it looks like the Church of Ireland will stop short of buying fully into the American Episcopal (TEC) Church's path into theological and spiritual insanity. A motion presented at the General Synod points them in the right direction: "Having regard to the present discussions in the Church of Ireland on Human Sexuality in the Context of Christian Belief, the General Synod affirms that: - The Church of Ireland, mindful of the Preamble and Declaration, believes and accepts the Holy Scriptures as revealing all things necessary for eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ; - The Church of Ireland continues to uphold its teaching that marriage is part of God's creation and a holy mystery in which one man and one woman become one flesh, as provided for in Canon 31: 'The Church of Ireland affirms, according to our Lord's teaching that marriage is in its purpose a union permanent and life-long, for better or worse, till death do them part, of one man with one woman, to the exclusion of all others on either side, for the procreation and nurture of children, for the hallowing and right direction of the natural instincts and affections, and for the mutual society, help and comfort which the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity'. The Church of Ireland recognizes for itself and of itself, no other understanding of marriage than that provided for in the totality of Canon 31; - The Church of Ireland teaches therefore that faithfulness within marriage is the only normative context for sexual intercourse. Members of the Church of Ireland are required by the Catechism to keep their bodies in 'temperance, soberness and chastity'. Clergy are called in the Ordinal to be 'wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Jesus Christ'." (Read the entire motion here.)  In the State of Georgia, we note that Christ Church Anglican, Savannah, which recently filed a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) for an appeal of the courts' rulings in Georgia which awarded all of Christ Church's property and assets to TEC, has accepted a settlement offer worked out with the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, and with the settlement, withdrawal of the appeal to SCOTUS. Read the entire settlement announcement here.   Bishop Seabury Church, Groton, CT, and Timberridge Presbyterian, McDonough, GA, are going forward full speed with their Writs of Certiorari, and the AAC fervently hopes that SCOTUS agrees to take up this issue of fundamental and basic justice. How can any organization or person construct an involuntary trust on someone else's property? If basic laws of trust and property title were followed uniformly, then church denominations that wished to assert ownership of local church property could put their own names on the title, and then everyone who gave to a capital funds drive would know clearly and in advance that their gift was really to the diocese and/or the national denomination. Or is that too clear and too fair for certain churches to tolerate? I commented last week on the Amicus brief filed by the Anglican Communion Institute and certain respected conservative bishops and theologians on behalf of the Diocese of Fort Worth (ACNA). Their point was that although they differed with Fort Worth on the action of leaving TEC, they agreed with Fort Worth that the polity and structure of TEC was such that the diocese was the basic unit of the church, and that TEC has been mischaracterizing the authority of its national leadership as an overarching, hierarchical structure. As anger at these TEC bishops who signed the brief is building within certain TEC groups, some TEC-oriented blogs have postings which call for TEC Canon Title IV discipline to be brought against the signatories. One person posted in all seriousness, "The seven Bps could be charged in my opinion for interfering in the internal matters of another Diocese.  Not only is it problematic that they promote the notion that the schismatic groups ARE Dioceses, but they fail to support the actual TEC people who have remained as the legitimate Diocese in Ft Worth and other places.  They also interfere with the Bishops of TEC exercising canonical jurisdiction.  For that, I believe, they could be charged." Other bloggers have expressed similar thoughts in slightly different words. Although a frequently-mentioned charge might be "conduct unbecoming a clergy person" the reality is that the Amicus brief is seen as injurious to TEC's overstatement of their structure and hierarchy, and might hurt them in court. Freedom of speech and expression is a thing of the past in the new "1984 version" of the Episcopal Church. The AAC hopes that the voices calling for Title IV discipline are overruled, and what freedom of speech that is left in TEC is allowed to continue. We also pray that the Supreme Court of Texas fully understands the truthfulness put forward by Fort Worth's appeal and the briefs filed on their behalf, and reverses the lower court. One of my former bishops and a leader in the revisionist movement in TEC, Bishop J. Jon Bruno, diocesan of Los Angeles, has received hard news, that he has a particularly difficult type of leukemia. Word we receive from Los Angeles is that he will attempt to continue his work administratively, but the day-to-day trips and travels will be taken over by other bishops on his staff. He has been in active litigation against departing Anglican congregations since 2004, and at the time of Katharine Jefferts Schori's election as Presiding Bishop of the TEC House of Bishops in 2006, he was rumored to have played a significant role behind the scenes. His letter to his diocese can be read here. Finally, a comment about the AAC's lack of comment on the unfolding AMiA story. We minister to and serve people in TEC, the ACNA, and AMiA, and we find the situation in the Anglican Mission complex, confusing, and still rapidly evolving. Even now, with some of the AMiA people remaining in PEARwanda, and linked to ACNA as well, and some of AMiA now with Chairman Bishop Murphy and, however briefly, linked to the Congo, and other bishops asking for temporary coverage with local ACNA dioceses and bishops, we think that prognostication and guessing at motives or projecting outcomes is simply not helpful. We wish to provide whatever help we can to all those within the large umbrella that AMiA once covered, and we lift them all up in our prayers. Blessings and Peace in Christ Jesus, +David The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson President & CEO, American Anglican Council