A message from The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson

A message from The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson
President and CEO, American Anglican Council

Beloved in Christ,

It was just a week ago that the Global South Steering Committee released a statement which touched on conditions in both the United States and the
global communion, and suggested that other meetings separate from the
Lambeth Conference might be called for. Some readers have raised questions about the form of the statement, particularly why it didn¹t have a "Pauline" salutation. I suspect that the form is the answer: it is not a letter, it is a statement. I also suspect that in this world of email, cell phones and faxes, those in attendance and those remotely located were able to communicate adequately in order to validate the content and force of resolve that the final message conveyed.

The Communiqué Compliance Office has released its fourth report on the state of the American Episcopal Church¹s compliance (or lack thereof) to the Tanzanian demands. A copy of the report is posted on the AAC website and may be downloaded. In electronic form the report has web links which take you to a copy of original texts cited. In print form you lose the electronic links.

With increased awareness of the scope of the strategic litigation that the
Episcopal Church is sponsoring against local church congregations, vestries,
and vestry members individually and personally, it raises several questions.
First, is it safe to serve on an Episcopal Church vestry, since the
Episcopal Church is disregarding both federal and state legal protection
granted to volunteer (unpaid) individuals who agree to serve on non-profit
boards of directors? This is doubly troublesome since a few important insurance companies, who purportedly issue Directors and Officers Liability Insurance which is routinely purchased by churches, are refusing to provide legal defense or coverage for the vestries and individuals once they are sued. The second major question is, "Where is all the money coming from to wage this litigation campaign by TEC?" Various possibilities have been suggested based on remarks made by some Episcopal Church officials, and speculation about the handling of TEC finances is not healthy for TEC itself. The American Anglican Council, representing many parishes, clergy and individuals still within TEC therefore calls on the Episcopal Church to make the funding for the litigations underway and the source of the funding open and transparent for all to see. To this end the AAC applauds the request that several TEC bishops have made to the administration of TEC for financial transparency with regard to the litigation efforts.

It was a great sorrow months ago to learn that the Presiding Bishop had
ruled against the Diocese of South Carolina pertaining to the form of their
Bishop Election Confirmation documents. The ruling cancelled the election
and has forced the diocese to rerun the process, although at an accelerated rate. Now we discover that the same Presiding Bishop has two sets of rules, one for her enemies and one for her friends. She doesn¹t like South Carolina (and the Chancellor David Booth Beers certainly doesn¹t either) so their election is null and void. Virginia, on the other hand, is considered a friend of the Presiding Bishop and the Chancellor, and when they use a non-canonical form to report the confirmations for their bishop-elect, no issue is made, all is wonderful, and the consecration of the new bishop is now history. It is sometimes said by those of the world that all is fair in love and war. Well, this certainly isn¹t love, so orthodox dioceses should be well advised.

Speaking of love and war, Trinity Church, Wall Street, probably the wealthiest church in the world, has decided to cooperate with the TEC plan
to use money to try to fracture the Global South unity. Trinity Church hosted a summit meeting in Madrid, Spain, inviting Global South bishops to
sit down with Episcopal Church leaders and talk about mission opportunities
in their dioceses. When the Israelites left Egypt, fleeing Pharaoh's army,
they took Egyptian gold with them. Although we would advise orthodox bishops against going to lunch with the spider, if you have any of the spider's gold, get out of the web as fast as you can.

The Archbishop of York, His Grace John Sentamu has publicly remarked that other than the sexual issues, there is really nothing wrong with the orthodoxy of the Episcopal Church. We are afraid he speaks of things he does not know about. Sexuality is a tertiary issue. The most dangerous issues are TEC's abandonment of orthodoxy concerning the person of Jesus Christ and the authority of Holy Scripture. In reality, if we lose Jesus and the Bible out of the Anglican faith, why would we care about the sexuality issue?

The issues which confront the American and Canadian churches are not isolated to North America, and the division is touching England itself. Reports coming to us from the UK indicate that up to ten orthodox diocesan and suffragan bishops may stay away from the Lambeth Conference unless the issues are satisfactorily dealt with.

As this Weekly Update goes to press, representatives of the Anglican
Communion Network are traveling to Bedford, Texas for an annual ACN Council meeting. A great deal has changed since the last meeting a year ago. The Council will take stock of the reality of the current landscape and chart a path forward for orthodoxy. Elections are scheduled for this meeting for both the Moderator and Secretary positions. We will bring you news next week of the progress reported at the Council meeting.