Dearly Beloved,
There is a great deal of news this week and we can touch on only a portion of it. Firstly, the situation with the Malawi jailing of two homosexual men now has an unusual outcome. After significant protests from human rights advocates, Mr. Steven Monjeza and Mr. Tiwonge Chimbalanga were pardoned and released. Now, according to an article in the Nation, one of the pair, Mr. Steven Monjeza, has renounced his love for Mr. Chimbalanga and opted to marry a woman. This appears to be a complex situation, and we pray that this heterosexual marriage will be a sustaining and enduring union, and a blessing to both.
In the good news department, Sue Careless of Anglican Planet has reported on a meeting of Kenneth Kearon with Anglican Church of Canada representatives in Halifax, and quotes him as saying, "Unity within the Body of Christ is a theological priority but not the only one. Truth is higher than that...If Christians are divided there is a very serious impact on mission. I don't think we prioritize unity at the sake of everything else." Although this seems obvious, the previous mantra in the Anglican Communion, and especially in North America, has been that schism is worse than heresy. This acknowledgment that truth trumps unity is significant, since unity based on lies and falsehood is no unity at all.
We received wonderful news this week that the California Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, agreed to hear the St. James, Newport Beach appeal. By granting their petition, the Court acknowledged that this property rights dispute is far from over, notwithstanding the assertion of the chancellor of the Los Angeles diocese that the court's decision is simply "a procedural issue." The Court must now decide whether St. James can be deprived of its property before it has had the opportunity to defend itself with evidence in a court of law.
We also received less than happy news that the Supreme Court of Virginia reversed the lower court ruling that was in favor of the Anglican District of Virginia and remanded the case back to lower court for trial. Specifics are available in the article below. It is seen not so much as a loss, but as a failure to move clearly forward, and as an additional cost in resource and time in establishing the truth.
From across the ocean, we have been advised of the invitation to the Presiding Bishop of TEC, the Most Revd Katharine Jefferts Schori, to preach and preside at the Eucharist at Southwark Cathedral on June 13. We are also aware of and agree with the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) in their vigorous protest of the appropriateness of this action.
The CEEC notes their concern as follows: "...her recent statements strongly affirm the current policy of TEC to consecrate openly homosexual persons as bishops. Such a policy is in clear contradiction to the teaching of Scripture and the stated position of the Church of England. Furthermore, Bishop Jefferts Schori recently rejected the Archbishop of Canterbury's exercise of discipline on the relation of TEC to the Anglican Communion.
In the light of all this, we regard such an invitation as provocative and discourteous to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is a further attempt to promote an agenda which runs contrary to the historic Christian consensus on the relation of Christian doctrine to Christian behaviour." (The full CEEC statement is here.)
The AAC has learned that Lambeth Palace permission was granted, under the Overseas Clergy Act, for Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman primate in the Anglican Communion, to function in a presbyterial capacity at the Southwark Cathedral. However, Lambeth Palace did not grant her permission to function as a bishop. This raises a question: will she honor this Lambeth permission and dress in vestments appropriate to a priest, or will she dishonor the permission given, and wear vestments appropriate to a bishop? Yes, she is a bishop, but the permission given was to function as a priest. We are told that she will preach and preside; it is understood that this will be the first time she has preached and presided in a Cathedral in the UK.
Upon inquiry, it was reported that the Dean and Chapter invited the Presiding Bishop a year ago to come and preach and celebrate. We recollect that when Archbishop Peter Akinola was asked to preach in a parish in Sheffield, the Bishop of Sheffield said that he would have to get clearance from the Archbishop of York, and clearance was not given in that case. It should be noted, then, that the lead bishop of a heterodox and disobedient Anglican province that is rich, but small and growing smaller (TEC), is apparently preferred over a vibrant, orthodox province that is very large and growing larger (Nigeria). Although we are happy to hear that Lambeth may apply discipline to TEC and the Anglican Church in Canada, granting permission, or failing to withdraw permission in this case, causes us to wonder if the Kenneth Kearon announcements about discipline are really to be implemented, or are merely window dressing.
Now, on an entirely lighter note but of some importance to liberal, conservative, and otherwise undecided clergy, men and women alike, there is a crisis brewing over clergy collars. Yes, the round, white "dog collar" that many clergy insist on (as contrasted with the tab collars that pop in and out), has gone missing from suppliers. Almy and other major and minor suppliers of clergy vesture are reporting that the company that made the Pontiff series of acetate double collars has either gone out of business or stopped making them. If the first is the case, then it is clear why they stopped making them, but if they are still in business I can't imagine why they would need to stop producing this old standby.
For 40 years I've worn a Pontiff 3 Acetate collar in gradually larger sizes as my ecclesiastical maturity added half an inch (of gravitas?) per decade. Now, clergy in the USA will face several options if they try to buy from American suppliers: go to the clericool collar which has a plastic rubbery feel; go to a starched linen collar (I'm trying out this concept right now with uncertain results); go to a single thickness acetate collar (I've seen them but don't know how they would work); go to antique stores and buy antique civilian acetate collars and turn them around backwards; or rig up some way to put a tab collar on a dog collar shirt. This may sound trivial until your supply of collars runs out, and then it may become more personally relevant. Are there suppliers from the UK or elsewhere that will pick up the slack? Will a new manufacturer be found? Many clergy who haven't tried to buy collars in the last three months may be unaware of this new obstacle to being properly put together. If answers can be found, we will try and let you know. In the meantime, if you have a very unusual size, someone might still have a few in stock, and you might want to order some before they, too, are gone. Whippell's is sending me one of theirs, and I shall evaluate it compared to the other options. For those who really like the round white collar, this will become of great interest the next time you need to order new ones.
Blessings and peace, and may you find your right collar.
+David C. Anderson
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
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