Another Day, Another Bish

http://captainyips.typepad.com/journal/2007/06/another-day-ano.html

[Captain Yips Secret Journal] 1 July 2007--If the rest of this summer is as full of incident as the last few weeks, we can retire the concepts of the doldrums and dog days, however still the air becomes and however brightly Sirius shines.

We’ve seen TEC’s Central Committee/Executive Council meet, pass resolutions targeting those ornery dissident dioceses, reaffirm TEC’s marriage vows to the Spirit of the Age (not quite the same thing as the Holy Spirit, but often confused in TEC management circles), and dance on the corpse of the Dar Es Salaam Pastoral Scheme that was machine gunned by the House of Bishops a while back. We also get the really gaudy sight of the Diocese of Virginia pursuing the costly work of reconciliation by suing everyone who disagrees with it. Next on the list: acolytes and Saturday morning church groundskeeping parties. Or anyone who has hummed “The Church’s One Foundation” while changing a light bulb in the church. Way to go, Virginia! New hymn title: They’ll know we are Episcopalians by our litigation. And, of course, our friends in Canada narrowly avoided taking the short step off a tall building, but they’re still teetering on the ledge up there.

But the very most interesting news is the piecemeal creation of a new Anglican College of Bishops. And the most interesting part of that news is that the process began as early as last December, maybe earlier, and got back burnered at Dar Es Salaam.

In December 2006, the House of Bishops elected the Rev. John Guernsey to be a Bishop in the Church of Uganda, serving our American congregations on behalf of their Ugandan Bishop.

We’ve since seen more action, more bishops, and retired bishops transferring to overseas provinces to provide assistance in the US. In other words, parishes under overseas jurisdictions are being informally repatriated.