http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=55407
[Catholic World News] 19 Dec 2007--New religious violence caused at least 10 deaths in Nigeria last week, Vatican Radio reports.
The latest clashes in northern Nigeria apparently began when a group of Muslim youths attacked another group of Christians. The confrontation occurred in a region where similar religious conflicts have flared up in recent months. Dozens of homes belonging to Christian families, and three Pentecostal churches, were reportedly destroyed before order was restored.
And no apologies!!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Why is there no-one to replace me?
http://your.sydneyanglicans.net/mission/missionthinking/why_is_there_no_one_to_replace_me/
[your.sydneyanglicans.net] 19 Dec 2007--We have a new federal government in Australia. There are several things which are similar between the two main parties, but the most common chorus from both sides has been generational change. The ALP has spoken about the youthfulness of its ministry, and the new opposition leader keeps declaring a new generation for the Liberal party.
It’s not just in politics that generational change is essential. In our churches we must constantly work to raise up the next generation - pastors, evangelists, and people for the myriad of Christian ministries that make up our congregational lives. There are at least four good reasons for doing this.
[your.sydneyanglicans.net] 19 Dec 2007--We have a new federal government in Australia. There are several things which are similar between the two main parties, but the most common chorus from both sides has been generational change. The ALP has spoken about the youthfulness of its ministry, and the new opposition leader keeps declaring a new generation for the Liberal party.
It’s not just in politics that generational change is essential. In our churches we must constantly work to raise up the next generation - pastors, evangelists, and people for the myriad of Christian ministries that make up our congregational lives. There are at least four good reasons for doing this.
Egyptian prosecutor releases 7 Muslims arrested in attacks on Coptic Christian property
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/18/africa/ME-GEN-Egypt-Sectarian-Attacks.php
[International Herald Tribuine] 19 Dec 2007--Seven Muslims were ordered released Tuesday, two days after their arrest in attacks on shops owned by Coptic Christians in a southern Egyptian town that has recently witnessed increasing sectarian tensions, an official with the prosecutors office said.
The attackers had hurled stones and set fire to several shops, smashed windows of a Coptic church and damaged two cars in the early morning hours Sunday in Isna, about 560 kilometers (350 miles) south of Cairo.
And not even an apology!!
[International Herald Tribuine] 19 Dec 2007--Seven Muslims were ordered released Tuesday, two days after their arrest in attacks on shops owned by Coptic Christians in a southern Egyptian town that has recently witnessed increasing sectarian tensions, an official with the prosecutors office said.
The attackers had hurled stones and set fire to several shops, smashed windows of a Coptic church and damaged two cars in the early morning hours Sunday in Isna, about 560 kilometers (350 miles) south of Cairo.
And not even an apology!!
Episcopal congregations joining together
http://www.dailymail.com/Life/200712190437
[Charleston Dialy Mail] 19 Dec 2007--Four local Episcopal churches are merging into one congregation.
The churches include All Saints Episcopal in South Charleston, St. James Episcopal in North Charleston, St. Luke's Episcopal on the West Side, and Church of the Good Shepherd in Kanawha City.
The newly formed church will be called St. Christopher Episcopal and will be housed in the St. Luke's building, 821 Somerset Drive on Charleston's West Side.
Mergers seldom produce strong healthy congregations.
[Charleston Dialy Mail] 19 Dec 2007--Four local Episcopal churches are merging into one congregation.
The churches include All Saints Episcopal in South Charleston, St. James Episcopal in North Charleston, St. Luke's Episcopal on the West Side, and Church of the Good Shepherd in Kanawha City.
The newly formed church will be called St. Christopher Episcopal and will be housed in the St. Luke's building, 821 Somerset Drive on Charleston's West Side.
Mergers seldom produce strong healthy congregations.
Lines in the Sand Firmly Drawn as Episcopal Church Faces Internal Schism
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7277
[Virtue Online] 19 Dec 2007--As whole dioceses begin to leave The Episcopal Church, homosexual Anglican activists are turning up the heat on the Anglican Communion demanding that their voices of pansexual inclusion become the standard teaching of the church.
An international group of 50 Anglican leaders met recently near Chicago to, as they say, "build international coalitions and develop a strategy for the full inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in the life of the church." Participants from Africa, England and New Zealand joined Anglicans from Central, North and South America and "pledged to work against schismatic leaders who have sought to gain power in the Communion by turning marginalized groups against one another."
[Virtue Online] 19 Dec 2007--As whole dioceses begin to leave The Episcopal Church, homosexual Anglican activists are turning up the heat on the Anglican Communion demanding that their voices of pansexual inclusion become the standard teaching of the church.
An international group of 50 Anglican leaders met recently near Chicago to, as they say, "build international coalitions and develop a strategy for the full inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in the life of the church." Participants from Africa, England and New Zealand joined Anglicans from Central, North and South America and "pledged to work against schismatic leaders who have sought to gain power in the Communion by turning marginalized groups against one another."
Common Cause NOT Announcing New Province
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/8470/
[Stand Firm] 19 Dec 2007--VirtueOnline is reporting that it has "received unconfirmed reports that at the end of the Common Cause House of Bishops meeting this week in Orlando, Florida, formation of an Anglican Province of America (or the USA) will be announced -- with or without concurrence of Archbishop Rowan Williams, and an appeal will be made to Anglican Provinces around the world for recognition of this body and withdrawal of recognition of The Episcopal Church."
Stand Firm can confirm that this is NOT what is going to be announced by Common Cause this week. Our source for this is, as they say, impeccable.
[Stand Firm] 19 Dec 2007--VirtueOnline is reporting that it has "received unconfirmed reports that at the end of the Common Cause House of Bishops meeting this week in Orlando, Florida, formation of an Anglican Province of America (or the USA) will be announced -- with or without concurrence of Archbishop Rowan Williams, and an appeal will be made to Anglican Provinces around the world for recognition of this body and withdrawal of recognition of The Episcopal Church."
Stand Firm can confirm that this is NOT what is going to be announced by Common Cause this week. Our source for this is, as they say, impeccable.
The Archbishop's Egg
http://ugleyvicar.blogspot.com/2007/12/archbishops-egg-what-is-good-and-what.html
[The Ugley Vicar] 19 Dec 2007--The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advent letter has created not just comment but (inevitably in these days of internet blogging) comment on the comment. Interestingly, what is clear so far is that he has managed to annoy both ‘liberals’ and ‘conservatives’. And this suggests the obvious conclusion that here we have a proverbial ‘Curate’s Egg’ — “parts of it are excellent” to quote the Punch cartoon.
So which parts are excellent and which, frankly, are not? What can those of a Conservative persuasion work with, and what must they work on?
[The Ugley Vicar] 19 Dec 2007--The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advent letter has created not just comment but (inevitably in these days of internet blogging) comment on the comment. Interestingly, what is clear so far is that he has managed to annoy both ‘liberals’ and ‘conservatives’. And this suggests the obvious conclusion that here we have a proverbial ‘Curate’s Egg’ — “parts of it are excellent” to quote the Punch cartoon.
So which parts are excellent and which, frankly, are not? What can those of a Conservative persuasion work with, and what must they work on?
Why the Ordinations in Abbotsford Are Valid
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/index.php/2007/12/18/why-the-ordinations-in-abbotsford-are-valid/#more-2590
[Anglican Mainstream] 19 Dec 2007--In most of our cases (certainly mine) the same families have built successively on our church sites for generations. In my case it was a tent first, serving the natives and the fur trappers, then a log church built on land donated by the Hudson’s Bay Company, then a clapboard church, then a cinderblock and concrete building. Generations of work and emotional investment have gone into those buildings, and the history is recent enough to still be relatively current in the stories of the community. To walk away from all that is undeniably difficult because these buildings are not just deposits of institutional history, but of very personal history, and given the significant proportion of elderly among my congregation it is perhaps unreasonable to expect the community to walk away, or to divide. They don’t and won’t accept the ACoC position on matters, but neither will they leave their building and the pew they have sat in for the whole of their lives or abandon old Mrs. Soenso whose grandfather chopped the logs for the church, whose uncle sawed the lumber, whose husband helped build the church. Trying to uphold the validity and jurisdictional appropriateness of the leadership and ministry of Bishops Harvey and Harding seems important to me, given these considerations. It’s not just a matter of theology, or of politics, but of helping to make clear the claims on our richer, deeper Anglican heritage.
[Anglican Mainstream] 19 Dec 2007--In most of our cases (certainly mine) the same families have built successively on our church sites for generations. In my case it was a tent first, serving the natives and the fur trappers, then a log church built on land donated by the Hudson’s Bay Company, then a clapboard church, then a cinderblock and concrete building. Generations of work and emotional investment have gone into those buildings, and the history is recent enough to still be relatively current in the stories of the community. To walk away from all that is undeniably difficult because these buildings are not just deposits of institutional history, but of very personal history, and given the significant proportion of elderly among my congregation it is perhaps unreasonable to expect the community to walk away, or to divide. They don’t and won’t accept the ACoC position on matters, but neither will they leave their building and the pew they have sat in for the whole of their lives or abandon old Mrs. Soenso whose grandfather chopped the logs for the church, whose uncle sawed the lumber, whose husband helped build the church. Trying to uphold the validity and jurisdictional appropriateness of the leadership and ministry of Bishops Harvey and Harding seems important to me, given these considerations. It’s not just a matter of theology, or of politics, but of helping to make clear the claims on our richer, deeper Anglican heritage.
Common Cause Partners build for new Anglican future
http://www.united-anglicans.org/stream/2007/12/new-anglican-future.html
[The Common Cause Partnership] 19 Dec 2007--We, the gathered bishops, priests and lay representatives of the Anglican bodies federated in Common Cause held the first annual meeting as the newly formed Common Cause Leadership Council of the Common Cause Partnership on December 18th, 2007, in Orlando, Florida.
We created the structure called for in the Articles of Federation now adopted by nine of our partners. We elected officers of the Federation and formed an executive committee, as well as other committees and task forces. We have also begun work to harmonize and strengthen our common call to Christian education and mission. We expect these committees and task forces to begin work early in the New Year. We are beginning to explore the expanding possibilities for ecumenical contact with fellow Christians in North America and around the world.
[The Common Cause Partnership] 19 Dec 2007--We, the gathered bishops, priests and lay representatives of the Anglican bodies federated in Common Cause held the first annual meeting as the newly formed Common Cause Leadership Council of the Common Cause Partnership on December 18th, 2007, in Orlando, Florida.
We created the structure called for in the Articles of Federation now adopted by nine of our partners. We elected officers of the Federation and formed an executive committee, as well as other committees and task forces. We have also begun work to harmonize and strengthen our common call to Christian education and mission. We expect these committees and task forces to begin work early in the New Year. We are beginning to explore the expanding possibilities for ecumenical contact with fellow Christians in North America and around the world.
Preparing for change in 2008
http://www.vancouver.anglican.ca/News/tabid/27/ctl/ViewArticle/ArticleId/598/mid/486/Default.aspx
[Diocese of New Westminister] 19 Dec 2007--The year 2008 will be a year of change in our church. Of course the Church, at least that part of it in the world and not in heaven, changes all the time. But change most likely will be especially visible to members of the Diocese of New Westminster in the coming months.
Change will come from the Ministry Assessment Process (the "MAP"), currently taking place in several parishes of the diocese, and will be happening in more of them. The process can lead to the merger, amalgamation, or partnering of parishes, and even closure. Our list of parishes, unchanged for several years, will not be the same at the end of 2008 that it is now.
As the task force that created the MAP put it last year, church structures "participate in the reality of change in order to have and give life. They have a life cycle. They are planted. They grow. Sometimes they transform. Sometimes they die and in so doing bring new life."
[Diocese of New Westminister] 19 Dec 2007--The year 2008 will be a year of change in our church. Of course the Church, at least that part of it in the world and not in heaven, changes all the time. But change most likely will be especially visible to members of the Diocese of New Westminster in the coming months.
Change will come from the Ministry Assessment Process (the "MAP"), currently taking place in several parishes of the diocese, and will be happening in more of them. The process can lead to the merger, amalgamation, or partnering of parishes, and even closure. Our list of parishes, unchanged for several years, will not be the same at the end of 2008 that it is now.
As the task force that created the MAP put it last year, church structures "participate in the reality of change in order to have and give life. They have a life cycle. They are planted. They grow. Sometimes they transform. Sometimes they die and in so doing bring new life."
Pastoral letter says diocese is no longer part of Episcopal Church
http://www.episcopal-life.org/81803_92929_ENG_HTM.htm
[Episcopal Life Online] 19 Dec 2007--In a pastoral letter intended to be read December 16 in the congregations of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, Bishop John-David Schofield said that since the December 8 diocesan convention the diocese is "no longer operating under the looming shadow" of the Episcopal Church's "institutional apostasy."
Schofield wrote in his letter that this "institutional apostasy" stems from what he calls the Episcopal Church's "failure to heed the repeated calls for repentance issued by the Primates of the Anglican Communion and for the cessation of false teaching and sacramental actions explicitly contrary to Scripture."
[Episcopal Life Online] 19 Dec 2007--In a pastoral letter intended to be read December 16 in the congregations of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, Bishop John-David Schofield said that since the December 8 diocesan convention the diocese is "no longer operating under the looming shadow" of the Episcopal Church's "institutional apostasy."
Schofield wrote in his letter that this "institutional apostasy" stems from what he calls the Episcopal Church's "failure to heed the repeated calls for repentance issued by the Primates of the Anglican Communion and for the cessation of false teaching and sacramental actions explicitly contrary to Scripture."
Coats on the Archbishops Letter
http://episcopalmajority.blogspot.com/2007/12/coats-on-archbishop-letter.html
{the Episcopal Majority] 19 Dec 2007--The Rev. William R. Coats was one of the founders and surely one of the most vocal, inspirational members of The Episcopal Majority. He sent this note to a few people in response to the Advent message from the Archbishop of Canterbury, and we are pleased to reprint it.
While many voices have been raised, from left and right, decrying the Archbishop's letter, it seems to us that Bill Coats offers a most reasonable interpretation. The Archbishop continues trying to give "space" to the Episcopal Church to work out our particular and unique vocation within the Anglican Communion. We are grateful for Bill's insights.
{the Episcopal Majority] 19 Dec 2007--The Rev. William R. Coats was one of the founders and surely one of the most vocal, inspirational members of The Episcopal Majority. He sent this note to a few people in response to the Advent message from the Archbishop of Canterbury, and we are pleased to reprint it.
While many voices have been raised, from left and right, decrying the Archbishop's letter, it seems to us that Bill Coats offers a most reasonable interpretation. The Archbishop continues trying to give "space" to the Episcopal Church to work out our particular and unique vocation within the Anglican Communion. We are grateful for Bill's insights.
Fulcrum Response to the 2007 Advent Letter
http://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/page.cfm?ID=256
[Fulcrum] 19 Dec 2007--We welcome this careful, decisive articulation of the mind of the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop’s key new initiative of forming a small coordinating body of Primates and others.
In particular we appreciate the:
Three-fold common acknowledgement on Scripture, Ministry and Mission:
we ‘stand under the word of Scripture’ is a clear and strongly worded phrase; the ministry of one local church not intervening in the life of another is crucial to Anglicanism; integral evangelism through proclamation and service is encouragingly a first priority.
[Fulcrum] 19 Dec 2007--We welcome this careful, decisive articulation of the mind of the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop’s key new initiative of forming a small coordinating body of Primates and others.
In particular we appreciate the:
Three-fold common acknowledgement on Scripture, Ministry and Mission:
we ‘stand under the word of Scripture’ is a clear and strongly worded phrase; the ministry of one local church not intervening in the life of another is crucial to Anglicanism; integral evangelism through proclamation and service is encouragingly a first priority.
Reactions to the Archbishop's letter
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/anglican_communion/reactions_to_the_archbishops_l.html
[Anglican Cafe] 19 Dec 2007--As the day has gone on various people have begun to weigh in with their reactions to the Archbishop of Canterbury's Advent letter, in which he lays out his thinking about the next steps for the Communion.
The Episcopal News Service coverage of the letter includes a reaction from the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church:
"Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori welcomed Williams' Advent Letter. 'In this season, as we focus on hope and preparation, I am glad to hear of the Archbishop's interest in facilitating further conversations,' she said. 'While I have repeatedly offered to engage in dialogue with those who are most unhappy, the offer has not yet been seriously engaged. Perhaps a personal call from the Archbishop will bring to the table those who have thus far been unwilling to talk. Advent is both a time to ready our eyes to see God in unlikely guises, and to put our hope in God's ultimate graciousness.'"
[Anglican Cafe] 19 Dec 2007--As the day has gone on various people have begun to weigh in with their reactions to the Archbishop of Canterbury's Advent letter, in which he lays out his thinking about the next steps for the Communion.
The Episcopal News Service coverage of the letter includes a reaction from the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church:
"Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori welcomed Williams' Advent Letter. 'In this season, as we focus on hope and preparation, I am glad to hear of the Archbishop's interest in facilitating further conversations,' she said. 'While I have repeatedly offered to engage in dialogue with those who are most unhappy, the offer has not yet been seriously engaged. Perhaps a personal call from the Archbishop will bring to the table those who have thus far been unwilling to talk. Advent is both a time to ready our eyes to see God in unlikely guises, and to put our hope in God's ultimate graciousness.'"
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The Episcopalians bridal buggery
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59244
[WorldNetDaily] 18 Dec 2007--From the dearth of any news reports to the contrary, the Episcopal Church's presiding bishop, the Most Reverend Katherine Jefferts Schori, apparently had no comment on the latest bizarre news from the Diocese of New Hampshire.
Episcopal Bishop Vickie Gene Robinson (yes, that is actually his name) announced:
"I've always wanted to be a June bride!"
This memorable revelation of next June's civilly unionizing of himself with his homosexual lover begs the question as to why Bishop Vickie Gene designated himself as the bride – rather than his male lover?
Was it because this lover asked the bishop to marry him – as their version of what is traditionally known as The Big Question?
Or did this have something to do with the physical aspects of their relationship?
[WorldNetDaily] 18 Dec 2007--From the dearth of any news reports to the contrary, the Episcopal Church's presiding bishop, the Most Reverend Katherine Jefferts Schori, apparently had no comment on the latest bizarre news from the Diocese of New Hampshire.
Episcopal Bishop Vickie Gene Robinson (yes, that is actually his name) announced:
"I've always wanted to be a June bride!"
This memorable revelation of next June's civilly unionizing of himself with his homosexual lover begs the question as to why Bishop Vickie Gene designated himself as the bride – rather than his male lover?
Was it because this lover asked the bishop to marry him – as their version of what is traditionally known as The Big Question?
Or did this have something to do with the physical aspects of their relationship?
Anglicans need deep learning not cheap victory
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/6478
[ekklesia] 18 Dec 2007--Anyone of discretion acts by the light of knowledge,’ wrote the ancient author of Proverbs. Many people of faith highly value study and work diligently to deepen their understanding, in a spirit of humility and compassion. However others are less open, either because they are supremely confident that their own views are superior to any alternatives or because they fear that too much questioning will undermine faith or offend the Almighty. They may indeed undertake some learning, but within tightly restricted boundaries. Some even try to silence or expel dissenters.
[ekklesia] 18 Dec 2007--Anyone of discretion acts by the light of knowledge,’ wrote the ancient author of Proverbs. Many people of faith highly value study and work diligently to deepen their understanding, in a spirit of humility and compassion. However others are less open, either because they are supremely confident that their own views are superior to any alternatives or because they fear that too much questioning will undermine faith or offend the Almighty. They may indeed undertake some learning, but within tightly restricted boundaries. Some even try to silence or expel dissenters.
"We Know What Hour It Is": A Comment on the Advent Pastoral and Common Cause
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7290
[Virtue Online] 18 Dec 2007--Four years ago ACI traveled to Orlando to help constitute what became known as the "Network". Martyn Minns, David Anderson, other conservative leaders and clergy, Bp. Robert Duncan and a cadre of bishops from conservative dioceses were there.
Tensions became apparent after 24 hours and the bishops withdrew. The meeting was brought to a close with only a part of the agenda fulfilled. It was apparent that some were not happy with the direction of those who wished to form, as it would transpire, a 'new ecclesiastical jurisdiction.'
That tension never went away. It appears that the daily operating (and funding) of 'Network' was always and chiefly in the hands of those in favour of such a new structure. In turn, they related their movement to AMiA, various continuing churches, and in time to what would become CANA, with themselves becoming bishops in this, now termed, Common Cause movement.
[Virtue Online] 18 Dec 2007--Four years ago ACI traveled to Orlando to help constitute what became known as the "Network". Martyn Minns, David Anderson, other conservative leaders and clergy, Bp. Robert Duncan and a cadre of bishops from conservative dioceses were there.
Tensions became apparent after 24 hours and the bishops withdrew. The meeting was brought to a close with only a part of the agenda fulfilled. It was apparent that some were not happy with the direction of those who wished to form, as it would transpire, a 'new ecclesiastical jurisdiction.'
That tension never went away. It appears that the daily operating (and funding) of 'Network' was always and chiefly in the hands of those in favour of such a new structure. In turn, they related their movement to AMiA, various continuing churches, and in time to what would become CANA, with themselves becoming bishops in this, now termed, Common Cause movement.
Canterbury-the See of, and Anglican Unity
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7288
[Virtue Online] 18 Dec 2007--Never before has the See of Canterbury been under such criticism, even rejection, as in Advent 2007-especially in North America and parts of Africa. And this hostility seems bound to continue into 2008. It has come out in December 2007 as a response to the Advent Letter of the present incumbent of the See, Rowan Williams.
The "old Continuing Anglicans", who trace their beginnings to the secession from TEC, followed by the signing of The Affirmation of St Louis, in 1977, and the "new Continuing Anglicans", who have seceded in the last few years and generally look to Africa for succor, are different in many ways; but they both either reject in theory or in practice the role of the See of Canterbury as the center of unity of the Anglican Family.
[Virtue Online] 18 Dec 2007--Never before has the See of Canterbury been under such criticism, even rejection, as in Advent 2007-especially in North America and parts of Africa. And this hostility seems bound to continue into 2008. It has come out in December 2007 as a response to the Advent Letter of the present incumbent of the See, Rowan Williams.
The "old Continuing Anglicans", who trace their beginnings to the secession from TEC, followed by the signing of The Affirmation of St Louis, in 1977, and the "new Continuing Anglicans", who have seceded in the last few years and generally look to Africa for succor, are different in many ways; but they both either reject in theory or in practice the role of the See of Canterbury as the center of unity of the Anglican Family.
The Current State of the Anglican Communion:
http://anglicancommunioninstitute.com/content/view/123/1/
[Anglican Communion Institute] 18 Dec 2007--As some of you may know, Africa is a large continent. It has over 50 nation states and covers 30 million square kilometers, with a population of over three quarters of a billion. There are 12 Anglican Provinces in Africa (or national churches, each with a Primate) and the Diocese of Egypt. These form what is known as the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA). Though I have had the privilege to serve on one of the CAPA Boards (2002-2006), and to meet all the Primates of CAPA twice in Dar es Salaam (September 2005 and February 2007), I am not a CAPA spokesperson. Equally, though I am a member of the Anglican Consultative Council since 2005, I am not a spokesperson for the Anglican Communion. Therefore the reflections that I want to offer are personal, but I believe that they represent the general position of the Anglican Church of Tanzania and hopefully the Church in Africa.
[Anglican Communion Institute] 18 Dec 2007--As some of you may know, Africa is a large continent. It has over 50 nation states and covers 30 million square kilometers, with a population of over three quarters of a billion. There are 12 Anglican Provinces in Africa (or national churches, each with a Primate) and the Diocese of Egypt. These form what is known as the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA). Though I have had the privilege to serve on one of the CAPA Boards (2002-2006), and to meet all the Primates of CAPA twice in Dar es Salaam (September 2005 and February 2007), I am not a CAPA spokesperson. Equally, though I am a member of the Anglican Consultative Council since 2005, I am not a spokesperson for the Anglican Communion. Therefore the reflections that I want to offer are personal, but I believe that they represent the general position of the Anglican Church of Tanzania and hopefully the Church in Africa.
Dr. Kendall Harmon—CLCC Keynote Speech, Part 1: Narratives, CounterNarratives, & Decisions
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/8457/
[Stand Firm] 18 Dec 2007--On November 3, 2007, the Reverend Dr. Kendall Harmon, Canon Theologian of the Diocese of South Carolina, was the keynoter for the Communion Clergy and Laity Fall conference in the Diocese of Colorado. Stand Firm is posting all four audio files of Kendall Harmon's talks, along with transcripts of those talks. We believe that these talks will be deeply important over the coming year for reasserting laypeople and clergy to digest and discuss and we hope that you will print these out and distribute them to other laypeople and clergy who do not have access to the Internet.
Stand Firm gratefully acknowledges Christ Episcopal Church's recordings of these talks. We also are deeply grateful to the dozen volunteers who are readers of Stand Firm who stepped forward and volunteered to transcribe and proof Kendall's talks. We would never have been able to do this work as bloggers and are overwhelmed with the help and eager assistance that was given to us. We thank these volunteers with all of our hearts.
[Stand Firm] 18 Dec 2007--On November 3, 2007, the Reverend Dr. Kendall Harmon, Canon Theologian of the Diocese of South Carolina, was the keynoter for the Communion Clergy and Laity Fall conference in the Diocese of Colorado. Stand Firm is posting all four audio files of Kendall Harmon's talks, along with transcripts of those talks. We believe that these talks will be deeply important over the coming year for reasserting laypeople and clergy to digest and discuss and we hope that you will print these out and distribute them to other laypeople and clergy who do not have access to the Internet.
Stand Firm gratefully acknowledges Christ Episcopal Church's recordings of these talks. We also are deeply grateful to the dozen volunteers who are readers of Stand Firm who stepped forward and volunteered to transcribe and proof Kendall's talks. We would never have been able to do this work as bloggers and are overwhelmed with the help and eager assistance that was given to us. We thank these volunteers with all of our hearts.
Plans Underway for Second Conference of Anglican Bishops
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2007/12/17/plans-underway-for-second-conference-of-anglican-bishops
[The Living Church] 18 Dec 2007--During a Dec. 14 interview with TLC, Bishop Schofield said he assumed he was still invited. Bishop Schofield said he had indicated his intention to attend Lambeth shortly after he first received his invitation last May.
At press time, the Anglican Communion Office had not returned messages concerning the status of Bishop Schofield’s invitation.
[The Living Church] 18 Dec 2007--During a Dec. 14 interview with TLC, Bishop Schofield said he assumed he was still invited. Bishop Schofield said he had indicated his intention to attend Lambeth shortly after he first received his invitation last May.
At press time, the Anglican Communion Office had not returned messages concerning the status of Bishop Schofield’s invitation.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Archbishop of Canterbury's Advent Letter Offers Little Hope for Orthodox Episcopalians
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7275
[Virtue Online] 17 Dec 2007--The Archbishop of Canterbury believes that tensions between The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the wider Communion - an ongoing crisis for more than four years - have been sufficiently answered by The Episcopal Church and "it would be unrealistic and ungrateful to expect more from TEC in terms of clarification."
In his yearly Advent letter to the Anglican Communion, Dr. Williams said that "whatever our individual perspectives, I think we need to honor the intentions and the hard work done by the bishops of TEC. For many of them, this has been a very costly and demanding experience, testing both heart and conscience. But now we need to determine a way forward."
His words offer little hope for orthodox Episcopalians who are leaving weekly by the thousands, with dozens of parishes and one diocese, possibly three or more, ready to depart the denomination for ecclesiastical safety in African and Latin American provinces.
[Virtue Online] 17 Dec 2007--The Archbishop of Canterbury believes that tensions between The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the wider Communion - an ongoing crisis for more than four years - have been sufficiently answered by The Episcopal Church and "it would be unrealistic and ungrateful to expect more from TEC in terms of clarification."
In his yearly Advent letter to the Anglican Communion, Dr. Williams said that "whatever our individual perspectives, I think we need to honor the intentions and the hard work done by the bishops of TEC. For many of them, this has been a very costly and demanding experience, testing both heart and conscience. But now we need to determine a way forward."
His words offer little hope for orthodox Episcopalians who are leaving weekly by the thousands, with dozens of parishes and one diocese, possibly three or more, ready to depart the denomination for ecclesiastical safety in African and Latin American provinces.
Anglican Church 'sacrificing traditional worshipers'
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/17/2120256.htm?site=idx-tas
[ABC Tasmania] 17 Dec 2007--The Anglican Church has unveiled plans to reform and modernise the church in Tasmania.
The plan, costing $250,000 a year, has angered some parishioners, who have accused the church of ignoring its traditional worshippers.
With many of the church's congregations dwindling and some churches recently closed, the Bishop of Tasmania, John Harrower, says it is time to re-engage with the community.
"Out of the church and into the 21st century, out of the church and into the world," he said.
Bishop Harrower says research shows it's time for a new approach.
[ABC Tasmania] 17 Dec 2007--The Anglican Church has unveiled plans to reform and modernise the church in Tasmania.
The plan, costing $250,000 a year, has angered some parishioners, who have accused the church of ignoring its traditional worshippers.
With many of the church's congregations dwindling and some churches recently closed, the Bishop of Tasmania, John Harrower, says it is time to re-engage with the community.
"Out of the church and into the 21st century, out of the church and into the world," he said.
Bishop Harrower says research shows it's time for a new approach.
Bishop Iker Calls Schori’s Claims of Offering to “Engage in Dialogue” False
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/8429/
[Stand Firm] 17 Dec 2007--I, for one, have never received any such offer or invitation from her - not by letter, not by telephone, not by email, nor by any other means. In fact, the only direct communication I have ever received from Katharine since she took office over a year ago was the very public, threatening letter that she sent me prior to our Diocesan Convention last month. She has had all kinds of time to make such an offer; it hasn't happened. All I've received from 815 are threats and ultimatums."
[Stand Firm] 17 Dec 2007--I, for one, have never received any such offer or invitation from her - not by letter, not by telephone, not by email, nor by any other means. In fact, the only direct communication I have ever received from Katharine since she took office over a year ago was the very public, threatening letter that she sent me prior to our Diocesan Convention last month. She has had all kinds of time to make such an offer; it hasn't happened. All I've received from 815 are threats and ultimatums."
Second Lambeth Conference a blow to Williams
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/17/nchurch117.xml
[Telegraph] 17 Dec 2007--Conservative Anglican leaders are secretly planning a meeting next summer for the hundreds of bishops expected to defy the Archbishop of Canterbury by boycotting the Lambeth Conference, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
The unprecedented event will be widely seen as an "alternative Lambeth", further damaging Dr Rowan Williams's hopes of averting a formal schism over homosexuals.
Aides of the Archbishop said that any such gathering, which is due to be held just before the official conference, would be perceived as a symbol of division and would send out a "negative" message.
[Telegraph] 17 Dec 2007--Conservative Anglican leaders are secretly planning a meeting next summer for the hundreds of bishops expected to defy the Archbishop of Canterbury by boycotting the Lambeth Conference, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
The unprecedented event will be widely seen as an "alternative Lambeth", further damaging Dr Rowan Williams's hopes of averting a formal schism over homosexuals.
Aides of the Archbishop said that any such gathering, which is due to be held just before the official conference, would be perceived as a symbol of division and would send out a "negative" message.
Leadership and Lambeth - Dr. William's Advent Challenge to the Communion
http://ugleyvicar.blogspot.com/2007/12/leadership-and-lambeth-dr-williams.html
[The Ugley Vicar] 17 Dec 2007--If thirty-plus years in ordained ministry in the Church of England has taught me anything, it is that everyone wants a lead from the bishops until they actually give one. Then one side or other, or sometimes both, complains that the lead isn’t what they wanted.
Something like this may now be happening with regard to Rowan Williams, and specifically his Advent Letter to the Primates of the Anglican Communion.
[The Ugley Vicar] 17 Dec 2007--If thirty-plus years in ordained ministry in the Church of England has taught me anything, it is that everyone wants a lead from the bishops until they actually give one. Then one side or other, or sometimes both, complains that the lead isn’t what they wanted.
Something like this may now be happening with regard to Rowan Williams, and specifically his Advent Letter to the Primates of the Anglican Communion.
Look at the big movie, not the adverts
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/index.php/2007/12/15/look-at-the-big-movie-not-the-adverts/#more-2584
[Anglican Mainstream] 17 Dec 2007--The crisis in the Anglican Communion continues. In the last month we have learnt that:
*The same Church of England bishops who said they would support TEC come what may are now calling for everyone to attend Lambeth.
*The Archbishop of Canterbury has indicated that he may disinvite some TEC bishops who are not Windsor compliant. Changing Attitude has said that that would need to include some Church of England Bishops.
*The result of the Archbishop of Canterbury consulting the primates one-by-one instead of holding a primates meeting to evaluate TEC’s response to the Dar-es-Salaam communiqué is predictably “some say this and some say that”.
[Anglican Mainstream] 17 Dec 2007--The crisis in the Anglican Communion continues. In the last month we have learnt that:
*The same Church of England bishops who said they would support TEC come what may are now calling for everyone to attend Lambeth.
*The Archbishop of Canterbury has indicated that he may disinvite some TEC bishops who are not Windsor compliant. Changing Attitude has said that that would need to include some Church of England Bishops.
*The result of the Archbishop of Canterbury consulting the primates one-by-one instead of holding a primates meeting to evaluate TEC’s response to the Dar-es-Salaam communiqué is predictably “some say this and some say that”.
A Church in Conflict: An Allegation of Manipulating the Vote
http://www.bohemionews.com/news.php?nid=2380&pag=0
[El Bohemio] 17 Dec 2007--The Episcopal Church U.S.A. (ECUSA) on Friday, December 14, 2007 released a posting through Episcopal Life Online that may indicate the direction Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts-Schori will take in dealing with the breakaway Diocese of San Joaquin and its leader, Bishop John-David Schofield.
The posting carries no credit line to indicate authorship. It states, in part, that “if Schofield is considered to have abandoned the communion of the church, he would have two months to recant his position” and failing his doing so, “the matter would be referred to the full House of Bishops.” Should the House of Bishops concur, the Presiding Bishop “would depose the bishop” and declare his position vacant.
ECUSA would
[El Bohemio] 17 Dec 2007--The Episcopal Church U.S.A. (ECUSA) on Friday, December 14, 2007 released a posting through Episcopal Life Online that may indicate the direction Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts-Schori will take in dealing with the breakaway Diocese of San Joaquin and its leader, Bishop John-David Schofield.
The posting carries no credit line to indicate authorship. It states, in part, that “if Schofield is considered to have abandoned the communion of the church, he would have two months to recant his position” and failing his doing so, “the matter would be referred to the full House of Bishops.” Should the House of Bishops concur, the Presiding Bishop “would depose the bishop” and declare his position vacant.
ECUSA would
Episcopal Diocese Secedes over Role of Gays
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17049512
[NPR] 17 Dec 2007--An Episcopal diocese in central California voted Saturday to split with the national church over disagreements about the role of gays and lesbians in the church.
Clergy and lay members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin voted 173-22 at their annual convention to remove all references to the national church from the diocese's constitution, according to spokeswoman Joan Gladstone.
The Fresno-based congregation is the first full diocese to secede because of a conservative-liberal rift that began decades ago and is now focused on whether the Bible condemns gay relationships.
David Steinmetz, professor of the History of Christianity at Duke University, talks to Andrea Seabrook about the rift.
[NPR] 17 Dec 2007--An Episcopal diocese in central California voted Saturday to split with the national church over disagreements about the role of gays and lesbians in the church.
Clergy and lay members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin voted 173-22 at their annual convention to remove all references to the national church from the diocese's constitution, according to spokeswoman Joan Gladstone.
The Fresno-based congregation is the first full diocese to secede because of a conservative-liberal rift that began decades ago and is now focused on whether the Bible condemns gay relationships.
David Steinmetz, professor of the History of Christianity at Duke University, talks to Andrea Seabrook about the rift.
The Bishop of Central Florida Writes his Clergy
http://www.kendallharmon.net/t19/index.php/t19/article/8433/#more
[TitusOneNine] 17 Dec 2007--Most of this letter was written two weeks ago, but I did not believe it was timely to send it. I think that the Protocol has now been adopted by the Diocesan Board it may be right to do so.
Not a single one of you has asked the question: "Bishop, why are you allowing these rectors who want to 'disaffiliate' the space to pursue their objectives? They are clearly in the process of abandoning the communion of this Church. Why are you not moving against them by inhibition and deposition?"
Here is my answer to the unspoken question: I am deeply sympathetic to any who believe that the current leadership of The Episcopal Church has greatly compromised the "doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this Church has received them." And I am extremely reluctant to discipline those who, for conscience sake, are finding they MUST "disaffiliate."
[TitusOneNine] 17 Dec 2007--Most of this letter was written two weeks ago, but I did not believe it was timely to send it. I think that the Protocol has now been adopted by the Diocesan Board it may be right to do so.
Not a single one of you has asked the question: "Bishop, why are you allowing these rectors who want to 'disaffiliate' the space to pursue their objectives? They are clearly in the process of abandoning the communion of this Church. Why are you not moving against them by inhibition and deposition?"
Here is my answer to the unspoken question: I am deeply sympathetic to any who believe that the current leadership of The Episcopal Church has greatly compromised the "doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this Church has received them." And I am extremely reluctant to discipline those who, for conscience sake, are finding they MUST "disaffiliate."
Changing Attitude England response to 2007 Advent Letter
http://www.changingattitude.org.uk/news/newsitem.asp?id=335
[Changing Attitudes] 17 Dec 2007--The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advent letter outlines his perspective on the crisis affecting the Anglican Communion and his plans and expectations for the Lambeth Conference and the proposed Covenant.
The Archbishop naturally focuses his attention on the Primates, bishops and Instruments of Communion, and the leaders and pressure groups who are exacerbating the crisis.
What the Archbishop is unable to do is articulate the experience and views of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) members of the Anglican Communion. We are a minority but our numbers are not insignificant. If the Communion has 75 million members, at a conservative estimate there are likely to be 3.75 million LGBT people among them.
[Changing Attitudes] 17 Dec 2007--The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advent letter outlines his perspective on the crisis affecting the Anglican Communion and his plans and expectations for the Lambeth Conference and the proposed Covenant.
The Archbishop naturally focuses his attention on the Primates, bishops and Instruments of Communion, and the leaders and pressure groups who are exacerbating the crisis.
What the Archbishop is unable to do is articulate the experience and views of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) members of the Anglican Communion. We are a minority but our numbers are not insignificant. If the Communion has 75 million members, at a conservative estimate there are likely to be 3.75 million LGBT people among them.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Out of the Abundance of the Heart
Commentary by Robin G. Jordan
The Archbishop of Canterbury has released his long-awaited Advent letter. The letter takes a swipe at those provinces and dioceses that have intervened in the United States and those primates who have talked about boycotting the Lambeth Conference. Archbishop Williams seems more concerned about how the interventions has affected the bishops of the Episcopal Church than he is with the state of the Episcopal Church that prompted the interventions or the plight of orthodox Episcopalians in an increasingly apostate and heretical church. He blames the intervening provinces and dioceses for the Episcopal Church’s policy of intimidation, depositions, and litigation against orthodox Episcopalians who would realign themselves with an orthodox part of the Communion.
The letter ignores the fact that for Biblically faithful Anglicans more is at issue than the ordination of non-celibate gay men and lesbians, and the blessing of same gender unions. It glosses over the extent to which the Episcopal Church has departed from the apostolic faith. It asserts that no interventions should be sanctioned except "when the Communion together had in some way concluded, not only that a province was behaving anomalously," but this anomalous behavior was serious enough to compromise the province’s entire ministry and mission. It scolds the global South provinces and dioceses such as Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, Bolivia, and Recife for "taking to themselves the authority to decide on the adequacy of a neighbour's ministerial life or spiritual authenticity."
Williams made one point in the letter that is worthy of note. He wrote:
"The Communion is a voluntary association of provinces and dioceses; and so its unity depends not on a canon law that can be enforced but on the ability of each part of the family to recognise that other local churches have received the same faith from the apostles and are faithfully holding to it in loyalty to the One Lord incarnate who speaks in Scripture and bestows his grace in the sacraments" [my emphasis].
Unfortunately he did not fully develop this point.
Unity in the Anglican Communion does, as Williams rightly notes, depend upon the ability of each part of the Anglican family of churches to recognize the following:
First, the other provinces and dioceses have received the same faith from the apostles. They are apostolic in the sense that Anglicans have classically understood apostolicity, which has nothing to do with ministerial succession but is entirely doctrinal. Their bishops may be viewed as successors to the apostles because they are upholding and propagating the apostolic faith.
Second, they are faithfully holding to the authentic apostolic faith. Their motivation for teaching and maintaining the doctrine of the apostles is loyalty to the Church’s Lord, Jesus Christ. It is not enough that they at one time shared the apostolic faith with the other members of the Anglican Communion or still hold to that faith on paper, they must actively teach and maintain it.
In the high priestly prayer Jesus prayed for the unity of those who believe in him through the word of the apostles. "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:20-21 ESV). It is significant that Jesus asked the Father for the unity of those who come to faith in him through the apostolic witness. This witness is embodied in the New Testament. The unity of those who are believers through the apostolic witness then is God-given. It is the Father’s response to Jesus’ prayer. To those who came to hear him, Jesus said that he did nothing on his own authority. He spoke as the Father taught him. He always did things that were pleasing to God because God was with him (John 8:28-29). When he prayed for the unity of those who believed in him through the apostles’ message, we may reasonably conclude that he was doing God’s will.
If unity is indeed God-given, there cannot be true unity unless there is faith in Jesus Christ and that faith comes from hearing the apostolic testimony—the true Gospel. Jesus did not ask that those who believe in him through the apostles’ teaching may be one with those who reject that teaching, as has a large segment of the Episcopal Church, clergy and laity. His silence suggests that unity between believer and unbeliever are not God’s will.
In his Advent letter Williams goes on to criticize the intervening provinces and dioceses for in his opinion being too hasty in judging the spiritual condition of the Episcopal Church. This criticism reflects Williams’ own double mindedness more than it represents an objective appraisal of the state of the Episcopal Church. While Williams has publicly maintained the accepted doctrinal position of the Anglican Communion in the matter of human sexuality, he personally sympathizes with those who would give homosexuals a larger role in the Church and who would bless some forms of homosexual relationships. He has also shown little understanding or sympathy for evangelical and other Biblically faithful Anglicans. He has displayed a willingness to speak out on the behalf of gays but not for beleaguered orthodox Episcopalians. He sharply attacked a Nigerian bishop for statements that the bishop was alleged to have made about homosexuals without first substantiating the allegations. When it was subsequently determined that the bishop had not made the allegations, Williams did not offer him an apology. More recently, he presided at a "secret" Lesbian and Gay Clergy Consultation Eucharist.
The Episcopal Church has over the past forty years moved further and further away from the apostolic faith. A large segment of its clergy has embraced false teaching and are destroying the faith. This false teaching does not just relate to marriage and human sexuality, it involves the nature of God, the authority of the Bible, the divinity of Christ, the need for a Savior, and other core beliefs of "the faith once and for all delivered to the saints." The bishops of the Episcopal Church have not only failed to drive away false teaching but have become its leading proponents. The 2003 General Convention rejected Resolution B001 endorsing the historical formularies of orthodox Christianity. The 2003 General Convention consented to the election of Gene Robinson, a practicing homosexual, as the Bishop of New Hampshire and adopted Resolution C051, affirming the practice of blessing same sex unions. The 2006 General Convention refused to consider a resolution that would have affirmed the apostolic teaching that there is no salvation except through faith in Jesus Christ. The 2006 General Convention then elected a Presiding Bishop who has in her public statements asserted that Christianity is one of a number of ways to God and Jesus was not divine. Rather he provides us with an example of a very godly man. The Presiding Bishop has also stated that salvation comes through good works.
The Episcopal Church may, in this opening decade of the 21st century, have an orthodox element that is teaching and maintain apostolic doctrine but this element is disappearing. A number of orthodox bishops are approaching the mandatory retirement age. A number of orthodox bishops have demonstrated a susceptibility to cave into pressure from their radical colleagues and to compromise apostolic doctrine. Congregations that presently have an orthodox rector or vicar have no guarantee that their next pastor will be orthodox. Only two of the Episcopal Church’s seminaries—Nashotah House and Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry—are orthodox and they are becoming increasingly marginalized. Williams would have the other provinces and dioceses of the Anglican Communion relate to the Episcopal Church as if it continues to stand under the authority of Scripture as its "rule and ultimate standard of faith," to have an authentic ministry of Word and Sacraments, and to make the proclamation of the Gospel its first and great priority because this element has not yet disappeared. In essence, he is asking them to engage in denial.
In his second epistle John tells us that only where there is agreement on sound doctrine can there be meaningful fellowship. Such agreement no longer exists between a number of provinces and dioceses of the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church. It is unrealistic to expect a restoration of fellowship between these churches and the Episcopal Church under the present circumstances. The type of discussions that Williams is proposing are not going to resolve the differences between these churches and the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Church has shown a decided unwillingness to change its theological direction and return to orthodoxy. William’s strategy remains as it has from the outset to keep orthodox Anglicans in conversation with the Episcopal Church until they make some kind of accommodation to the theological direction of the Episcopal Church. It is clear from his Advent letter that the restoration of Anglican orthodoxy in the Episcopal Church is not one of his priorities.
The liberal element in the Episcopal Church can be expected to enthusiastically greet this letter. Williams has to a large extent taken the Episcopal Church off the hook. The national church will be emboldened in its assault upon orthodox Episcopalians, those who for the time being remain a part of the denomination, as well as those who have disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church.
The letter also sends a clear message to orthodox Episcopalians. Do not look to Canterbury for help. Rowan Williams is no defender of the faith or protector of the faithful.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has released his long-awaited Advent letter. The letter takes a swipe at those provinces and dioceses that have intervened in the United States and those primates who have talked about boycotting the Lambeth Conference. Archbishop Williams seems more concerned about how the interventions has affected the bishops of the Episcopal Church than he is with the state of the Episcopal Church that prompted the interventions or the plight of orthodox Episcopalians in an increasingly apostate and heretical church. He blames the intervening provinces and dioceses for the Episcopal Church’s policy of intimidation, depositions, and litigation against orthodox Episcopalians who would realign themselves with an orthodox part of the Communion.
The letter ignores the fact that for Biblically faithful Anglicans more is at issue than the ordination of non-celibate gay men and lesbians, and the blessing of same gender unions. It glosses over the extent to which the Episcopal Church has departed from the apostolic faith. It asserts that no interventions should be sanctioned except "when the Communion together had in some way concluded, not only that a province was behaving anomalously," but this anomalous behavior was serious enough to compromise the province’s entire ministry and mission. It scolds the global South provinces and dioceses such as Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, Bolivia, and Recife for "taking to themselves the authority to decide on the adequacy of a neighbour's ministerial life or spiritual authenticity."
Williams made one point in the letter that is worthy of note. He wrote:
"The Communion is a voluntary association of provinces and dioceses; and so its unity depends not on a canon law that can be enforced but on the ability of each part of the family to recognise that other local churches have received the same faith from the apostles and are faithfully holding to it in loyalty to the One Lord incarnate who speaks in Scripture and bestows his grace in the sacraments" [my emphasis].
Unfortunately he did not fully develop this point.
Unity in the Anglican Communion does, as Williams rightly notes, depend upon the ability of each part of the Anglican family of churches to recognize the following:
First, the other provinces and dioceses have received the same faith from the apostles. They are apostolic in the sense that Anglicans have classically understood apostolicity, which has nothing to do with ministerial succession but is entirely doctrinal. Their bishops may be viewed as successors to the apostles because they are upholding and propagating the apostolic faith.
Second, they are faithfully holding to the authentic apostolic faith. Their motivation for teaching and maintaining the doctrine of the apostles is loyalty to the Church’s Lord, Jesus Christ. It is not enough that they at one time shared the apostolic faith with the other members of the Anglican Communion or still hold to that faith on paper, they must actively teach and maintain it.
In the high priestly prayer Jesus prayed for the unity of those who believe in him through the word of the apostles. "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:20-21 ESV). It is significant that Jesus asked the Father for the unity of those who come to faith in him through the apostolic witness. This witness is embodied in the New Testament. The unity of those who are believers through the apostolic witness then is God-given. It is the Father’s response to Jesus’ prayer. To those who came to hear him, Jesus said that he did nothing on his own authority. He spoke as the Father taught him. He always did things that were pleasing to God because God was with him (John 8:28-29). When he prayed for the unity of those who believed in him through the apostles’ message, we may reasonably conclude that he was doing God’s will.
If unity is indeed God-given, there cannot be true unity unless there is faith in Jesus Christ and that faith comes from hearing the apostolic testimony—the true Gospel. Jesus did not ask that those who believe in him through the apostles’ teaching may be one with those who reject that teaching, as has a large segment of the Episcopal Church, clergy and laity. His silence suggests that unity between believer and unbeliever are not God’s will.
In his Advent letter Williams goes on to criticize the intervening provinces and dioceses for in his opinion being too hasty in judging the spiritual condition of the Episcopal Church. This criticism reflects Williams’ own double mindedness more than it represents an objective appraisal of the state of the Episcopal Church. While Williams has publicly maintained the accepted doctrinal position of the Anglican Communion in the matter of human sexuality, he personally sympathizes with those who would give homosexuals a larger role in the Church and who would bless some forms of homosexual relationships. He has also shown little understanding or sympathy for evangelical and other Biblically faithful Anglicans. He has displayed a willingness to speak out on the behalf of gays but not for beleaguered orthodox Episcopalians. He sharply attacked a Nigerian bishop for statements that the bishop was alleged to have made about homosexuals without first substantiating the allegations. When it was subsequently determined that the bishop had not made the allegations, Williams did not offer him an apology. More recently, he presided at a "secret" Lesbian and Gay Clergy Consultation Eucharist.
The Episcopal Church has over the past forty years moved further and further away from the apostolic faith. A large segment of its clergy has embraced false teaching and are destroying the faith. This false teaching does not just relate to marriage and human sexuality, it involves the nature of God, the authority of the Bible, the divinity of Christ, the need for a Savior, and other core beliefs of "the faith once and for all delivered to the saints." The bishops of the Episcopal Church have not only failed to drive away false teaching but have become its leading proponents. The 2003 General Convention rejected Resolution B001 endorsing the historical formularies of orthodox Christianity. The 2003 General Convention consented to the election of Gene Robinson, a practicing homosexual, as the Bishop of New Hampshire and adopted Resolution C051, affirming the practice of blessing same sex unions. The 2006 General Convention refused to consider a resolution that would have affirmed the apostolic teaching that there is no salvation except through faith in Jesus Christ. The 2006 General Convention then elected a Presiding Bishop who has in her public statements asserted that Christianity is one of a number of ways to God and Jesus was not divine. Rather he provides us with an example of a very godly man. The Presiding Bishop has also stated that salvation comes through good works.
The Episcopal Church may, in this opening decade of the 21st century, have an orthodox element that is teaching and maintain apostolic doctrine but this element is disappearing. A number of orthodox bishops are approaching the mandatory retirement age. A number of orthodox bishops have demonstrated a susceptibility to cave into pressure from their radical colleagues and to compromise apostolic doctrine. Congregations that presently have an orthodox rector or vicar have no guarantee that their next pastor will be orthodox. Only two of the Episcopal Church’s seminaries—Nashotah House and Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry—are orthodox and they are becoming increasingly marginalized. Williams would have the other provinces and dioceses of the Anglican Communion relate to the Episcopal Church as if it continues to stand under the authority of Scripture as its "rule and ultimate standard of faith," to have an authentic ministry of Word and Sacraments, and to make the proclamation of the Gospel its first and great priority because this element has not yet disappeared. In essence, he is asking them to engage in denial.
In his second epistle John tells us that only where there is agreement on sound doctrine can there be meaningful fellowship. Such agreement no longer exists between a number of provinces and dioceses of the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church. It is unrealistic to expect a restoration of fellowship between these churches and the Episcopal Church under the present circumstances. The type of discussions that Williams is proposing are not going to resolve the differences between these churches and the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Church has shown a decided unwillingness to change its theological direction and return to orthodoxy. William’s strategy remains as it has from the outset to keep orthodox Anglicans in conversation with the Episcopal Church until they make some kind of accommodation to the theological direction of the Episcopal Church. It is clear from his Advent letter that the restoration of Anglican orthodoxy in the Episcopal Church is not one of his priorities.
The liberal element in the Episcopal Church can be expected to enthusiastically greet this letter. Williams has to a large extent taken the Episcopal Church off the hook. The national church will be emboldened in its assault upon orthodox Episcopalians, those who for the time being remain a part of the denomination, as well as those who have disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church.
The letter also sends a clear message to orthodox Episcopalians. Do not look to Canterbury for help. Rowan Williams is no defender of the faith or protector of the faithful.
Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, warns American church leaders to curb their pro-gay agenda
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3054277.ece
[Times Online] 15 Dec 2007--The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, asserted his authority over Anglican leaders yesterday in a document sent to all archbishops that said that those who went against the “mind” of the Church risked being excluded from its councils.
The warning, spelt out in his long-awaited Advent Letter to the Church’s 38 Primates and other leaders, could lead to The Episcopal Church of the US and the Anglican Church of Canada forfeiting their seats at the top tables of the Anglican Church if they do not curtail their liberal pro-gay agenda.
The admonition applies equally to conservative bishops and archbishops who have been carrying out “irregular” ordinations. Dr Williams condemns this as illicit interference in other provinces and says these newly ordained conservative bishops will under no circumstances be invited to next year’s Lambeth Conference, the ten-yearly meeting of all Anglican bishops.
[Times Online] 15 Dec 2007--The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, asserted his authority over Anglican leaders yesterday in a document sent to all archbishops that said that those who went against the “mind” of the Church risked being excluded from its councils.
The warning, spelt out in his long-awaited Advent Letter to the Church’s 38 Primates and other leaders, could lead to The Episcopal Church of the US and the Anglican Church of Canada forfeiting their seats at the top tables of the Anglican Church if they do not curtail their liberal pro-gay agenda.
The admonition applies equally to conservative bishops and archbishops who have been carrying out “irregular” ordinations. Dr Williams condemns this as illicit interference in other provinces and says these newly ordained conservative bishops will under no circumstances be invited to next year’s Lambeth Conference, the ten-yearly meeting of all Anglican bishops.
Chasing Archbishop Akinola
http://video1.washingtontimes.com/beliefblog/2007/12/chasing_archbishop_akinola.html
[The Washington Times] 15 Dec 2007--Archbishop Peter Akinola stood solemnly on a dias, wearing a deep purple and bright red cape threaded with glittering gold thread and gold embroidered stars. Another brilliant star was stitched onto his miter.
I was sitting in a crowd of several hundred people last Sunday afternoon at Church of the Epiphany's new sanctuary near Dulles airport in northern Virginia. The leader of 18 million Nigerian Anglicans and the one man in the world capable of challenging the archbishop of Canterbury was in town to consecrate four new missionary bishops.
His presence was an in-your-face challenge to the Episcopal Church, from which the Nigerian archbishop has extracted some 8,600 Episcopalians, who are now attending one of 60+ churches in his Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA).
[The Washington Times] 15 Dec 2007--Archbishop Peter Akinola stood solemnly on a dias, wearing a deep purple and bright red cape threaded with glittering gold thread and gold embroidered stars. Another brilliant star was stitched onto his miter.
I was sitting in a crowd of several hundred people last Sunday afternoon at Church of the Epiphany's new sanctuary near Dulles airport in northern Virginia. The leader of 18 million Nigerian Anglicans and the one man in the world capable of challenging the archbishop of Canterbury was in town to consecrate four new missionary bishops.
His presence was an in-your-face challenge to the Episcopal Church, from which the Nigerian archbishop has extracted some 8,600 Episcopalians, who are now attending one of 60+ churches in his Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA).
Dr Rowan Williams Advent Letter to Anglican Primates Lambeth shows real Leadership in global Crisis.
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7269
[VirtueOnline] 15 Dec 2007--From within the ranks of the new American Anglicans, who look to Africa and South America for authenticity, the December 14 "Advent Letter" of the Archbishop of Canterbury was quickly subjected to harsh criticism. But also there was a critical response from the progressive liberal parts of The Episcopal Church, where Gene Robinson is honored. The appearance of such immediate criticism from "left" and "right" suggests that the Letter had things to say not acceptable to those of very strong convictions.
Actually it did have such things to say: e.g., it explained why neither Bishop Robinson nor the dozen or more "Missionary Bishops" from Africa had not been, and would not be, invited to the Lambeth Conference in July. In both cases, it is the same reason: their episcopal ordinations have not been approved by the Anglican Instruments of Unity-even if they have by several provinces.
[VirtueOnline] 15 Dec 2007--From within the ranks of the new American Anglicans, who look to Africa and South America for authenticity, the December 14 "Advent Letter" of the Archbishop of Canterbury was quickly subjected to harsh criticism. But also there was a critical response from the progressive liberal parts of The Episcopal Church, where Gene Robinson is honored. The appearance of such immediate criticism from "left" and "right" suggests that the Letter had things to say not acceptable to those of very strong convictions.
Actually it did have such things to say: e.g., it explained why neither Bishop Robinson nor the dozen or more "Missionary Bishops" from Africa had not been, and would not be, invited to the Lambeth Conference in July. In both cases, it is the same reason: their episcopal ordinations have not been approved by the Anglican Instruments of Unity-even if they have by several provinces.
Girl killed for shunning hijab: friends
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/girl-killed-for-shunning-hijab-friends/2007/12/13/1197135655582.html
[Sydney Morning Herald] 15 dec 2007--The devout Muslim father of a 16-year-old Canadian girl, who friends say was killed for not wearing a hijab, has been charged with second-degree murder and denied bail.
Aqsa Parvez died in hospital on Monday after being attacked in her home in a suburb of Toronto.
Police have not commented on any motive in the case.
[Sydney Morning Herald] 15 dec 2007--The devout Muslim father of a 16-year-old Canadian girl, who friends say was killed for not wearing a hijab, has been charged with second-degree murder and denied bail.
Aqsa Parvez died in hospital on Monday after being attacked in her home in a suburb of Toronto.
Police have not commented on any motive in the case.
+Schofield’s Pastoral Letter to be Read Sunday in DioSJ Parishes
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/8385/
[Stand Firm] 15 dec 2007--Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our one and only Lord and Savior. By an overwhelming majority of nearly 90% (173 to 22), our Annual Convention voted Saturday, December 8th, to uphold the authority of Holy Scripture and thereby preserve our place in the worldwide Anglican Communion and with the See of Canterbury by realigning our Anglican identity through the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of the Americas under the Most Rev. Gregory Venables, Archbishop and Primate.
[Stand Firm] 15 dec 2007--Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our one and only Lord and Savior. By an overwhelming majority of nearly 90% (173 to 22), our Annual Convention voted Saturday, December 8th, to uphold the authority of Holy Scripture and thereby preserve our place in the worldwide Anglican Communion and with the See of Canterbury by realigning our Anglican identity through the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of the Americas under the Most Rev. Gregory Venables, Archbishop and Primate.
Integrity Statement on Archbishop’s Advent Letter
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/8383/
[Stand Firm] 5 Dec 2007--I don't think there's reason for Integrity tears over the archbishop's letter, but here they come anyway...
[Stand Firm] 5 Dec 2007--I don't think there's reason for Integrity tears over the archbishop's letter, but here they come anyway...
Williams warns bishops in gay rights row
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/index.php/2007/12/15/williams-warns-bishops-in-gay-rights-row/#more-2577
[Anglican Mainstream] 15 Dec 2007--Conservative bishops who boycott next year’s showcase Lambeth Conference risk being removed from senior Anglican councils and committees, the Archbishop of Canterbury has indicated.
In an unprecedented warning to Anglican leaders, Dr Rowan Williams also signalled that liberals who openly defy official policy on homosexuality could be stripped of prestigious roles.
Dr Williams sought to stamp his authority on the rapidly fragmenting Church in an Advent letter addressed to all the primates, the heads of the 38 independent provinces that make up the worldwide Communion.
[Anglican Mainstream] 15 Dec 2007--Conservative bishops who boycott next year’s showcase Lambeth Conference risk being removed from senior Anglican councils and committees, the Archbishop of Canterbury has indicated.
In an unprecedented warning to Anglican leaders, Dr Rowan Williams also signalled that liberals who openly defy official policy on homosexuality could be stripped of prestigious roles.
Dr Williams sought to stamp his authority on the rapidly fragmenting Church in an Advent letter addressed to all the primates, the heads of the 38 independent provinces that make up the worldwide Communion.
Lambeth Palace/Anglican Communion Office Anglicanism has failed - Bishop David Anderson
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/index.php/2007/12/15/lambeth-palaceanglican-communion-office-anglicanism-has-failed-bishop-david-anderson/
[Anglican Mainstream] 15 Dec 2007--One of the major events of recent days is the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advent Letter which, when it is peeled apart, shows both a lack of personal conviction on moral and spiritual issues, but a clear resolve on acquisition of power. A TEC priest, who for the moment will remain anonymous, summed up Williams’ Advent missive as follows:
Trying further to pin down TEC is futile.
We will not exclude those who violate doctrine.
We will exclude those who violate discipline (structure).
Anglicanism has failed.
I think the good father is close, but wrong on the last line, which I believe should read “Lambeth Palace/Anglican Communion Office Anglicanism has failed.”
[Anglican Mainstream] 15 Dec 2007--One of the major events of recent days is the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advent Letter which, when it is peeled apart, shows both a lack of personal conviction on moral and spiritual issues, but a clear resolve on acquisition of power. A TEC priest, who for the moment will remain anonymous, summed up Williams’ Advent missive as follows:
Trying further to pin down TEC is futile.
We will not exclude those who violate doctrine.
We will exclude those who violate discipline (structure).
Anglicanism has failed.
I think the good father is close, but wrong on the last line, which I believe should read “Lambeth Palace/Anglican Communion Office Anglicanism has failed.”
The Chicago Consultation Responds to Rowan Williams Advent Letter
http://www.kendallharmon.net/t19/index.php/t19/article/8392/
[TitusOneNine] 15 Dec 2007--The following statement, in response to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advent Letter, comes from the steering committee of the Chicago Consultation, an international Anglican group that favors the full inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in the Anglican Communion. The Consultation has more than 50 members, including two Primates of the Anglican Communion, 10 diocesan bishops in the Episcopal Church, and representatives from Brazil, Canada, England, Ghana and New Zealand. It recently completed its initial meeting at Seabury-Western Seminary in Evanston, Ill. For more information see the attached release.
[TitusOneNine] 15 Dec 2007--The following statement, in response to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advent Letter, comes from the steering committee of the Chicago Consultation, an international Anglican group that favors the full inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in the Anglican Communion. The Consultation has more than 50 members, including two Primates of the Anglican Communion, 10 diocesan bishops in the Episcopal Church, and representatives from Brazil, Canada, England, Ghana and New Zealand. It recently completed its initial meeting at Seabury-Western Seminary in Evanston, Ill. For more information see the attached release.
Statement from Bishop Jack Iker on Rowan Williams’ Advent Letter
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/8381/
[Stand Firm]5 Dec 2007--The main disconnect for me in the Archbishop's letter is this: On the one hand, in reference to TEC's response to the Windsor Report and the Lambeth Resolutions, he acknowledges that "it is extremely unlikely that further meetings will produce any more substantial consensus than that which is now before us." I believe he is correct. TEC is not going to turn back from its present course. It is not going to abide by the consensus of the Anglican Communion on matters of sexuality.
But on the other hand, he then goes on to call for "professionally facilitated conversations between the leadership of The Episcopal Church and those with whom they are most in dispute" in the hope of somehow gaining "a better level of mutual understanding." This hope is in vain. TEC does not negotiate with those with whom they are in dispute; they litigate. Numerous meetings have produced no acceptable solution for the minority to remain with integrity within TEC.
The best assistance that the Archbishop can offer to address the situation in TEC is to host a mediation that seeks a negotiated settlement for separation, without rancor or litigation.
[Stand Firm]5 Dec 2007--The main disconnect for me in the Archbishop's letter is this: On the one hand, in reference to TEC's response to the Windsor Report and the Lambeth Resolutions, he acknowledges that "it is extremely unlikely that further meetings will produce any more substantial consensus than that which is now before us." I believe he is correct. TEC is not going to turn back from its present course. It is not going to abide by the consensus of the Anglican Communion on matters of sexuality.
But on the other hand, he then goes on to call for "professionally facilitated conversations between the leadership of The Episcopal Church and those with whom they are most in dispute" in the hope of somehow gaining "a better level of mutual understanding." This hope is in vain. TEC does not negotiate with those with whom they are in dispute; they litigate. Numerous meetings have produced no acceptable solution for the minority to remain with integrity within TEC.
The best assistance that the Archbishop can offer to address the situation in TEC is to host a mediation that seeks a negotiated settlement for separation, without rancor or litigation.
Anglican Archbishop Faults Factions
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/us/15episcopal.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1197731879-nFmMzMyQuxmkAnjhNEGtQA
[The New York Times] 15 Dec 2007--The archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, sent a lengthy letter to the members of his warring Anglican Communion on Friday, saying that both sides had violated the Communion’s boundaries and put the church in crisis.
He criticized the American branch, the Episcopal Church, for departing from the Communion’s consensus on Scripture by ordaining an openly gay bishop and blessing same-sex unions, “in the name of the church.”
But the archbishop faulted conservative prelates in Africa, Asia and Latin America for annexing American parishes and an entire California diocese that have recently left the Episcopal Church, and for ordaining conservative Americans as bishops and priests.
“There can be no doubt that these ordinations have not been encouraged or legitimized by the Communion over all,” the archbishop wrote, contradicting those conservatives who said they were acting with his approval.
[The New York Times] 15 Dec 2007--The archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, sent a lengthy letter to the members of his warring Anglican Communion on Friday, saying that both sides had violated the Communion’s boundaries and put the church in crisis.
He criticized the American branch, the Episcopal Church, for departing from the Communion’s consensus on Scripture by ordaining an openly gay bishop and blessing same-sex unions, “in the name of the church.”
But the archbishop faulted conservative prelates in Africa, Asia and Latin America for annexing American parishes and an entire California diocese that have recently left the Episcopal Church, and for ordaining conservative Americans as bishops and priests.
“There can be no doubt that these ordinations have not been encouraged or legitimized by the Communion over all,” the archbishop wrote, contradicting those conservatives who said they were acting with his approval.
Kendall Harmon: An Initial Response to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Advent Letter
http://www.kendallharmon.net/t19/index.php/t19/article/8377/#more
[TitusOneNine] 15 Dec 2007--He surely puts the emphasis in the right place but he raises so many more questions than he resolves. Who decides who is in this group or not and why, for example? What criteria do they use? By what deadline do they make their decisions? And: given that meetings and consultations have failed so far to resolve the current chasms in the Communion, how will this lead to any different outcome?
With regard to boundary crossings and the like, has not Dr. Williams allowed allowed this letter to look as if it supports the very equivalency between those actions and what TEC has done which the Tanzania Primates meeting said did not exist? Also, I do not feel that the Archbishop of Canterbury realizes that these actions have been undertaken because the Instruments of Communion have sought to provide a refuge for Communion minded Anglicans in the province of TEC, but they have consistently failed to do so.
The bottom line for me is this: we have here truth, but no consequences.
[TitusOneNine] 15 Dec 2007--He surely puts the emphasis in the right place but he raises so many more questions than he resolves. Who decides who is in this group or not and why, for example? What criteria do they use? By what deadline do they make their decisions? And: given that meetings and consultations have failed so far to resolve the current chasms in the Communion, how will this lead to any different outcome?
With regard to boundary crossings and the like, has not Dr. Williams allowed allowed this letter to look as if it supports the very equivalency between those actions and what TEC has done which the Tanzania Primates meeting said did not exist? Also, I do not feel that the Archbishop of Canterbury realizes that these actions have been undertaken because the Instruments of Communion have sought to provide a refuge for Communion minded Anglicans in the province of TEC, but they have consistently failed to do so.
The bottom line for me is this: we have here truth, but no consequences.
San Joaquin bishop asked to confirm status after vote to leave the Episcopal Church
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_92860_ENG_HTM.htm
[Episcopal Life Online] 15 Dec 2007--Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has written to Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin Bishop John-David Schofield saying that she assumes his declaration that he is now under the authority of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone "means you understand yourself to have departed the Episcopal Church and are no longer functioning as a member of the clergy in this Church."
In a December 14 letter which was emailed to Schofield, Jefferts Schori wrote that she was "deeply saddened" to hear of the San Joaquin convention's actions.
"I would like to have confirmation from you of this understanding of your status," she wrote. "Many interrelated matters depend on that status -- for example, your membership in the House of Bishops and the acceptability of pension contributions on your behalf."
[Episcopal Life Online] 15 Dec 2007--Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has written to Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin Bishop John-David Schofield saying that she assumes his declaration that he is now under the authority of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone "means you understand yourself to have departed the Episcopal Church and are no longer functioning as a member of the clergy in this Church."
In a December 14 letter which was emailed to Schofield, Jefferts Schori wrote that she was "deeply saddened" to hear of the San Joaquin convention's actions.
"I would like to have confirmation from you of this understanding of your status," she wrote. "Many interrelated matters depend on that status -- for example, your membership in the House of Bishops and the acceptability of pension contributions on your behalf."
Friday, December 14, 2007
A disconnect? Clergy Consultations and Oi! interviews
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/index.php/2007/12/14/a-disconnect-clergy-consultations-and-oi-interviews/
[Anglican Mainstream] 14 Dec 2007--In this article I discuss the Clergy Consultation Eucharist of 29 November, 2007, at which the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, presided.
In relation to this, I am also exploring the nature of the Clergy Consultation group, its constituency and ethos, as well as a crucially important document on sexual ethics whose importance Ruth Gledhill has emphasised. Finally, I connect these three elements with content from the now-famous Oi! interview. And it seems to me that there are irreconcilable tensions.
Just a fortnight and a day ago now, Ruth Gledhill posted up the following blog on her very interesting Times column:
‘The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, today presided at a “secret” eucharist for the Clergy Consultation, as we reported that he would back in September … The Clergy Consultation, which has between 250 and 450 members at any one time, was set up in 1976 by three Anglican priests, Malcolm Johnson, Peter Ellers and Douglas Rhymes. Changing Attitude has an interesting paper setting out a theology of sexual ethics around which members of the consultation work today (italics mine). Many consultation members are married, one with six children, and are faithful to their partners. The organisation helps them cope with staying faithful to what they regard as a Christian lifestyle while dealing with a sexuality that sometimes does not emerge until later in life. Some members but by no means all are “out” as openly gay but it is not difficult to understand why, in today’s Church, most prefer to remain “in”.’
Related article:
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/6397
Archbishop of Canterbury meets with Anglican LGBT clergy - ekklesia
[Anglican Mainstream] 14 Dec 2007--In this article I discuss the Clergy Consultation Eucharist of 29 November, 2007, at which the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, presided.
In relation to this, I am also exploring the nature of the Clergy Consultation group, its constituency and ethos, as well as a crucially important document on sexual ethics whose importance Ruth Gledhill has emphasised. Finally, I connect these three elements with content from the now-famous Oi! interview. And it seems to me that there are irreconcilable tensions.
Just a fortnight and a day ago now, Ruth Gledhill posted up the following blog on her very interesting Times column:
‘The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, today presided at a “secret” eucharist for the Clergy Consultation, as we reported that he would back in September … The Clergy Consultation, which has between 250 and 450 members at any one time, was set up in 1976 by three Anglican priests, Malcolm Johnson, Peter Ellers and Douglas Rhymes. Changing Attitude has an interesting paper setting out a theology of sexual ethics around which members of the consultation work today (italics mine). Many consultation members are married, one with six children, and are faithful to their partners. The organisation helps them cope with staying faithful to what they regard as a Christian lifestyle while dealing with a sexuality that sometimes does not emerge until later in life. Some members but by no means all are “out” as openly gay but it is not difficult to understand why, in today’s Church, most prefer to remain “in”.’
Related article:
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/6397
Archbishop of Canterbury meets with Anglican LGBT clergy - ekklesia
CANA: Its growth, vibrancy and vision
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/index.php/2007/12/13/cana-its-growth-passion-and-vision/
[Anglican Mainstream] 14 Dec 2007--CANA Press release, 10 December 2007, Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns
“We are thrilled to welcome these four new bishops to CANA. They will minister to our growing flock of orthodox Anglicans here in the U.S. and bring an incredible depth of pastoral care to CANA congregations. CANA is not primarily concerned about ‘doing’ church but about ‘being’ church. Our greatest desire is to be ‘a people with whom God is pleased to dwell’ so that his love can be reflected through our lives. We know that without Him we are nothing but with Him there are no challenges or obstacles that we cannot overcome,” said CANA Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns.
“These past few months have been an exciting time for all of us. We have grown at a remarkable rate. We have done so in the face of relentless opposition and some of the largest lawsuits ever mounted by The Episcopal Church against its own clergy and congregations. We now number about 60 congregations and over 100 clergy in twenty states and with a total average Sunday attendance of approximately 8,600 - larger than seventy percent of the diocese in The Episcopal Church. We have been blessed by the wonderful diversity of the congregations and the common commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,” Minns continued.
“CANA has a passion for people - all people everywhere, black and white, rich and poor, single and married, young and old - and we believe that our most effective way of demonstrating God’s promises for them is through the life and witness of local churches that are beacons of light and communities of hope. We are committed to strengthening marriages and families because we believe that God’s plan for humanity is best lived out in the context of Christ centered homes where children know they are loved. We know that we live in a broken world where people are often treated as objects to be used or manipulated and often discarded and we renew our commitment to the sacred worth and dignity of every human being. We believe that there is no person outside the reach of God’s love.”
The Convocation of Anglicans in North America (http://www.canaconvocation.org/) currently consists of approximately 60 congregations and 100 clergy in 20 states. CANA was established in 2005 to provide a means by which Anglicans living in the USA, who were alienated by the actions and decisions of The Episcopal Church, could continue to live out their faith without compromising their core convictions. CANA is part of the Common Cause partnership that includes representatives of more than 250 Anglican congregations that are connected to the rest of the Anglican Communion.
[Anglican Mainstream] 14 Dec 2007--CANA Press release, 10 December 2007, Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns
“We are thrilled to welcome these four new bishops to CANA. They will minister to our growing flock of orthodox Anglicans here in the U.S. and bring an incredible depth of pastoral care to CANA congregations. CANA is not primarily concerned about ‘doing’ church but about ‘being’ church. Our greatest desire is to be ‘a people with whom God is pleased to dwell’ so that his love can be reflected through our lives. We know that without Him we are nothing but with Him there are no challenges or obstacles that we cannot overcome,” said CANA Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns.
“These past few months have been an exciting time for all of us. We have grown at a remarkable rate. We have done so in the face of relentless opposition and some of the largest lawsuits ever mounted by The Episcopal Church against its own clergy and congregations. We now number about 60 congregations and over 100 clergy in twenty states and with a total average Sunday attendance of approximately 8,600 - larger than seventy percent of the diocese in The Episcopal Church. We have been blessed by the wonderful diversity of the congregations and the common commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,” Minns continued.
“CANA has a passion for people - all people everywhere, black and white, rich and poor, single and married, young and old - and we believe that our most effective way of demonstrating God’s promises for them is through the life and witness of local churches that are beacons of light and communities of hope. We are committed to strengthening marriages and families because we believe that God’s plan for humanity is best lived out in the context of Christ centered homes where children know they are loved. We know that we live in a broken world where people are often treated as objects to be used or manipulated and often discarded and we renew our commitment to the sacred worth and dignity of every human being. We believe that there is no person outside the reach of God’s love.”
The Convocation of Anglicans in North America (http://www.canaconvocation.org/) currently consists of approximately 60 congregations and 100 clergy in 20 states. CANA was established in 2005 to provide a means by which Anglicans living in the USA, who were alienated by the actions and decisions of The Episcopal Church, could continue to live out their faith without compromising their core convictions. CANA is part of the Common Cause partnership that includes representatives of more than 250 Anglican congregations that are connected to the rest of the Anglican Communion.
Archbishop of Canterbury's Advent Letter
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2007/12/14/ACNS4354
[Anglican Communion News Service] 14 Dec 2007--The debates about sexuality, significant as they may be, are symptoms of our confusion about these basic principles of recognition. It is too easy to make the debate a standoff between those who are 'for' and those who are 'against' the welcoming of homosexual people in the Church. The Instruments of Communion have consistently and very strongly repeated that it is part of our Christian and Anglican discipleship to condemn homophobic prejudice and violence, to defend the human rights and civil liberties of homosexual people and to offer them the same pastoral care and loving service that we owe to all in Christ's name. But the deeper question is about what we believe we are free to do, if we seek to be recognisably faithful to Scripture and the moral tradition of the wider Church, with respect to blessing and sanctioning in the name of the Church certain personal decisions about what constitutes an acceptable Christian lifestyle. Insofar as there is currently any consensus in the Communion about this, it is not in favour of change in our discipline or our interpretation of the Bible.
This is why the episcopal ordination of a person in a same-sex union or a claim to the freedom to make liturgical declarations about the character of same-sex unions inevitably raises the question of whether a local church is still fully recognisable within the one family of practice and reflection. Where one part of the family makes a decisive move that plainly implies a new understanding of Scripture that has not been received and agreed by the wider Church, it is not surprising that others find a problem in knowing how far they are still speaking the same language. And because what one local church says is naturally taken as representative of what others might say, we have the painful situation of some communities being associated with views and actions which they deplore or which they simply have not considered.
Where such a situation arises, it becomes important to clarify that the Communion as a whole is not committed to receiving the new interpretation and that there must be ways in which others can appropriately distance themselves from decisions and policies which they have not agreed. This is important in our relations with our own local contexts and equally in our ecumenical (and interfaith) encounters, to avoid confusion and deep misunderstanding.
The desire to establish this distance has led some to conclude that, since the first condition of recognisability (a common reading and understanding of Scripture) is not met, the whole structure of mission and ministry has failed in a local church that commits itself to a new reading of the Bible. Hence the willingness of some to provide supplementary ministerial care through the adoption of parishes in distant provinces or the ordination of ministers for distant provinces.
[Anglican Communion News Service] 14 Dec 2007--The debates about sexuality, significant as they may be, are symptoms of our confusion about these basic principles of recognition. It is too easy to make the debate a standoff between those who are 'for' and those who are 'against' the welcoming of homosexual people in the Church. The Instruments of Communion have consistently and very strongly repeated that it is part of our Christian and Anglican discipleship to condemn homophobic prejudice and violence, to defend the human rights and civil liberties of homosexual people and to offer them the same pastoral care and loving service that we owe to all in Christ's name. But the deeper question is about what we believe we are free to do, if we seek to be recognisably faithful to Scripture and the moral tradition of the wider Church, with respect to blessing and sanctioning in the name of the Church certain personal decisions about what constitutes an acceptable Christian lifestyle. Insofar as there is currently any consensus in the Communion about this, it is not in favour of change in our discipline or our interpretation of the Bible.
This is why the episcopal ordination of a person in a same-sex union or a claim to the freedom to make liturgical declarations about the character of same-sex unions inevitably raises the question of whether a local church is still fully recognisable within the one family of practice and reflection. Where one part of the family makes a decisive move that plainly implies a new understanding of Scripture that has not been received and agreed by the wider Church, it is not surprising that others find a problem in knowing how far they are still speaking the same language. And because what one local church says is naturally taken as representative of what others might say, we have the painful situation of some communities being associated with views and actions which they deplore or which they simply have not considered.
Where such a situation arises, it becomes important to clarify that the Communion as a whole is not committed to receiving the new interpretation and that there must be ways in which others can appropriately distance themselves from decisions and policies which they have not agreed. This is important in our relations with our own local contexts and equally in our ecumenical (and interfaith) encounters, to avoid confusion and deep misunderstanding.
The desire to establish this distance has led some to conclude that, since the first condition of recognisability (a common reading and understanding of Scripture) is not met, the whole structure of mission and ministry has failed in a local church that commits itself to a new reading of the Bible. Hence the willingness of some to provide supplementary ministerial care through the adoption of parishes in distant provinces or the ordination of ministers for distant provinces.
Church on the Tipping Point
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/index.php/2007/12/13/church-on-the-tipping-point/
[Anglican Mainstream] 14 Dec 2007--‘This is an historic weekend on both coasts,’ said Bishop Bob Duncan, the moderator of Common Cause in the United States. He had attended the vote of the Diocese of San Joaquin in California to leave The Episcopal Church (TEC), and flew to Washington to attend the consecration of four new bishops for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). He brought them ‘greetings from the wider fellowship which is our common future,’ looking forward to a new Anglican entity in North America.
The Church of the Epiphany, near Dulles International Airport, in Washington DC is the home of the CANA offices. Some 1,000 people gathered there last Sunday for a three-hour service for the consecration of two Nigerians and two Anglo-Americans as bishops of CANA. The Convocation of Anglicans in North America has 60 congregations in 20 states in the USA, with a total average Sunday attendance of approx 8,600, larger than 70 per cent of TEC dioceses. A senior leader said CANA expected to grow to 200 congregations in the next year. All the glories of Anglican worship were there: a splendid liturgy, the great hymns of the church, enthusiastic African praise songs accompanied by drums and the celebrant on tambourine led by a dominant Nigerian soprano, and robust biblical exposition. It was impossible to tell if this was a Nigerian service in which Anglo-Americans took part, or an Anglo-American service in which Nigerians took part. CANA and other Anglican entities on North America are working hard to express true partnership across cultures. It is hard to see what else other than the crisis we are in could have brought about such a deep desire from Westerners for Global South help.
Archbishop Edmund Akanya of Kaduna insisted in his sermon that the antidote to prevailing heresy is the faithful teaching of the whole Bible. ‘We will continue to face the growth of heresies. Teach the Word, it is your duty to protect and preserve what God has given to our hands. The divisions in the Anglican Communion are not about sexuality. It is the beginning of a new kind of religion which not only reinterprets traditional doctrines but jettisons many altogether.’ To this task the new bishops, Roger Ames, David Anderson, Amos Fagbamiye and Nathan Kanu were consecrated. The Missionary Bishop of CANA Martyn Minns said in his pastoral call, that all would continue in their parish ministry:
[Anglican Mainstream] 14 Dec 2007--‘This is an historic weekend on both coasts,’ said Bishop Bob Duncan, the moderator of Common Cause in the United States. He had attended the vote of the Diocese of San Joaquin in California to leave The Episcopal Church (TEC), and flew to Washington to attend the consecration of four new bishops for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). He brought them ‘greetings from the wider fellowship which is our common future,’ looking forward to a new Anglican entity in North America.
The Church of the Epiphany, near Dulles International Airport, in Washington DC is the home of the CANA offices. Some 1,000 people gathered there last Sunday for a three-hour service for the consecration of two Nigerians and two Anglo-Americans as bishops of CANA. The Convocation of Anglicans in North America has 60 congregations in 20 states in the USA, with a total average Sunday attendance of approx 8,600, larger than 70 per cent of TEC dioceses. A senior leader said CANA expected to grow to 200 congregations in the next year. All the glories of Anglican worship were there: a splendid liturgy, the great hymns of the church, enthusiastic African praise songs accompanied by drums and the celebrant on tambourine led by a dominant Nigerian soprano, and robust biblical exposition. It was impossible to tell if this was a Nigerian service in which Anglo-Americans took part, or an Anglo-American service in which Nigerians took part. CANA and other Anglican entities on North America are working hard to express true partnership across cultures. It is hard to see what else other than the crisis we are in could have brought about such a deep desire from Westerners for Global South help.
Archbishop Edmund Akanya of Kaduna insisted in his sermon that the antidote to prevailing heresy is the faithful teaching of the whole Bible. ‘We will continue to face the growth of heresies. Teach the Word, it is your duty to protect and preserve what God has given to our hands. The divisions in the Anglican Communion are not about sexuality. It is the beginning of a new kind of religion which not only reinterprets traditional doctrines but jettisons many altogether.’ To this task the new bishops, Roger Ames, David Anderson, Amos Fagbamiye and Nathan Kanu were consecrated. The Missionary Bishop of CANA Martyn Minns said in his pastoral call, that all would continue in their parish ministry:
Diocese adopts disaffiliation protocol,
http://www.cfdiocese.org/news/news07/protocol1207.htm
[The Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida] 14 Dec 2007--The Bishop will call a meeting of those members desiring to remain in The Episcopal Church as indicated in the declarations. The Bishop, or his designee, will preside at that meeting. The purpose of the meeting shall be one of mutual discernment regarding two key questions: Is there a viable continuing congregation? And if so, can the continuing congregation maintain its life and ministry within the existing physical plant?
Should the mutual discernment be that a viable continuing congregation does not remain the members shall be asked to dissolve the parish and corporate entity, with all assets reverting to the Diocese of Central Florida. Note that: “whenever the number of persons so associated shall fall below 25, the Ecclesiastical Authority may dissolve the mission.” (Canon XIV.5) While this Canon applies to missions, and not to parishes, the Canon provides guidance as to the minimum number of members the Diocese believes is needed to maintain a viable congregation.
Should the mutual discernment be that a viable continuing congregation does remain, and that the continuing congregation can maintain its life and ministry within the existing physical plant, the members shall at that meeting fill any vacancies on the Vestry. Or, the Bishop may appoint at least five of the members of the continuing congregation as an acting Vestry and will appoint an interim senior warden. The Vestry shall take charge of the continuing congregation and establish a plan for its future operation.
Should the mutual discernment be that the continuing congregation cannot maintain its viability in the existing physical plant the continuing congregation shall be asked to empower the Vestry and Bishop to negotiate the sale or lease of the real and/or personal property.
The Bishop shall report the results of the meeting to all parties within one week of the meeting itself.
[The Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida] 14 Dec 2007--The Bishop will call a meeting of those members desiring to remain in The Episcopal Church as indicated in the declarations. The Bishop, or his designee, will preside at that meeting. The purpose of the meeting shall be one of mutual discernment regarding two key questions: Is there a viable continuing congregation? And if so, can the continuing congregation maintain its life and ministry within the existing physical plant?
Should the mutual discernment be that a viable continuing congregation does not remain the members shall be asked to dissolve the parish and corporate entity, with all assets reverting to the Diocese of Central Florida. Note that: “whenever the number of persons so associated shall fall below 25, the Ecclesiastical Authority may dissolve the mission.” (Canon XIV.5) While this Canon applies to missions, and not to parishes, the Canon provides guidance as to the minimum number of members the Diocese believes is needed to maintain a viable congregation.
Should the mutual discernment be that a viable continuing congregation does remain, and that the continuing congregation can maintain its life and ministry within the existing physical plant, the members shall at that meeting fill any vacancies on the Vestry. Or, the Bishop may appoint at least five of the members of the continuing congregation as an acting Vestry and will appoint an interim senior warden. The Vestry shall take charge of the continuing congregation and establish a plan for its future operation.
Should the mutual discernment be that the continuing congregation cannot maintain its viability in the existing physical plant the continuing congregation shall be asked to empower the Vestry and Bishop to negotiate the sale or lease of the real and/or personal property.
The Bishop shall report the results of the meeting to all parties within one week of the meeting itself.
Breakaway Anglicans forestall effort by the Episcopal Diocese to evict them from church property
http://www.bakercountypress.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1034&Itemid=54
[Baker County Press] 14 Dec 2007--The rift between traditional Episcopalians and the breakaway Anglican church came to a head locally last weekend when the Jacksonville-based diocese moved at least tentatively to take back possession of what is now called St. Peter’s at 5th and Minnesota St. in Macclenny.
The Anglican congregation that numbers about 65 severed ties with Episcopal Church USA nearly two years ago over doctrinal differences sparked by the naming of an openly gay man as a bishop in New Hampshire. It was one of hundreds of congregations to do so nationwide.
Like several others in the Jacksonville area, the Anglicans continued to use the former Episcopal buildings and property. In Macclenny, the name was changed from St. James even though the breakaways knew the property and fixtures remained property of the Episcopal diocese.
[Baker County Press] 14 Dec 2007--The rift between traditional Episcopalians and the breakaway Anglican church came to a head locally last weekend when the Jacksonville-based diocese moved at least tentatively to take back possession of what is now called St. Peter’s at 5th and Minnesota St. in Macclenny.
The Anglican congregation that numbers about 65 severed ties with Episcopal Church USA nearly two years ago over doctrinal differences sparked by the naming of an openly gay man as a bishop in New Hampshire. It was one of hundreds of congregations to do so nationwide.
Like several others in the Jacksonville area, the Anglicans continued to use the former Episcopal buildings and property. In Macclenny, the name was changed from St. James even though the breakaways knew the property and fixtures remained property of the Episcopal diocese.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Salvation sans Jesus
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/october/29.88.html
[Christianity Today] 13 Dec 2007--The cited document, under "Affirmations and Denials," No. 4, states: "The Bible offers no hope that sincere worshipers of other religions will be saved without personal faith in Jesus Christ."
The direct answer to the reader's question is no. The words quoted speak only of our own era, the almost two millennia since our Lord Jesus Christ lived, died, rose, and ascended. Moses appears in Hebrews 11:24-29 as a hero of faith, along with Abel, Enoch, Noah, the patriarchs, his own parents, and others. These Old Testament believers, so we read, looked for "a better country, that is, a heavenly one … a better life" (vs. 16, 35), which God had planned for them with us (v. 40). They trusted God's promises, which included indicators of the coming Christ, and their faith now stands as a model for us all. I, for one, expect to meet them in the world to come.
[Christianity Today] 13 Dec 2007--The cited document, under "Affirmations and Denials," No. 4, states: "The Bible offers no hope that sincere worshipers of other religions will be saved without personal faith in Jesus Christ."
The direct answer to the reader's question is no. The words quoted speak only of our own era, the almost two millennia since our Lord Jesus Christ lived, died, rose, and ascended. Moses appears in Hebrews 11:24-29 as a hero of faith, along with Abel, Enoch, Noah, the patriarchs, his own parents, and others. These Old Testament believers, so we read, looked for "a better country, that is, a heavenly one … a better life" (vs. 16, 35), which God had planned for them with us (v. 40). They trusted God's promises, which included indicators of the coming Christ, and their faith now stands as a model for us all. I, for one, expect to meet them in the world to come.
Episcopal Remnants Undeterred by Historic Split
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20071212/30473_Episcopal_Remnants_Undeterred_by_Historic_Split.htm
[The Christian Post] 13 Dec 2007--Days after the first ever Episcopal diocese voted to secede from the national church, Episcopal leaders have revealed plans to continue the diocese.
Delegates of the Diocese of San Joaquin in California overwhelmingly voted on Saturday to sever ties with The Episcopal Church over its liberal direction on theology and Scripture. The few that chose to stay are now working with leaders from neighboring dioceses and those from the wider church to "provide for the continuation" of the Diocese of San Joaquin, said Michael Glass, a San Rafael, Calif.-based attorney.
Glass represents congregations and individuals who want to remain in the national church.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Episcopal head, has appointed the Rev. Robert Moore to provide an ongoing pastoral presence to the continuing Episcopalians in the California diocese.
[The Christian Post] 13 Dec 2007--Days after the first ever Episcopal diocese voted to secede from the national church, Episcopal leaders have revealed plans to continue the diocese.
Delegates of the Diocese of San Joaquin in California overwhelmingly voted on Saturday to sever ties with The Episcopal Church over its liberal direction on theology and Scripture. The few that chose to stay are now working with leaders from neighboring dioceses and those from the wider church to "provide for the continuation" of the Diocese of San Joaquin, said Michael Glass, a San Rafael, Calif.-based attorney.
Glass represents congregations and individuals who want to remain in the national church.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Episcopal head, has appointed the Rev. Robert Moore to provide an ongoing pastoral presence to the continuing Episcopalians in the California diocese.
'Post-Christian era'? Don't tell Third World
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59166
[WorldNetDaily] 13 Dec 2007--There is a general belief today that we are living in a post-Christian era.
The theory is that because Christianity is in decline in the West, it is also losing its power to influence culture and shape the course of human history.
This theory is often summarized in the refrain, "As the West goes, so goes Christianity."
There is no doubt secularism has virtually depleted the West of a Christian consciousness. It's as though the final great apostasy prophesied in the book of Revelation is unfolding before our very eyes.
Dutifully we remind ourselves that it is "a post-Christian era" – which in turn has had the effect of institutionalizing apathy among many Christians, who have hunkered down in their little ghetto-communes awaiting Christ's imminent return instead of obediently working to re-disciple the West and its culture.
Whatever we make of the decline in the West, I think the paradigm "As the West goes, so goes Christianity" is wrong. It is wrong because it simply doesn't make sense on a global scale. When I look at the world, I don't see a bleak future for Christianity. And I certainly don't see evidence of a post-Christian era outside of "the West."
[WorldNetDaily] 13 Dec 2007--There is a general belief today that we are living in a post-Christian era.
The theory is that because Christianity is in decline in the West, it is also losing its power to influence culture and shape the course of human history.
This theory is often summarized in the refrain, "As the West goes, so goes Christianity."
There is no doubt secularism has virtually depleted the West of a Christian consciousness. It's as though the final great apostasy prophesied in the book of Revelation is unfolding before our very eyes.
Dutifully we remind ourselves that it is "a post-Christian era" – which in turn has had the effect of institutionalizing apathy among many Christians, who have hunkered down in their little ghetto-communes awaiting Christ's imminent return instead of obediently working to re-disciple the West and its culture.
Whatever we make of the decline in the West, I think the paradigm "As the West goes, so goes Christianity" is wrong. It is wrong because it simply doesn't make sense on a global scale. When I look at the world, I don't see a bleak future for Christianity. And I certainly don't see evidence of a post-Christian era outside of "the West."
A good reason why we are Continuing Anglicans
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=34&idsub=172&id=13016&t=A+good+reason+why+we+are+Continuing+Anglicans
[Spero News] 13 Dec 2007--In a recent exchange, a conservative Episcopalian who considers Women's "Ordination" to be unimportant, made the following comment to a reader of The Continuum:
"There is, likewise, a reason there are no sites with comparable readership [to Stand Firm] that focus primarily on the matter of women's ordination: NOBODY GIVES A S... " Greg Griffith of Stand Firm in Faith (expletive, as in profanity, deleted by me.1)
This statement is worth thinking about. How can anyone fail to consider that the Episcopal Church lost more than a third of its entire membership in the late 1970s and early 1980s due wholly to this one innovation of women's "ordination?" And, why is it that all of us in the Continuing Churches have been dismissed by this high profile individual with the word "Nobody?" If "nobody gives a ...", then I take it that all of us are nobody.
[Spero News] 13 Dec 2007--In a recent exchange, a conservative Episcopalian who considers Women's "Ordination" to be unimportant, made the following comment to a reader of The Continuum:
"There is, likewise, a reason there are no sites with comparable readership [to Stand Firm] that focus primarily on the matter of women's ordination: NOBODY GIVES A S... " Greg Griffith of Stand Firm in Faith (expletive, as in profanity, deleted by me.1)
This statement is worth thinking about. How can anyone fail to consider that the Episcopal Church lost more than a third of its entire membership in the late 1970s and early 1980s due wholly to this one innovation of women's "ordination?" And, why is it that all of us in the Continuing Churches have been dismissed by this high profile individual with the word "Nobody?" If "nobody gives a ...", then I take it that all of us are nobody.
International Anglican group initiates 'strategy of inclusion'
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_92649_ENG_HTM.htm
[Episcopal Life Online] 13 Dec 2007--Anglicans from around the world met near Chicago December 5-7 to build international coalitions and develop a strategy for the full inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in the life of the church.
Meeting at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, the 50-member group known as the Chicago Consultation urged leaders of the Episcopal Church to permit the blessing of same-gender relationships and to remove barriers that keep gay candidates from being elected as bishops, according to a news release from the group.
"Some people call it the gay agenda, but we call it the Gospel Agenda," the Rev. Bonnie Perry, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church, Chicago, co-convener of the Consultation, said in the release. "We are asking our church and our communion to see what God has created and know that it is good."
The Consultation also called upon Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to invite New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson as a full participant to the 2008 Lambeth Conference. Robinson, a member of the Consultation, is the only diocesan bishop in the Anglican Communion living openly in a same-gender relationship.
[Episcopal Life Online] 13 Dec 2007--Anglicans from around the world met near Chicago December 5-7 to build international coalitions and develop a strategy for the full inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in the life of the church.
Meeting at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, the 50-member group known as the Chicago Consultation urged leaders of the Episcopal Church to permit the blessing of same-gender relationships and to remove barriers that keep gay candidates from being elected as bishops, according to a news release from the group.
"Some people call it the gay agenda, but we call it the Gospel Agenda," the Rev. Bonnie Perry, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church, Chicago, co-convener of the Consultation, said in the release. "We are asking our church and our communion to see what God has created and know that it is good."
The Consultation also called upon Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to invite New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson as a full participant to the 2008 Lambeth Conference. Robinson, a member of the Consultation, is the only diocesan bishop in the Anglican Communion living openly in a same-gender relationship.
The wisdom of the Constitution
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/daily/chicago_consultation/the_fifth_horseman_of_the_apoc.php
[Episcopal Cafe] 13 Dec 2007-- Finally, and at the considerable risk of saying something that may be decidedly unpopular in this gathering, let me say a word about the legality of liturgies for blessing same-sex relationships at the current time. First let me say that I believe General Convention, as the legitimate voice of the whole Church, should begin a process to move toward authorizing such liturgies sooner rather than later. In the meantime, though, I think it is incumbent upon the rest of us, particularly bishops—individually and collectively, as something less than the General Convention, to wait on General Convention to act because it is crucial to maintaining our polity that we do.
The only provision possibly authorizing a bishop to provide such liturgies is found in a rubric on page 13 of the Prayer Book: “For special days of fasting or thanksgiving, appointed by civil or church authority, and for other special occasions for which no service or prayer has been provided in this Book, the bishop may set forth such forms as are fitting to the occasion.”(36) The question is whether that rubric gives bishops the required authority.
[Episcopal Cafe] 13 Dec 2007-- Finally, and at the considerable risk of saying something that may be decidedly unpopular in this gathering, let me say a word about the legality of liturgies for blessing same-sex relationships at the current time. First let me say that I believe General Convention, as the legitimate voice of the whole Church, should begin a process to move toward authorizing such liturgies sooner rather than later. In the meantime, though, I think it is incumbent upon the rest of us, particularly bishops—individually and collectively, as something less than the General Convention, to wait on General Convention to act because it is crucial to maintaining our polity that we do.
The only provision possibly authorizing a bishop to provide such liturgies is found in a rubric on page 13 of the Prayer Book: “For special days of fasting or thanksgiving, appointed by civil or church authority, and for other special occasions for which no service or prayer has been provided in this Book, the bishop may set forth such forms as are fitting to the occasion.”(36) The question is whether that rubric gives bishops the required authority.
Homophobia is a sin whose end time is now
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/daily/chicago_consultation/homophobia_is_a_sin_whose_end.php
[Episcopal Cafe] 13 Dec 2007--The Church is a school for Kingdom-heralds. The Church is charged with responsibility for Christian education that grows us up in the knowledge and love of God and sends us out for word-and-deed proclamation of God’s love for a broken and divided world.
The Church is human as well as Divine. At the deepest level, God organizes church and cosmos into Christ’s organic body-politic, whose members are interdependent and united under the direction of Christ their head. The real unity and eventual functional harmony of the Church are not in jeopardy, because they are guaranteed by God. By contrast, visible church institutions--the ways we organize ourselves--are human constructions that have no intrinsic authority. They gain credibility and earn our allegiance only insofar as they prove to be skillful means to Kingdom-ends.
What kingdom is Marilyn McCord Adams heralding? God's? Or the kingdom of the world?
[Episcopal Cafe] 13 Dec 2007--The Church is a school for Kingdom-heralds. The Church is charged with responsibility for Christian education that grows us up in the knowledge and love of God and sends us out for word-and-deed proclamation of God’s love for a broken and divided world.
The Church is human as well as Divine. At the deepest level, God organizes church and cosmos into Christ’s organic body-politic, whose members are interdependent and united under the direction of Christ their head. The real unity and eventual functional harmony of the Church are not in jeopardy, because they are guaranteed by God. By contrast, visible church institutions--the ways we organize ourselves--are human constructions that have no intrinsic authority. They gain credibility and earn our allegiance only insofar as they prove to be skillful means to Kingdom-ends.
What kingdom is Marilyn McCord Adams heralding? God's? Or the kingdom of the world?
Gay Gene in Fruit Flies?
http://www.peter-ould.net/2007/12/11/gay-gene-in-fruit-flies/
[An Exercise in the Fundamentals of Orthodoxy] 13 Dec 2007--According to gay.com, yes!!! Their headline is “Study finds gay gene in fruit flies” but unfortunately that’s not what the study actually found. gay.com says:
Researchers in Chicago have discovered a gene that identifies homosexuality in fruit flies, which can be turned on and off with drugs. David Featherstone, a biologist at the University of Illinois, said that while humans have a similar gene, it has yet to be determined whether that gene has any effect on same-sex attractions in humans.
Hmmmm… The Chicago Sun-Times has a much better telling of what the researchers actually found....
[An Exercise in the Fundamentals of Orthodoxy] 13 Dec 2007--According to gay.com, yes!!! Their headline is “Study finds gay gene in fruit flies” but unfortunately that’s not what the study actually found. gay.com says:
Researchers in Chicago have discovered a gene that identifies homosexuality in fruit flies, which can be turned on and off with drugs. David Featherstone, a biologist at the University of Illinois, said that while humans have a similar gene, it has yet to be determined whether that gene has any effect on same-sex attractions in humans.
Hmmmm… The Chicago Sun-Times has a much better telling of what the researchers actually found....
‘What level playing field?!’
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/index.php/2007/12/13/what-level-playing-field/
[Anglican Mainstream] 13 Dec 2007--The following excerpt describes a recent media encounter of Alan Chambers (Exodus International). It is consonant with the recurring pattern which Stephen Noll discerned a decade ago or so and described in The Handwriting on the Wall, 1998. For Stephen, ‘The basis for the new sexual ethic is not diversity, or tolerance during a process of dialogue, but justice, as defined by contemporary North American liberationism … Revisionists read the Bible and the baptismal vow “to strive for justice and peace among all people” … in such a way as to make acceptance of their position morally binding on all’ (p. 5).
Many of us have thought that all stories were of equal worth, that ‘listening’ and ‘acceptance’ was what this was all about — but in fact, we have been gullible and blind. ‘Listening’ performed a vital role at the beginning. And it has been right to listen to people’s stories - but all stories, not just PC ones! However, in terms of the dominant ideological trajectory, this phenomenon does not end in yet more ‘Listening’ - where there is flexibility, debate and permanent disagreement - but rather, in a ‘progressive’ socio-political Justice, clear-cut, black-and-white, non-negotable, where few dare dispute the Party Line. Spend some time ‘listening’ to TEC if in doubt: if nothing else, Katie and her gang are exploring uncharted waters openly and confidently - the future is theirs, after all, or so they keep saying. But let us at least be honest: This is not all about ‘Listening’ - it is all about ‘Justice’.
[Anglican Mainstream] 13 Dec 2007--The following excerpt describes a recent media encounter of Alan Chambers (Exodus International). It is consonant with the recurring pattern which Stephen Noll discerned a decade ago or so and described in The Handwriting on the Wall, 1998. For Stephen, ‘The basis for the new sexual ethic is not diversity, or tolerance during a process of dialogue, but justice, as defined by contemporary North American liberationism … Revisionists read the Bible and the baptismal vow “to strive for justice and peace among all people” … in such a way as to make acceptance of their position morally binding on all’ (p. 5).
Many of us have thought that all stories were of equal worth, that ‘listening’ and ‘acceptance’ was what this was all about — but in fact, we have been gullible and blind. ‘Listening’ performed a vital role at the beginning. And it has been right to listen to people’s stories - but all stories, not just PC ones! However, in terms of the dominant ideological trajectory, this phenomenon does not end in yet more ‘Listening’ - where there is flexibility, debate and permanent disagreement - but rather, in a ‘progressive’ socio-political Justice, clear-cut, black-and-white, non-negotable, where few dare dispute the Party Line. Spend some time ‘listening’ to TEC if in doubt: if nothing else, Katie and her gang are exploring uncharted waters openly and confidently - the future is theirs, after all, or so they keep saying. But let us at least be honest: This is not all about ‘Listening’ - it is all about ‘Justice’.
National Church Will Spend Over $1 Million in Law Suits in 2007
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7245
[VitrueOnline] 13 Dec 2007--The National Church headquarters of The Episcopal Church is on a legal spending binge as dioceses and parishes exit the denomination.
Figures, VirtueOnline has received, reveal that prior to 2005 there did not appear to be any major expenditures on legal fees until after Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the new Presiding Bishop, took office.
Up until that time, former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold appeared to have kept his attorney David Booth Beers seriously muzzled, but as soon as Mrs. Jefferts Schori took office that changed. She is the second woman (after Ellen Cooke) to break through the glass ceiling and, if the stories are true, wears pants with sterner stripes than Griswold.
[VitrueOnline] 13 Dec 2007--The National Church headquarters of The Episcopal Church is on a legal spending binge as dioceses and parishes exit the denomination.
Figures, VirtueOnline has received, reveal that prior to 2005 there did not appear to be any major expenditures on legal fees until after Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the new Presiding Bishop, took office.
Up until that time, former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold appeared to have kept his attorney David Booth Beers seriously muzzled, but as soon as Mrs. Jefferts Schori took office that changed. She is the second woman (after Ellen Cooke) to break through the glass ceiling and, if the stories are true, wears pants with sterner stripes than Griswold.
Local church members want to "Remain Episcopal"
http://www.eyeoutforyou.com/home/12452226.html
[eyeoutforyou.com] 13 Dec 2007--Earlier this week Eyewitness News spoke with clergy and parishioners of a local episcopal church, all in support of the historic split aligning the San Joaquin Diocese with the South American Anglican Church. We were then contacted by a rising group of people who say they represent the other side of the split, church members who want to remain episcopal. Church members like Stef Donev, who told us the Episcopalians left behind in the split feel as though they are in the middle and want to stay in their church. Donev is one of an increasing amount of people choosing to "Remain Episcopal" despite the recent split of the San Joaquin Diocese from the national church. The decision to separate came after a vote on Saturday over hotly debated issues including the bible and homosexuality. Donev tells Eyewitness News "The Episcopal Church in this Diocese has been emphasizing what they are against, what they are opposed to and who they do not want to pray with." On Wednesday we spoke with the president of "Remain Episcopal" who told us they plan to continue worshiping as Episcopalians. The group's president, Cindy Smith, says they will continue to do God's work in the Episcopal Church and support people for having different views, saying "We hope that we continue to have variations, that not everybody thinks the same, when everybody thinks the same you lose some level of creativity."
[eyeoutforyou.com] 13 Dec 2007--Earlier this week Eyewitness News spoke with clergy and parishioners of a local episcopal church, all in support of the historic split aligning the San Joaquin Diocese with the South American Anglican Church. We were then contacted by a rising group of people who say they represent the other side of the split, church members who want to remain episcopal. Church members like Stef Donev, who told us the Episcopalians left behind in the split feel as though they are in the middle and want to stay in their church. Donev is one of an increasing amount of people choosing to "Remain Episcopal" despite the recent split of the San Joaquin Diocese from the national church. The decision to separate came after a vote on Saturday over hotly debated issues including the bible and homosexuality. Donev tells Eyewitness News "The Episcopal Church in this Diocese has been emphasizing what they are against, what they are opposed to and who they do not want to pray with." On Wednesday we spoke with the president of "Remain Episcopal" who told us they plan to continue worshiping as Episcopalians. The group's president, Cindy Smith, says they will continue to do God's work in the Episcopal Church and support people for having different views, saying "We hope that we continue to have variations, that not everybody thinks the same, when everybody thinks the same you lose some level of creativity."
The View from the Bleachers
http://richardkew.blogspot.com/2007/12/view-from-bleachers.html
[The Kew Continuum] 13 Dec 2007--My memories of the many games of rugby that I played when I was younger were of the tackles, the bumps, the bruises, and those occasional wonderful moments when I could tuck the ball under my arm and run. Because I was on the field my experience of the game was just what my own eyes saw and my own body felt. When I watch a game today, whether live or on television, I have a much better picture of what is actually going on, and can tell you with far greater accuracy what is really happening.
I feel that having moved to ministry in the UK I am now watching the fate of North American Anglicanism working itself out from a seat in the bleachers. In some ways, because I am no longer involved on a day-to-day basis and experiencing the rough and tumble, I can step back a little and try and work out exactly what is going on. Obviously, it is a very personal set of observations, but they come from someone who spent many years, as it were, on the field of play.
When you have an opportunity to stand back from what is going on, you are better able to see all the players in action, and it is a little easier to measure their play against a common set of reference points. Quite honestly, it seems to me that denial of the realities is standard at both ends of the spectrum. The voices of those who ally themselves with the "establishment" and the National Church seem as determined to read the situation through their own set of colored lenses as those at the other end of spectrum to put their own spin on the realities. While those who want everyone to kiss and make up are more sentimental than realistic.
[The Kew Continuum] 13 Dec 2007--My memories of the many games of rugby that I played when I was younger were of the tackles, the bumps, the bruises, and those occasional wonderful moments when I could tuck the ball under my arm and run. Because I was on the field my experience of the game was just what my own eyes saw and my own body felt. When I watch a game today, whether live or on television, I have a much better picture of what is actually going on, and can tell you with far greater accuracy what is really happening.
I feel that having moved to ministry in the UK I am now watching the fate of North American Anglicanism working itself out from a seat in the bleachers. In some ways, because I am no longer involved on a day-to-day basis and experiencing the rough and tumble, I can step back a little and try and work out exactly what is going on. Obviously, it is a very personal set of observations, but they come from someone who spent many years, as it were, on the field of play.
When you have an opportunity to stand back from what is going on, you are better able to see all the players in action, and it is a little easier to measure their play against a common set of reference points. Quite honestly, it seems to me that denial of the realities is standard at both ends of the spectrum. The voices of those who ally themselves with the "establishment" and the National Church seem as determined to read the situation through their own set of colored lenses as those at the other end of spectrum to put their own spin on the realities. While those who want everyone to kiss and make up are more sentimental than realistic.
CANA split on issue of women priests
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/news/2007/dec/11/cana-split-issue-women-priests/
[Fairfax Times] 13 Dec 2007--As it continues to develop into a formal body, the group of congregations that left the Episcopal Church not yet a year ago over the issue of homosexuality is now part of a split over the issue of women as priests.
CANA – the Convocation of Anglicans in North America – held a four-day convention in Oak Hill last week, culminating with the consecration of four new bishops on Sunday.
“We are thrilled to welcome these four new bishops to CANA. They will minister to our growing flock of orthodox Anglicans here in the U.S.,” said CANA Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns.
[Fairfax Times] 13 Dec 2007--As it continues to develop into a formal body, the group of congregations that left the Episcopal Church not yet a year ago over the issue of homosexuality is now part of a split over the issue of women as priests.
CANA – the Convocation of Anglicans in North America – held a four-day convention in Oak Hill last week, culminating with the consecration of four new bishops on Sunday.
“We are thrilled to welcome these four new bishops to CANA. They will minister to our growing flock of orthodox Anglicans here in the U.S.,” said CANA Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns.
Episcopal church members mixed on split
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=25209
[The Union Decocrat] 13 Dec 2007--The San Joaquin Diocese's vote Saturday to split from the National Episcopalian Church drew mixed reaction from local church leaders and parishioners.
Representatives of the diocese, which includes Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, voted 173-22 to leave the national church, realigning the diocese with the conservative Anglican Church of the Southern Cone, based in South America.
"I'm very happy the way the vote went," said the Rev. Jim Stout of the Church of the Ascension in Copperopolis. "I'm deeply grieved for those that chose not to go in this direction. I pray they are not hurt by this process."
[The Union Decocrat] 13 Dec 2007--The San Joaquin Diocese's vote Saturday to split from the National Episcopalian Church drew mixed reaction from local church leaders and parishioners.
Representatives of the diocese, which includes Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, voted 173-22 to leave the national church, realigning the diocese with the conservative Anglican Church of the Southern Cone, based in South America.
"I'm very happy the way the vote went," said the Rev. Jim Stout of the Church of the Ascension in Copperopolis. "I'm deeply grieved for those that chose not to go in this direction. I pray they are not hurt by this process."
Trinity church in Vero Beach may break from national organization
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/dec/12/30trinity-church-may-break-from-national/
[TCPalm] 13 Dec 2007--Disagreements over religious beliefs are leading Trinity Episcopal Church to consider breaking from the national Episcopal Church, following in the footsteps of other parishes in Florida and nationwide.
The Rev. Lorne Coyle says the national church is being unorthodox, in his estimation, on everything from interpretations of the Bible to allowing a gay bishop to be ordained in 2003. He is not alone in his beliefs — members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, Calif., voted this week to split from the national church, the first entire diocese to make such a move.
The Episcopal Church nationally has a "culture the Holy Spirit cannot honor," Coyle said. "It is losing members."
[TCPalm] 13 Dec 2007--Disagreements over religious beliefs are leading Trinity Episcopal Church to consider breaking from the national Episcopal Church, following in the footsteps of other parishes in Florida and nationwide.
The Rev. Lorne Coyle says the national church is being unorthodox, in his estimation, on everything from interpretations of the Bible to allowing a gay bishop to be ordained in 2003. He is not alone in his beliefs — members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, Calif., voted this week to split from the national church, the first entire diocese to make such a move.
The Episcopal Church nationally has a "culture the Holy Spirit cannot honor," Coyle said. "It is losing members."
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Episcopal Church, Anglican Communion Continue to Undergo a Seismic Shift
http://christiannewswire.com/news/524955058.html
[Christian News Wire] 12 Dec 2007--Last weekend was a significant one in the life of the Episcopal Church and the larger Anglican Communion. On December 8, delegates to the Episcopal Church's Diocese of San Joaquin overwhelmingly voted to leave the denomination. The vote carried with support from 90 percent of the lay delegates and 83 percent of the clergy delegates. The diocese has aligned itself with another province in the Anglican Communion, the Province of the Southern Cone.
On December 9, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), a missionary arm of the Church of Nigeria, consecrated four new bishops to support its growing work in North America. Roger Ames, David Anderson, Amos Fagbamiye, and Nathan Kanu have joined the Rt. Rev. David Bena as suffragen bishops under the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, who is missionary bishop of CANA.
[Christian News Wire] 12 Dec 2007--Last weekend was a significant one in the life of the Episcopal Church and the larger Anglican Communion. On December 8, delegates to the Episcopal Church's Diocese of San Joaquin overwhelmingly voted to leave the denomination. The vote carried with support from 90 percent of the lay delegates and 83 percent of the clergy delegates. The diocese has aligned itself with another province in the Anglican Communion, the Province of the Southern Cone.
On December 9, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), a missionary arm of the Church of Nigeria, consecrated four new bishops to support its growing work in North America. Roger Ames, David Anderson, Amos Fagbamiye, and Nathan Kanu have joined the Rt. Rev. David Bena as suffragen bishops under the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, who is missionary bishop of CANA.
Continuing Episcopalians making plans to reconstitute Diocese of San Joaquin
http://www.episcopal-life.org/79901_92634_ENG_HTM.htm
[Episcopal Life Online] 12 Dec 2007--Local leaders, along with those from the wider church, are already making plans for the continuation of the Diocese of San Joaquin following a vote to disassociate from the Episcopal Church.
Michael Glass, a San Rafael, California-based attorney who represents congregations and individual Episcopalians who wish to remain in the Episcopal Church, told Episcopal News Service (ENS) December 11 that he, local leaders, Chancellor to the Presiding Bishop David Booth Beers, and leaders from Episcopal dioceses surrounding San Joaquin "are coming together very soon to finalize our coordinated efforts to provide for the leadership needs, the legal and pastoral issues, and the financial concerns of our brothers and sisters in San Joaquin, and to provide for the continuation of the diocese."
The Rev. Robert Moore will meet with the group as well. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori appointed Moore "to provide an ongoing pastoral presence to the continuing Episcopalians in the Diocese of San Joaquin," said the Rev. Charles Robertson, canon to the Presiding Bishop.
Moore is the husband of Bishop Suffragan Bavi Edna "Nedi" Rivera of Olympia, the daughter of San Joaquin Bishop John-David Schofield's predecessor, Bishop Victor Rivera.
"The Presiding Bishop wants the people of San Joaquin to be assured of her prayers and also of her support in the coming days," Robertson said.
[Episcopal Life Online] 12 Dec 2007--Local leaders, along with those from the wider church, are already making plans for the continuation of the Diocese of San Joaquin following a vote to disassociate from the Episcopal Church.
Michael Glass, a San Rafael, California-based attorney who represents congregations and individual Episcopalians who wish to remain in the Episcopal Church, told Episcopal News Service (ENS) December 11 that he, local leaders, Chancellor to the Presiding Bishop David Booth Beers, and leaders from Episcopal dioceses surrounding San Joaquin "are coming together very soon to finalize our coordinated efforts to provide for the leadership needs, the legal and pastoral issues, and the financial concerns of our brothers and sisters in San Joaquin, and to provide for the continuation of the diocese."
The Rev. Robert Moore will meet with the group as well. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori appointed Moore "to provide an ongoing pastoral presence to the continuing Episcopalians in the Diocese of San Joaquin," said the Rev. Charles Robertson, canon to the Presiding Bishop.
Moore is the husband of Bishop Suffragan Bavi Edna "Nedi" Rivera of Olympia, the daughter of San Joaquin Bishop John-David Schofield's predecessor, Bishop Victor Rivera.
"The Presiding Bishop wants the people of San Joaquin to be assured of her prayers and also of her support in the coming days," Robertson said.
Counting the Cost of Common Cause: Five Inevitabilities and/or Possibilities
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/8309/
[Stand Firm] 12 Dec 2007--Below are five inevitabilities and/or possibilities for which to be prepared when leaving the Episcopal Church for another Anglican jurisdiction within the Common Cause Partnership. Some of what is written below may not come to pass. But it could. Before setting out on any journey it is necessary to count the cost. Here is my contribution to that effort.
[Stand Firm] 12 Dec 2007--Below are five inevitabilities and/or possibilities for which to be prepared when leaving the Episcopal Church for another Anglican jurisdiction within the Common Cause Partnership. Some of what is written below may not come to pass. But it could. Before setting out on any journey it is necessary to count the cost. Here is my contribution to that effort.
Anglican Communion Network on December 18th Common Cause Meeting
http://wannabeanglican.blogspot.com/2007/12/breaking-anglican-communion-network-on.html
[newbie anglican] 12 Dec 2007--The next major milestone in the development of Common Cause is next week, when the Common Cause Leadership Council gathers in Orlando, Florida on December 18 for its inaugural meeting. The Council comprises the head bishop, a clergy representative, and a lay representative from each Partner. This body represents Common Cause in all its fullness, and has the authority to do the work of the Partnership.
This is the organizing meeting of Common Cause, at which the assembly will elect its first officers and establish its initial committees and task forces. As such, December 18, 2007 will mark the formal beginning of a "separate ecclesiastical structure" in North America. Following this meeting, Common Cause will be in a place to seek official recognition from the Primates of our Communion.
[newbie anglican] 12 Dec 2007--The next major milestone in the development of Common Cause is next week, when the Common Cause Leadership Council gathers in Orlando, Florida on December 18 for its inaugural meeting. The Council comprises the head bishop, a clergy representative, and a lay representative from each Partner. This body represents Common Cause in all its fullness, and has the authority to do the work of the Partnership.
This is the organizing meeting of Common Cause, at which the assembly will elect its first officers and establish its initial committees and task forces. As such, December 18, 2007 will mark the formal beginning of a "separate ecclesiastical structure" in North America. Following this meeting, Common Cause will be in a place to seek official recognition from the Primates of our Communion.
Retired Bishops Repeat Request for Financial Data
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2007/12/11/retired-bishops-repeat-request-for-financial-data
[The Living Church] 12 dec 2007--Five retired bishops chided two members of Executive Council whom the bishops said “carefully failed to give us the information we requested.” In a brief letter the bishops again repeated their request for the amount of money spent last year on property disputes and the source of the funds.
“We are concerned that there could be a violation of federal pension fund laws,” the Rt. Rev. William Wantland, retired Bishop of Eau Claire, said in an interview with a reporter for The Living Church. “If they are using endowment funds, some of those are restricted.
“Are we seeing Executive Council in the act of pulling a Charles Bennison on the church?” Bishop Wantland asked. “Bishop Bennison was brought up on charges by his standing committee for refusing to disclose full financial information. No one is saying Executive Council is using money illegally, but how do we know? We need assurances that the gifts of faithful Episcopalians in previous generations are being used for the purposes for which they were originally intended.”
[The Living Church] 12 dec 2007--Five retired bishops chided two members of Executive Council whom the bishops said “carefully failed to give us the information we requested.” In a brief letter the bishops again repeated their request for the amount of money spent last year on property disputes and the source of the funds.
“We are concerned that there could be a violation of federal pension fund laws,” the Rt. Rev. William Wantland, retired Bishop of Eau Claire, said in an interview with a reporter for The Living Church. “If they are using endowment funds, some of those are restricted.
“Are we seeing Executive Council in the act of pulling a Charles Bennison on the church?” Bishop Wantland asked. “Bishop Bennison was brought up on charges by his standing committee for refusing to disclose full financial information. No one is saying Executive Council is using money illegally, but how do we know? We need assurances that the gifts of faithful Episcopalians in previous generations are being used for the purposes for which they were originally intended.”
Rector Defends Astrology Workshop
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2007/12/11/rector-defends-astrology-workshop
[The Livinmg Church] 12 Dec 2007--The rector of the Seattle church that is offering a three-session course this month titled “They Followed a Star: Astrology and Christianity as Allies on the Journey, ” said he sees the class as being no different than having a Muslim or Jew come to the church to explain those faiths.
The Rev. Peter Strimer, rector of St. Andrew’s Church, said that everyone from all religious backgrounds are welcome at St. Andrew’s, including traditional Anglicans. He said he has previously referred people to Dan Keusal, the licensed counselor and astrologer in private practice who is leading the workshop, with good results. Mr. Keusal holds a degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame and worked for years as a parish and campus minister.
“Of the 35 people signed up for the class, nearly half have not been in our church or any church before,” Fr. Strimer said. “We are using Raymond Brown’s The Birth of the Messiah.” Fr. Strimer described the course as “a fun, captivating approach to the Christmas story” which draws upon Mr. Keusal’s training in Roman Catholicism and astrology.
[The Livinmg Church] 12 Dec 2007--The rector of the Seattle church that is offering a three-session course this month titled “They Followed a Star: Astrology and Christianity as Allies on the Journey, ” said he sees the class as being no different than having a Muslim or Jew come to the church to explain those faiths.
The Rev. Peter Strimer, rector of St. Andrew’s Church, said that everyone from all religious backgrounds are welcome at St. Andrew’s, including traditional Anglicans. He said he has previously referred people to Dan Keusal, the licensed counselor and astrologer in private practice who is leading the workshop, with good results. Mr. Keusal holds a degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame and worked for years as a parish and campus minister.
“Of the 35 people signed up for the class, nearly half have not been in our church or any church before,” Fr. Strimer said. “We are using Raymond Brown’s The Birth of the Messiah.” Fr. Strimer described the course as “a fun, captivating approach to the Christmas story” which draws upon Mr. Keusal’s training in Roman Catholicism and astrology.
Brazilian Diocese Received Into Province of the Southern Cone
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2007/12/11/brazilian-diocese-received-into-province-of-the-southern-cone
[The Living Church] 12 Dec 2007--Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti, along with the congregations and clergy of 44 parishes of the Diocese of Recife in northeastern Brazil, were received last week by Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables as an extra-territorial diocese of the Church of the Province of the Southern Cone.
The reception marks a shift in the status of the traditionalist Brazilian congregations from a personal prelature of Bishop Venables over individuals in Recife to a formal ecclesial entity within the province.
[The Living Church] 12 Dec 2007--Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti, along with the congregations and clergy of 44 parishes of the Diocese of Recife in northeastern Brazil, were received last week by Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables as an extra-territorial diocese of the Church of the Province of the Southern Cone.
The reception marks a shift in the status of the traditionalist Brazilian congregations from a personal prelature of Bishop Venables over individuals in Recife to a formal ecclesial entity within the province.
Rowan: 'I like my job - except the political bits.'
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2007/12/rowan-i-like-my.html#more
[Articles of Faith] 12 Dec 2007--Asked about his support for gay clergy, he replied: “I have no problem with gay clergy who aren’t in relationships, although there are savage arguments about the issue you might have heard about. Our jobs mean we have to adhere to the Bible. Gay clergy who don’t act upon their sexual preferences do, clergy in practising homo-sexual relationships don’t. This major question doesn’t have a quick-fix solution and I imagine will be debated for many years to come.”
[Articles of Faith] 12 Dec 2007--Asked about his support for gay clergy, he replied: “I have no problem with gay clergy who aren’t in relationships, although there are savage arguments about the issue you might have heard about. Our jobs mean we have to adhere to the Bible. Gay clergy who don’t act upon their sexual preferences do, clergy in practising homo-sexual relationships don’t. This major question doesn’t have a quick-fix solution and I imagine will be debated for many years to come.”
Diocese of Sydney sends greetings to Schofield, San Joaquin
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/index.php/2007/12/12/2547/
[Anglican Mainstream] 12 Dec 2007--A meeting of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Sydney, chaired by Bishop Robert Forsyth, has sent the following letter to the Diocese of San Joaquin:
“Dear Bishop Schofield
The Standing Committee of the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney sends warm greetings in the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ to yourself and the clergy and laity of the Diocese of San Joaquin.
The Standing Committee assures you and the people of San Joaquin diocese of our prayerful support of your historic action in disassociating from The Episcopal Church and becoming part of the Province of the Southern Cone of South America.
We offer our congratulations for your courageous stand for the authority of the Scripture and the faith once delivered to the saints.
Yours sincerely
ROBERT WICKS
Diocesan Secretary”
[Anglican Mainstream] 12 Dec 2007--A meeting of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Sydney, chaired by Bishop Robert Forsyth, has sent the following letter to the Diocese of San Joaquin:
“Dear Bishop Schofield
The Standing Committee of the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney sends warm greetings in the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ to yourself and the clergy and laity of the Diocese of San Joaquin.
The Standing Committee assures you and the people of San Joaquin diocese of our prayerful support of your historic action in disassociating from The Episcopal Church and becoming part of the Province of the Southern Cone of South America.
We offer our congratulations for your courageous stand for the authority of the Scripture and the faith once delivered to the saints.
Yours sincerely
ROBERT WICKS
Diocesan Secretary”
The Episcopal Church losing many congregations
http://www.ocala.com/article/20071212/NEWS/212120324/1001/NEWS01
[ocala.com] 12 Dec 2007--One November night, Bishop John W. Howe stood at the pulpit of Grace Episcopal Church as members with worried and frustrated faces stared back at him.
Howe, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, was there to tell the members what they all wanted to hear.
"During this time of transition, however it comes out, neither I or the Diocese of Central Florida intend in any way to abandon you. . . . Neither your rector [pastor] or your vestry [pastor and lay members] will decide for you whether you want to be a part of The Episcopal Church or the Diocese of Central Florida or not," Howe said. "That's something that you're going to decide for you."
Howe visited the church to address Grace Episcopal Church's recent decision to "disaffiliate" from the Central Florida diocese and The Episcopal Church (USA) - a movement that's happening in Episcopal parishes all across the country. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion and has 2.4 million members. Approximately 80 million members belong to the global denomination.
[ocala.com] 12 Dec 2007--One November night, Bishop John W. Howe stood at the pulpit of Grace Episcopal Church as members with worried and frustrated faces stared back at him.
Howe, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, was there to tell the members what they all wanted to hear.
"During this time of transition, however it comes out, neither I or the Diocese of Central Florida intend in any way to abandon you. . . . Neither your rector [pastor] or your vestry [pastor and lay members] will decide for you whether you want to be a part of The Episcopal Church or the Diocese of Central Florida or not," Howe said. "That's something that you're going to decide for you."
Howe visited the church to address Grace Episcopal Church's recent decision to "disaffiliate" from the Central Florida diocese and The Episcopal Church (USA) - a movement that's happening in Episcopal parishes all across the country. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion and has 2.4 million members. Approximately 80 million members belong to the global denomination.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Clock Is Ticking
Commentary by Robin G. Jordan
On Saturday December 8, 2007 the Diocesan Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin made a momentous decision. The delegates voted to drop every reference to The Episcopal Church from the Diocese’s Constitution and to succeed from The Episcopal Church. They placed the diocese under the primatial oversight of the Archbishop of the Southern Cone Gregory Venables. Three other dioceses of The Episcopal Church are considering taking similar action—Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Fort Worth. Their diocesan conventions have already taken the initial steps. Requirements in their constitutions that two consecutive diocesan conventions must pass proposed changes to the constitution keep them from joining the Diocese of San Joaquin. The bishops of all four dioceses have been threatened with deposition and they and a representative sampling of the congregations in the dioceses with litigation. Regrettably these dioceses have not able to coordinate their departure from The Episcopal Church and no additional dioceses have so far shown indications of following their lead. One suspects that the leaders of conservative dioceses are nervously waiting to see what happens to the Diocese of San Joaquin and the other three dioceses before they decide whether they will lead their diocese out of The Episcopal Church.
Waiting to see what happens to San Joaquin, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Fort Worth is a mistake. San Joaquin took advantage of a window of opportunity that will be closed by 2009 General Convention. At the 2009 General Convention the present leadership of The Episcopal Church is likely to put into place measures that will make it extremely difficult if not impossible for dioceses and congregations to leave The Episcopal Church. If a substantial number of dioceses would begin to take steps to leave, Presiding Bishop Katherine Schori’s strategy of threats, depositions, and litigation would have no chance of succeeding. The national church would not be able to afford the lawsuits and would be forced to make some kind of settlement with the dioceses and congregations desiring to leave the denomination and realign themselves with another province.
Schori’s strategy is likely to work as long as she can pick off one diocese at a time. However, if a third of The Episcopal Church’s dioceses voted to secede from the denomination, it is doubtful that the national church would be able to mobilize the resources to seize church property in these dioceses.
The Episcopal Church is already in serious trouble. Worship attendance and church membership has dropped dramatically. More and more people are leaving the denomination. A growing number of dioceses have financial problems. Several have sold cathedrals or conference centers. Even the national church has begun to acknowledge the dire straights into which The Episcopal Church has fallen.
Among the ramifications of a vote by the 2009 General Convention to make the denomination the ultimate owner of all church property is that it is likely to contribute to the further centralization of the denomination with dioceses and congregations requiring national church approval before they purchase property or incur other debts. It is also likely to lead policies that would seek to make dioceses and congregations liable for debts even if they leave the denomination and would authorize litigation against individuals as well as dioceses and congregations that leave. Such policies can be expected to affect the denomination’s ability to attract new members. The adoption of stringent measures to prevent dioceses and congregations from leaving, however, will not staunch the hemorrhaging of members from The Episcopal Church and will place a greater financial burden upon the denomination’s shrinking membership base. The Episcopal Church will become a denomination of empty church buildings and dwindling congregations faced with reduction not only their own debt but also that of other congregations and mounting pressures from the diocese and the national church to give a greater share to the support of these structures. This is also likely to make the denomination less attractive to potential members.
The exodus of a substantial number of dioceses and congregations from The Episcopal Church might not only force the national church and the remaining dioceses to reconsider the current policy of litigation and property seizures but also might spark a full-scale revolt against The Episcopal Church’s present leadership and the direction in which they are taking the denomination. All that is needed is needed is enough people to coalesce into a critical mass. While such an exodus might also cause the "true believers" to rally in support of their leaders, the increased demands that their leaders will place upon them is likely to take their toll.
The window of opportunity is growing narrower and narrower. Now is the time to act. The cavalry is not going to come to the rescue of conservative Episcopalians at the last minute. They are going to have to take matters into their own hands or live with the consequences of their inaction.
On Saturday December 8, 2007 the Diocesan Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin made a momentous decision. The delegates voted to drop every reference to The Episcopal Church from the Diocese’s Constitution and to succeed from The Episcopal Church. They placed the diocese under the primatial oversight of the Archbishop of the Southern Cone Gregory Venables. Three other dioceses of The Episcopal Church are considering taking similar action—Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Fort Worth. Their diocesan conventions have already taken the initial steps. Requirements in their constitutions that two consecutive diocesan conventions must pass proposed changes to the constitution keep them from joining the Diocese of San Joaquin. The bishops of all four dioceses have been threatened with deposition and they and a representative sampling of the congregations in the dioceses with litigation. Regrettably these dioceses have not able to coordinate their departure from The Episcopal Church and no additional dioceses have so far shown indications of following their lead. One suspects that the leaders of conservative dioceses are nervously waiting to see what happens to the Diocese of San Joaquin and the other three dioceses before they decide whether they will lead their diocese out of The Episcopal Church.
Waiting to see what happens to San Joaquin, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and Fort Worth is a mistake. San Joaquin took advantage of a window of opportunity that will be closed by 2009 General Convention. At the 2009 General Convention the present leadership of The Episcopal Church is likely to put into place measures that will make it extremely difficult if not impossible for dioceses and congregations to leave The Episcopal Church. If a substantial number of dioceses would begin to take steps to leave, Presiding Bishop Katherine Schori’s strategy of threats, depositions, and litigation would have no chance of succeeding. The national church would not be able to afford the lawsuits and would be forced to make some kind of settlement with the dioceses and congregations desiring to leave the denomination and realign themselves with another province.
Schori’s strategy is likely to work as long as she can pick off one diocese at a time. However, if a third of The Episcopal Church’s dioceses voted to secede from the denomination, it is doubtful that the national church would be able to mobilize the resources to seize church property in these dioceses.
The Episcopal Church is already in serious trouble. Worship attendance and church membership has dropped dramatically. More and more people are leaving the denomination. A growing number of dioceses have financial problems. Several have sold cathedrals or conference centers. Even the national church has begun to acknowledge the dire straights into which The Episcopal Church has fallen.
Among the ramifications of a vote by the 2009 General Convention to make the denomination the ultimate owner of all church property is that it is likely to contribute to the further centralization of the denomination with dioceses and congregations requiring national church approval before they purchase property or incur other debts. It is also likely to lead policies that would seek to make dioceses and congregations liable for debts even if they leave the denomination and would authorize litigation against individuals as well as dioceses and congregations that leave. Such policies can be expected to affect the denomination’s ability to attract new members. The adoption of stringent measures to prevent dioceses and congregations from leaving, however, will not staunch the hemorrhaging of members from The Episcopal Church and will place a greater financial burden upon the denomination’s shrinking membership base. The Episcopal Church will become a denomination of empty church buildings and dwindling congregations faced with reduction not only their own debt but also that of other congregations and mounting pressures from the diocese and the national church to give a greater share to the support of these structures. This is also likely to make the denomination less attractive to potential members.
The exodus of a substantial number of dioceses and congregations from The Episcopal Church might not only force the national church and the remaining dioceses to reconsider the current policy of litigation and property seizures but also might spark a full-scale revolt against The Episcopal Church’s present leadership and the direction in which they are taking the denomination. All that is needed is needed is enough people to coalesce into a critical mass. While such an exodus might also cause the "true believers" to rally in support of their leaders, the increased demands that their leaders will place upon them is likely to take their toll.
The window of opportunity is growing narrower and narrower. Now is the time to act. The cavalry is not going to come to the rescue of conservative Episcopalians at the last minute. They are going to have to take matters into their own hands or live with the consequences of their inaction.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)