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ARCHBISHOP faces Communion Crisis. Griswold in trouble in Texas

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

LONDON, UK-The Archbishop of Canterbury is worried. In a moment of candor about problems facing the church and his leadership over homosexuals in the priesthood and the recent consecration of Gene Robinson, he said, “I have to admit that over the past twelve months I’m not sure what God has in mind for the Church of England or the Anglican Communion. Half the time I haven’t any idea. But in the end, I believe it will work itself out.”

Yesterday he ratcheted up the tension a notch or two when he sent a private letter to Frank Griswold on the eve of the Camp Allen House of Bishops meeting telling the Presiding Bishop that the confirmations in Ohio had his blessing.

The full contents of the letter have not been leaked to anyone, and Griswold has not so much as admitted that a letter even exists. But when a fellow journalist here in London talked to Lambeth Palace, she got the response that it was “too hot to leak”! Virtuosity has learned that it contains, at the very minimum, a strong if not harsh word to Griswold to take no ecclesiastical action against the “Ohio five” bishops, because he would not get support from Lambeth Palace.

This puts Griswold in a real quandary. He has 61 or more revisionist ECUSA bishops breathing down his neck wanting him to do something, with the not so veiled threat from the Bishop of Oklahoma, Robert M. Moody that an appropriate response to this action of defiance and disobedience on the part of those bishops will be on the agenda. “That response could be a censure of these bishops or a presentment that could lead to an ecclesiastical trial.”

This is the last thing Griswold wants. He hates conflict of any kind, but every time he turns around he faces it, and it is getting worse by the week. The orthodox bishops have made it very clear they will never accept pastoral care because it is not alternative Episcopal oversight, and Griswold won’t back down from his position that the diocesan bishop’s power must be honored under existing church law.

Stalemate.

Meantime V. Gene Robinson makes his first appearance as a bishop in Camp Allen, where he will undoubtedly be greeted with cheers from the revisionist gallery and groans from the orthodox side of the house.

VIRTUOSITY has received word that his partner Mark Andrew will be attending the wives gathering, where, one assumes he will be acknowledged and possibly consecrated the first queen among the wives. Phoebe Griswold, who wore, “just ask me about Gene” buttons at General Convention, will do the honors.

BUT ALL IS NOT WELL AT CAMP ALLEN. The bishops are not staying together and some conservative bishops are boycotting the Navasota meeting. Some will participate fully and some like Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan will stay offsite and attend only sessions treating the church fracture.

Do we have a de facto breakup already underway? Clearly we will not see any public embracing of Frank and Bob this time round, if ever again. Lines are beginning to harden and there would seem to be no way back unless one or other parties cries uncle. The revisionists have the numbers, at least in the number of bishops, but the laity is clearly given more to orthodoxy in faith and morals, and this can be judged by the numbers leaving liberal dioceses. El Camino Real was decimated by Schimpfky reducing the numbers from 30,000 to 12,000 and Grew (Ohio) has seen his numbers fall from 40,000 to 24,000.

As Robert England, a traditionalist Episcopalian and journalist who documented the decline of the Diocese of Newark under Jack Spong noted, “Bishop Schimpfky was one of Bishop Spong's darlings when he was in the Diocese of Newark. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. No surprise that membership in the Diocese of El Camino Real collapsed under Schimpkfy's tenure -- it did the same under Spong in Newark.”

As one Virtuosity reader noted. “You reap what you sow. Thirty years of lawlessness practiced by bishops doing their own thing, instead of teaching basic Christianity, and accepting Anglican Communion guidelines, has taught many people that doing your own thing is best. On territorialism: “It seems as if many bishops are only interested in protecting their territory. They can't stand competition.”

Meanwhile Griswold and his flak, Dan England keeps talking up reconciliation as though nothing was really wrong. Reconcile what? Reconciliation dialogues are little more than smoke and mirrors attempts to patch up the unpatchable. Those attending them don’t see much point either. All the talk seems to create more anger and frustration, acting as a reminder of underhanded and manipulated results. At the end of the day it might well be that the revisionists would sooner destroy the church than acquiesce to orthodoxy in faith am morals.

IF YOU THINK THE NUMBERS ARE BAD IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, a Church of England Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester, says that if present trends continue the CofE “could disappear within a generation or two.” Already there are only 800,000 churchgoers regularly attending Sunday services – fewer than the number of Muslims attending mosques. In all, the number of church worshippers has fallen more than a million since 1990. The latest ECUSA figures show that between 700,000 and 800,000 attend church regularly, the much vaunted 2.5 million figure is wildly exaggerated unless you count cemetery headstones.

SEWANEE TO GIVE HONORARY DOCTORATE TO ROBINSON! The beginning of the campaign to give him the degree is underway. An inside source at Sewanee says that the University of the South will be forced into atoning for its past sins of orthodoxy by awarding its next honorary degree to the homosexual alumnus. He has 9 of Sewanee's 28 bishops on his side, and they are a very powerful and political block, and they can prove they were right if Sewanee shows the world that it too loves Gene. “Safe Space = Safe Space for him and his boyfriend.” Will Sewanee continue to embarrass itself? Stay tuned.

AND THE DIOCESE OF MASSACHUSETTS APPROVED A CIVIL MARRRIAGE resolution at its recent day-long convention. No surprise there. The resolution was passed by a large majority of the 391 voting members—clergy and lay delegates representing the diocese’s 194 congregations. And they did it in an hour and a half. The Convention, which brought together more than 650 Episcopalians, focused on the fantasy notion of evangelism through music, but most of the time, however, was spent singing up on the well- orchestrated resolution concerning marriage. Shaw was also the featured speaker at a demonstration for legalized gay marriage. Meanwhile, a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as heterosexual was endorsed jointly by heads of the state's four Roman Catholic dioceses, the Greek Orthodox metropolitan, prominent black and evangelical leaders, heads of the Islamic Council; and several mainline Protestant and Jewish clergy. Shaw is not working off the same page as Scripture or, it would seem, his ecumenical partners.

AND THIS FROM A VIRTUOSITY READER WHO HAS A GRIP ON THINGS. “Christian liberalism enters upon spiritual waters with its opposition to the voice of authentic Gospel, though coming from a huge diversity of ill- informed and muddle-headed points of view. It is utterly consistent and coherent in one respect and one only: it hates the truth about Jesus and the cross. Even those who don't know this truth have been (spiritually) conditioned to respond to it, as if by instinct.

“Liberal Christianity promotes itself as saving the world FROM Jesus and the cross. That has become its only asset, its only "gospel". Everything it does supports this. If the rallying cry is "inclusiveness", it means including those who felt themselves excluded because of Christian morals. If it is "justice", it means opposing the free market economy which, while not itself Christian, could only have been born and can only thrive in a once-Christian culture. Even the call for "conversation" anticipates the need to neutralize the legitimate claims of a Creator and Savior God.

“Revisionist Christianity is not bastardized, watered down or dumbed down Christianity. It is Antichristianity. It is organized around a spirit that opposes Jesus, even if the ecclesiastical lackeys who support it haven't got a clue.”

I AM POSTING A NUMBER OF STORIES TODAY including an interview with retired Bishop William Wantland (Eau Claire) regarding the Ohio confirmations and more.

THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION INSTITUTE will hold its Colorado Spring Conference under the banner, ANGLICANISM: HISTORY AND HOPE: The Future of World Anglicanism in North America. April 20-23, 2004. Among the speakers will be Dr. George Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, Professor Editor Humphrey, The Rev. Dr. John Karania, The Rev. Dr. Robert Prichard, The Rev. Dr. Jeremie Begbie and the Rev. Dr. Ashley Null. You are warmly invited to attend this conference. This writer will be in attendance. You can sign up by writing to: The Anglican Communion Institute, 601 North Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903. The Rev. Don Armstrong.

IN THE DIOCESE OF NIAGARA (Canada) they will hold a General Synod Children’s Program, 2004 under the Banner, “See, I’m Making All Things New.” The program is for children aged 5 through 12. Along with story- telling, puppets, crafts, music, parachutes and drama, there are other activity themes that include, “What’s a Primate,” “Native Jubilee” and “Same-Sex Issues.” What in heaven’s name is someone doing teaching same-sex issues to pre-teens! One hopes the Police have been alerted.

IN OTHER NEWS the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast approved a policy that opposes both ordination of noncelibate clergy and blessing rites for same-sex couples. And the Diocese of the Mississippi rejected proposals to declare that a breach exists between itself and the Episcopal Church, and to withhold money to protest Robinson's consecration.

CORRECTION: In my last digest I said on my Ohio story that, “None of the priests were from the six parishes.” What I should have said was, “None of the priests from the six parishes were vested for the service. (They were instructed not to wear their vestments. Each parish was represented by its priest.)

I AM IN LONDON for a few more days assessing the Church of England situation. I will have more news in the days to come.

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Thank you for your support.

All blessings,

David W. Virtue DD

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