The pansexual steamroller is underway.

"Marriage equality is a reality coming soon to a state near you," Bishop Robinson told an appreciative audience here yesterday.

At a lunchtime gathering at General Convention, Robinson said The Episcopal Church should proudly proclaim itself as the "gay church" and told visitors to GC2009, that "LGBT Equality is a matter of justice." He also said that Resolution B033, which pledges that the Episcopal Church would refrain from consecrating gay bishops or authorize public rites for the blessing of same-sex unions, should be disavowed and diocesan deputies and bishops should "stand up for what is right."

Robinson talked about the "great moveable middle" at General Convention. THAT, of course is a fiction. There is no "via media" any more in TEC. They have been silenced. They have rolled over and, with the departure of most of the orthodox in TEC, it is a clean sweep for all manner of sexualities in TEC led by revisionist bishops and deputies. A genuine liberalism that at once allowed for both sides of the table to hear, listen and work together is dead. Robinson is also on a book-signing mission reinforcing his, and The Episcopal Church's official sexual positions.

History will be made here, Robinson eulogized. He is right, it will be, but it will be a history that TEC will live to regret.

*****

In case you hadn't spotted it in her opening message at GC2009, Katharine Jefferts Schori denied salvation through an individual confession of faith in Jesus Christ. She said, "The overarching connection in all of these crises has to do with the great Western heresy - that we can be saved as individuals, that any of use alone can be in right relationship with God. It's caricatured in some quarters by insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus. That individualist focus is a form of idolatry, for it puts me and my words in the place that only God can occupy, at the center of existence, as the ground of all being. That heresy is one reason for the theme of this Convention. Ubuntu. That word doesn't have any 'I' in it." So the dying thief on the cross who asked to be remembered by Jesus when he entered his Kingdom was wasting his breath. His last word should have been UBUNTU - "I in you and you in me." What this says, of course, is that anything - and I mean anything - is possible including abandoning the nature of our salvation and the person and work of Jesus Christ.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams made his humble appearance yesterday at Convention where he was greeted with standing, but polite applause from the House of Bishops. He sat at the back of the room next to the Bishop of Tanzania. Later, at a lecture where he basically bashed capitalism to an overflow audience, the archbishop said we've been lying to ourselves, and described the threefold crisis of truthfulness that he believes lies at the heart of current financial worries. "There has been a "drastic erosion" in the ordinary values of truthfulness and relationship building, said Williams."Our word," he said, "has not been our bond." Secondly, we've lied to ourselves about our place in creation, pretending that our limited world will support limitless growth and that profit is risk free." Thirdly, the Archbishop stated that our nature as essentially communal beings hasn't been truthfully engaged economically and that we've ignored the social impact of profit making. With this critique in mind, our task isn't simply to restore finances to "normal" but to rebuild and reform a system that has proven itself dysfunctional."

There were no specific answers as to whether the Democratic Government of Barack Obama should bail out GM or AIG, or on the president's attempt to provide universal health care. Presumably, the ABC is for these things. Clearly, the bad guys are all on Wall Street and the banking moguls. Following his speech, the ABC and a number of TEC leaders partied at Ruth's Chris Steak House - a chain of high class steak houses - where a good steak will cost you $50, without the trimmings. Welcome to America, Archbishop. You should know that California is insolvent. That state has liquidity problems to the tune of $24 billion. Technically, the state is bankrupt. The state clearly needs a dose of Ubuntu.

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Under new disciplinary laws being proposed, the Presiding Bishop alone will no longer be able to decide the fate of bishops who "abandon the communion of the church". Under a new resolution, all orders of ministry will be involved, not just three people of seniority. A group comprising of bishops, priests and laity - representatives of all baptized persons - will decide on a bishop's fitness for office. It will then be presented to the PB and the HOB.

Will this essentially change anything? Not necessarily, but at least the process will be fairer and more evenhanded. The fate of an orthodox bishop who stands up to TEC will be the same.

*****

At the first HOB meeting yesterday, a bishop stood up to say we should all leave gratuities for hotel workers who make our beds and we should do it daily because of staff turnover. He was roundly applauded. A MDG microcosm, no doubt.

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The Rev. Matt Kennedy has been denied press credentials to cover GC2009 for Standfirm. "Upon review of your application, the credentialing committee has declined your request for credentials," wrote Neva Rae Fox, TEC's Media Operations Manager.

A couple of things should be said about this. Kennedy was an Episcopal priest who took his parish out of the Diocese of Central New York to come under the Anglican Province of Kenya. He was sued by the bishop and lost his property in a court battle. There are also some other issues about still outstanding money that the bishop wants resolved by the courts.

Needless to say, Kennedy, who is not a reporter, but a blogger, was admitted to the press gallery at Lambeth 2008 and did a creditable job. He also did some blogging at GAFCON in Jerusalem and was credentialed at GC2006 as well as the HOB in New Orleans.

While bloggers are not legitimate reporters, they are playing an increasing role in news gathering and dissemination. Mary Ailes of BabyBlue.com is here; so one wonders why Kennedy should have been denied admittance.

*****

There are some 70 invited guests from around the Anglican Communion here, many for the first time. They are in awe of the magnitude and scope of the conference. Bumped into Australian Archbishop Philip Aspinall, his first visit to a General Convention. He said that many overseas guests are not aware of how The Episcopal church works, especially about the relationship between the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. At a press conference this morning, we were reminded that General Convention is the highest and oldest legislative body in TEC and the second largest legislative body in the world. One guest who is coming, but is having visa problems, is the Archbishop of the Sudan, The Most Rev. Deng Bull. TEC is doing its best to influence this needy but powerful Anglican province. Inviting Archbishop Deng is risky business for TEC.

At the Lambeth Conference 2008, Deng held an impromptu press conference where he railed against the homosexual agenda of The Episcopal Church and said Bishop Robinson should repent of his behavior and step down as bishop. Nothing has changed. It'll be interesting to see what happens when Deng meets Robinson. Should be quite an encounter.

*****

Southeast Florida Bishop Leo Frade turned up at a press conference today. This reporter asked him why the bishop did not consult the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florida over the telegenic Fr. Alberto Cutie's absconding from Rome to TEC. This reporter asked if Anglican Roman Catholic dialogue might not be impaired by his act (failure to consult with the RC prelate).

Frade, who has a resolution on the floor looking for $3.5 million to boost Hispanic membership in TEC, said the archdiocese is not an ecumenical diocese. "I met with the archbishop four years ago. We have not spoken since then. Fr. Cutie fell in love. He is now married and has come over to us. The road to Rome has a lot of traffic going both ways and the traffic needs a traffic light." Frade said he had not heard the Archbishop was "very angry" as VOL said.

"The outgoing secretary for ecumenical relations did not know what the Archbishop was talking about. His is not an ecumenical diocese. We are in pain for this hurt. Unfortunately Cutie was the face of the Roman Catholic Church. He has 22 million followers. He was upset. We do believe in the seal of confession. He mentioned it to the archbishop who wanted to send him to a funny farm to retrain him. The alternative was to close the doors on him but the Paparazzi got in the middle."

The message Frade offered up is that celebrity trumps truth and 22 million potential followers into TEC.

END