VIRTUEONLINE Digest - 11 May 2007 to 18 May 2007 (#2007-24) Fri, 18 May 2007 04:00:01 -0700 There are 24 messages totalling 1827 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Table of Contents 2. VirtueOnline Viewpoints - May 17, 2007 3. MRS. SCHORI AND THE POLITICS OF ILLUSION 4. Fort Worth, Quincy Dioceses break away is hype. Not true, says Bishop Ackerman 5. Episcopal Church Drops $51,000 for Op-Ed Page ad in New York Times 6. AUTONOMY OR COMMUNION?: Archbishop Gomez in Central Florida 7. TEC: Connecting the Dots - Conspiracy to Remove Property Disclosed 8. COLORADO SPRINGS: Episcopal Diocese enters battle over parish property 9. VIRGINIA: Truro Vestry Calls New Rector 10. Eurabia is a dystopian nightmare, says author Philip Jenkins 11. Anglican Mission Leaders' Gathering Builds Momentum for Church Planting 12. LONDON: Canon Kearon holds out hope that the Irish can save the Communion 13. TEC: Iraq's future requires careful...debate, bishops say in letter to Congress 14. CANADA: Former Homosexuals Write "Painful" Letter to Synod Bishops 15. HOUSTON: African plants foot in Episcopal battle 16. ONTARIO: Anglican Church in Canada at a 'crossroads' 17. NEW HAMPSHIRE: Gay bishop plans civil union with partner of 18 years 18. ARCHBISHOPS ARGUE OVER LAMBETH RESOLUTION 1:10 19. Missionaries in Northern Virginia - Michael Gerson 20. Atheist Richard Dawkins in conversation with Ruth Gledhill 21. Possibilities for an Anglican Future? - by Christopher Seitz 22. A TALE OF TWO GOSPELS: What They Have In Common - Gary L'Hommedieu 23. The Impact of Jerry Falwell - Mike McManus 24. LOVE NEVER FAILS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 22:54:05 -0400 From: Robert Turner Subject: Table of Contents 1. VIEWPOINTS All to Come to Lambeth 2008...Ft. Worth turns up heat on Schori...more 2. MRS. SCHORI AND THE POLITICS OF ILLUSION 3. Fort Worth, Quincy Dioceses break away is hype. Not true, says Bishop Ackerman 4. Episcopal Church Drops $51,000 for Op-Ed Page ad in New York Times 5. AUTONOMY OR COMMUNION?: Archbishop Gomez in Central Florida 6 TEC: Connecting the Dots - Conspiracy to Remove Property Disclosed 7. COLORADO SPRINGS: Episcopal Diocese enters battle over parish property 8. VIRGINIA: Truro Vestry Calls New Rector 9. Eurabia is a dystopian nightmare, says author Philip Jenkins 10. Anglican Mission Leaders' Gathering Builds Momentum for Church Planting 11. LONDON: Canon Kearon holds out hope that the Irish can save the Communion 12. TEC: Iraq's future requires careful...debate, bishops say in letter to Congress 13. CANADA: Former Homosexuals Write "Painful" Letter to Synod Bishops 14. HOUSTON: African plants foot in Episcopal battle 15. ONTARIO: Anglican Church in Canada at a 'crossroads' 16. NEW HAMPSHIRE: Gay bishop plans civil union with partner of 18 years 17. ARCHBISHOPS ARGUE OVER LAMBETH RESOLUTION 1:10 18. Missionaries in Northern Virginia - Michael Gerson 19. Atheist Richard Dawkins in conversation with Ruth Gledhill 20. Possibilities for an Anglican Future? - by Christopher Seitz 21. A TALE OF TWO GOSPELS: What They Have In Common - Gary L'Hommedieu 22. The Impact of Jerry Falwell - Mike McManus 23. Devotional: LOVE NEVER FAILS END ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 22:57:15 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: VirtueOnline Viewpoints - May 17, 2007 Called to be peacemakers. Every Christian is called to be a peacemaker. The Beatitudes are not a set of eight options, so that some may choose to be meek, others to be merciful, and yet others to make peace. Together they are Christ's description of the members of his kingdom. True, we shall not succeed in establishing Utopia on earth, nor will Christ's kingdom of righteousness and peace become universal within history. Not until Christ comes will swords be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. Yet this fact gives no possible warrant for the proliferation of factories for the manufacture of swords and spears. Does Christ's prediction of famine inhibit us from seeking a more equitable distribution of food? No more can his prediction of wars inhibit our pursuit of peace. God is a peacemaker. Jesus Christ is a peacemaker. So, if we want to be God's children and Christ's disciples, we must be peacemakers too --From "Issues Facing Christians Today" ---John R. W. Stott The sin of Dives. We are all tempted to use the enormous complexity of international economies as an excuse to do nothing. Yet this was the sin of Dives. There is no suggestion that Dives was responsible for the poverty of Lazarus either by robbing or by exploiting him. The reason for Dive's guilt is that he ignored the beggar at his gate and did precisely nothing to relieve his destitution. He acquiesced in a situation of gross economic inequality, which had rendered Lazarus less than fully human and which he could have relieved. The pariah dogs that licked Lazarus's sores showed more compassion than Dives did. Dives went to hell because of his indifference.-. --From 'Economic Equality Among Nations: A Christian Concern?' "Christianity Today" Dear Brothers and Sisters, www.virtueonline.org 5/17/2007 The burning question is this: who will go to Lambeth in 2008? Informed sources tell VirtueOnline that it will be all (rather than a partial) invitation. The openly homosexual Bishop of New Hampshire V. Gene Robinson will be invited to the next Lambeth Conference, together with all TEC bishops, (revisionists, liberals, Windsor and Network) together with some of the "more respectable" extra-mural Continuing Anglican bishops in CANA and AMiA. Apparently Bishop Duncan Gray III, DIOCESE OF MISSISSIPPI told a small group of people at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Jackson, Mississippi, recently, that he had it "on solid authority" that the Episcopal Church will be invited to Lambeth 2008. He may be right. If that is the case, "Global South" archbishops led by Nigerian Primate Peter Akinola will be faced with the choice of boycotting it and staging their own counter-conference, (which he has threatened to do). This would split the Communion, but leave the liberals in charge of the "original communion." The GS could also show up in force and try to seize control of the conference and expel The Episcopal Church. These are the options. None of them will bring peace, love, joy and reconciliation. Of course a lot hangs on what will happen after Sept. 30 of this year. Things could come unraveled quite seriously after that date. It is possible, though unlikely, that Lambeth 2008 might become irrelevant. Everything hinges on who the players will be and who will be calling the shots. Invitations, from the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, go out at the end of the year. http://www.lambethconference.org/2008/index.cfm VOL will keep you informed. TEC MAKES DESPERATE MOVE. The Episcopal Church took out a third of a page ad in the "New York Times" last Saturday on the Op-Ed page touting the Episcopal Church as a place to worship. It also extolled the virtues of becoming an Episcopalian. The Episcopal Church dropped $51,000 for the ad which ran a headline: "The Episcopal Church, Marking a Milestone, Moving Forward".Somewhere near you, there's a blue-and-white sign bearing the familiar slogan: The Episcopal Church Welcomes You. It represents some 7,400 congregations that trace their beginnings in North America to a small but hopeful group of English Christians who arrived May 14, 1607 at a place they called Jamestown - the first permanent English settlement in the New World." I have written an analysis of this in today's digest or you can click here: http://tinyurl.com/2585cs A VOL reader challenged TEC's statement that the first English Christians were Episcopalians saying that The Episcopal Church is re-writing history. "This is misleading. The Puritans founded Jamestown in 1603. Not the Episcopal Church/Church of England. This is an intentional misrepresentation of fact by TEC's propaganda arm." You be the judge: http://tinyurl.com/27jwam Wrote another VOL reader: "The Church of England was established and attendance was enforced in 1607. Most of the American CE clergy, as they were established in some of the colonies, supported England in the Revolution. The church split, though not formally, in the Civil War. The history and theology of this advertisement are equally fraudulent" TEC's response: It was a group of separatists not to be confused with the Puritans. ARCHBISHOP DREXEL GOMEZ (West Indies) was in Orlando, Florida, this week and had some direct things to say about Mrs. Schori and what went on in Dar es Salaam at the Primates meeting. At a forum for the clergy and some laity in the DIOCESE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA, he walked through what actually happened. A number of VOL readers said he walked through the Anglican Covenant explaining it in some detail. He said that in Tanzania Dr. Williams went around the room at the conclusion of the meeting and had each primate affirm their support for the communique. Up to this point the Primates had worked on consensus, but not this time. Dr. Williams wanted every person to say, "Yes, I affirm what has been written." Mrs. Schori did this and then added that it would be a tough sell to her House of Bishops. When she returned to the U.S. and spoke to the House of Bishops, she spun it to say that her "yes" was to bring the communique back to the HOB - a point that Bishop John C. Howe tried to mak e in coming to her defense. Archbishop Gomez responded to Howe saying, "Sir, that was not the question she was asked by the +ABC." You can read a full report on this meeting written by Canon Gary L'Hommedieu in today's digest or click here: http://tinyurl.com/3bjkdq It is a brilliant piece of analysis. THE DIOCESE OF FT. WORTH turned up the heat on Mrs. Schori and TEC this week. The story first broke in "The London Times" and was repeated on a conservative American Blog, which said this diocese and the DIOCESE OF QUINCY, were getting ready to leave TEC for an overseas primate. It was not true. While the Diocese of Ft. Worth reaffirmed its pursuit of APO, there are no immediate plans to depart TEC. For the full story go here or read it in today's digest http://tinyurl.com/ynsn6b Be sure to read the Diocese's own take which follows my story. THE EPISCOPAL DIVINITY SCHOOL in Cambridge, Mass is offering some interesting summer courses including Feminist Perspectives on the New Testament; Christology and Cultural Imagination; Developing Spiritual Communities; Liturgical Preaching; Understanding QUEER Christian Theologies; Leading Congregational Change: A Systems Perspective. The "Queer Christian Theologies" is designed to have homosexuals running to their local queer Episcopal congregation for spiritual enlightenment or perhaps a queer bishop for the laying on of hands. Not to be outdone, the Episcopal News Service reports that two Northwestern University campus groups -- a Christian campus ministry and an undergraduate Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgendered (LGBT) group -- plan to hold a unique discussion and forum to explore the Church's stance on sexuality. Sex is apparently on everybody's mind. It is not necessarily the straight stuff. The Episcopal Campus Ministry and the Rainbow Alliance at Northwestern University will co-sponsor "Beyond Us and Them: How the Episcopal Church's Embrace of LGBT People is Invigorating its Proclamation of the Gospel." The Rev. Liz Stedman, chaplain to Canterbury Northwestern, the Episcopal ministry on the Evanston, Illinois campus, said in the release that in the Episcopal Church there is a "growing clarity and conviction that we are on the right path -- that God is calling us here, and that our actions stem from an authentic reading of the Bible." That's odd. The entire Anglican Communion is coming apart at the seams over sodomy and they think that TEC's "right path" is clearly the wrong path. Perhaps on Sept. 30 the message will finally hit home. EVER WONDERED how deeply infected the Episcopal Church's leadership is by homosexuals and lesbians? Of the forty members of The Episcopal Church's Executive Council, eight are lesbian or homosexual. So, twenty percent of TEC's top leadership is practicing sexual sin. Twenty percent of the elected leaders of the Church's most important governing body in between General Conventions are behaving inappropriately. They disproportionately represent the vast majority of some 800,000 practicing Episcopalians, most of whom are straight and married. Now you know why the TEC is in the mess it is, and who are really pulling the strings. Source: Meditatio Blog, San Francisco. In the DIOCESE OF COLORADO, the ongoing battle between Bishop Rob O'Neill and the Rev. Don Armstrong, who he accuses of alleged financial wrongdoings, took a new twist this week. The diocese now alleges that Armstrong was shredding documents and records so furiously that a shredding machine broke down, according to a countersuit filed in El Paso County District Court. Not true, Armstrong told VOL. "Interestingly, when they were closing in, they had all the documents in their possession, so we had nothing to shred if we even wanted to, which we wouldn't do because we had done nothing wrong and to shred papers relevant to this would have been wrong itself--we are all Martha Stewart fans and learned a little something from all she endured at the hands of similar sort of vicious people." In the DIOCESE OF OLYMPIA they elected the Rev. Dr. Gregory Rickel to be the eighth Bishop of Olympia at St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle. The Episcopal Church in Western Washington is comprised of 32,000 members in 96 congregations stretching between the Canadian and Oregon borders and from the Pacific coast to the Cascade foothills. Rickel, 43, currently rector of St. James' Episcopal Church, Austin, Texas, was elected on the third ballot from a slate of five nominees. Rickel raised fundamentalist eyebrows in Austin, by staging an Episcopal-Buddhist dialogue, and as an Al Gore-trained lecturer on global warming in the state capital where George Bush once reigned as governor. Rickel has been rector of St. James', which he describes as "an inclusive, multicultural community" and historically African-American Church that started in east Austin in 1941. He's a liberal who won't rock the boat. He succeeds the Rt. Rev. Vincent W. Warner, 66, who will retire at the time of the consec ration after 18 years as bishop diocesan. The Rt. Rev. Nedi Rivera, bishop suffragan and second-ranking prelate in the diocese, ran a distant third after two ballots and withdrew her candidacy. It was Nedi who once said she would never marry any more straight folks until the church gave the green light to marry sodomites. The diocese is struggling financially. It will be interesting to see what he does with a couple of parishes that have left TEC but are still on their properties. Stay tuned. Another person who knows Rickel and who worshipped at his church said about him: "Greg is VERY personable and some would say very handsome - in a word, charming (as a snake). The congregation is VERY tolerant, open minded, and just plain lost. Many same sex couples and some with infants and children. One **couple** had their infant baptized. Greg will be one of those who will think KJS hung the moon and will most certainly be at Lambeth." THE EPISCOPAL BOOK RESOURCE CENTER, an agency of the Episcopal Church (USA), in New York City is selling a book of spells by a British witch. Terese Moorey is the author of "Love Spells," which offers a host of tried and tested spells, potions, and rituals that will help you find out just how to bring love into your life. This little volume is filled with spells to find your perfect match, become irresistible, keep a love that's true, or when Cupid's arrow has gone astray, mend a broken heart. Anglicanism is a broad church, but this is absurdly broad and clearly outside the pale. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2006/06/anglican_witches.html. Don't look for any books by John Stott or J.I. Packer in the bookstore. INTERNET SCUTTLEBUTT has it that the Anglo-Catholic DIOCESE OF SAN JOAQUIN and its Bishop, John-David Schofield, are talking to Traditional Anglican Communion Archbishop John Hepworth about their future after their next Diocesan Convention in October should the diocese vote to leave TEC. Not true. I called the diocese where a spokesman said no such conversations were, or are, taking place. ON WOMEN'S ORDINATION comes this note from the Rev. Ron Gauss, priest at Bishop Seabury Church, Groton, Ct. "Back in 1974 General Convention held that there are to be two allowable theological positions in the Church concerning the ordination of women - one, no women, and the other to allow women. The two were to be considered valid. No one could take vengeance on another. So for some, "Bishop" Jefferts Schori cannot be the Presiding Bishop because she couldn't be a Bishop. She couldn't be a Bishop because she couldn't be a Priest, and she couldn't be a Priest because she is a woman." In 2000 those who disagreed with the ordination of Women were made heretics. QED. GAY PRIDE EUCHARIST. Integrity Atlanta's Annual Gay Pride Eucharist for Human Rights will take place at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Atlanta. The preacher for this year's service is Dr. Louie Crew, founder of Integrity. Crew is an elected deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of Newark and recently completed a term on Executive Council. The Rev. William "Mac" Thigpen, rector of St. Bartholomew's, Atlanta, will preside at the Eucharist. So much for Atlanta's compliance with the Windsor Report given that Bishop Neil Alexander is a Trustee and Regent at Sewanee University it makes one wonder what plans he must have for Sewanee - a Sewanee honorary degree for Crew perhaps? VIRGINIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY names new Dean. The Board of Trustees of Virginia Theological Seminary announced May 16 that the Rev. Dr. Ian Markham has been appointed dean and president effective Aug. 1. Dr. Markham will succeed the Very Rev. Martha Horne, who is retiring after 13 years as dean and president. Dr. Markham has been dean of Hartford Seminary, and professor of theology and ethics, since August 2001. Prior to moving to Connecticut, he was foundation dean and Liverpool professor of theology and public life at Liverpool Hope University in Liverpool, England. EPISCOPALIANS have begun responding to questions in a study guide aimed at helping the Episcopal Church consider the draft version of a proposed Anglican Covenant. Congregations, diocesan deputations to General Convention and individuals can all submit comments between now and the June 4 deadline. House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson said May 14 that some General Convention deputations have already met and formulated responses with the help of the study guide. Responses can be e-mailed to gcsecretary@episcopalchurch.org, faxed to 212-972-9322 or mailed to Draft Anglican Covenant, The Office of the General Convention, The Episcopal Church Center, 815 Second Ave, New York, NY 10017. The covenant study guide is not the only such tool that members of the Episcopal Church can expect to receive. At their March meeting in Texas, the House of Bishops asked its Theology Committee to develop a study document for consideration of the Primates' Communique. The bishops anticipate t his guide will be available by early June for use by bishops and dioceses in preparation for the September meeting of the House of Bishops. IN KAMPALA, Uganda, The Anglican Primate of Uganda warned Christians against practicing homosexual acts saying that they violate God's purpose for marriage and attract His wrath. "The New Vision," a Ugandan online journal, reports Rt. Rev. Henry Luke Orombi made his comments while preaching during his one-week tour of the Bukedi Diocese. You can read that here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/2yuojg A READER UPSET at my story on former NJ Governor Jim McGreevey's priest says that my interpretation of events might be a tad premature. http://tinyurl.com/27m8lx "As a (conservative) clergy member of the Commission on Ministry in the diocese I serve, I would obviously have tremendous reservations about McGreevy being made a priest. But while I won't be surprised if it comes about, it is not the slam-dunk you make it out to be, and the staff at St. Bart's is not so enamored of him as your article would suggest. With the discernment process at St. Bart's, you'd find that, at best, McGreevy might be an aspirant. But that would be up to Bp Sisk to determine, and not St. Bart's or GTS. And McGreevy's process will not contain any shortcuts, at least from St. Bart's end. He's only been an Episcopalian for a matter of several weeks. He won't be eligible to be a postulant until he undergoes an in-house discernment process, psychological testing, physical testing and interviews with the Commission on Ministry, the diocesan Standing Commission, and the Diocesan Bishop. That will probably take at least a year. Until then, he isn't able to registe r at General, or any other Episcopal Seminary, as an ordination track student. He can only register for non-ordination track. And seminaries do accept people who are non-ordination, although some try to use their presence there as an end run around the discernment process: "I'm already in seminary...wouldn't it be easier if you just went ahead and let me be a candidate?" But if he (McGreevey) is trying to do an end-run around the process, I can assure you that, even if he's liberal and gay and an ex-governor, the clergy over his discernment (who have paid their dues, so to speak) will not appreciate the attempt to use his notoriety/power for cutting corners, and will, no doubt, squawk loudly to the bishop. Bishop Sisk has the final word on whether or not McGreevy is ever ordained...and he's the only one who can let McGreevy cut corners, because at the end of the day, he's the one who has to lay hands on him." FIRST MARRIED PRIEST IN THE VATICAN. Pope Benedict XVI has shown himself to be capable of breaking tradition by appointing the first married priest to head a Vatican Department. He appointed Monsignor Michael Rear, a Catholic priest of East Anglia Diocese, England, and a former Anglican Clergyman, to head a new Vatican Congregation for the Conversion of Anglicans. Aware of the present crisis in the Anglican Communion, the Pope feels the time is right for the Catholic Church to take advantage of the situation and make positive moves to welcome into the Catholic Church the large numbers of Anglicans disaffected by their Church's present direction. IN CANADA, an open letter to the National House of Bishops from the Zacchaeus Fellowship, a group of former, healed homosexuals and lesbians, released a statement saying they ignored the pastoral needs of people trying to live chastely with same-sex attraction even as it bent over backwards to placate those who have been demanding that the church affirm same-sex relationships. "We have written to the bishops to protest how the constituency that the Zacchaeus Fellowship represents has been marginalized once again, and to plead for the church to fulfill its pastoral responsibilities to the whole of its flock." Their letter can be found at www.zacchaeus.ca/HOB2007May.html IN OTHER CANADIAN NEWS CANADA'S BISHOPS have rejected blessings of same-sex unions, hinting they will veto moves to regularize gay blessings at the June meeting of General Synod in Winnipeg. "It is the discernment of the majority of the House of Bishops that as of today the doctrine and discipline of our church does not clearly permit ," the Bishops wrote in a May 1 pastoral letter to the Church. To soften the blow, the bishops couched their letter with expressions of support for the gay community, stating they sought to give them "most generous pastoral response possible." It was their "hope", the bishops wrote, that same-sex couples and their children were not being denied baptism, communion, or confirmation in Anglican parishes. The bishops also reaffirmed their 1997 statement of support for the ministry of gay clergy. It'll come as no surprise that Michael Ingham, Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster, says he plans to continue to carry on performing these blessings. THE REV. ED HIRD'S book "Battle for the Soul of Canada" is short listed for an award. The Word Guild is an association of Canadian writers and editors who recognize great Canadian writers. They include such illustrious names as Dr. J. I. Packer and Mark Buchanan. This year "Battle for the Soul of Canada" has been added to the list of finalists. The association, which was founded in January 2002, has grown to 270 members across Canada, including 90 professional members. http://tinyurl.com/28hff3 1.5 MILLION ITALIANS from across that country poured into Rome May 12 to join in a demonstration against a law that would give legal recognition to homosexual couples. Organizers initially expected to draw about 100,000. The proposed legislation would give homosexual couples--and unmarried heterosexual couples--similar rights to those of married couples, stopping just short of legalizing homosexual marriage. While the Vatican and Italy's Catholic bishops backed the pro-family demonstration, lay people independent of the Church organized it. The "mind-blowing" success of the event is an outstanding example of the power held by ordinary citizens when sufficiently mobilized in support of traditional values, said Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, a priest in Rome who is the moderator of the Catholic Online Forum (see blogsite: http://tinyurl.com/2nuyv5). Who said Italians were only interested in food and sex? TWO ARCHBISHOPS - Ndungane of Southern Africa and Baxley of the Southern Cone have gotten into a lather about what actually went on at Lambeth '98 in the formation of Lambeth resolution 1:10. The Primate of the Anglican Church of South Africa delivered a long and thorough address at St. Saviours Church this past week and said, "the Lambeth Conference arose as a response to a messy situation. It was established with a less than satisfactory basis, to meet the particular agendas of particular participants at a particular time - and today we are left with the legacy of that fudge." Not true said Baxley who wrote countering Ndungane. I wrote to Archbishop Moses Tay in Singapore who was also present at Lambeth '98 and this is what he had to say: "Colin Bazley's recollection is true, but Ndungane's current attempt seems strange, jarring, distant from reality, and a biased and slanted re-writing of history! I am just saddened and disgusted to read what he has written/spoken. The Lor d is ultimately the judge, and 'for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment'" (Matt 12:36) you can read that story here or in today's digest: http://tinyurl.com/37k6ny JERRY FALWELL DIES. An icon of the religious right died this past week. The 73-year-old Falwell was found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, but later died. Falwell founded the Moral Majority, building the religious right into a political force. Falwell had a history of heart problems. I had one run in with Falwell many years ago when he accused me of being less than evangelical on some issue or other and threatened me with all manner of things. Nothing came of it. I forgave him, but I always kept an eye over one shoulder in case his Fundie friends were looking for an excuse. You can read what Mike McManus has to say about him here. He is very generous towards the man. http://tinyurl.com/36qp2u CORRECTION: THE DIOCESE OF NEWARK is having a problem with inclusivity. VOL incorrectly said it was the Diocese of New Jersey. The Rt. Rev. Carol Gallagher, who got dumped as bishop suffragan of Southern Virginia, just got the heave ho as Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Newark. WELCOME TO VIRTUEONLINE. We hope you will take a few moments to scan the list of stories to read and check the website for even more stories that did not make the cut in today's digest. Stories are added every few hours. Please know that VOL depends entirely on its readers to maintain this website. If you would like to support this ministry with a tax-deductible donation we would truly appreciate that. Please consider supporting this vital ministry. You can send a snail mail check to: VIRTUEONLINE 1236 Waterford Rd., West Chester, PA 19380 Or you can make a donation at the website through PAYPAL: www.virtueonline.org. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT. All blessings, David W. Virtue DD IN PASSING. This past week Catherine Beatrice Virtue, 89, passed peacefully into the presence of the Lord. She was a consummate evangelist who loved Jesus with her whole heart, soul and mind. She was my mother. I shall miss her. Requiem im pace, mother ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 22:58:15 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: MRS. SCHORI AND THE POLITICS OF ILLUSION MRS. SCHORI AND THE POLITICS OF ILLUSION News Analysis By David W. Virtue www.virtueonline.org 5/17/2007 Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church (TEC), says she is excited to be an Episcopalian, that the Communion is alive and well and not a dead, dormant thing. At an annual Church Club dinner in New York City, she recently told a lay group that "the Communion is moving, in what some people see as seismic kinds of ways, but it's moving." She re-echoed her major theme that the set of mission priorities headed by justice and peace work, framed around the Millennium Development Goals, set at last summer's General Convention is "what it means to be Christian." According to Mrs. Schori the folks meeting in Boxburg (South Africa) didn't spend any time talking at all about conflict. "They talked about mission. The Anglican Communion is alive and well -- very well - in those partnerships between dioceses and congregations." The conference drew more than 400 Anglicans from 33 of the 38 Anglican provinces. They were to review the Communion's response to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and build partnerships. Addressing the current conflicts in the church Mrs. Schori had this to say, "The reality is that congregations in which a sizable number of members have voted to leave the Episcopal Church constitute one-half of one percent of the congregations of this church. They are very vocal and they've got a lot of media attention." Mrs. Schori then took a whack at the media saying, "What has not gotten media attention are the faithful witness and mission work that is going on all over this church." She countered news reports about the church saying, "Much of what people in this church and outside of this church think is guided by headlines. Headlines focus on a very small part of what's going on in this church and in the communion. I am happy to tell you that almost everywhere I go, I see signs of enormous health and vitality in congregations and dioceses. I don't see people moping." Mrs. Schori acknowledged that all mainline denominations have been reduced in their representation in the general population, "but Episcopalians have done better than others." "Our challenge," she stated, "is to retain the children we produce and to reach to new populations in this country and the vast population of the unchurched to whom we are a highly attractive alternative." Mrs. Schori wasn't the only one to demonstrate an "irrational exuberance" about the state of The Episcopal Church. Canon Kenneth Kearon, liberal head of the UK-based Anglican Consultative Council, believes that the recent Irish example of reconciliation can save the Communion. "The experience of overcoming sectarian division through a commitment to dialogue is a gift the Church of Ireland can bring to the Anglican Communion." Speaking to the Church of England newspaper, Kearon said that he is optimistic the divisions within the Communion are on track towards an amicable resolution. In common parlance, both leaders have their heads in the clouds. "The Irish experience would say that at the heart of reconciliation is engagement and conversation," Canon Kearon said. "That sounds very easy, and anyone who talks about reconciliation talks about this." However, "real reconciliation is very, very difficult" and begins with the admission that one is "part of the problem as well as part of the solution. Reconciliation also requires "the sort of listening that enables you to enter into the experience of the other person and begin to see through their eyes." Neither Mrs. Schori nor Canon Kearon are listening nor are they having conversations with the Global South archbishops because if they did they would be hearing a quite different story. The truth is both the Americans and British believe the myth that they are still controlling the outcome of the Anglican Communion. Therein lies their mistake. They are ignoring, often with an unspoken racism, archbishops like Peter Akinola (Nigeria), Henry Luke Orombi (Uganda), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya), Drexel Gomez (West Indies) and Greg Venables (Southern Cone) who are in fact pulling the strings of the Archbishop of Canterbury behind the scenes - strings that are long enough to split the communion, if push comes to shove. Both Schori and Kearon are grasping at straws. They are not willing to admit that a major paradigm shift has taken place in the communion that puts them in a distinct minority. The Global South is where the drama of historic Christianity is being played out. Western Anglicanism is producing spiritual geldings born of sodomite acceptance and weak feminized girlie men running major institutions. Mrs. Schori and Canon Kearon won't even entertain the notion that the current crisis is born of deep and profound theological differences that cannot and will not be pasted over with endless talk of "conversation" and "listening" that attempts to resolve the unresolvable. They will also not entertain or believe that contradictory views on human sexual behavior can live comfortably in the same bed if the eternal destiny of one group is at stake. Kearon believes the Anglican Communion can find an accommodation that will preserve its unity and strengthen its witness to the world. Both believe, quite falsely, that schism is worse than heresy. It is as if the wings of an Airbus 320 were built in Spain with the body being made in France with the two countries working from different engineering specs. The chief engineer merely shrugs his French shoulders and says "Weld it together anyway, it will still fly." Nobody in their right mind would buy a ticket on this aircraft. The Global South archbishops and bishops have signaled that incompatible morals and dissing sound theology are unacceptable. They will not allow The Episcopal Church to gloss over or forget the passage of resolutions C051, the blessing of committed, same-gender relationships; or D039, which acknowledged relationships other than Marriage and B001, which failed to endorse certain historic Anglican Doctrines and Policies. Mr. Kearon and Mrs. Schori think the Africans, Asians and Latin Americans are not as smart as English, Irish, Welsh and American bishops whose dioceses and provinces are in free fall. Western Anglicans are ashamed of the gospel and its exclusive call to repentance and faith, and laugh at Global South leaders for their failure to understand inclusivity. It is provinces like Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda that are growing by the million plus and will only increase in size in the coming years. The conscious commitment to dialogue that Kearon wants so badly only works to the benefit of pansexualists and theological revisionists. Dialogue, or more accurately playing for time with covenants, Windsor Reports, communiques etc., has never ever worked to benefit orthodox Anglicans. Never. The history of Episcopal General Conventions has been the slow but steady erosion of faith and morals. Issues like Women's Ordination, that went from optional to mandatory, are now being repeated with sodomy. Sooner or later it will be mandatory to ordain homosexuals and marry same-sex couples and woe betide that bishop who doesn't conform. He/she will face presentment and dismissal. We saw a taste of this in the rejection of the orthodox candidate for Bishop of South Carolina who was judged before he even took office. Is it any wonder then that the Primates have set a dateline for the Episcopal Church to conform (read repent)? We all know they won't. Is it any wonder that Network bishops and their dioceses are poised to take separate action as early as October? The Episcopal Anglo-Catholic diocese of Ft. Worth said in a recent statement that while they remain open to the possibility of negotiation and some form of acceptable settlement with TEC, "it appears that our only option is to seek APO elsewhere. This may entail a cooperative effort with other appellant dioceses in consultation with primates of the Anglican Communion, to form a new Anglican Province of the Communion in North America. A second possibility would be for the diocese to transfer to another existing Province of the Anglican Communion. A third possibility would be to seek the status of an extra-provincial diocese, under the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, as presently recognized in several other cases." Them's Fightin' Words, but words that Schori and Kearon should take very seriously, because if this diocese and perhaps as many as nine others decide to bolt, the TEC Humpty Dumpty will fall and no law firm, however able, will ever put TEC back together again. END ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 22:59:15 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: Fort Worth, Quincy Dioceses break away is hype. Not true, says Bishop Ackerman Fort Worth, Quincy Dioceses break away is hype. Not true, says Bishop Ackerman Diocese of Ft. Worth Reaffirms Pursuit of APO By David W. Virtue www.virtueonline.org 5/16/2007 Saying that he was baffled by reports that the Diocese of Quincy and the Diocese of Ft. Worth are seeking immediate Alternative Primatial Oversight, reported by Ruth Gledhill of The London Times, Bishop Keith Ackerman told VirtueOnline that the reports caught him off guard and were untrue. "I am with the president of the Standing Committee and I am as baffled as anyone about these reports in The London Times and on the conservative blog Stand Firm. Any such announcement or action is premature." "What I can say I know is that all of us in the Network who have requested APO have to understand what we have all along been asking for (APO) is because the HOB was less than conciliatory. The humor for me is that might lead to that some day. But to even to be talking about this now amazes me." "If these people have more information than the Bishop of Quincy I would be more than grateful for these people to get in touch with me. I need to have more information than the people putting it out there." "I am aware that there is much speculation about what Ft. Worth might do but nobody has told me what the outcome of that meeting may be." "If the communique is rejected by the Episcopal House of Bishops, and we have done everything to comply and they do not comply and we as orthodox bishops have complied, we would be doing more than petitioning some primate. I have talked with no one." Asked about what Ft. Worth might be doing, Ackerman said that what is true is that the Standing Committee and the Diocesan Council are scheduled to meet today. It is on their calendar. "They are presently meeting, and may issue a statement later this evening, but I have heard nothing from Bishop Iker to indicate that he is about to make some major announcement without informing me." In a headline, "Sensational news from the US." Gledhill said Forth Worth is to seek 'alternative primatial oversight' from an African primate. Quincy and at least three others of the Network dioceses are expected to follow suit. (Some of the Network affiliates want to continue to work it out with TEC.) I don't know which African Primate is to be approached, save that it is not Peter Akinola. Being Forward in Faith dioceses, they'll be looking in a catholic rather than evangelical direction. Malango perhaps? Fort Worth's standing committee and executive are meeting this afternoon, and we can expect a statement after that, around midnight GMT. According to Stand Firm, what I'm saying here comes close to, but does not precisely match, what they have been hearing." She wrote: "An impeccable source within TEC told me: 'Fort Worth is in conversation with four other dioceses about seeking alternative primatial oversight outside The Episcopal Church. They have yet to come to an agreement with an African Primate.'" Ackerman responded, "I don't know an impeccable source in the TEC that she could be referring too. This is all speculation and hype." Gledhill said that the statement is expected to outline developments to date, and why they feel driven to take this drastic step. It will have a huge impact because, although individual congregations have left before, mainly for CANA, this will be the first diocese to declare its departure. After that, four other dioceses may go as well. Does TEC have enough lawyers to fight this many property battles I wonder?" "The developments to be charted in the statement will include last summer's fruitless appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury for alternative primatial oversight, the dioceses' own rejection of the Presiding Bishop's offer of a primatial vicar appointed by her and their refusal even to attend the meeting where she proposed it." "We are aware that the actions of the HOB was not the official rejection of the communique and we are of the fact that Primates will respond after Sept. 30," he said. No diocese is going to act independently without consulting the other dioceses that have sought APO according to Ackerman. ***** DIOCESE REAFFIRMS PURSUIT OF APO Official Diocesan Response FORT WORTH, Texas (5/16/2007) - The Executive Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth has adopted a statement of the diocesan Standing Committee calling for the diocese to move forward with its appeal for Alternative Primatial Oversight (APO). The Bishop and Standing Committee of the diocese first appealed for APO at the General Convention in June 2006. That appeal was endorsed by the diocesan Executive Council in September 2006 and by the Diocesan Convention in November 2006. The Bishop and diocese remain firmly convinced of the need for alternative oversight; therefore, the Standing Committee, meeting Monday, May 14, adopted the following statement as an assessment of the current situation and a proposal to actively pursue all viable options. It was adopted by the Executive Council in its regular bimonthly meeting. The mood of the council was both thoughtful and sad, yet it was considered prudent to "explore the possibilities and count the costs." According to the Constitution of the diocese, the Executive Council "exercises the powers of the Convention between meetings thereof." The text of the statement is as follows: Where are we with the appeal for Alternative Primatial Oversight? When the Diocese of Fort Worth first appealed for APO at the General Convention in June 2006, it was hoped that a special pastoral relationship could be established with an orthodox primate, in the interest of preserving unity and fostering mission, in the face of an impaired relationship with the newly elected Presiding Bishop. The original appeal was made in good faith and was directed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the primates of the Communion and the Panel of Reference. (Subsequently, it was decided not to approach the Panel of Reference about this in light of other pressing cases already before it.) As seven other dioceses made similar appeals during the course of the summer, it was agreed to combine them into one appeal, asking the Archbishop of Canterbury to appoint a commissary who would act on his behalf, providing a special primatial relationship with the appellant dioceses. He arranged a summit in New York in September with interested parties to discuss the matter in an attempt to come up with "an American solution to an American problem." This meeting failed to reach an agreement, with the PB-elect claiming that she has no primatial oversight of TEC dioceses and cannot therefore give to another what she does not have. Subsequently, representatives from the appellant dioceses met in November with the steering committee of the Global South primates to present their requests for APO. This meeting ended with the assurance that they would respond with a plan to address the expressed needs of the appellant dioceses. On November 18, 2006, the Fort Worth Diocesan Convention voted overwhelmingly in support of the APO request that the Bishop and Standing Committee had made in June. A second New York meeting was held later that month, but none of the appellant bishops attended because no proposal had been made for discussion. This meeting ended with the Presiding Bishop offering a plan for a Primatial Vicar, to be appointed by her and be accountable to her. The appellant bishops rejected the proposal as unacceptable. The APO requests were presented to the primates meeting in Dar es Salaam in February 2007. At the conclusion of the meeting, a Communique was issued that proposed the establishment of a Pastoral Council, which would oversee the ministry of a Primatial Vicar, to be selected by the Windsor Bishops coalition and be accountable to the Council. This plan was rejected by the House of Bishops at their March meeting at Camp Allen even though their approval was not sought. Nothing further has been heard about this from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Every attempt to find "an American solution to an American problem" has failed. Following the two meetings in New York and the House of Bishops' rejection of the primates' proposed Pastoral Council at their March meeting, it now seems clear that there is no desire on the part of the present TEC leadership to provide an acceptable form of Alternative Primatial Oversight within The Episcopal Church. The Presiding Bishop of this church has refused to accept the key recommendations of the Windsor Report, has failed to seek implementation of the essential requests of the Dar es Salaam Communique, and has denied basic tenets of the teaching of the New Testament. By her statements and actions, the course she wishes to pursue is clear: to lead TEC to walk apart from the Anglican Communion. This is a course we cannot follow. For all these reasons and others, we do not wish to be affiliated with her, nor with anyone she may appoint or designate to act on her behalf. So where does this leave the Diocese of Fort Worth's appeal for APO? While we remain open to the possibility of negotiation and some form of acceptable settlement with TEC, it appears that our only option is to seek APO elsewhere. This may entail a cooperative effort with other appellant dioceses in consultation with primates of the Anglican Communion, to form a new Anglican Province of the Communion in North America. A second possibility would be for the diocese to transfer to another existing Province of the Anglican Communion. A third possibility would be to seek the status of an extra-provincial diocese, under the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, as presently recognized in several other cases. We believe that we must now explore these possibilities. The Bishop and the Standing Committee of The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth May 14, 2007 The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth consists of 55 congregations serving 24 north central Texas counties. The major cities in the diocese include Fort Worth, Arlington, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Wichita Falls, Grand Prairie, Richland Hills, Brownwood, and Stephenville. The Rt. Rev. Jack L. Iker has served as the third Diocesan Bishop of Fort Worth since 1995. The diocese enjoys companion relationships with the Dioceses of Northern Malawi and Northern Mexico. END ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 23:00:15 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: Episcopal Church Drops $51,000 for Op-Ed Page ad in New York Times Episcopal Church Drops $51,000 for Op-Ed Page ad in New York Times COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue www.virtueonline.org 5/14/2007 The National Episcopal Church (TEC) paid a cool $51,897 for a one-time quarter page block advertisement in the Op-Ed page section (A15) of the New York Times on Saturday, extolling the virtues of becoming an Episcopalian. Headlined: "The Episcopal Church, Marking a Milestone, Moving Forward" the ad began, "Somewhere near you, there's a blue-and-white sign bearing the familiar slogan: The Episcopal Church Welcomes You. It represents some 7,400 congregations that trace their beginnings in North America to a small but hopeful group of English Christians who arrived May 14, 1607 at a place they called Jamestown - the first permanent English settlement in the New World." The ad was a result of collaboration between Mr. Bob Williams, Director of the Office of Communications for The Episcopal Church, and the Rev. Jan Nunley, Deputy for Communication for the Episcopal Church. The ad went on to explain: "You may know us as Washington's monumental National Cathedral, site of historic services and ceremonies, or the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, still unfinished, but already the largest cathedral in the world." The real intent of the ad becomes clear near the end when it states: "Episcopalians struggle with the same issues that trouble all people of faith: how to interpret an ancient faith for today ... how to maintain the integrity of tradition while reaching out to a hurting world ... how to disagree and yet love and respect one another. "Occasionally those struggles make the news. People find they can no longer walk with us on their journey, and may be called to a different spiritual home. Some later make their way back, and find they are welcomed with open arms." Clearly upset at frothing headlines exposing the splits in local parishes in dioceses around the country, The Episcopal Church hopes, with this ad, to regain lost momentum and prestige by playing up its strengths. The ad further notes: "But the Episcopal Church is also Boston's Old North Church, founded in 1723 and made famous by serving as the beacon for Paul Revere's revolution-spurring 'midnight ride.' And Philadelphia's Christ Church, home parish of 15 signers of the Declaration of Independence, host to the first General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 1785. "It's Trinity Parish on Wall Street in New York, formed in 1698, and St. Paul's Chapel just down the street, frequented by George Washington and the spiritual healing center of Ground Zero since September 11, 2001. "It's also Epiphany Church in Los Angeles, where Cesar Chavez rallied the United Farm workers. And Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Cumberland, Maryland, whose basement was a major stop on the Underground Railroad to freedom for enslaved African-Americans. "It's a parish in Iowa. A campus ministry in Georgia. A mission in Dinetah - the Navajo Reservation. A cathedral in Utah. Even a house church in Vermont." Jesus is mentioned twice in the article: the first time is in reference to the church's social ministries, and the second time is with reference to transforming the world, as Jesus taught: "a world of justice, peace, wholeness, and holy living." There is no reference to the Great Commission or the Great Commandment - it is all talk of structures and sodomy, the latter now considered "holy living". According to the ad, St. John's Church in Greenwich Village, is "a meeting place for gay and lesbian action following the 1969 Stonewall uprising," but makes no mention of ordinary families or the place of single heterosexuals who might be looking for spiritual solace from the Episcopal Church. The ONLY gender focus is on homosexuals. The fact that dozens of large parishes and their priests have fled The Episcopal Church because it can no longer affirm Scripture as authoritative for the church's life and witness is not mentioned. Neither does it state that thousands of orthodox Episcopalians have fled TEC in dioceses like Florida and Los Angeles, with four thousand in one parish alone in the Diocese of Dallas, and that one or possibly more whole dioceses will leave the Episcopal Church after Sept. 30 if The Episcopal Church does not fall in line with the rest of the Anglican Communion over sexuality issues. Their is no mention in the ad of the pain revisionist bishops have inflicted on priests, (dozens of whom have been inhibited and deposed,) who don't agree with them;, the slanderous slights against Global South bishops and archbishops who don't agree that sodomy is good and right in the eyes of God; or of the forced appearance of orthodox Archbishops on American soil to rescue godly parishes marginalized by liberal bishops who hate them for their stand for the truth of the transforming message of the gospel - redemption but no inclusion. Formation of the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) or the more recent Convocation of Anglican Churches in North America (CANA) as safe spiritual havens for tens of thousands of former Episcopalians, now Anglicans, who believe their souls are imperiled by staying in The Episcopal Church, is not mentioned. The expensive ad glosses over such hard raw facts as the Episcopal Church might well face ouster from the Anglican Communion before the end of the year and that the Archbishop of Canterbury may be forced (by pressure from certain African Primates) not to invite liberal and revisionist TEC bishops to Lambeth in 2008 at risk of splitting the Anglican Communion. Also not mentioned is the fact that it is the liberals and revisionists who have moved away from historic Anglicanism not the orthodox. The latter state that the new religion is emptying churches not filling them. As one VOL reader deeply involved in feeding the poor noted after reading the Ad, "With $51,000 I can ship 3-4 containers of high-quality donated food to one of Africa's famine zones, upwards of 400,000 portions on some products ...or ship 22 40-foot containers of medicines to the Philippines." Perhaps the money could have been more usefully spent pursuing the much-ballyhooed Millennium Development Goals to "save the world." In any event, the ad is a vast waste of money. The much vaunted hope of doubling church membership by 20/20 is now a distant dream. Every week Episcopalians tumble out of Episcopal churches never more to return. By October of this year that could turn into an avalanche. END ***** The Episcopal Church Marking a Milestone, Moving Forward Somewhere near you, there's a blue-and-white sign bearing the familiar slogan: The Episcopal Church Welcomes You .. It represents some 7,400 congregations that trace their beginnings in North America to a small but hopeful group of English Christians who arrived May 14, 1607 at a place they called Jamestown - the first permanent English settlement in the New World. You may know us as Washington's monumental National Cathedral, site of historic services and ceremonies, or the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, still unfinished, but already the largest cathedral in the world. But the Episcopal Church is also Boston's Old North Church, founded in 1723 and made famous by serving as the beacon for Paul Revere's revolution-spurring "midnight ride." And Philadelphia's Christ Church, home parish of 15 signers of the Declaration of Independence, host to the first General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 1785. It's Trinity Parish on Wall Street in New York, formed in 1698, and St. Paul's Chapel just down the street, frequented by George Washington and the spiritual healing center of Ground Zero since September 11, 2001. It's also Epiphany Church in Los Angeles, where Cesar Chavez rallied the United Farm workers. And Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Cumberland, Maryland, whose basement was a major stop on the Underground Railroad to freedom for enslaved African-Americans. And St. John's Church in Greenwich Village, a meeting place for gay and lesbian action following the 1969 Stonewall uprising. It's a parish in Iowa. A campus ministry in Georgia. A mission in Dinetah - the Navajo Reservation. A cathedral in Utah. Even a house church in Vermont. Wherever you find us, you'll find the Book of Common Prayer and a Christian faith that honors and engages the Bible, the tradition of the Church, and God-given human reason. Joined in prayer, you'll find people with many points of view - Christians who are progressive, moderate, and conservative - yet who value the diversity of their faith community. That's a heritage drawn from our deep roots in nearly 2,000 years of English Christianity, and shared by a worldwide Anglican Communion that unites nearly 80 million people in 164 countries through prayer and ministries committed to caring for "the least of these," as Jesus commanded, by reducing poverty, disease, and oppression. Episcopalians struggle with the same issues that trouble all people of faith: how to interpret an ancient faith for today ... how to maintain the integrity of tradition while reaching out to a hurting world ... how to disagree and yet love and respect one another. Occasionally those struggles make the news. People find they can no longer walk with us on their journey, and may be called to a different spiritual home. Some later make their way back, and find they are welcomed with open arms. Despite the headlines, the Episcopal Church keeps moving forward in mission - in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, as well as congregations in Belgium, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guam, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Micronesia, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Taiwan, Venezuela, and the Virgin Islands. We're committed to a transformed world, as Jesus taught: a world of justice, peace, wholeness, and holy living. We've grown a lot in 400 years, since that 1607 worship service from the Book of Common Prayer was held in Jamestown-inside and out. Come see for yourself. Come and visit. .. come and explore ... come and grow. END ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 23:01:16 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: AUTONOMY OR COMMUNION?: Archbishop Gomez in Central Florida AUTONOMY OR COMMUNION?: Archbishop Gomez in Central Florida Commentary By Canon Gary L'Hommedieu www.virtueonline.org 5/16/2007 "Does autonomy supersede communion? Or in the interests of a common mission are we willing to subsume autonomy?" With this rhetorical question the Most Rev. Drexel Gomez, Primate of the West Indies, summarized the question before the member Provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion at a clergy conference of the Diocese of Central Florida gathered at the diocesan retreat center in Oviedo, Florida, outside Orlando. The question is not exactly rhetorical. The implied answer would appear to be, well of course, the purported autonomy of an individual Province (such as the United States) cannot supersede the common mission of a worldwide Communion. That would negate the notion of "church" as a "catholic" entity. And yet, as the mild Archbishop added, "In our present situation The Episcopal Church, through the actions of its Convention, places autonomy above mission." The Archbishop is referring to the 2006 General Convention gathered in Columbus, Ohio, where The Episcopal Church failed to "give the assurances requested in the Windsor Report" issued by the Lambeth Commission on Communion in 2004. And he is referring to the more recent statements by the American House of Bishops in their response from Camp Allen this past March to the Primates' Communique, which, the Archbishop emphasized, had received UNANIMOUS consent and assent by the Primates meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this past February. The word "autonomy" became the official battle cry of an Episcopal hierarchy under fire, now with a September 30 deadline. It would appear that now, in the name of autonomy, The Episcopal Church is poised to throw out the missional baby with the baptismal bathwater. His Grace, The Most Rev. Drexel Wellington Gomez, Lord Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of the Church of the West Indies & Bishop of the Diocese Of Nassau & The Bahamas (Including the Turks & Caicos Islands), did not come to Central Florida on a bash TEC tour. He doesn't fit the stereotype of a political rabble rouser. He describes himself as a lifelong Anglican, and one who has remained an Anglican by conviction. While he sees the future of the Communion as stormy - if not catastrophic - his overriding message is one of hope. "Historically Anglicanism has made an enormous contribution to worldwide Christianity." The future of the global Anglicanism, according to the Archbishop, is twofold: Windsor, and Covenant. "There is no question that the future of the Anglican Communion will be Windsor driven. Every Province in the Communion will have to line up under the Covenant. Without something like the Covenant we will continue to drift. The time has come in Anglicanism for us to agree among ourselves that we need to have a way of ordering our affairs and of holding each other accountable. We don't have it at present, and to pretend we do is foolish, because it doesn't exist." The Archbishop used the partisan terminology of Traditionalist and Revisionist to describe the rival factions within present day Anglicanism. He insisted that he meant nothing pejorative by the use of these expressions but was merely being descriptive of the two forces competing for ideological dominance within the Communion. He introduced his remarks with his professed belief that he was "among friends" in Central Florida, adding that such was not always the case for him. His candid admission met with enthusiastic applause by participants. Archbishop Gomez had been invited by the Bishop of Central Florida, the Rt. Rev. John W. Howe, and the Clergy Events Committee of the Diocese "to do some teaching and to discuss the shaping of the Covenant and its anticipated role in the Communion." This he did in great detail, exceeding the expectations of participants. He began his presentation with a short Bible study on the Parable of the Sewer, which he said is more correctly titled "the parable of the false soil." He listed the four types of soil in the parable: first, the hardened footpath; second, the shallow soil; third, the mixed soil; and finally, good ground. The elucidated the types in clear detail. "Each of us has each of the types in us. We need to repent of those aspects of the first three. All of us are called by God to become the person he wants us to become, to enact God's purpose. That is the mission of the church. It is not about us, but about God." Hardly the fiery rhetoric of someone who goes around blowing smoke. From there the Archbishop led participants through the Report of the Covenant Design Group section by section and paragraph by paragraph. The Report, or simply "the Covenant", awaits approval by the 38 Provinces next year. He described the Covenant as "the way forward" for global Anglicanism."The main problem in Anglicanism is the breakdown of trust." He went on: "There are Anglicans who no longer see the face of Christ in their fellow Anglicans. Trust cannot be feigned or pretended. It must come from the heart. The commitment to travel together on a common track does not exist" at present. In spite of recent complaints by Episcopalians that an Anglican Covenant is peculiarly un-Anglican, that it represents something imposed by a Romanesque curia, the Archbishop pointed to the text of the Covenant itself as clarifying its intention: "What is to be offered in the Covenant is not the invention of a new way of being Anglican, but a fresh restatement and assertion of the faith which we as Anglicans have received, and a commitment to inter-dependent life such as always in theory at least been given recognition." What is missing at present is a mechanism of mutual accountability. The recent life of the Communion has demonstrated the necessity for such a mechanism to be added in order for the historic character of the Communion to continue. In Section 3 of the draft text the Archbishop highlighted two important paragraphs. One contained what he called "the basis for an orthodox hermeneutic" of the Bible. The term "hermeneutic" has received much attention since the Primates' Meeting in Dar es Salaam this past February. "In seeking to be faithful to God in their various contexts, each Church commits itself to ensure that biblical texts are handled faithfully, respectfully, comprehensively and coherently, primarily through the teaching and initiative of bishops and synods, and building on our best scholarship, believing that scriptural revelation must continue to illuminate, challenge and transform cultures, structures and ways of thinking." The Archbishop explained, "Scripture must continue to speak to what is prophetic," and not the dominant culture. This contrasts with the Revisionist hermeneutic of "love" which wants to "bless" whatever the culture approves. Archbishop Gomez commented, "Love as a hermeneutic is a delusion - a self-delusion." Archbishop Gomez' presentation was hard-hitting and illuminating throughout. The audience of diocesan clergy and lay leaders was not accustomed to frankness that was not politically charged and manipulative, after the manner of American politicians, which seems to be mimicked by leaders in the church. His criticisms of recent American Primates, including the present Presiding Bishop, were withering, but without the scorn and sarcasm his audience was accustomed to -- or perhaps even had developed a taste for. One moment in the morning session brought the house to a standstill. In a long series of illustrations of the principle that "Covenant is making promises and keeping promises", Archbishop Gomez related how TEC has earned the distrust of the rest of the Communion. He recalled how former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold had agreed that proceeding with the consecration of Gene Robinson would "tear the fabric of the Communion at the deepest level," then thirty minutes later told a press conference that the American Church had no intention of canceling its plans to proceed with the consecration a month later. His next illustration was the real shock. He explained that at the recent Primates' Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the Archbishop of Canterbury had broken the usual precedent of decision by consensus and required each of the Primates to stand and declare whether or not he (or she) agreed to the text of a Communique that contained the Primates' shared commitments for the future. Each of the 38 Primates said "yes" to the Communique. The American Primate, The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, said "Yes, but I'll have trouble selling it" to her fellow American bishops. The point is, as Archbishop Gomez stressed, she said "Yes." She could have, but did not, issue a minority report. When she returned, and when the House of Bishops Convened in March, Jefferts Schori claimed she had only consented to present the text of the Communique to her bishops. She took no responsibility for agreeing to it. One of the conference participants recalled she had claimed that "she never signed it." Archbishop Gomez cut in: "None of the Primates signed it." The Primates' Communiques are never signed. Their verbal responses are taken at face value. The Presiding Bishop's public statement that she hadn't signed it would appear to be a deliberate misrepresentation of the process. One of the diocesan clergy stood in stunned amazement, and fluttering with emotion said he didn't realize the extent to which we had been lied to. Bishop Howe stood, and with equal emotion insisted that the Presiding Bishop may very well have believed that she was agreeing to deliver the message and not that she was agreeing to the content itself, and that we should be very careful not to infer that she was lying. Archbishop Gomez interrupted the Bishop: "Sir, that was not the question she was asked by the Archbishop." Presumably the lady Primate had been quite convincing, so that the members of her house had the same picture as the rest of us as to how agreements were expressed in Dar es Salaam. The clergy of Central Florida reacted as if they had heard about the Primates' Meeting for the first time. This tiny detail made the prior accounts of the Meeting seem like hearsay. A fog had lifted. The Archbishop's message about a breakdown of trust was not simply a political tactic, used to weaken the position of an adversary. It was shockingly real. It was not a "tasty morsel", the kind which titillates gossipers. The response was shock and grief. The Archbishop had brought a clarity to Central Florida and to the American church that was shocking in that those who heard him had forgotten how long it had been since they had heard simple truth. Facts, even when they are sobering, can be inspiring and bracing. Hope at a way forward, even amongst unimaginable odds, seemed tangible and real. We realized that we have been awash in conflicting whirlpools of spin. Not everyone has been out to deceive us. But those who would help us parse out the truth have themselves been deceived - and have not known it. The presence of one humble man, whose commitments are clear, whose assumptions about the truth are stated up front, whose love for something greater than himself or his own cause or faction, had an electrifying effect on a bewildered and discouraged clergy - many of whom shared his particular theological commitments at the outset. The way forward will be long and hard. If the American church is "isolated" from the rest of the Anglican Communion (to use Gomez' term) after September 30, other Revisionist Provinces will follow - not as a unified body or a political block, but as fragments eroding off the main body. The impact upon the Anglican Communion as it is reconstituted will be devastating. God's mission will have been diminished, if not squandered. But a robust Anglicanism will redouble its strength. Those portions of the Communion that thrive on mission and evangelism will continue their present explosive growth. After all, they have a message of life to their communities and culture. Those portions that rest on the laurels of an earlier triumphalism will jump in at the head of the parade of the secular culture, without noticing that the culture itself is headed toward an abyss. They will be the dead left to bury the dead. "The Episcopal Church has to decide whether or not it will go with the rest of the Communion or whether it will go by itself. There are Revisionists and Traditionalists. It is quite clear now that the Revisionists are in the majority. The Traditionalists have to decide, do we continue in this group or go another way," said Archbishop Gomez. "Global Anglicanism will not be led by Akinola. He only has a few years left to retirement." The question before Traditionalists, according to the Archbishop: "How do I maintain contact and structural alignment with global Anglicanism?" He did not answer that question. American Traditionalists have been waiting for someone else to answer that question for them. If God is judging the Western Church and allowing it to disintegrate, perhaps he is also judging the orthodox for their passivity. Perhaps he is waiting to empower them to embrace, to rejoice in, the truth - what might otherwise be called, the strength of one's convictions. To repeat Archbishop Gomez' refrain: "There is no question that the future of The Anglican Communion will be Windsor driven." ---The Rev. Canon J. Gary L'Hommedieu is Canon for Pastoral Care at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, Florida, and a regular columnist for VirtueOnline. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 23:02:16 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: TEC: Connecting the Dots - Conspiracy to Remove Property Disclosed CONSPIRACY TO REMOVE TEC PROPERTY DISCLOSED NOTE: VirtueOnline received a copy of this HOB Task Force report on 4/26/2007 and published its contents here: http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5906 This is the text of the unexpurgated report. HOB TASK FORCE ON PROPERTY DISPUTES DETAILS STRATEGY TO REMOVE PROPERTIES FROM THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH Report of the House of Bishops' Task Force on Property Disputes April 9, 2007 To: House of Bishops From: Task Force on Property Disputes Re: Connecting the Dots The House of Bishops Task Force on Property Disputes (Task Force) was formed at the Spring, 2006 meeting of the House at Kanuga. It consists of the following episcopal members: Mark Andrus, Charles Bennison, Jon Bruno, Philip Duncan, Mark Hollingsworth, John Howard, Jim Mathes, Bill Persell, Stacy Sauls, Kirk Smith, and Dean Wolfe.(1) It was originally chaired by Bill Swing and has been chaired by Stacy Sauls since Bill's retirement. The bishop members are advised by 19 lawyers, all serving as volunteers. Introduction The March, 2006 Executive Council meeting allocated $100,000 to fund the work of the Task Force. The Church Pension Group has contributed another $25,000. To date, no funds have been expended, despite a considerable amount of work done by the members of the Task Force. All fees, legal expenses, meeting costs, travel costs, and telephone conference-call costs have been donated by the members and lawyers of the Task Force out of devotion to The Episcopal Church (TEC). The Task Force has accomplished a significant amount of work. It has conducted extensive research, compiled a research bank for relevant materials, and has met on a regular basis, almost entirely by conference call. It has also met twice in person, once when it organized itself as an ad-hoc group, in December, 2005, and again with the then Presiding-Bishop Elect in July, 2006. The Task Force has furnished suggestions to the Presiding Bishop covering legal issues, pastoral concerns, and public relations matters. It has consulted regularly with the Presiding Bishop's Chancellor. It has advised, and it remains willing to advise, Bishops and others seeking to further the Task Force's goal of preventing the removal of property from TEC. The Legal Lay of the Land TEC is dealing with a well-thought-out, well-organized, and well-funded (2) strategy designed to enable and justify the removal of assets from use for the Church's mission and ministry in the world. To understand the strategy, it is necessary to have a basic understanding of the legal principles, civil and canonical, that form the backdrop for the strategy. There are two rules for determining church property disputes in the United States, which, for the most part, are determined under state law rather than federal law. A. Deference to Hierarchical Authority Rule-Some courts defer to hierarchical denominations, such as TEC, to determine which local faction to recognize as properly in possession of congregational property. B. Neutral Principles of Law Rule-Some courts analyze the underlying instruments or instruments by which title was conveyed to the record owner of the congregational property, along with any documents that create a possible trust relationship with respect to such property, as well as other facts, such as the way the parties have behaved historically with respect to property ownership. Since TEC has been recognized by courts as a hierarchical church, TEC's determinations should be dispositive in those states which defer to denominational hierarchies. On the other hand, in states that apply the neutral principles of law rule, a departing congregation would still have to overcome the Canon I.7.4 and II.6.4 of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church (2006), which declare that all parish property is held in trust for both the relevant diocese and TEC. (3) Those seeking to remove property from TEC hope to create confusion as to the nature of the hierarchy of TEC by claiming that its authority is subservient to the Anglican Communion. They hope to be able to argue that a departing faction is recognized by a competing hierarchical authority within the Anglican Communion. They either will urge the court to refrain from choosing between competing hierarchies and picking winners and losersor they will claim that they are acting under the authority of some other body that is within the Anglican Communion as a higher authority to TEC. This is why they have pointed to the Preamble to TEC's Constitution. As amended in 1967 as a compromise over the issue of whether to retain the word "Protestant" in the name of TEC, the preamble declares, in pertinent part: "The Episcopal Church . . . is a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, a Fellowship within the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, of those duly constituted Dioceses, P rovinces, and regional Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury, upholding and propagating the historic Faith and Order as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer." The history of this change in the Preamble makes it clear that it was not intended to make TEC subject to any other Anglican decision-making body. There is also no doubt that the Preamble was intended to be descriptive rather than prescriptive. In addition, it is well recognized in constitutional law that prefatory materials, such as a preamble, are not authoritative law. Still, those seeking to undermine the rights of TEC to local church property have shown that they intend to use the Preamble's language in future litigation over church property.(4) Therefore, in those states that defer to the hierarchical denominations, the court will have to determine the identity of highest decision-making body in the denomination.(5) Those seeking to undermine TEC, will contend that it is not the General Convention, but some structure within the Anglican Communion whether it is the Primates Meeting, the Anglican Consultative Council, the Lambeth Conference, the Archbishop of Canterbury, or perhaps something else. They might also debate what authority represents the top of Anglican hierarchy in the United States (e.g., Is it the one represented by the General Convention, and the Primate of which is Katharine Jefferts Schori, or is it the one that we now know as the Anglican Communion Network?).6 Connecting the Dots of the Strategy to Remove Property The strategy with which we are confronted is well-documented. It was, conceptually, formed very soon after the close of the 2003 General Convention and contemporaneously with the formation of the Anglican Communion Network. A. The Pittsburgh Tribune Review Interview-October 7, 2003 Newspaper report entitled "Episcopal Meeting Tackles Controversy" quoting Bishop Duncan regarding the Anglican Communion Network as the bona fide Episcopal Church. B. The Mainstream Meeting-November 20, 2003 We do not know what Bishops attended this meeting except that the notation at the top of the minutes is in Bishop Duncan's handwriting, but the typed minutes from this meeting pledge the participants to: * "Tell +Rowan that if he will not recognize the Network will separate from him," * "Declare that in the present crisis the issue of boundaries is suspended," * "Form a "Network of Confessing Dioceses and Parishes . . . established in good faith with our Constitution . . . Bob Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh, as Moderator Bishop," and * "Commit to wage the "guerilla warfare of the next year." C. The Blankingship E-Mail-December 9, 2003 This email from Hugo Blankingship, the Chancellor of the Network, to Bishop Duncan, the Moderator of the Network, reports on a meeting between Blankingship and John Rees, the Archbishop of Canterbury's legal advisor (equivalent to a Chancellor in TEC), and reports that Rees "simply won't listen to anything but our staying in ECUSA." D. The Chapman Memo-December 28, 2003 The Chapman Memo has been well-publicized and has never been repudiated by the Anglican Communion Network. It provides details of a strategy that was virtually completely formed by this point.(7) At the outset, it declares: "Our ultimate goal is a realignment of Anglicanism on North American soil," which "e believe in the end should be a 'replacement' jurisdiction with confessional standards." Chapman notes that "e seek to retain ownership of our property as we move into this realignment." According to the memo, the realignment is to be accomplished through a two-stage strategy. "Stage 1 will feature 'spiritual realignment' while remaining within the letter of current canons," and will allow those participating "to keep clear use of their buildings for the foreseeable future." The memo says that it would be during Stage 2, which was to be launched "at some yet to be determined moment, probably in 2004," that the Network or those associated with it would "seek, under the guidance of the Primates, negotiated settlements in matters of property, jurisdiction, pastoral succession and communion," adding, however: "If adequate settlements are not within reach, a faithful disobedience of canon law on a widespread basis may be necessary." The Chapman Memo goes into considerable detail in discussing the development and implementation of the strategy to use "offshore" bishops and a variety of practical, political, and financial issues for implementing the strategy. E. The Barfoot Memorandum-March 3, 2004 This memorandum, which followed the Chapman Memo by just slightly more than two months, sets forth a proposed "process and protocol for establishing Overseas AEO as an interim stage on the way towards the realignment of Anglicanism in North America and the reestablishment of biblically orthodox faith as normative in North American Anglicanism." It lays out a three-phase strategy to be followed in seeking and obtaining, "offshore" oversight, beginning with steps to be undertaken in selecting an offshore diocese with the assistance of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA). Various contingencies are discussed, including what actions in response might be expected from TEC, how recommended courses of action would differ depending upon whether the parish owns property, etc. It details a plan to remove priests to the oversight of foreign bishops and primates as a matter of formality while substantive oversight would be delegated to the Network. F. The Living Church Interview-April 27, 2005 This interview of Bishop Duncan includes his summary of the strategy to become a replacement jurisdiction by claiming "to be, constitutionally, The Episcopal Church." G. The Request to the Global South Primates for Alternative Primatial Oversight- November 6, 2006 This document was released publicly two days prior to a requirement to produce it pursuant to court order in Calvary Episcopal Church v. Duncan, Prothonotary Court for Allegheny County, Pa. (GD03020941). It is the Diocese of Pittsburgh's request to the Global South primates for Alternative Primatial Oversight and explicitly seeks assistance in property disputes under a section entitled "Cover" while a separate ecclesiastical structure is formed. In addition, the document details what duties of the Presiding Bishop should be delegated to a Primatial Vicar under any such pastoral scheme. H. The Bishop's Address to the 47th Annual Convention of the Diocese of San Joaquin-December 1, 2006 This document is listed out of chronological order because it is necessary to identify the Westfields Response, discussed below. Bishop Schofield describes a Global South Steering Committee consisting of "John Chew,(8) Archbishop of Singapore; Drexel Gomez(9) of the West Indies and the Caribbean; Gregory Venables, Primate of the Southern Cone, South America, and a three Archbishops from Africa, including Peter Akinola of Nigeria as Chairman." Bishop Schofield also asserts that representatives of 10 American dioceses met in Virginia and submitted to the authority of the Steering Committee. Speaking at a deanery meeting on November 21, 2006, Bishop Schofield further described the commitment to the Global South Steering Committee in these words: And then we were asked whether or not we would sign a document submitting to the authority of the Primates and we had to give serious consideration as to what that might be. And everyone present at the conference, which included Bishops, presidents of standing committees, chancellors, and other counselors-all signed that document. I. The Westfields Response-November 16, 2006 This appears to be the document (perhaps incomplete) described by Bishop Schofield. The copy attached as Appendix I is signed by Bishop Duncan, Robert G. Devlin (Chancellor of the Diocese of Pittsburgh), and John M. Heidengren (President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Pittsburgh). There is significant blank space between the signatures. J. Bishop Duncan's Pastoral Letter-March 9, 2007 This pastoral letter was sent to "all who are part of the Anglican Communion Network or are allies in its welfare" with the request that it be read to congregations by all Network priests on March 11 but not published until March 12, 2007. It describes the Network's understanding of the Dar es Salaam communique as creating an ecclesiastical structure not accountable to TEC. Conclusion The Task Force has obtained and reviewed a broad array of other significant documents that relate to the strategy for removing property from TEC and that, in some cases, explicitly describe, often in considerable detail, elements of and reasons for that strategy. Those mentioned here are sufficient to clearly establish the essential nature of the strategy being followed. As a concluding note, it has occurred to many in the Task Force that it may have been misnamed. In truth, the matters that the Task Force has found it necessary to address are much larger than mere property disputes. Experience has shown that, at the root of every property issue, there is an issue of identity and integrity, and not merely an issue of polity. In reality, it is the church "homes" of countless loyal Episcopalians, the legacy of countless Episcopalians, past and present, and the spiritual well-being of those who always have found immeasurable comfort in their church homes, that are at issue as well as the nature of TEC and Anglicanism. The strategy at play must be revealed and understood if we are to protect the faithful from having their places of worship, and the assets accumulated by generations of Episcopalians, removed from them and removed from their use in the mission of TEC. .......... Footnotes 1. Bishops Bennison, Bruno, Hollingsworth, Howard, Persell, Sauls, and Wolfe were appointed to the Task Force by the Presiding Bishop. Bishops Andrus, Duncan, Mathes, and Smith have volunteered their assistance. 2. The Task Force has not explored funding issues as of yet. Funding, including the involvement of the Institute for Religion and Democracy, is addressed in "Following the Money" (Washington Window, May 2006.) The Task Force has prepared and proposed a plan for funding the defense of attempts to remove property. 3. The Diocese of Pittsburgh passed a resolution in 2003 purporting to nullify Canons I.6.4 and II.7.4. 4. The provision in TEC's Preamble is rare in the constitutions of Anglican Provinces (Norman Doe, Canon Law in the Anglican Communion (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998) p. 341). A similar provision was recently removed from the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Nigeria. 5. Action by some dioceses, including Quincy (predating 2003), Pittsburgh, Dallas, Ft. Worth, and San Joaquin, to remove the accession clause required by the Constitution of TEC (Art. V, Sec.1) might be advanced to obscure the hierarchical nature of TEC. 6. The Anglican Communion Network asserts that it is intended to operate only within the Constitution and Canons of TEC, a claim which takes on a considerably different meaning if the Network should claim actually to be TEC, exclusive of non-Network parishes and dioceses. 7 It bears noting that at the very time the Chapman Memo was circulated in secret, the assistant to Geoff Chapman, its author, was a man named David Brannen, a priest who had interviewed, signed a contract to purchase a house, and accepted a call from by St. John's Church in Versailles, Kentucky without the Bishop's knowledge, and who at first refused to be interviewed by the Bishop. When the Bishop eventually declined to approve the call, three events followed in rapid succession: half the congregation of St. Johns left to form St. Andrew's Anglican Church; Bishop Duncan transferred David Brannen to the Province of Uganda; and David Brannen accepted a call to be the Rector of the new Ugandan congregation, exactly as the Chapman Memo suggests should happen. The same strategy has subsequently been followed in several other dioceses. 8 Archbishop Chew is a member of the Covenant Design Group for the Anglican Communion. 9 Archbishop Gomez is the chair of the Covenant Design Group for the Anglican Communion. Significance of this Task Force Report. Most of the source data for this report has been public for some time. The significance of this report is that the Task Force on Property Disputes has clearly detailed a conspiricy to remove property systematically from The Episcopal Church. Further the Task Force sets forth an assessment of the legal issues and a resolve to defend ownership of all property currently in The Episcopal Church. Quoting from the concluding paragraph of this report: "In reality, it is the church "homes" of countless loyal Episcopalians, the legacy of countless Episcopalians, past and present, and the spiritual well-being of those who always have found immeasurable comfort in their church homes, that are at issue as well as the nature of TEC and Anglicanism. The strategy at play must be revealed and understood if we are to protect the faithful from having their places of worship, and the assets accumulated by generations of Episcopalians, removed from them and removed from their use in the mission of TEC." END ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 23:03:16 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: COLORADO SPRINGS: Episcopal Diocese enters battle over parish property COLORADO SPRINGS: Episcopal Diocese enters battle over parish property By Jean Torkelson Rocky Mountain News http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5533762,00.html May 11, 2007 As the Episcopal Diocese closed in on alleged financial wrongdoings, the Rev. Don Armstrong was shredding documents and records so furiously that a shredding machine broke down, according to a countersuit filed Thursday in El Paso County District Court. With the lawsuit, the diocese formally entered the fray to regain control of the historic Colorado Springs parish property, Grace Church and St. Stephen's. The property is currently under the control of Armstrong, its rector of 20 years, and a majority of the church's governing board, which voted with him in March to break away from the Episcopal Church. "Time after time courts have ruled that while individuals can leave the church, it is illegal for them to take the property with them," said the chancellor of the diocese, Lawrence R. Hitt II, in a statement. "Grace and St. Stephen's has been an Episcopal church for over 130 years and it will continue to be an Episcopal church." Alan Crippen, the spokesman for Armstrong, said, "It strikes me the diocese has thrown everything they have, including the kitchen sink, into this thing." He called the shredding charge "on its face, incredulous." The escalating war between Armstrong and the diocese centers around two battlefields. In March, after a year-long investigation, the diocese accused Armstrong of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in parish funds. Armstrong, who denies the charges, says the diocese is persecuting him for criticizing the Episcopal Church. He's part of a national movement of conservatives who believe the church has strayed from historic Christian teachings on issues of sexuality and scriptural authority. They hope to bring the parish property with them into a national network of conservative churches called the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). A parish vote is scheduled for May 20 to determine if a majority of the 1,500-plus member congregation also wants to join CANA. The diocese's countersuit argues that the parish was seized illegally. The diocese quotes from a purported March 26 e-mail from Armstrong to vestry head Jon Wroblewski as they were preparing to break away. Referring to Episcopal Bishop Rob O'Neill, the e-mail said: "He has no army and no keys and no authority - possession is 9/10s of the law and I have the microphone." Wroblewski sent the e-mail on to other vestry members adding his own message: "Prepare for battle. Ramming speed." Wroblewski acknowledged his e-mail today. Crippen shrugged off the exchange, saying Armstrong was out of town but suspected the rector wouldn't deny the aggressive e-mails. "The vestry is made up of bunch of military veterans including Armstrong himself, and these guys talk like this all the time," Crippen said. "When they voted on March 26 they were in a very celebratory mood. That probably lasted about 10 minutes when they realized what was coming down the pike." The Armstrong camp argues that it's free to join CANA because the parish is a separate non-profit corporation founded 14 years before the Episcopal Diocese. Also, it has held its own title to the property since the land was donated to the church in the 1870s by Colorado Springs founder, General William Palmer. They regard it as relevant that the parish is incorporated under name which doesn't include the word "Episcopal." In its counterclaim, the Episcopal Diocese said that the parish and the congregation used the name Episcopal regularly over the years, dating back to the mid-1800s when the first Episcopalian settlers came to Colorado. What's more, the diocese maintains that while a local parish corporation may hold the title to the property,the parish's purpose has always remained constant - to further the mission of the diocese and the Episcopal Church, said the diocese's attorney, Martin Nussbaum. "This is absolutely settled law in Colorado," Nussbaum said. The diocese is citing a 1986 Colorado Supreme Court decision which said an Episcopal parish in Denver had to return its property to the diocese. The parish, St. Mary's, tried to keep its property after it broke away from the Episcopal Church in the 1970s after it voted to ordain women. Hitt said in his statement that the diocese will continue with a church trial against Armstrong, and he suggested the legal challenges mounted by Armstrong's group are attempts to deflect the serious allegations against him. "This litigation is not about theology or differences of opinion in the church," Hitt said. "It is an effort by that break-away group to distract attention from the very serious charges of theft and misconduct against Armstrong." Crippen said the Armstrong group will continue to fight for the church's right to self-determination. "This thing is going to play out over several months and maybe years," Crippen said. "We'll patiently for the civil court system to administer justice." END ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 23:04:16 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: VIRGINIA: Truro Vestry Calls New Rector VIRGINIA: Truro Vestry Calls New Rector Parish News 5/13/2007 Fairfax, VA: Oakes, Senior Warden of Truro Church (2005-2007), announced today to the Truro family that the Vestry has unanimously called the Rev. Tory Baucum as the new rector of Truro. This follows a unanimous recommendation of Baucum by the Search Committee. "After a two-year intensive search that spanned the Anglican Communion worldwide we are grateful to God for the amazing way in which the Truro Vestry was so unified in its decision to call Tory to Truro," said Oakes. "I am delighted with this decision to call Tory as rector," said the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, Bishop of CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) and current rector of Truro. "Tory is a gifted pastor and teacher with a demonstrated passion for evangelism. I am looking forward to seeing how God will use his gifts at Truro." Baucum is currently Associate Professor of Preaching and Church Renewal at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, KY. He has a PhD in Intercultural Theology with expertise in the catechumenate, Christian revitalization movements and the history of preaching. "I have watched with delight as Tory's gifts as a Christian communicator, as a leader, and as a compelling voice for Christ have indicated just how great an impact, under God, he may be for our Lord and for the Church," said J. Ellsworth Kalas, President, Asbury Theological Seminary. "I rejoice in the door of opportunity that has opened for him at Truro." The Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Lexington, KY agrees. "I have been truly blessed by my friendship with Dr. Tory Baucum," said the Most Rev. Ronald W. Gainer. "The depth of Tory's learning and love for Christ and the Church makes him a wonderful bridge-builder among believers." Baucum received his MA (1986) and M.Div (1988) from Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, Ambridge, PA, and his doctorate from Asbury in 2005. Prior to teaching at Asbury, Baucum was the rector of All Saints Church, Kansas City, MO, and has served on the clergy staffs of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Kansas City and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock, AK. In addition to his position at Asbury, Baucum also serves as the Alpha International Associate Missioner, London, England. Baucum, 47, was born in Pratt, KS. He is married to Elizabeth Tyndall Baucum, Esq., and they have three daughters, Isabelle Rose, 11; Amelia Tyne, 9; and Bridget Flanagan, 7. "Tory Baucum is a true and gracious servant of God," said the Rt. Rev. Prebendary Sandy Millar, Assistant Bishop of London and former Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, where the Alpha Course was founded. "His appointment to Truro is good news for everyone who looks forward to the growth of the church and the coming of God's Kingdom. Praise God!" END ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 23:05:16 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: Eurabia is a dystopian nightmare, says author Philip Jenkins Eurabia is a dystopian nightmare, says author Philip Jenkins The author of "God's Continent" offers a measured assessment of Europe's religious future. He responded to questions from Oxford University Press about his most recent book. http://blog.oup.com/ OUP: This is the final book in your series on the future of Christianity, how does it differ from the other titles? Philip Jenkins: The Next Christendom and New Faces of Christianity both explored gods-continent.jpg the rise of Christianity in areas where it is relatively new and growing, chiefly in Africa and Asia. God's Continent discusses the historic heart of Christianity, where the Christian faith is said by many to be in deep trouble, and perhaps on the verge of extinction. Even writers I respect greatly such as George Weigel share this view. And it is alarming if true, since it may suggest that Christianity is inevitably bound up with poverty, and will fade away when living standards rise. I reject this view. I believe that European Christianity is instead adapting to a new society in which traditional assumptions about (for instance) family, community and gender roles, are in rapid transition. The change to new attitudes and assumptions is painful, but it is happening. And these changes will, I believe, affect Islam in Europe, and beyond. OUP: Where is Eurabia and what do you think it will look like? Jenkins: Eurabia is a dystopian nightmare land where white Europeans have very few children while their Muslim neighbors have many, so that Muslim immigrants swamp traditional Europe, making it what Bernard Lewis calls "part of the Western Maghreb". I have real problems with the idea because I think it's based on shaky demography, but also because it recalls for me so many nativist campaigns in bygone years - against Catholics in nineteenth century America, Jews in early twentieth century Britain, and so on. It is quite possible that in sixty or eighty years, some fifteen or twenty percent of Europeans might have family roots in Muslim countries, but that is quite different from assuming that they will all be stereotypical "Muslim fanatics", or even Muslim at all. My guess is that Muslims in Germany will be very German, Muslims in Britain very British, and so on. By all means, let Europe and the United States suppress extremists and violent radicals, but that's quite differen t from panicking over people who happen to be from the Middle East or South Asia. OUP: The public tends to have an anti-Islam backlash after an event like 9/11 or the French riots. How does your book debunk alarmist assumptions about Islam? Jenkins: There is plenty to worry about in contemporary Europe, and I write at some length about some of the extremist parties and movements that threaten lethal violence. Yet I make several points that people have really fail to note. First, the numbers of Muslims are far smaller than most Americans think, so that a maximum of around 4.5 percent of Europeans are presently of Muslim stock - and I use that phrase advisedly. When we talk about "Muslims", often we are including many non-religious people who happen to have roots in Muslim societies, but who are not followers of Islam in any religious sense. If we look at an American city or state which is four or five percent minority, we probably call that community "white", so why do we have a more hostile response to a comparable number of Arabs or Muslims in Europe? Critically too, I'm not sure that many of the incidents that people cite when they warn about "Eurabia" arise from the issue of Islam as a religion, as opposed to conflicts of race and class, and the best example of that would be the French riots of 2005. I see very little evidence of any religious motivation there. This does not mean that such outbreaks are not serious, but governments have to respond to them differently than they would if they represented a true religious movement. Also, we should not complain about Muslim failure to assimilate into European societies when these populations have been there such a short time. Think how poorly assimilated America's minorities were in the 1920s, which is a fair comparison - about thirty years after the beginning of the main influx. Finally, forecasts about Muslims taking over Europe assume that Muslim birth rates will continue to be very high. All immigrant populations have high fertility in the first generation, but usually that usually falls within a generation or so, and that is exactly what we are seeing in Europe. Moreover, the home countries for most of Europe's migrants have experienced a dramatic fall in fertility just in the past decade, and that will certainly have its impact in Europe itself. OUP: Why has Christianity developed differently in Europe than in South America or Africa? Are there underlying cultural differences at play? Jenkins: Africa and Latin America are by and large much poorer than Europe, and poorer societies tend to rely more on some particular forms of religion to help them through life -that doesn't mean they are more religious, but the religion they espouse is more overt and enthusiastic. But the real question is why Christianity has developed so differently in the United States, which is so comparable to Europe, and that is a real problem for the whole secularization thesis. The US is just as developed as Europe and far richer by most standards, but is obviously much more actively religious by any standard you care to name. Why? I examine, and reject, most of the familiar explanations, but one point I do make concerns the sheer size of the US, which is a subcontinent as well as a nation. The difference in geographical size has many implications, but just consider the consequences for internal migration. A German or a British person who relocates to the far distant end of his or her own country has usually traveled at most a few hundred miles, while a move of comparable distance within the United States might well leave a family within the same state. Even before the advent of modern air travel, a migrating European was likely to maintain touch with his or her roots, unlike an American counterpart who moved, say, from the East Coast to the West Coast. In the US, then, frequent movement and internal migration are likely to leave individuals cut off from their homes and familiar social networks, driving them to seek new networks and forms of instant community. Often, the best and easiest place to find such interaction is within a hospitable church in a well-known denomination, a singularly attractive setting for young families with children. A society marked by constant movement, by frequent uprooting and replanting, by ever-growing cultural diversity is more accustomed to seek the institutional support of religious bodies, and also to accept the spiritual ideas presented in that environment. Attendance at these institutions thrives, and thus churches and synagogues flourish in the US in a way they don't in Europe. That's only a part of an explanation, I know, but it's suggestive. OUP: How do the legal systems of Europe discourage religious orthodoxy? Jenkins: European courts tend to enforce certain concepts of rights that make highly liberal assumption about gender roles and especially homosexuality. This raises enormous problems for conservative religious organizations that might believe that homosexuality is sinful. Also, laws prohibiting "hate speech" can in practice be used to limit evangelism or proselytizing. Europe in the near future will face many conflicts between religious bodies and the courts, and many of the familiar themes in American religious freedom law will need to be fought out from square one. OUP: Claire Berlinski was very critical of you in her review, why? Jenkins: Claire Berlinski is the author of a highly controversial book on the subject of religion in Europe, a prolonged shriek against Muslims and Arabs (and Europeans!) by the name of Menace in Europe. Since I refer to her book repeatedly in God's Continent, each time pointing out its flaws, she was probably not the fairest reviewer for a newspaper to choose to give an objective response to my work. But even having said that, I thought her review gave a grossly inaccurate impression of my argument. To give an example, I argue at some length that institutional Christianity is seriously declining in Europe, but that there is a powerful underlying quest for Christian spirituality, and I devote two chapters to new and rising movements within the churches - renewal movements, immigrant churches and so on. Yet Berlinski quotes me as saying that the only piece of good news for Christians is that "The number of visitors each year to Lourdes is rising." That's a wildly inaccurate description of my argument, and it's a characteristic sample of her review. OUP: What is your favorite book? Jenkins: Probably my absolute favorite author is Charles Williams, the associate of C S Lewis and Tolkien, and I read everything I can get of his - novels, plays, poetry, theology. But I read all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff. In terms of fiction, I have an odd assortment of favorite writers, including Dickens, but also Jim Thompson the great noir writer, fantasy writers like Arthur Machen, and even - guilty secret - the horror author H. P. Lovecraft. I also go back to G. K. Chesterton time and again, especially to The Man Who Was Thursday and to lesser known pieces like The Ball and the Cross. --- Philip Jenkins is Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Penn State University as well as the author of numerous books. His most recent title, God's Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe's Religious Crisis. END ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 23:06:16 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: Anglican Mission Leaders' Gathering Builds Momentum for Church Planting Anglican Mission Leaders' Gathering Builds Momentum for Church Planting Anglican Mission in America News 5/15/2007 The Anglican Mission Council of Bishops and Mission Network Leaders met together in Chicago May 8-10, 2007, reinforcing their commitment to building community among our network leaders and deepening their collaboration, communication, and celebration of all that the Lord is doing in and through our Networks. Such gatherings will be scheduled regularly and are designed to strengthen existing networks and resource the development of emerging networks in new territories. "We are coming together to discuss what is and what will be," said Bishop Chuck Murphy, Chairman of the Anglican Mission. "These meetings give us the opportunity to build momentum for our church planting and other mission initiatives in a strategic way." Bishop Murphy has asked Bishop Thomas Johnston to assume the responsibility for providing oversight for networks as well as convening, planning and chairing the meetings with bishops and network leaders. "We are currently referring to this as the Anglican Mission Steering Committee," said Bishop Johnston, "but I hope we will adopt a title that more accurately reflects the work we are called to do." Bishop Johnston outlined his vision for the group which focuses on a team effort marked by covenant, vision, and mutual trust as well as empowering and equipping others in order to impact the culture around us. "Mission Network Leaders have been entrusted with a very significant role in the Mission," he said. "This is not a governing board, but rather, our purpose will be to strengthen our commitment to four 'Cs': community, collaboration, communication and celebration," he added. Bishop Johnston encouraged the gathering to "give voice to the moment, the mission, the opportunity and the power of God at work in our midst." During the three-day gathering, leaders participated in worship, Bible study and group discussions on topics including resourcing and strengthening networks to fully engage ministry initiatives, encouraging and releasing networks to embrace new opportunities for mission through the local church and Anglican Mission structures. Special presentations to the group were made by Mrs. Elizabeth Walters, coordinator of the Anglican Mission Prayer Network; the Rev. Dr. Joe Murphy, Anglican Mission's Director of Credentialing and Deployment; and Mrs. Cynthia Brust, Director of Communications for the Mission. These three leaders also offered breakout sessions to familiarize participants with their areas of responsibility, vision and work. Mission Network Leaders initially met with the Council of Bishops in May 2006 to discuss the essential role of networks within the Anglican Mission, and the group also adopted the Network Development Manual, a tool designed to "provide basic information on network formation and administration." The manual provides increased clarity and definition to the work of Networks within the Mission while remaining an "evolving work that seeks to document best practices of effective Mission Networks." The group agreed to meet regularly in order to enhance collaborative ministry. Future meetings will vary in agenda, but will consistently focus on expanding the life and ministry of the Anglican Mission. END ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 23:07:16 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: LONDON: Canon Kearon holds out hope that the Irish can save the Communion LONDON: Canon Kearon holds out hope that the Irish can save the Communion The Church of England Newspaper May 18, 2007 THE EXPERIENCE of overcoming sectarian division through a commitment to dialogue is a gift the Church of Ireland can bring to the Anglican Communion, ACC Secretary General Canon Kenneth Kearon tells The Church of England Newspaper. Speaking to the CEN on April 28, Canon Kearon stated he is optimistic the divisions within the Communion are on track towards an amicable resolution. Director of the Irish School of Ecumenics at Trinity College, Dublin, before his appointment as ACC secretary general in 2005, Canon Kearon sees parallels between the Northern Ireland peace process and resolution of the doctrinal divisions within the Anglican Communion. If Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley (pictured) could find a way forward after a century of sectarian and political bloodshed, the Anglican Communion could also find an accommodation that would preserve its unity and strengthen its witness to the world, he said. "That sort of thing is beginning to happen within the Anglican Communion," he said. The Tanzania Primates' Meeting was "characterized by a graciousness and a willingness to listen" and was a source of hope. "The Irish experience would say that at the heart of reconciliation is engagement and conversation," Canon Kearon said. "That sounds very easy, and anyone who talks about reconciliation talks about this." However, "real reconciliation is very, very difficult" and begins with the admission that one is "part of the problem as well as part of the solution." Reconciliation also requires "the sort of listening that enables you to enter into the experience of the other person and begin to see through their eyes." He went on: "When you talk about the Anglican Communion, you can be very simplistic and talk about camps." However "the divisions that exit in Anglicanism are those that exist in almost every church throughout the world. People are living in a time of change and are responding to changes in the world very differently," he said. "How does faith and culture engage? Does it move with the culture or stand prophetically against it?," he asked. The divide over the interpretation and place of the Bible is the "real issue" for Anglicans, and "we are working this out in public, and being criticized for it. Yet I am proud to be an Anglican because of this," he noted. "The Irish contribution is to see the need to engage in conversation. There was no engagement" between Republicans and Unionists, Catholics and Protestants in Ireland for generations. But beginning in the 1970s in the Republic and in Ulster in the 90s the Irish began to move away from sectarianism through a conscious commitment to dialogue. It "takes courage, and people have got to be prepared to make significant and symbolic gestures. You also need to be prepared to accept things that you would have found offensive in the past. In the Northern Ireland experience, it is seeing things like accepting the release of prisoners who have not served their full terms, or the acceptance of people who were received as former terrorists into controlling roles into the Police Authority in Northern Ireland. That was a very big thing and very hard to accept. "Reconciliation and conversation involves symbolic gestures that also involve courageous steps against your own emotional feelings, and I do think we need all of that in the Anglican Communion. We have had a lot of conversation and there have been some important symbolic gestures where people have been engaged in dialogue in a public way across what looked like an irreconcilable divide. But just as Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley have been able to sit down and form a government for Ulster, there are signs that the Anglican divide can be bridged, he argued END ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 23:08:16 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: TEC: Iraq's future requires careful...debate, bishops say in letter to Congress TEC: Iraq's future requires careful, reasoned debate, bishops say in letter to Congress May 16, 2007 Expressing "deep concern" for the situation in Iraq, more than 100 bishops of the Episcopal Church have written to all United States Senators and Representatives outlining the need for "a careful and reasoned debate" to end the violence "and bring stability and a just peace to the region." The May 16 letter was also signed by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and two former presiding bishops, the Rt. Revs. Frank Griswold and Edmond Browning. The bishops recalled an October 2002 letter to Congress in which they expressed their belief that going to war with Iraq was not justified. "Now we write again to express our deepest concern for the situation in Iraq and for our servicemen and women," the May 16 letter said. "We are filled with sorrow as we witness how our worst fears of what might ensue from war in Iraq become reality." In particular, the bishops noted the families and communities that "have been broken both in body and in spirit as service members are separated from their families for extraordinary periods of time, suffer mounting casualties, and all with no end of violence in sight." To date, more than 50 Episcopal chaplains have served in harms way in Iraq, Afghanistan and in support bases in Kuwait and other Middle East neighboring states. Presently, there is one Episcopal chaplain in Iraq, one in Afghanistan and three in Kuwait. The bishops also acknowledged that "the respect our nation once enjoyed and our relations with allies have been seriously undermined." Into its fifth year, the war in Iraq has claimed the lives of more than 3,300 U.S. Soldiers and left at least 25,000 seriously injured. As many as 65,000 Iraqi civilian deaths were reported by March 25, according to an independent UK/US group, the Iraq Body Count project (IBC). On considering Iraq's future, the bishops urged Congress and the Administration to engage in "a careful and reasoned debate that avoids the partisan and harsh rhetoric that would diminish the important issues before our nation." They noted that such a debate did not occur in 2002 "and, with the notable exception of the Iraq Study Group, it is only marginally occurring now." "For the sake of all those involved, and to honor those brave women and men who have been maimed and lost, we encourage full and open discussion that acknowledges our mistakes as well as our responsibilities," the letter continued. "It is our hope that this discussion will lead to policies that will end the violence in Iraq and bring stability and a just peace to the region." The bishops identified six imperative goals for the United States, including mapping out a strategy for a responsible transition to Iraqi governance; joining those in the region, including Syria and Iran, in seeking security and economic recovery for Iraq; and providing the women and men of the military and their families with the sustained and responsive care they need. They also acknowledged the need for the U.S. to work for religious freedom and protection of religious minorities in Iraq; serve the needs of Iraqi refugees wherever they may be; and seek peace in the region, including a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. "In the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer, we ask that the spirit of wisdom be given to those whom we entrust with the authority of government; with that authority comes great responsibility," the letter concluded. "We pray that the spirit of wisdom will be with each of you and help guide us to a just and lasting peace." The full text of the bishops' letter follows. Dear Senator/Representative: In October of 2002 we, the bishops of the Episcopal Church, wrote to Congress expressing our belief that going to war with Iraq was not justified, noting that "the wisdom of our own Christian faith, as well as other religious traditions, teaches us to demonstrate the greatest prudence and caution when the lethal force of war is contemplated." We offered our prayers and support as Congress made "this difficult decision, not just for our country, but also for the people of Iraq and the peace of the world." We noted that we respected "the seriousness of your responsibility to protect the lives of our citizens" and we condemned "the brutality of Saddam Hussein and his regime." We included prayers for "members of the armed services and their families in the midst of international crisis and possible military action." Now we write again to express our deepest concern for the situation in Iraq and for our servicemen and women. We are filled with sorrow as we witness how our worst fears of what might ensue from war in Iraq become reality. Families and communities have been broken both in body and in spirit as service members are separated from their families for extraordinary periods of time, suffer mounting casualties, and all with no end of violence in sight. The respect our nation once enjoyed and our relations with allies have been seriously undermined. As Congress and the Administration consider the future of Iraq, we urge a careful and reasoned debate that avoids the partisan and harsh rhetoric that would diminish the important issues before our nation. That debate did not occur in 2002 and, with the notable exception of the Iraq Study Group, it is only marginally occurring now. For the sake of all those involved, and to honor those brave women and men who have been maimed and lost, we encourage full and open discussion that acknowledges our mistakes as well as our responsibilities. It is our hope that this discussion will lead to policies that will end the violence in Iraq and bring stability and a just peace to the region. We believe it imperative that the United States now: * Map out a strategy for a responsible transition to Iraqi governance, making clear that we do not have long term interests in occupying Iraq * Join those in the region, including Syria and Iran, in seeking security and economic recovery for Iraq * Provide the women and men of our military and their families with the sustained and responsive care they need * Work for religious freedom and protection of religious minorities in Iraq * Serve the needs of Iraqi refugees wherever they may be * Seek peace in the region, including a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians In the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer, we ask that the spirit of wisdom be given to those whom we entrust with the authority of government; with that authority comes great responsibility. We pray that the spirit of wisdom will be with each of you and help guide us to a just and lasting peace. END ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 23:09:16 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: CANADA: Former Homosexuals Write "Painful" Letter to Synod Bishops An open letter from the Zacchaeus Fellowship responding to the "Statement from the House of Bishops to the Members of General Synod" May 14, 2007 http://www.zacchaeus.ca/HOB2007May.html To the National House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada: We write to you out of our painful sense of rejection caused by the statement in the name of the Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada issued on April 30. Our response to your statement has taken two weeks as we have needed to recover from our shock and discouragement. One of our members wrote, "When I first read the HOB statement, it felt like someone had just spit in my face! I was not angry; just gravely disappointed and yes, surprised." What little comfort we can take is in the knowledge that some of you have encouraged us in the past and continue to assure us of your support. We thank you for standing with us. Sadly, though, it seems we are now the new marginalized minority. On October 27, 2005, several members of the Zacchaeus Fellowship made a presentation to the House of Bishops (available at www.zacchaeus.ca/hob.html), in which we spoke about our pasts, our struggles, our hopes and our hurts. Every member of the House of Bishops has also received a copy of our booklet Transformed by an Encounter with Christ. Your statement has betrayed our witness to the House of Bishops. You bent over backwards to express sympathy for our brothers and sisters who openly espouse the gay lifestyle, yet your statement held not one word of pastoral sensitivity towards us. In the name of pastoral care, you have left us feeling spiritually bulldozed and utterly deserted by our church. We are not at all able to agree with the statement's claim to consistency with paragraph 143 of the Windsor Report, which affirms "the duty of pastoral care that is laid upon all Christians to respond with love and understanding to people of all sexual orientations." We point to your lack of so much as an acknowledgment that the Anglican Church of Canada contains a constituency of individuals who are ex-gay, ex-lesbian, or living chastely with same-sex desires. We remind you that this is not the first time such rejection of this constituency has taken place. At General Synod 2004, Resolution A134 was passed, intentionally involving gay and lesbian persons in the dialogue and study. Yet, a second amendment which was proposed to include "those who identify themselves as ex-gay or ex-lesbian" was defeated. The Anglican Church of Canada decided at that Synod that we are non-entities, not deserving an equal voice alongside that of gays and lesbians. May we suggest that if a motion of this nature with regard to people of colour had been defeated, the cry of protest would have been loud enough to bring down the house. In any case, when we were rebuffed in 2004, our fellowship decided to turn the other cheek. We have repeatedly asked that our voice representing this constituency be heard, in particular at this upcoming General Synod. This request has been rejected by the agenda committee. We want to be allowed to sit at the table with our church family in order to share our experiences. We plan to appeal to the Primate for the opportunity to address General Synod from the floor. We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting us in this appeal. As we have stated before, not all persons with same-sex attractions want these attractions affirmed. We are concerned for those whom we describe as "silent sufferers" in the pews. These are the many individuals who adhere to the traditional Christian teaching on sexuality and wish for the church neither to condemn them as persons nor to encourage them to act on those same-sex attractions. Who shall support them? Such individuals need pastoral care - towards which goal your statement offers empty wind. And on moral direction as called for by Lambeth Resolution 1.10(c) your statement is silent. We implore you in the strongest possible terms to ensure that all persons experiencing same-sex attraction are offered biblically sound pastoral care. In the name of Jesus crucified and risen, The Rev'd C. Dawn McDonald, Chair of the Zacchaeus Fellowship, priest in the Diocese of Yukon The Rev'd Dr. Don Alcock, Vice Chair of the Zacchaeus Fellowship, priest in the Diocese of Huron On behalf of the Zacchaeus Fellowship Copyright 2007 The Zacchaeus Fellowship ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 23:10:17 -0400 From: David Virtue Subject: HOUSTON: African plants foot in Episcopal battle HOUSTON: African plants foot in Episcopal battle By BARBARA KARKABI The Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/4797049.html 5/13/2007 The Rev. Felix Anyasor was a happy man this week. So was his friend and colleague