In a "state of the diocese" speech, Mathes admits that as stewards of the Episcopal Church, "we find ourselves in a time of turmoil." Mathes says he went to Spain to attend the bought-and-paid-for "Walking to Emmaus" consultation put on by Trinity Wall Street Church. In Spain he experienced a different reality with six of the eleven primates from the African continent present. Mathes concluded by saying that "we are fully capable of maintaining communion and mission partnerships despite disagreements."

Mathes said that as he left Spain he found himself optimistic about the future of the Anglican Communion.

The bishop then said that what tempered his optimism was the "pessimism of others." He admitted that nine parishes (out of 51) or nearly 20 percent of his diocese have chosen to leave the diocese and the Episcopal Church. Three have laid claim to their parish property. "This has necessitated our Diocese initiating legal action to recover that property." He went on to say that he has offered an undefined "relationship" (he did not say it was DEPO) to two parishes with the Bishop of the Rio Grande, the Rt. Rev. Jeffrey Steenson.

Mathes went on to opine, "as far as our relationship with the Anglican Communion, I believe it is increasingly clear that our relationship will remain intact."

Mathes then ripped the Bishop of Pittsburgh, the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, and Canon David C. Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council, accusing them of fostering schism. He particularly accused Duncan of wanting to replace the Episcopal Church with an Anglican Province in the United States.

The revisionist bishop said that would backfire, with the result that "most provinces, including The Episcopal Church, will remain with the Archbishop of Canterbury and thus fully a part of the Anglican Communion, while a few provinces placing themselves in a posture of diminished or impaired communion. In the end, I believe the Anglican Communion will recover. I have accepted my invitation to Lambeth...and if that meeting is like what I just experienced in Spain then my optimism will only soar."

Locally, Mathes said he would use every resource available to legally fight fleeing parishes. He has raised a $500,000 war chest with donations from generous donors. These are "...funds that will be used to pay our legal fees." A recent Court of Appeals decision has given him reason for being "optimistic that our litigation will end favorably within a year."

He concluded by saying that he hoped for reconciliation with those who had left the diocese and TEC, noting, "it is our calling."

The Bishop is overly optimistic.

Among the things he failed to observe were the following:

* A Sept. 30 deadline set by the Primates in Dar es Salaam for The Episcopal Church to conform to the demands of the Windsor Report or else.

* The "torn fabric" of the communion has not suddenly been repaired and, by all accounts, will only rend even further after Sept. 30.

* The "Missions" gabfest in Spain wherein a number of African Primates turned up in no way proves that they have suddenly changed their minds about the Episcopal Church. Mathes doesn't understand African culture. African leaders are unfailingly polite even to their enemies, but at the end of the day they will still act on their convictions not on their smiles to liberal and revisionist Episcopal bishops.

* The eleven African diocesan offshore Anglican plants on U.S. soil will not suddenly disappear because Mathes hopes they will. They are here to stay and they will work together towards some sort of Common Cause drawing them into something bigger and more permanent, perhaps an alternative North American Anglican Province.

* If the African bishops that make up CAPA and their 12 Primates don't show up at Lambeth 2008 or only a small portion do, it means that half of the bishops representing two-thirds of the communion won't be represented. Nigeria alone has over 100 bishops representing 18 million Anglicans. Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda all have large constituencies. The decisions of Lambeth represent the mind of the communion. Most the "mind" will not be there. The present situation seriously challenges the future of the Communion.

* Geographic boundaries are becoming more porous. Almost weekly an African Archbishop can be found in an Episcopal diocese providing spiritual oversight for orthodox priests much to the chagrin and anger of liberal bishops like Mathes.

* The hope that a Covenant, put forth by Dr. Rowan Williams that all can sign on to, will bring peace in our time is fictitious. If the Covenant is strongly worded, it will be unacceptable to the Americans, Canadians and others. If it is ambiguously worded, it will be unacceptable to the Africans and other orthodox Anglicans in the Global South. It will not deliver on its promise to bring peace and unity to the Anglican Communion. At the end of the day the covenant may be seen as a cause of disunity not as a means to preserve unity.

* The most recent statement by Archbishop Peter Akinola, "A Most Agonizing Journey" (click here: http://tinyurl.com/ystmx6) reflects the mind of African Anglican leaders concerning The Episcopal Church. "There are continual cries for patience, listening and understanding. And yet the record shows that those who hold to the 'faith once and for all delivered to the saints' have shown remarkable forbearance while their pleas have been ignored, their leaders have been demonized, and their advocates marginalized.

"The leadership of The Episcopal Church USA (TECUSA) and the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) seem to have concluded that the Bible is no longer authoritative in many areas of human experience especially in salvation and sexuality. They claim to have 'progressed' beyond the clear teaching of the Scriptures and they have not hidden their intention to lead others to these same conclusions. They have even boasted that they are years ahead of others in fully understanding the truth of the Holy Scriptures and the nature of God's love.

"Both TECUSA and ACoC have been given several opportunities to consult, discuss and prayerfully respond through their recognized structures. While they produced carefully nuanced, deliberately ambiguous statements, their actions have betrayed them. Their intention is clear; they have chosen to walk away from the Biblically based path we once all walked together. The unrelenting persecution of the remaining faithful among them shows how they have used these past few years to isolate and destroy any and all opposition."

Akinola concludes, "John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress, describes the Christian life as a journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. On his journey, Pilgrim is confronted by numerous decisions and many crossroads. The easy road was never the right road. This is our moment of truth."

For Bishop Mathes this is his moment of truth. The fiction that the Anglican Communion will hold together is just that - a fiction.

The parishes he is litigating against are the very parishes that are upholding the "'faith once delivered". They will be the ultimate victors, with or without their properties. They have the faith that he does not.

His diocese, like all the liberal dioceses in the Episcopal church, is slowly withering and dying, with most being held together by aging congregations. Endowment monies (the Soper fund for example props up the Diocese of Washington) and the sale of empty parishes temporarily pumps money into failing dioceses (such as the Dioceses of Western Michigan and Pennsylvania.)

In the end it is futile. Those leaving believe they are endangering the souls of their flocks if they stay. They may be right. A short-term property loss in the face of an eternity without Christ is a no brainer decision.

Ultimately Bishop Mathes is on the wrong side of the Great Divide.

The following is a link to the Mathes letter: http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/content/mathes_august07.pdf

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