By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff June 18, 2004 In a move that is likely to further inflame tensions in the global Anglican Communion, the Episcopal bishop of Vermont today will introduce two new rites, very similar to the liturgy for Episcopal weddings, for priests to use while presiding at civil unions of gays and lesbians. Episcopal priests in Vermont have already been quietly solemnizing and blessing civil unions for four years, since the state legalized them for same-sex c

ABC News The interim head of South Australia's Anglican Church, Archdeacon John Collas, says he is shocked at details of correspondence between former Archbishop Ian George and disgraced former St Peter's College chaplain John Mountford. Copies of the correspondence have been leaked to the ABC. The Reverend Mountford was sacked from the college in 1992 after allegedly molesting a student and until recently worked at St Stephen's School in Bangkok, but is believed to have fled

By David C. Steinmetz Special to the Sentinel June 9, 2004 ORLANDO — In 2003 the General Convention of the Episcopal Church voted to allow the blessing of same-sex unions. It did not authorize the solemnization of same-sex marriages. As far as the official teaching of the Episcopal Church is concerned, marriage is still an institution restricted to one man and one woman. The decision to bless same-sex unions seemed at the time to be on the liberal cutting edge of the culture

By Andrew Goddard At their meeting in Kanuga this week the Lambeth Commission received Communion and Discipline a substantial submission from the Anglican Communion Institute (ACI). This builds on the Institute's earlier work in True Union in the Body? and Claiming Our Anglican Identity — both on the initial reading list for Commission members. The fifty-page document sets out a strong theological and practical case for the Communion to discipline ECUSA because of its actions

By David W. Virtue ANSONVILLE, NC — The Rev. Daniel A. Brown, 56, got a first hand lesson on what it is like to be betrayed by his vestry. For nearly 8 years he labored as rector of All Souls' Church, Ansonville, and Priest-in-Charge of the 134-member Calvary Church, Wadesboro in the Diocese of North Carolina, faithfully preaching the gospel, declaring the Good News to all who would hear. But Fr. Brown, who describes himself as an evangelical catholic, found out the hard way

By James E. Flowers Christianity is not a feeling. That is to suggest that it does not address itself primarily, or even secondarily for that matter, to how or what you or I feel. Indeed, as outrageous as it may seem, there is a very real sense that in the long run God is not overly interested how we "feel" at all. Though He certainly weeps when we weep and laughs when we laugh, our feelings, which in the modern sense can mean anything from what we think, to what we perceive,

By JOE FRIESEN The Globe and Mail June 22, 2004 A former primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, Archbishop Edward Scott, was killed in a car accident yesterday near Parry Sound, Ont. Archbishop Scott, 85, who led the Anglican Church from 1971 to 1986, was described as a man of compassion whose progressive ideas guided the church through a number of significant debates. He died after the car in which he was travelling left Highway 69 about 18 kilometres south of Parry Sound

By Paul Carter The Anglican Communion in Canada welcomes the news today that "The Anglican Mission in America, in tandem with five other groups, is today announcing an unprecedented level of cooperation among leading orthodox Anglican entities in the United States. In a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury leaders of the Anglican Mission (AMiA), along with the leadership of the Anglican Communion Network (ACN), Reformed Episcopal Church (REC), Forward in Faith North America

TO THE CLERGY AND PEOPLE OF THE DIOCESE: Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, June 16, 2004 Thank you for your prayers and fasting on my behalf, and on behalf of all who were involved, in testimony before the Lambeth Commission this week. Please continue to pray for Archbishop Robin Eames and all the members of the Commission as its very important work goes forward. Please know that we were graciously received and fairly heard, as was the Presiding Bishop's team (which includ

By Jay L. Greener The Anglican Mission in America, in tandem with five other groups, is today announcing an unprecedented level of cooperation among leading orthodox Anglican entities in the United States. In a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury leaders of the Anglican Mission (AMiA), along with the leadership of the Anglican Communion Network (ACN), Reformed Episcopal Church (REC), Forward in Faith North America (FIFNA), Anglican Province in America (APA) and the America

By Roger Steer Letter to an Influential Atheist is an open letter from Roger Steer to Richard Dawkins challenging Dawkins' vigorously proclaimed view that the theory of evolution by natural selection explains our existence and makes atheism intellectually respectable. Richard Dawkins is Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford. His books have been extraordinarily influential even in the minds of thousands of people who have never read them.

By Ben Merkle The Episcopalian Church of the USA consecrated homosexual Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003. That same year the Bishop of Oxford in the Anglican Church attempted to appoint homosexual Jeffrey John as the Bishop of Reading. Although this attempt failed, the close call was enough to ruffle feathers throughout the Anglican communion and tensions have arisen once more as Jeffrey John has been recently put forward as Dean of St. Albans. In 2002, the Ne

By Terry Mattingly When it comes to media-bias surveys, God is almost as big a story these days as the president of the United States. It helps if researchers release their work as journalists prepare for trench warfare in an election year. God is more newsworthy when linked to life's crucial issues, which, in journalism, are always politics, sports, entertainment and then more politics. Thus, news coverage of a study by the Pew Research Center and the Project for Excellence

The split between the Gospel and culture is undoubtedly the drama of our time (“Evangelii Nuntiandi,” 20). It is manifest today as a “crisis of meaning” (cf. “Fides et Ratio,” 81). Ambiguous moral positions, the distortion of reason by particular interest groups, and the absolutization of the subjective are just some examples of a perspective of life which fails to seek truth itself and abandons the search for the ultimate goal and meaning of human existence (cf. ibid., 47).

By David W. Virtue Bishop Charles Jenkins, the tenth Bishop of Louisiana, is currently at Kanuga alongside Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, meeting with the Lambeth Commission. Bishop Jenkins has apparently just arrived at Kanuga from “Camp Haven’t-got-a-Clue,” if his pastoral letter to the Diocese is any indication. SEEKING RECONCILIATION By Charles Jenkins JUNE 2004 Dear Friends in Christ: Plans are being made for the summer, and I hope we look forward to a bit of rest and

Special Report By David W. Virtue The Archbishop of Uganda, the Most Rev. Henry Orombi, has written a letter to the Suffragan Bishop of New York, the Rt. Rev. Cathy S. Roskam, telling her that the money she is raising for clergy wives’ training in Uganda is not welcome. The Church of Uganda will not receive it because of the Episcopal Church’s stand on same-sex blessings. “I am writing to make it very clear to you that the Church of Uganda (Anglican) has not changed her stand

By David W. Virtue COLORADO SPRINGS—An orthodox rector in the Diocese of Colorado challenged Bishop Robert O’Neill this week over a wrist slap he gave to a lesbian priest after she participated in an illicit “blessing” of her relationship with another woman. The Rev. Don Armstrong of Grace Church and St. Stephen’s in Colorado Springs took issue with the bishop following what he described as an “unsatisfactory meeting” with some 20 other conservative diocesan clergy over the m

(Note: the original text with footnotes is available as an Adobe PDF file) There is a scene from seventy years ago, recounted by Karl Barth’s biographer, Eberhard Busch, that came to mind as I watched the sorry proceedings of the Anglican Church of Canada’s 2004 General Synod. On the evening of 22 January [1934] Barth was again called to Berlin unexpectedly. The next day he was a highly undesirable guest at an assembly of church leaders and theologians which was to make prepa

The Most Rev. & Rt. Hon. Rowan Williams Archbishop of Canterbury Lambeth Palace London SE1 7JU ENGLAND Dear Archbishop Williams, Grace and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Much has been made of the divisions among the orthodox here in North America. The divisions are, in fact, scandalous and we recognize that we must do everything we can to bring them to an end. We write to you as leaders of key Anglican movements in North America. We write to you in

The Anglican Communion Network (ACN) announced today an unprecedented alliance of six groups in the Anglican tradition. The groups, all based in the U.S. have committed to a “common cause” under the chairmanship of the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, ACN Moderator. In a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, leaders of the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC), the Anglican Mission in America (AMIA), Forward in Faith North American (FiFNA), the Anglican Province in America (APA) and the A