By Julia Duin THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published February 10, 2004 Episcopal Church officials yesterday announced a $3 million shortfall in the church's 2004 budget, caused chiefly by parishes and dioceses withholding funds to protest the ordination of a homosexual bishop. The shortfall equals 6 percent of the $48 million in revenue the church had expected this year. Church officials, according to documents obtained by The Washington Times, have revised the budget to $45.1 mill

By J. C. Ryle (1816-1900) The following Sermon was preached in England, in August, 1858. "Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God" (2 Corinthians 2:17) It is no light matter to speak to any assembly of immortal souls about the things of God. But the most serious of all responsibilities is, to speak to a gathering of ministers, such as that which I now see before me. The

The following photo was taken at the 2004 AMiA Winter Conference in Destin, FL.   Archbishop Malango of Central Africa is on the left.   Archbishop Kolini of Rwanda is on the right.   KENYA: BESEIGED BISHOP BACK FROM US. PRIMATE NZIMBI SAYS HOB TO DECIDE HIS FATE   Besieged Kenyan bishop back from US.   Primate Nzimbi says HOB will decide his fate.   Cash-for-prayers bishop Peter Njoka has returned from the United States but declined to answer questions from journalists.   Bi

Anglican leaders have castigated warring Church factions locked in a bitter row over gay bishops, telling them to calm down and stop using such strident language. The ordination in the United States of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson has sharply divided the Anglican church's 70 million faithful and sparked fears of a schism after 450 years of unity. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, facing the church's worst crisis since the ordination of women priests, has set up a

An open letter from the Most Reverend Martín Barahona, the Diocesan Bishop of El Salvador and Primate of the Anglican Church of the Central Region of America (IARCA): "To my colleagues, the Primates of the Great Anglican Communion; to my sister and brother bishops of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America; and to the bishops and other clergy and lay leaders of our beloved Province of the Central Region of America, which includes the countries of Guatemala, Panam

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. It's been six months since Gene Robinson was confirmed as the first openly gay bishop of the Episcopal Church. Since then, conservatives have threatened to punish the national church by withholding their money. Today, the treasurer of the church told officials that was an empty threat. Pledges for next year are only slightly down from last year, yet conservatives say the church has no idea of the problems that it may face. NP

The revisionist Bishop of New Westminster, Michael Ingham, faces a triple crisis that could derail his plans to depose, at the minimum put on hold, his desire to toss 11 biblically orthodox priests out of their parishes and seize their properties. He faces a legal ultimatum with the leaders of St. Martin's parish in North Vancouver who argue that unless the parish is allowed to control its own finances and staffing, it will ask the B.C. Supreme Court to overturn the firing o

U.S. Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) delivered the following statement on the floor of the United States Senate addressing several social issues facing the country: "The Old Testament prophet Amos was a sheep herder who lived back in the Judean hills, away from the larger cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Compared to the intellectual urbanites like Isaiah and Jeremiah, he was just an unsophisticated country hick. But Amos had a unique grasp of political and social issues and hi

The Anglican Primate of Australia, Archbishop Peter Carnley, has made a stinging attack on the leadership of the Sydney diocese. In a new book, Reflections in Glass, Dr Carnley warns the diocese itself might split because of the extremism of the ruling group. The archbishop, who is to retire next February, said that while the leadership of the diocese resisted most of his ideas, they were not universally rejected. "The diocese of Sydney contains as much diversity of though

Defending Moral Principles Is Getting Riskier. Christians defending moral teachings on homosexuality are increasingly running foul of laws that ban any negative statements about the subject. A British Anglican bishop, for instance, who suggested that homosexuals seek psychological counseling was the target of a police investigation, the Telegraph newspaper reported Nov. 10. Bishop Peter Forster of Chester told a local paper: "Some people who are primarily homosexual can re

Delegates to the Episcopal Diocese of Texas quietly concluded their annual council meeting Saturday after an hour of often impassioned debate over biblical authority and sexual morality. More than 40 of the 1,000 delegates attending the concluding council session argued for and against the national church's action in approving the ordination of an openly gay priest as bishop last summer. The national church also approved the blessing of same-sex unions, further intensifying

While some may be protesting with their wallets, others are joining new national groups. Episcopal decisions on homosexual issues last summer hit home this week. On Sunday, members of the 271-year-old Christ Church, the Mother Church of Georgia, voted to join a nine-year-old Anglican group that wants to preserve Biblical authority. Meanwhile, the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia expects a dip in donations from its 71 congregations this year, attributed in part to those protest

The Archbishop of Canterbury received a petition signed by 8,500 individuals from the new Inclusivechurch network of Anglicans on the steps of Church House in London on February 10, during the meeting of the Church of England's governing body, the General Synod. The handing over of the petition marks the first milestone in the life of a grassroots organization that began in August 2003 in response to the overturning of the appointment of Jeffrey John, a celibate gay priest,

"This is a fantastic day," exclaimed Rita Taubman, one of several hundred who gathered to launch a new mission church in Melbourne, Florida. "There is a lot of life, joy and peace here. It's an exciting beginning!" Her words seem to echo those of other worshipers who came together to mark the first day of a new congregation's journey. Prince of Peace Anglican Church today held its first worship service since joining the Anglican Mission in America—a beginning that the con

In hours of debate by the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention over whether to legalize "same sex marriage," the more articulate advocates opposed a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to "one man, one woman." Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, an African American, said she was born "one generation removed from slavery" in an Arkansas shack "because the public hospital would not allow blacks to deliver children." She saw same sex marriage as a civil rights issue: "I know the

Episcopal bishop requests shelving of 4 resolutions By RICHARD VARA Houston Chronicle Religion Editor Bishop Don Wimberly will ask delegates to the Episcopal Diocese of Texas' annual meeting next week to shelve four resolutions that concern biblical sexual morality and the national church's approval of an openly gay bishop. In his address to the council, Wimberly also plans to declare out of order a proposed amendment to the diocesan constitution and canons that would nullify

By Rt. Rev. Ronald C. Ferris Anglicans in Canada are facing a divisive controversy. The issue has come onto the General Synod 2004 agenda following a decision in the diocese of New Westminster, where the bishop and that diocese have implemented the blessing of same-sex unions. This is being done in opposition to the expressed wishes of much of the Anglican world, including the Lambeth Conference, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the 1997 guidelines of the Canadian house of bi

Episcopalian rift centers on process, priest says The Rev. Ephraim Radner: 'Over the centuries, it's always been easier to split off than to reconcile.' By MARVIN READ THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN This was supposed to be a straight-on news item, reflecting an interview with the Rev. Ephraim Radner, the rector-pastor of Pueblo's Ascension Episcopal Church. It didn't work out quite that way. By way of background: Radner was a delegate to last August's General Convention of the U.S. Epi

COMMENTARY By Uwe Siemon-Netto UPI Religious Affairs Editor WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- There is no doubt that the cloning of the first mature human embryos in South Korea is a triumph of sorts. But from the Christian point of view, it is a scary triumph indeed -- the triumph of man's hubris. As Margot Kaessmann, bishop of the territorial church of Hanover, Germany, said last year, "Cloning humans is an attack upon God's creative power." In the eyes of the Rev. Gerald E. Mur

Special Report By David W. Virtue VANCOUVER, BC--Nine clergy from six biblically orthodox parishes and a disciple-making enable us to have relief and move forward in mission while the wider Anglican Communion works out how to deal with false teaching in its midst, and the impending re-alignment." NINE CANADIAN CLERGY OBTAIN SPIRITUAL SHELTER FROM REVISIONIST BISHOP Special Report By David W. Virtue VANCOUVER, BC--Nine clergy from six biblically orthodox parishes and a discipl