As you well know, such an action was not necessary since it has long been the custom of the church to permit an orderly transfer of clergy when they move from one Anglican jurisdiction to another.
Indeed, several of your brother bishops in The Episcopal Church have followed this pattern and have done so with generosity and grace.
Read moreHis primary duty to God and His Church, can be nothing less than that. His Grace certainly does not need anyone defending him, but nevertheless, to satisfy my own conscience, I am going to give it a try.
Read moreSome of you may have seen the comments of Bishop Rod Michel of Long Island as reported in The Living Church earlier this month. He was reminiscing about his early days of ordained ministry, and he said:
Read moreIn Dr. Williams's words, "it is a question, agonisingly difficult for many, as to what kinds of behaviour a Church that seeks to be loyal to the Bible can bless, and what kinds of behaviour it must warn against." Whilst one can appreciate the Archbishop's challenge, what many church leaders fail to realize is that the Church has not equipped adult Christians to debate issues such as these. Many adult Christians regard Biblical interpretation as the sole domain of their priest or minister.
Read moreJohn the Baptist made the same criticism of his contemporaries, who presumed upon their "institutional" connection with Abraham rather than a heartfelt commitment to do the will of God. What today we call "religious institutionalism" or "nominalism" is as old as the Bible.
Let's substitute another term for "temple of the Lord" and see if any new instances of pernicious religious institutionalism come to mind.
Read moreAs I say, the time for goodbyes is not yet, and there is a great deal of work to be done; there remains for us in Hendersonville an "open door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ" (Col. 4.3.) in word and deed.
Read moreIt did not of course come about in isolation but instead in the context of the current crisis of TEC and of the Anglican Communion. We may need to remind ourselves of how this crisis came about. It is rooted in the infiltration into TEC and other western churches over many decades of such cultural values as self-expression and of personal experience, which are to be relied on more than biblical authority or the traditions of the Church.
Read more"To date, the diocese has refused to supply any supporting facts whatsoever. That's not just odd - it reeks to high heaven!" said parishioner Ed Montgomery, urging the crowd to support a petition accusing O'Neill of "an unconscionable and cruel act against our parish and its principal priest."
Read moreToday a 10-member Covenant Design Group, headed by Archbishop Drexel Gomez, is meeting in this country to make a determination on the aberrant sexual proclivities of Anglicans in the United states and Canada, two of the denomination's largest provinces, which supports same sex marriages and has sanctioned the consecration of an openly homosexual bishop. A report is to be made to the leader of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams.
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[The following is Part Two in a series entitled, "Mark Harris' Manifesto for Walking Apart." Parts One can be found at http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5328; and Part Two at http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5347]
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