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NPR - ALL THINGS CONSIDERED: Conservatives and Liberals duke it out on national radio MELISSA BLOCK, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block. MICHELE NORRIS, host: And I'm Michele Norris. 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. NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports. BARBARA BRADLEY HAGERTY reporting: Kurt Barnes, the treasurer of the Episcopal Church, describes himself as a conservative man, not one prone to, quote, "gilding the lily." He's keenly aware of the controversy that's been roiling the church since it recognized gay unions and consecrated Gene Robinson, a gay priest, to be bishop of New Hampshire. Given all this, Barnes says he's pleased that he's received commitments from more than three-quarters of the bishops, and so far, their pledges to the national church are down only 7 percent. Mr. KURT BARNES (Treasurer, Episcopal Church): The impact is what I would describe as insignificant. HAGERTY: Barnes is recommending that the dioceses cut their spending by 5 to 10 percent. Jim Naughton, a spokesman for the Diocese of Washington, DC, says this isn't cause for rejoicing, but it's not the predicted apocalypse, either. Mr. JIM NAUGHTON (Spokesman, Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC): The narrative line since General Convention has been, Oh, watch out. The Episcopal Church is taking in water. The Episcopal Church is going down.' And that's definitely not happening. So it's hard to disentangle an intelligent analysis of where we stand now from the sort of what amounts to the kind of ecclesiastical version of trash talking that's coming from the other side, you know, this sort of, You're going down. You're going down.' Reverend DON ARMSTRONG (Rector, Grace Episcopal Church, Colorado Springs): I think what you're getting from the national church is a spin. HAGERTY: Don Armstrong is rector of the 2,400-member Grace Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs. He says the bishops, most of whom voted for gay unions and Gene Robinson, have an interest in creating the impression that there has been no financial impact. And, he says, they'll go to great lengths to do so. For example, angry conservative parishioners in Colorado have withheld some $350,000 from their diocese, he says, but the bishop is eating that loss locally and giving the same amount as last year to the national church. Armstrong says the bishops can't do that for long. Rev. ARMSTRONG: As we move into 2004 and their monthly income decreases, they're going to be faced with the reality that they don't have the money in the bank to write the checks. HAGERTY: Kendall Harmon, an official of the Diocese of South Carolina, says the situation will only grow more acute with time. Parishioners, entire churches and even two dioceses, Pittsburgh and Dallas, are directing their money away from the national church toward other ministries. A new network of conservative churches is being formed, and Harmon says that will no doubt attract money that would otherwise go to the national church. People are leaving the Episcopal Church altogether and taking their money with them. In fact, Harmon says, entire churches are leaving the denomination to join a conservative offshoot of Anglicanism. Mr. KENDALL HARMON (Diocese of South Carolina): Basically, the vast majority of a parish just left from St. John's, Melbourne, and went to the Anglican Mission in America. So in that diocese, most of the pledge from that parish to the Diocese of Central Florida is going to go down. So as the year progresses, you're going to start to see these figures work themselves through the system more. HAGERTY: Jim Naughton in Washington, DC, notes that a couple of conservative churches in the DC area have decided to withhold their money from the diocese. But others who are happy about recognizing gay unions and a gay bishop are making up the shortfall. Mr. NAUGHTON: Many people in those parishes have said, `Fine. If you're not going to give to the diocese, we're going to give directly to the diocese.' So this idea that people are voting with their pocketbooks, that goes both ways. HAGERTY: And so in this war of words and finances, when there's way too much smoke to figure out who's left standing, both sides are claiming victory. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR News, Washington. Copyright (c)1990-2003 National Public Radio(r). All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. END

News Analysis By David W. Virtue VANCOUVER, BC-- 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 of two church wardens last year. In a letter delivered to Bishop Michael Ingham on Friday, former Trustee and spokesperson Linda Taunton said, "we want our church and we want to be able to control our own destiny. Ingham has until Feb. 23 to respond," she told Virtuosity. Last September, Ingham invoked an obscure piece of church law to remove the wardens, St. Martin's parishioners say. The parishioners maintain that as a legally incorporated organization, they have the right to make decisions for themselves. They contend Ingham's actions violate the provincial Societies Act. The parish has voted twice to seek alternative episcopal oversight. Late last year, Ingham closed one church. The second crisis the bishop faces is that four parishes have now obtained Temporary Adequate Episcopal Oversight from four international Anglican primates with immediate oversight of the Canadian parishes by a US-based AMiA bishop. The offer is temporary measure until a more permanent solution can be found. Seven of the parishes have not signed as yet, but sources tell Virtuosity that they are weighing their options. They are not ready to jump ship but all 11 of them still support the Anglican Churches in New Westminster (ACiNW) coalition, with none having fled. "Those parishes who have not immediately accepted TAEO want to continue the Canadian process set up by the House of Bishops to look for a way to provide alternative episcopal oversight." All the conservative Canadian bishops have been informed of the TAEO offer as well as Yukon Bishop Terry Buckle who had offered alternative Episcopal oversight and then withdrew it. "Everybody is acting in good faith, some parishes just felt they could not wait any longer," said the source. We should not view this as a break-up of the ACiNW coalition. It isn't." Ingham faces a third crisis with the Canadian House of Bishops Task Force that could recommend some sort of oversight for the beleaguered 11, which, if he doesn't accept, will put him at odds not only with the Anglican Church in Canada but with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the 38 Primates of the Anglican Communion. To date Ingham has not responded to either crisis. But those close to Ingham say he will never accept a recommendation from the Canadian House of Bishops to grant alternative oversight, because basically he believes he is the bishop and that is the end of the story. "He will never go for it. He will never accept AEO because it would be a diminishing of his ecclesiastical authority, and he is a power driven person, not gospel driven," said the source. The following Anglican clergy have already accepted the four Primates' offer of TAEO: The Revd Charles Alexander, Timothy Institute of Ministry, Calgary, Alberta; Dr David Bowler, Comox, Vancouver Island, a Church Plant; Revd Paul Carter, Immanuel Church, Westside; Revd Ron Gibbs, St Simon's, Deep Cove; Revd Ed Hird, St Simon's, Deep Cove; Revd David Hollebone, Living Waters Church, Victoria, Vancouver Island; Revd John Lombard, St Simon's, Deep Cove; Revd Barclay Mayo, St Andrews, Pender Harbour; Revd Silas Ng, Emmanuel Church, Richmond. These clergy come from two Canadian dioceses. St. Martin's, North Vancouver, St. Matthias & St Luke, Vancouver, St. Matthew's, Abbotsford,Church of the Good Shepherd, St Andrew's, Pender Harbour, St Simon's, North Vancouver, St. John's, Shaughnessy, Church of Emmanuel, Richmond, Holy Cross, Vancouver, Immanuel Church, Westside, and Vancouver Holy Cross, Abbotsford, still have not agreed to outside Primatial oversight. END

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, February 12, 2004 Miller Delivers Floor Speech on 'Deficit of Decency' in America WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) today 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. "Amos had a unique grasp of political and social issues and his poetic literary skill was among the best of all the prophets. That familiar quote of Martin Luther King, Jr. about 'Justice will rush down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream' are Amos's words. "Amos was the first to propose the concept of a universal God and not just some tribal deity. He also wrote that God demanded moral purity, not rituals and sacrifices. This blunt speaking moral conscience of his time warns in Chapter 8, verse 11 of The Book of Amos, as if he were speaking to us today: That 'the days will come, sayeth the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord. 'And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east. They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.' A famine in the land'. Has anyone more accurately described the situation we face in America today? 'A famine of hearing the words of the Lord.' "But some will say, Amos was just an Old Testament prophet – a minor one at that – who lived 700 years before Christ. That is true, so how about one of the most influential historians of modern times? "Arnold Toynbee who wrote the acclaimed 12 volume A Study of History, once declared, 'Of the 22 civilizations that have appeared in history, 19 of them collapsed when they reached the moral state America is in today.' "Toynbee died in 1975, before seeing the worst that was yet to come. Yes, Arnold Toynbee saw the famine. The 'famine of hearing the words of the Lord.' Whether it is removing a display of the Ten Commandments from a Courthouse or the Nativity Scene from a city square. Whether it is eliminating prayer in schools or eliminating 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance. Whether it is making a mockery of the sacred institution of marriage between a man and woman or, yes, telecasting around the world made-in-the-USA filth masquerading as entertainment. "The Culture of Far Left America was displayed in a startling way during the Super Bowl's now infamous half-time show. A show brought to us courtesy of Value-Les Moonves and the pagan temple of Viacom-Babylon. "I asked the question yesterday, how many of you have ever run over a skunk with your car? I have many times and I can tell you, the stink stays around for a long time. You can take the car through a car wash and it's still there. So the scent of this event will long linger in the nostrils of America. "I'm not talking just about an exposed mammary gland with a pull-tab attached to it. Really no one should have been too surprised at that. Wouldn't one expect a bumping, humping, trashy routine entitled 'I'm going to get you naked' to end that way. "Does any responsible adult ever listen to the words of this rap-crap? I'd quote you some of it, but the Sergeant of Arms would throw me out of here, as well he should. And then there was that prancing, dancing, strutting, rutting guy evidently suffering from jock itch because he kept yelling and grabbing his crotch. But then, maybe there's a crotch grabbing culture I've unaware of. "But as bad as all this was, the thing that yanked my chain the hardest was seeing that ignoramus with his pointed head stuck up through a hole he had cut in the flag of the United States of America, screaming about having 'a bottle of scotch and watching lots of crotch.' Think about that. "This is the same flag that we pledge allegiance to. This is the flag that is draped over coffins of dead young uniformed warriors killed while protecting Kid Crock's bony butt. He should be tarred and feathered, and ridden out of this country on a rail. Talk about a good reality show, there's one for you. "The desire and will of this Congress to meaningfully do anything about any of these so-called social issues is non existent and embarrassingly disgraceful. The American people are waiting and growing impatient with us. They want something done. "I am pleased to be a co-sponsor of S.J. Res. 26 along with Senator Allard and others, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage. And S.1558, the Liberties Restoration Act, which declares religious liberty rights in several ways, including the Pledge of Allegiance and the display of the Ten Commandments. And today I join Senator Shelby and others with the Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 that limits the jurisdiction of federal courts in certain ways. "In doing so, I stand shoulder to shoulder not only with my Senate co-sponsors and Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama but, more importantly, with our Founding Fathers in the conception of religious liberty and the terribly wrong direction our modern judiciary has taken us in. "Everyone today seems to think that the U.S. Constitution expressly provides for separation of church and state. Ask any ten people if that's not so. And I'll bet you most of them will say 'Well, sure.' And some will point out, 'it's in the First Amendment.' "Wrong! Read it! It says, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Where is the word 'separate'? Where are the words 'church' or 'state.' "They are not there. Never have been. Never intended to be. Read the Congressional Records during that four-month period in 1789 when the amendment was being framed in Congress. Clearly their intent was to prohibit a single denomination in exclusion of all others, whether it was Anglican or Catholic or some other. "I highly recommend a great book entitled Original Intent by David Barton. It really gets into how the actual members of Congress, who drafted the First Amendment, expected basic Biblical principles and values to be present throughout public life and society, not separate from it. "It was Alexander Hamilton who pointed out that 'judges should be bound down by strict rules and precedents, which serve to define and point out their duty.' Bound down! That is exactly what is needed to be done. There was not a single precedent cited when school prayer was struck down in 1962. "These judges who legislate instead of adjudicate, do it without being responsible to one single solitary voter for their actions. Among the signers of the Declaration of Independence was a brilliant young physician from Pennsylvania named Benjamin Rush. "When Rush was elected to that First Continental Congress, his close friend Benjamin Franklin told him 'We need you. . . we have a great task before us, assigned to us by Providence.' Today, 228 years later there is still a great task before us assigned to us by Providence. Our Founding Fathers did not shirk their duty and we can do no less. "By the way, Benjamin Rush was once asked a question that has long interested this Senator from Georgia in particular. Dr. Rush was asked, are you a democrat or an aristocrat? And the good doctor answered, 'I am neither'. 'I am a Christocrat. I believe He, alone, who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him.' That reply of Benjamin Rush is just as true today in the year of our Lord 2004 as it was in the year of our Lord 1776. "So, if I am asked why – with all the pressing problems this nation faces today – why am I pushing these social issues and taking the Senate's valuable time? I will answer: Because, it is of the highest importance. Yes, there's a deficit to be concerned about in this country, a deficit of decency. "So, as the sand empties through my hourglass at warp speed – and with my time running out in this Senate and on this earth, I feel compelled to speak out. For I truly believe that at times like this, silence is not golden. It is yellow."

FOUR PRIMATES STATEMENT: An Offer of Temporary Adequate Episcopal Oversight WHEREAS, a crisis of faith and leadership has been created in the Diocese of New Westminster by the passing of a motion to bless same-sex unions, and the actual performance of the same in a church with the authorization of Bishop Michael Ingham; and WHEREAS, a special October 2003 meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion called upon the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada to provide "temporary adequate episcopal oversight" to those churches and clergy who, because of their refusal to accept the revisionist direction of the diocese, are now in a state of broken communion; and WHEREAS, said episcopal oversight was to have been offered in consultation with the global Primates through the Archbishop of Canterbury; and WHEREAS, to date no such episcopal oversight has been offered, but instead church members have been lost, leadership has been threatened, and churches have been closed and their standing threatened; and WHEREAS, the clergy and congregations of New Westminster cannot be left to fend for themselves while the task force of the Canadian House of Bishops and the Commission appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury are doing their work. BE IT RESOLVED, that the undersigned Primates of the Provinces of Congo, Central Africa, Rwanda and South East Asia hereby jointly offer temporary adequate episcopal oversight to the clergy and congregations of New Westminster, and to other Canadian clergy and congregations who seek such covering, on the following basis: 1 The temporary adequate episcopal oversight, as contemplated by the Primates Meeting of October 2003, will be offered in consultation with the Primates and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Most Rev. Datuk Yong Ping Chung has been requested and will serve as Chairman of the sponsoring group of Primates. 3 The Rt. Rev. Thomas Johnston, with the support of the administrative resources of the Anglican Mission in America, will coordinate the provision of this oversight on behalf of the undersigned. 4 Representatives of the Canadian clergy and congregations seeking oversight will meet with Archbishop Yong and/or Bishop Johnston to work out the administrative details of this offer. TRUSTING IN THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD, the undersigned present this offer of temporary adequate episcopal oversight to the faithful Canadian Anglican clergy and congregations. Signed by the Primates END

Sydney extremism may lead to split, says archbishop Carnley By Malcolm Brown February 14, 2004 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 thought as most of the other Anglican dioceses, even if is to be frankly admitted that a distinct and characteristic kind of evangelicalism predominates," he said. "It is reported that up to 50 Sydney parishes might consider approaching the college of Australian bishops to seek a form of 'alternative episcopal over sight'." If Australian Anglicanism split, the "first divide" might be "within the diocese itself". Dr Carnley writes that given Australia's diversity, "inter-faith dialogue seems inevitable". But the Sydney diocese was quite cold on recognition of other faiths. The Dean of Sydney, Phillip Jensen, had denounced other faiths as false. "This is certainly not the most helpful approach," Dr Carnley said. END

CofE Vicars will Exercise Local Option to Bless SS Marriage   At every step of our Christian development and in every sphere of our Christian discipleship, pride is the greatest enemy and humility our greatest friend. --- John Stott   Why is so much modern discipleship so shallow. It emphasizes “growth” without repentance, “authenticity” without holiness, “belonging” without sacrifice. The call of Jesus — “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23) — has been reduced to a suggestion rather than a summons. Cross-bearing is too costly, so we offer comfort instead. – Rev. Dr. Ronald H. Moore   Wars rage across the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Yet, these violent conflicts, as horrific as they are, only mirror the silent wars raging within many of our own hearts — wars of despair, doubt, and desperation. -- Vijay Jayaraj   And yet, the true Church still stands. Bruised, yes—but not broken. Smaller, perhaps—but purer for the fire. The faithful remain, and the Spirit still moves among them. The Church Militant, long accustomed to cultural privilege, now discovers that she has become the Church Remnant—a scattered host gathered in the strength of her King.  – Rev. Dr. Ronald H. Moore   Christianity in the 21 st century is more consumerist. We pick and choose our churches and move from church to church based on whether it meets our needs. No one is going to stick around for any potential disapproval, much less any disciplinary process — Mark Tooley   Dear Brothers and Sisters, www.virtueonline.org October 31, 2025   TO experience rapid growth of the Church and fulfill the Great Commission, Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback fame said there are three options to model. The first is the model of Jesus; the other two models are the first church in Acts and the model of the Apostle Paul. He then listed five things Christian leaders must do to win the world for Christ. Jesus' method can work anywhere, Warren said. “I've seen the Jesus model of ministry work in the desert, in very small villages and in giant megacities. It is transcultural.”  He summarized the steps in the acronym PEACE: pass on the good news; equip disciples; alleviate suffering — preaching, teaching and healing; continually pray and lastly, establish new churches. Highlighting 10 ways Christians can emulate the first-century church and its exponential growth to finish the task, Warren noted that the fastest period of growth for Christianity was the first 330 years of the Church. "We went from 120 people in the upper room to, by [the year] 360 A.D., half of the Roman Empire had been saved — 30 million out of 60 million people." Looking at Acts 1 and 2, Warren listed the 10 action steps churches can implement today: pray for God's power; translate God's Word in every language; celebrate the diversity of believers; train every believer to preach the Good News; teach believers to do the Word of God; model love to the world; return to using homes for worship and Bible study; use worship as a joyful witness to non-believers; share resources and make financial sacrifices.   *****   To nobody's surprise, The Episcopal Church continues its Gadarene decline, unfettered from moral and theological boundaries that have plagued the church for decades.   Episcopalians recite the creeds with their fingers crossed behind their backs as do a host of clergy and most of the bishops. Episcopalians don’t believe much of anything in the Bible, preferring the culture dictate their preferences and beliefs about sexual morality, abortion, divorce, Middle East politics, DEI and much more. Racism and gay marriage consume most of the debate even though the latest figures reveal that TEC is 95% white with most parishes never seeing anybody of color let alone someone with homoerotic tendencies. Bishop Sean Rowe continues to rail on white churches and communities needing to repent of the sin of racism and work toward reconciliation. The truth is the vast majority of his own church of 6,500 churches has never seen a black person pass through the red doors, and with the average age of an Episcopalian now over 60, whatever racists ever existed are long since dead or departed. The 100,000 who fled TEC after the Robinson consecration were not racists and have given only a tepid nod in the direction of racism in America. Racism like any other sin needs to be repented of.   The same thing for homosexual priests. Most of the churches have never seen nor have sought out a homosexual or lesbian priest. Just a handful of elite churches and their homoerotic bishops get media attention. The following conversation might well have taken place between two geriatric Episcopalians. Mildred: Are you gay George? George: Well, I am happy most of the time Mildred. Mildred: The priest said we had to be nice to gays or we would get chucked out of the church. George: He did? Mildred: He said we had to wear rainbow hats or colorful scarves on Sunday to show we were not homophobic. George: What the hell is homophobic? Mildred: I haven’t a clue. We need to google it. George: What’s a google?   Bishop Rowe would do well to listen to Pastor Rick Warren for clues on how to grow his church, before TEC sinks into the sunset. On the other it is probably too late.   The church revealed its latest figures this week and they are anything but encouraging.   Mary Anne Mueller, VOL’s earnest researcher analyzed the church’s recent findings and concluded The Episcopal Church was being cagey when it comes to the transparency of its 2024 statistics.   “Under the new Presiding Bishop’s watch the number of Episcopal churches dropped from 6,754 to 6,707 a 7% loss of 47 worshipping congregations.   The 2024 Episcopal Church’s Baptismal number is 19,624 down from 20,247 in 2023. Resulting in a -3.1% drop of 623.   “The Episcopal Church has many members. In most years, it can provide a specific count of its baptized members – 1.5 million in 2023 — based on data compiled from its congregations’ parochial reports,” he writes.   “Not for 2024.”   “The slick 26-page document is not detailed enough to actually get a clear look into the spiritual life of the church. Even coupling it with the previous year's Analysis of the 2023 Parochial Report Data, doesn't give a complete picture. As a result, the Episcopal Church has only offered up a superficial glance into the sliding statistical numbers of the church. “   Ironically the Episcopal News Service , the official voice of the church noted the absence of figures with a headline that ran; Episcopal Church omits membership total in annual report; baptisms fell considerably in the past decade.   Anglican Watch ran a headline; Episcopal Church releases preliminary 2024 parochial report data. The results are not pretty.   You can read all the stories here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/episcopal-church-releases-in-house-analysis-of-2024-statistics   And here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/tec-s-baptismal-numbers-hidden-in-plain-sight-the-actual-number-of-baptisms-got-lost-in-the-weeds   https://www.anglicanwatch.com/episcopal-church-releases-preliminary-2024-parochial-report-data-the-results-are-not-pretty/   Anglican Watch then ripped into the Episcopal Church with this story: https://www.anglicanwatch.com/its-official-the-episcopal-annual-parochial-report-is-broken-heads-should-roll/   Epic fail: The Episcopal Church is now so broken it doesn’t even know how many members it has, ran the headline. “The Episcopal Annual Parochial Report is broken. Heads should roll. After numerous committee meetings, discussions, surveys, and revisions, we have a new Episcopal parochial report format and the data that results from the report. And while we now have a wealth of narrative data about racial reconciliation and energy efficiency (neither of which the church excels in), we no longer know the exact number of church members! That’s right—the Episcopal Church cannot tell you how many members it has.”   Was that intentional? We don’t know, but it’s hard not to suspect that this is the case.   One thing the church is trying to do is add pew warmers with online watchers. But online watching defies community and any semblance of what it means to be the church. It would not be going out on a limb to say the Episcopal Church is in decline with little prospect of it ever recovering. Poor, near non-existent theology, bad morals, a focus on woke issues, an aging demographic and failing seminaries, the gig is up. It is no longer if but when the church will close. With millions of dollars in its coffers the church can keep going for some time, but at the end of the day with fewer bodies and columbaria filling up weekly, the church cannot hope to survive.   *****   But the news that startled orthodox Anglicans which broke open this week was a lead story in the Washington Post that ran a headline: U.S. ANGLICAN CHURCH ARCHBISHOP ACCUSED OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT, ABUSE OF POWER. You can read it here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/u-s-anglican-church-archbishop-accused-of-sexual-misconduct-abuse-of-power   It shook up the church both nationally and globally, causing many orthodox to take stock of the church and all it claimed to be; especially after its Archbishop Steve Wood said he would make safeguarding an issue for the church.   The lurid details included a ‘he said/she said’ relationship with a woman that while it did not include sexual intercourse, allegedly involved inappropriate touching and payments made to the woman. There were other charges of plagiarism and abuse of power that were both shocking and revealing.   I have documented it all here: Three crises that have engulfed the ACNA. I outline the three cases, including Archbishop Wood, The Bishop Ruch Trial and the Bishop Derek Jones controversy.   The Wood scandal represents the latest in a series of crises for ACNA. An ecclesiastical trial is currently underway against Bishop Stewart Ruch III with parishioners and clergy accusing Ruch, 58, of allowing individuals with histories of violence or sexual misconduct to worship or hold staff and leadership positions within his diocese.  Bishop Derek Jones faces abuse of power charges and was forced to step down as bishop of the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces. The story is still playing out.   https://www.virtueonline.org/post/three-crises-engulf-anglican-church-in-north-america   But the most egregious issue are the questions that were not asked about the bishop’s behavior before he was elected. A lot of the charges were known to the House of Bishops and they apparently said and did nothing.   Following disclosure of his alleged misdeeds in the Washington Post, that includes sexual misconduct, plagiarism, abuse of power and more, the staunchly orthodox leader said in a letter to his parish, that “I unequivocally, categorically, and emphatically deny in their entirety the accusations made against me by Ms. Claire Buxton, who was employed at St. Andrew’s,” Wood said in an Oct. 24 letter to St. Andrew’s congregants. He will fight the presentment charges.   https://www.virtueonline.org/post/archbishop-wood-and-the-future-of-acna-why-were-questions-never-asked-about-his-behavior-before-he   *****   Episcopal Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe took a swipe at Israel in remarks to executive council this past week. He urged the US Government to end weapons sales to Israel while making no mention of Hamas.   Rowe sharply criticized Israel describing the situation in Gaza as a "moral travesty" blaming Israeli forces for human rights abuses, violence, and the destruction of Gaza.   Notably absent from his remarks was any mention of Hamas's role in starting the war in the first place. The terrorist organization's continued resistance to peace efforts and appeals from fellow Arab nations to cease hostilities has fallen on deaf ears.   "The situation in Gaza and the West Bank is dire," Rowe told the council. "We hear sometimes that we must issue more frequent and stronger statements about the Israeli war on Gaza and the catastrophic effect it has had on the Palestinian people—that if the church does not issue statements, then we believe that the church does not care about this moral travesty unfolding before us or the people in our own church most affected by it."   You can the full story here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/episcopal-presiding-bishop-blasts-israel-urges-us-government-to-end-weapons-sales-to-democratic-nat   *****   SURPRISE! Church of England clergy have vowed to offer same-sex blessing services despite bishops’ decision. We have seen this before. The Episcopal Church called it exercising ‘local option’ to do exactly the same thing, and revisionists in the Church of England are repeating it.   A number of clergy in the Church of England are resisting a decision by the House of Bishops which put the brakes on moves to allow stand-alone services for same-sex blessings and to allow clergy to be in same-sex marriages.   Canon Simon Butler, an influential vicar in “Inclusive Evangelicals”, says the Canons of the Church of England do, in fact, permit stand-alone services. He has officiated at two in his church, Holy Trinity & St Mary’s, Guildford, and has used Prayers of Love and Faith, saying “They have been simple occasions of quiet joy”.   Writing for the organisation’s website, he says that in granting his licence, the bishop gave him “the liberty to exercise my ministry within the bounds of the doctrine and Canons of the Church of England”, and he quotes Canon B5 saying ministers have discretion to use forms of service for occasions “for which no provision is made”. Separately, the Rev Dr Charlie Bavzyk-Bell and Canon Giles Fraser also said they would perform stand-alone services of blessing.   You can read more here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/cofe-clergy-vow-to-offer-same-sex-blessing-services-despite-bishops-decision   Meantime EFAC issued a press release calling on bishops to restore confidence in their leadership following a House of Bishops' residential meeting the previous week. “Recent failures to heed warnings as to the consequences of these actions have already generated too much pain, confusion, cost and uncertainty across the Church of England and the whole Anglican Communion, particularly among those who identify as gay, lesbian or same-sex attracted. We call on the bishops to accept that the process has gone on for far too long. In order to restore confidence in their leadership, and to maintain unity, it must come to an end.”  You can read more here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/efac-calls-on-bishops-to-restore-confidence-in-their-leadership   *****   Please consider a tax-deductible donation to VOL’s vital ministry. VOL reaches readers in 55 countries with hundreds visiting our new website daily. I take no salary, but employ staff and maintain our online presence. Online: A PayPal donation link can be found here: http://www.virtueonline.org/support.html   If you are more inclined with checks, you can send your tax-deductible donation to: VIRTUEONLINE                                                              P.O. BOX 111                      Shohola, PA 18458   Thank you for your support, Yours in Christ, David   My Substack on the Middle East continues to grow. It is drawing a lot of interest and attention from across the globe. You can access it here: https://davidvirtue2.substack.com/   I am a strong supporter of the state of Israel’s right to exist and prosper while confronting her enemies both foreign and domestic. My latest report can be seen here: https://davidvirtue2.substack.com/p/ceasefire-what-ceasefire

By Sean Frankling ANGLICAN JOURNAL October 31, 2025   In the wake of the declaration by a coalition of conservative Anglican provinces of its intention to reorder the Anglican Communion around itself rather than Canterbury, two Canadian scholars with years of experience in the global South take different views on how much the apparent schism will divide the denomination in theory and in practice.    What both agree on is that it is not yet clear how many of the provinces within the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON) will go through with GAFCON chairman and Primate of Rwanda Laurent Mbanda’s call to sever all ties with the Church of England and its communion. GAFCON’s split comes after the election of Bishop Sarah Mullally, whom it considers too theologically liberal, as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury.   The Anglican Communion Office announced Oct. 3 that King Charles III had approved the nomination of Mullally—who has served as bishop of London since 2018 and previously served as bishop of Crediton in the diocese of Exeter—as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. She is the first woman to be elected to the office, and served as leader of the Living in Love and Faith consultation—the Church of England’s consultative process on human sexuality that approved prayers and blessings for same-sex couples, though it did not approve same-sex marriage—from 2020 to 2023. Mullally will be installed as the Church of England’s senior bishop in March 2026 in a service at Canterbury Cathedral.   GAFCON was formed in 2008 in protest of the growing acceptance of same-sex relationships, blessings and marriages among some member provinces of the Anglican Communion, which GAFCON leaders consider unbiblical. Many bishops in GAFCON have boycotted the Lambeth Conferences and other communion meetings for years. Some had already stripped references to communion with Canterbury or the Church of England from their constitutions. In 2023, the organization announced it no longer recognized then-Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, over his support of a Church of England vote in favour of same-sex blessings.    Mbanda released a statement Oct. 3 accusing the Church of England of abandoning “global Anglicans” by announcing Mullally as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. GAFCON provinces could not accept her because most of them supported a male-only episcopacy and strongly disagreed with her endorsement of blessing same-sex couples, he said.    On Oct. 16, Mbanda declared GAFCON the new centre of the Anglican Communion. GAFCON had resolved to “reorder the Anglican Communion,” reject the instruments of communion, end all participation in meetings called by the Archbishop of Canterbury and encourage its members to remove any remaining references to communion with Canterbury or the Church of England, he said. It would also form a council of primates, he wrote, which would elect a chairman to be considered “first amongst equals,” the traditional role of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Mbanda’s communique does not call this move a schism. Rather, it says, “As has been the case from the very beginning, we have not left the Anglican Communion [emphasis his]; we are the Anglican Communion.”   Announcement makes it ‘that much harder to come back’: Radner   The Rev. Ephraim Radner is a retired professor of theology at the University of Toronto’s Wycliffe College and a former missionary with experience in Burundi and Haiti. He says the new declaration changes little when it comes to the regular practice of GAFCON’s member bishops and provinces. For decades now, its member churches, including those of Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda have already boycotted meetings of the communion. It’s not yet clear what, if anything, the new statement changes about that practise, says Radner.   But he says Mbanda’s message does make an important change by effectively formalizing a separate set of leadership structures. Formalizing that difference adds new barriers to any future effort to reconcile the split in the global Anglican community, he says. It makes it more difficult for Anglicans who have been participants in GAFCON but have maintained some ties to the original Communion to keep their lines of engagement open, he says.    GAFCON did not organize itself in a vacuum, Radner says, and it is not the only party involved in widening the gulf between conservative and progressive Anglican provinces, says Radner. The provinces of the progressive Western church have also scaled back their efforts to reach out to GAFCON in practice over time, he says. They have also done a poor job of addressing the concerns of conservative provinces even as leaders at recent communion meetings have championed the call to boost the voices of the historically colonized people who often raise those concerns, he says. Western churches have made a priority off dealing with social change in their own home countries, Radner says, and this goes some way to explaining why many GAFCON provinces feel alienated from others in the communion. He sympathizes with some of GAFCON’s concerns about the theological issues in progressive provinces’ approach to sexuality—but not what he calls the attitude of self-righteousness shown in breaking communion over them.    The creation of official alternative structures to the instruments of communion makes GAFCON’s move an official schism, in Radner’s opinion.   “To set up a separate church structure with the claim, ‘we are the real Anglicans,’” he says, “makes it that much harder to come back. We have 2000 years of track record of formal church divisions and none of them get resolved or reconciled quickly. They take hundreds of years … You would have thought people would learn from this, and they don’t seem to have. Ultimately, division weakens the church. It always has. It has never strengthened it.”   Structures don’t provide a basis for reconciliation, he adds—only human charity, prayer, listening and arguing can do that.   Radner questions Mbanda’s willingness to meet with Mullally to discuss their differences before declaring he and his organization could not recognize her. “Have they ever sat down and tried to think about it together: What are we going to do? How can we move forward given that we disagree so deeply about these matters?” he asks. “This does not strike me as a mature way of responding to this kind of crisis of leadership as it’s felt and perceived by folks in GAFCON.”   GAFCON synods and individuals may feel—and vote—differently from bishops: Zink   The Rev. Jesse Zink is the principal of Montreal Diocesan Theological College and has travelled, worshiped and liaised widely among provinces of the Anglican Communion including Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, South Africa and England. Zink says this experience has shown him there is a difference between what bishops and primates proclaim and what ordinary Anglicans believe when it comes to communion abroad. The Anglican Communion is a wide and deep network of relationships among Christians, he says, not just a set of documents or leadership structures. It is more than the typical voices that get reported, which tend to be male, English-speaking bishops, he adds.   “Of course the Anglican Church is an episcopal-led tradition, but in none of our churches can bishops just sit around and decide whether or not they want to be in the Anglican Communion,” he says. They can offer guidance, but in GAFCON provinces just as in Canada, both synods and individuals may feel and vote differently. His own school has just admitted several students from Rwanda, he says, which illustrates that at least some people remain willing to form ties across the divide.   The question, he says is not only what Anglicans’ opinions are on same-sex blessings, but whether the ties of Anglican community must depend on agreement on issues like it.   “What the Archbishop of Rwanda seems to suggest is that your opinion about who you should be in relationship with turns on whether or not you agree on a relatively narrow set of issues,” Zink says. “[But] it has often been my experience that there are people who say, ‘look, we might disagree on topic X, but that’s not going to stand in the way of us having some form of Christian relationship.’”   The leaders of the Anglican Communion have often described their intentions as “walking together … despite our deep disagreement” on issues of human sexuality, such as in 2022’s Lambeth Call on Human Dignity. Zink says he’s observed that some in more conservative provinces tend to see “even the act of being in relationship with someone who holds such ‘wrongheaded’ beliefs as itself sinful.” Sometimes, that comes down to the question of who it is and isn’t appropriate to take communion with. This attitude showed itself at the 2022 Lambeth Conference when members of GAFCON announced they would refuse the sacrament of the Eucharist at worship services that included gay and lesbian bishops. In I Corinthians, Zink says, St. Paul writes that Christians should examine themselves before taking communion, but with the goal being not to take it if something is wrong in themselves—not as a way to show judgement on others.   That approach is symptomatic of a broader climate of political and social media discourse today in which people frequently deal with disagreement by cutting others off entirely, says Zink.   The other piece of important context Zink says he learned in his time visiting African provinces—which make up a significant part of both GAFCON’s membership and of the global population of Anglicans—is how competitive churches there are to attract members. “African Christians are concerned that if for whatever reason their church is perceived as inferior, imperfect, less than orthodox, other churches will point that out,” he says, and draw members away from Anglican ones.    It can be difficult to convey this to people living in Canada who are used to churches being ignored in the public sphere, he adds, but the competition is real. In many ways membership in the Anglican Communion is an attractive feature in that “marketplace,” he adds, noting the Nigerian branch is officially called the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) as a point of proud association. It shows the church is connected to a group with international credentials. “But then when the Anglican Communion does things like apparently allowing gay people to get married, it’s like, ‘Wait a second, maybe that’s not so great.’” He says. “So there’s a way in which the leaders of the church need to express rather publicly and vociferously their opposition because of the context in which they’re ministering.”   Both Zink and Radner say much depends on how many provinces, bishops and individuals choose to go along with this new vision for GAFCON.   “There are individual bishops all over the place in these provinces related to GAFCON that have varying degrees of desire to be formally separate,” says Radner. “I’ve met them.” This is one thing that may cause tension in GAFCON in years to come, he says. Often branches of the church that split once continue to split again.   “It’s the Protestant dynamic of vociferousness. When you’re always protesting, it’s in your blood,” he says. “It’s hard to stop it.”   In response to Mbanda’s declaration, Archbishop Shane Parker, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, released a statement reaffirming the Canadian church’s communion with the Church of England and its commitment to the four Instruments of Communion: the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), the Primates’ Meeting and the Archbishop of Canterbury.    Bishop Anthony Poggo, secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council, released a statement of his own, acknowledging the divisions within the Anglican Communion. The church is ever-reforming through an ongoing process of dialogue, he wrote, expressing hope that the church could find some hope of greater unity in the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals.    Drafted in 2024 by the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order, the proposals call for the church to de-emphasize the centrality of the Archbishop of Canterbury, distributing instead some of that role’s importance among other primates of the communion. Specifically, the proposals recommend the Archbishop of Canterbury’s role as the president of the ACC be shifted to a member of the Primates’ Meeting elected from each of the five regions of the communion on a rotating basis, and the Primate’s Standing Committee, a group of five primates who are part of the communion’s executive leadership, to play a greater role in calling the Primate’s Meetings and Lambeth Conferences.    Poggo encouraged all Anglicans, including GAFCON members, to participate in the process of refining the instruments of communion into a version they could endorse at 2026’s ACC meeting.   “Those who are present are the ones who shape the outcomes and resolutions of meetings,” he wrote.   —with files from Matthew Puddister

By Mark D. Thompson The Gospel Coalition October 31, 2025 On All Saints’ Eve 1517, Martin Luther changed the shape of Europe and the world forever. However it was done—and I don’t think Luther was beyond the theatrical flourish of nailing his famous Ninety-five Theses to the church door himself—when Luther’s arguments against indulgences were released on the world, the Protestant Reformation began. Luther remains a controversial figure today, and with good reason. Yet it’s still worth celebrating the monumental things God accomplished through him and the gospel truths Luther uncovered. Luther’s 1517 stand against the abuse of indulgences (he wasn’t yet at the point of condemning them altogether) rested on a series of discoveries he’d made over the five years since he’d joined the University of Wittenberg faculty. Luther had come to understand the Christian life differently—as all about grace, not moral performance or law. He’d come to understand penitence, or repentance, differently—not as a sacramental act but as the whole of the Christian life. Looming as large as any of these changes was Luther’s new understanding of the Bible. He came to see that the Scriptures stand over the church and all other writings as the final arbiter in matters of faith and Christian living. Scripture Is God’s Word Luther didn’t speak of the Bible’s authority in ways it hadn’t been spoken of before. Even if we leave alone Scripture’s own witness to its authority, the church fathers and the vast majority of medieval theologians repeatedly affirmed Scripture’s qualitative difference from all other writings. Both Augustine and Thomas Aquinas were explicit about this. And men like John Wycliffe and Jan Hus had made biblical authority part of their reforming platforms a century and more before Luther. Luther’s recognition that Scripture is the one true and living God’s written Word wasn’t new. Luther came to see that the Scriptures stand over the church and all other writings as the final arbiter in matters of faith and Christian living. What Luther did differently was explore from various angles what it meant to speak of Scripture as God’s Word. Scattered through his writings from 1512 until his death in 1546 are comments on Scripture’s nature and use that have proven extremely influential since. In different contexts, and against different opponents, Luther was resolute. Despite attempts by some historians and theologians to deny it, Luther understood Scripture to be God’s Word. In a handwritten inscription in a Bible he gave to a friend in 1541, and now housed in the City Museum in Worms, Luther quoted John 5:39, then wrote, “This is because we ourselves hold that the Holy Scripture is God’s saving Word which can make us eternally blessed. Therefore, we should read it and study it so that we find the testimony about Christ within.” Other writings may be helpful and edifying, but Luther was convinced that the Bible is uniquely God’s written Word. This truth generated his three highly influential convictions about the Bible. 1. Only God’s Word can bind the conscience. At the Diet of Worms in April 1521, Luther courageously stood before an assembly that concentrated Europe’s political and religious authority. There before the Holy Roman emperor and the pope’s representatives, Luther boldly refused to recant what he’d said and written: Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. (LW 32:112) Scholars have pored over Luther’s words in the centuries since. Most significant is the final clause: “My conscience is captive to the Word of God.” Scripture determined not only what Luther believed but how he’d act. His conscience was bound to it. No one has a right to bind the conscience of the Christian more tightly than or in a different direction from Scripture. All else sits underneath God’s Word, whether it be creeds, confessions, or conciliar statements. It’s not that such statements have no authority, but their authority is derivative and subject to the highest authority, the living God’s written Word. 2. The Bible is its own interpreter. Just prior to Worms, Luther had responded to the pope’s denunciation of him and his teaching. In that context, he made another highly significant statement about the Bible, this time about how it’s understood. Luther wrote against the pope’s claim that the sole authoritative interpretation of the Bible comes from the church. Luther had earlier argued in his Appeal to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation that this was one of the three walls built by the papacy to protect itself from criticism. So in response to the pope’s attack, Luther wrote, Or tell me, if you can, who finally decides when two statements of the fathers contradict themselves? Scripture ought to provide this judgment, which cannot be delivered unless we give to Scripture the chief place in everything, that which was acknowledged by the fathers: that it is in and of itself the most certain, the most accessible, the most clear of all, interpreting itself, approving, judging, and illuminating all things. (WA 7:97, author’s free translation) The insistence that Scripture is its own interpreter doesn’t mean we read Scripture in isolation, or without any attention to those who have read this text before us or are reading it alongside us. Luther certainly didn’t do that. We can gain many insights from those who have brought their gifts and experience to reading the Bible. They can be a check on idiosyncratic interpretations. But a true understanding of Scripture doesn’t depend on the imprimatur of a religious institution or even the academic guild. This conviction fuels the discipline of biblical theology. The whole of Scripture is God’s Word, and by reading it as a whole, comparing one part with another, and immersing ourselves in its language, we more consistently honor Scripture’s authority than we do if we wait on the church or scholarly authorities to tell us what it means. The risen Christ gives the gift of teachers to the churches, but they walk alongside us; they don’t stand over us. 3. The Bible is a means to an end, and that end is Christ. Luther loved the Bible. He spent his life in it. But he loved the Bible preeminently because it pointed him to Jesus. He was convinced this is the most important thing to grasp about the Scriptures. They don’t reinforce the power of institutions, nor do they merely confirm choices we’ve already made for ourselves. Rather, they present us with Jesus, our Savior and Lord. As Luther wrote, Now the gospels and epistles of the apostles were written for this very purpose. They want themselves to be our guides, to direct us to the writings of the prophets and of Moses in the Old Testament so that we might there read and see for ourselves how Christ is wrapped in the swaddling cloths and laid in the manger, that is, how he is comprehended in the writings of the prophets. It is there that people like us should read and study, drill ourselves, and see what Christ is, for what purpose he has been given, how he was promised, and how all Scripture tends toward him. (LW 35:122) Luther’s supreme principle for understanding and using the Bible was discovering how the particular passage under consideration might “promote,” “inculcate,” or “drive home” Christ. Biblical scholarship is good and vital for the church’s health, but if it stops short of that end, it’s worse than inadequate. Scholarship that misses Christ distorts and misuses the Scriptures. “All the genuine sacred books agree in this”, Luther wrote in 1522, “that all of them preach and inculcate Christ. And that is the true test by which to judge all books, when we see whether or not they inculcate Christ” (LW 35:396). The Bible isn’t an end in itself. It’s not a book studied to build our self-esteem or to use as a weapon to put down others. It’s first and foremost the testimony to God’s astonishing grace in sending his Son to save sinners like us. We fail to understand the Scriptures if we don’t follow them to the Christ of whom they testify. Flawed Hero, Faithful Testimony Luther said many other things about Scripture. He challenged the undisciplined use of allegory, he made a careful distinction between law and gospel, and he stimulated a whole new industry of Bible translation with his concern that every believer have access to the Word that God wrote to us. Luther’s consistent teaching on the Bible’s nature, place, and use has strengthened Christian faith right across the centuries, and across denominations. But the above three convictions—only God’s Word can bind the human conscience, the Bible is its own interpreter, and the whole purpose of the Bible (Old Testament and New) is to drive us to Christ—shaped everything else. Luther was a flawed hero. His anger and frustration with whatever he saw as an impediment to the gospel mission often boiled over into ugly and ungodly invective. What he wrote against the Jews was unconscionable. And he didn’t always listen carefully to faithful Christian brothers and sisters (I think particularly of Zwingli and Bullinger) who thought a little differently from him. He too quickly concluded that every debate was a rerun of his fight to protect the gospel against the Devil’s assaults. Yet Luther’s consistent teaching on the Bible’s nature, place, and use has strengthened Christian faith right across the centuries, and across denominations. This contribution is certainly worth remembering and celebrating. Mark D. Thompson (DPhil, University of Oxford) serves in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, Australia, as the principal of Moore Theological College and as chair of the Sydney Diocesan Doctrine Commission.

Defending Moral Principles Is Getting Riskier LONDON, FEB. 14, 2004 (Zenit.org).- 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 reorientate themselves. I would encourage them to consider that as an option, but I would not set myself up as a medical specialist on the subject -- that's in the area of psychiatric health." Police investigated the statements and a spokesman said a copy of the article would be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service. Subsequently, the police dropped the case, the Independent newspaper reported Nov. 11. The matter raised fears about restrictions on defending Christian morality, the British-based Christian Institute explained in its January newsletter. It added that the bishop's position was backed up by a lot of academic research. Even a longtime supporter of homosexual rights, Columbia University professor Robert Spitzer, recently published a study finding that homosexuals could become predominantly heterosexual through psychotherapy, the newsletter observed. Debate also flared last year in the United Kingdom over whether churches should be allowed to refuse employment to homosexuals. The government finally agreed to add a clause to anti-discrimination legislation giving religious organizations the right to exclude a person on the grounds of sexual orientation, the Sunday Times reported June 1. Still, the Christian Institute warned in its January newsletter that employers must be prepared to argue their case in court. In Ireland, meanwhile, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties warned the Catholic Church that distributing the Vatican guidelines on same-sex unions could bring prosecution. The document published last July by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith falls foul of the Incitement to Hatred Act, according to sources quoted in the Irish Times on Aug. 2. "The document itself may not violate the act, but if you were to use the document to say that gays are evil, it is likely to give rise to hatred, which is against the act," said Aisling Reidy, director of the civil- liberties council. Those convicted under the act could face six-month jail terms. Of the Vatican document Reidy said: "The wording is very strong and certainly goes against the spirit of the legislation." The limits of diversity On the other side of the Atlantic, December saw a victory for Christians. In Michigan, U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen upheld the right of a Christian student to express her religious beliefs in opposing homosexuality, reported a Dec. 5 press release by the Thomas More Law Center. The law center had filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Betsy Hansen as a result of a dispute over the 2002 Diversity Week program held at the Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. School authorities censored the speech to be given by Hansen, a Catholic, as part of the activities of the "Homosexuality and Religion" panel. Officials claimed that her religious view toward homosexuality was a "negative" message and would "water down" the "positive" religious message that they wanted to convey -- that homosexual behavior is not immoral or sinful. School officials also only allowed clergy who espoused a pro-homosexual position to take part in the panel, denying Hansen's request to have a panel member who would express the Catholic position on homosexuality. "This case presents the ironic, and unfortunate, paradox of a public high school celebrating 'diversity' by refusing to permit the presentation to students of an 'unwelcomed' viewpoint on the topic of homosexuality and religion, while actively promoting the competing view," observed Judge Rosen in his decision. Another case, still to be finalized, involves a Colorado mother who left a lesbian relationship after converting to Christianity in 2000. Cheryl Clark is appealing a ruling by Denver County Circuit Judge John Coughlin to "make sure that there is nothing in the religious upbringing or teaching that the minor child is exposed to that can be considered homophobic," the Washington Times reported Nov. 5. Her former partner, Elsey McLeod, was awarded joint custody of the child, an 8-year-old girl. Matthew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, a public-interest law firm based in Orlando, Florida, has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case. He commented that the judge gave no similar orders to McLeod regarding remarks or teaching about Christianity or Christians. "It's a real one-way street on this," Staver said. Vancouver bishop targeted Controversy regarding criticism of homosexuals has been increasingly common in Canada. A recent case involves the Archdiocese of Vancouver. The Vancouver Sun reported Sept. 24 that the archdiocese canceled a long- standing partnership with VanCity Credit Union, owing to the fact that the institution actively supports the local gay and lesbian community. The turning point for Archbishop Adam Exner was an ad campaign by the credit union, featuring a homosexual couple. Consequently the archbishop put an end to a VanCity program operating in four Catholic schools. Under the program, students learned out to save and invest their money and opened savings accounts with the credit union. A document posted on the archdiocese Web site explained the reasons for the decision. "VanCity in its advertising and by its sponsorship has publicly manifested its support for agendas which are worrisome and harmful to the Church and to society," said the statement signed by Archbishop Exner. "Any cooperation with an organization that publicly supports such agendas appears unacceptable." The decision drew strong criticism, as Archbishop Exner noted in a letter published Oct. 1 by the Vancouver Sun. When news of the move became public, it "opened the floodgates to letters, e-mails, phone calls and faxes, alleging everything from bigotry to fascism," he said. "I found myself accused of teaching intolerance and hatred of homosexuals -- something contrary to Catholic teaching and my own convictions." Not-so-free speech David Bernstein, professor at George Mason University School of Law, addressed the topic of how antidiscrimination laws are creating problems for free speech in his recent book, "You Can't Say That!" Fear of litigation, he observed, "is having a profound chilling effect on the exercise of civil liberties in workplaces, universities, membership organizations, and churches." Bernstein related how one U.S. Catholic university was beaten down by legal actions into giving full recognition to student homosexual groups. And citing several recent legal cases in Canada, he commented: "Indeed, it has apparently become illegal in Canada to advocate traditional Christian opposition to homosexual sex." On the question of how homosexuals are to be treated, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is careful to point out: "They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided" (No. 2358). Nevertheless, the Catechism is no less clear when it deals with the morality of homosexual acts: "They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved" (No. 2357). Defending this teaching, in a charitable way, is no easy task. And in the current legal climate, it could get a lot harder. END

Bishop's actions may have been illegal: Anglican parish VANCOUVER (CP) - An Anglican church defying the bishop of New Westminster by refusing to support same-sex unions has offered him a legal ultimatum. In a letter delivered to Bishop Michael Ingham on Friday, St. Martin's parish in North Vancouver said that unless the parish is allowed to control its own finances and staffing, it would ask the B.C. Supreme Court to overturn the firing of two church wardens last year. "We want our church and we want to be able to control our own destiny," parish spokeswoman Linda Taunton said Saturday. Ingham has until Feb. 23 to respond, she told The Canadian Press. Diocese chief legal officer George Cadman said the bishop was within church regulations. "The steps that were taken last year were within the canons and constitution of the diocese," Cadman said. Last September, Ingham invoked an obscure piece of church law to remove the wardens, St. Martin's parishioners say. The parishioners maintain that as a legally incorporated organization, they have the right to make decisions for themselves. They contend Ingham's actions violate the provincial Societies Act. Cadman, though, says that's not quite accurate. "The parish corporation is formed under a separate act of incorporation of the diocese which provides for parishes to be incorporated," Cadman said. "All incorporated parishes are subject ultimately to the jurisdiction of the diocese and have their corporate being only through the diocese." Parishioners say officials appointed by Ingham have changed the church's locks, fired a youth minister, closed down the parish newsletter and website, suspended vestry meetings and blocked volunteers from holding key positions. The parish has voted twice to seek alternative episcopal oversight. Ingham has said before he acted only out of concern for maintaining order in the church, and insisted he did not remove the St. Martin's officials because of their views on homosexuality. Jim Burns is one of the wardens removed by Ingham and says the views of the parish on same-sex unions are consistent with the worldwide church. It is the New Westminster diocese that is out of step, he said. "The diocese has made decisions outside Anglicanism," Burns said. "Our decisions have been consistent with Anglicanism. So why are we being punished?" Almost a dozen churches split away from the New Westminster diocese after it approved the blessing of same-sex unions in 2002. Now, three of the worldwide church's top 38 leaders have come forward to offer episcopal oversight for the dissidents. Several parishes are considering the offer by church primates from Africa and Southeast Asia, said Leslie Bentley, spokeswoman for the parishes. The Canadian House of Bishops has established a task force to see how alternative oversight can be established. "Some of the congregations are just very, very frustrated because it has taken a long time," Bentley said. "This really underscores the need for (the House of Bishops) to get its act together." Ingham's decision to sanction same-sex unions, and the broader issue of homosexuality, has caused a deep division in the Anglican church. In October, Anglican leaders met at a crisis conference in London called in part because of Ingham's approval of same-sex unions. Priests at the protesting parishes have been defying Ingham's authority since 2002. The parishes have stopped paying annual dues to the diocese and started their own organization. Late last year, Ingham closed one church. Archdeacon Ronald Harrison had said the church brought the closure upon itself by seeking episcopal oversight from another bishop. He said that a result of the church declaring itself "independent" was that its funds had been stopped and eventually the bishop was forced to close it. © The Canadian Press, 2004

Debate over gays ends diocesan convention By RICHARD VARA Houston Chronicle Religion Editor TYLER -- 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 the dispute between denominational conservatives and liberals. The American church and worldwide Anglican Communion are deeply divided over the ordination of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire and the morality of homosexual unions. Several international churches, especially in Africa, have declared "impaired communion" with the American church in protest. Bishop Don Wimberly, who voted against Robinson and same-sex blessings, scheduled the non-voting debate after successfully calling for the tabling of four resolutions that were critical of the action of General Convention, the church's legislative assembly. Wimberly said he preferred the debate rather than polarizing the church further through a vote. But some delegates, like John McGarvey of Houston's Church of the Holy Spirit, were upset with Wimberly's action. The delegation from St. Paul's Church in Katy walked out in protest Friday. "You have chosen to mute the voice of the Diocese of Texas on the matter," McGarvey told Wimberly. Most of the delegates spoke against the actions of General Convention. "The current issue of the church is not about the sin of homosexuality," said Andrea Widdows of St. Richard's Episcopal Church in Round Rock. "This is only a symptom of the bigger problem in our church. The issue is about the church condoning all kinds of sinful practices by allowing our leaders to continue in sin, instead of repenting and thus leading us to repentance as well." Some delegates said the issue was not easy to decide in a vote. The Rev. James Nutter, rector of Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, said he was a delegate to the national assembly and voted against the approval for Robinson. He said he was opposed to the circumstances surrounding the vote including the lack of theological study of the issue. But Nutter said he was still conflicted about the issue. "As I have looked at the five or six texts that are pertinent to this issue, the harder it is for me to discern whether or not there is a clear, absolute definitive ethic on homosexuality," Nutter said. The Rev. Rick Benson, of St. Mark's Church in Rosenberg, defended the actions of the national church. Benson argued that scientific research supported the view that homosexuals did not freely choose their orientation. "Science just doesn't support that," Benson said. He said Galileo and other scientists were condemned in their views by the church that cited the authority of Scriptures. "We need to take Scripture seriously, but we also need to take the reality that science presents us within our deliberations," Benson said. END

Local Episcopalians respond to Robinson consecration While some may be protesting with their wallets, others are joining new national groups. By Ann Stifter Savannah Morning News 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 protesting actions taken by the national convention in Minneapolis last August. Congregational pledges are down $219,528 from last year's pledged amount of $1.63 million Bishop Henry I. Louttit Jr. said Wednesday. Also, the diocese has an estimated 18,649 active members. As a result the Diocese of Georgia will reduce its contribution to national headquarters. "I understand the frustration of those who want to do something, but the cost is to the poor of the world," Louttit said from diocesan headquarters in Savannah. Archbishop Desmond Tutu listens to the debate in the Chamber at the Church of England's General Synod in London, Wednesday Feb. 11, 2004. Church of England General Synod members were debating homosexuality and so-called "gay marriages", for the first time since the row over gay priests in the Anglican Communion. The Associated Press In Minneapolis last year, Episcopal delegates approved the election of an openly homosexual priest to be bishop of New Hampshire. The Rev. V. Gene Robinson, who has been living with a male partner for over a decade, was consecrated as bishop in November. Leaders also recognized but did not endorse that some bishops allow ceremonies blessing same-gender couples. Louttit said he is not aware of any such ceremonies performed in his diocese, which consists of 14,000 members throughout the southern section of the state. The Episcopal Church USA is a democratically operated denomination. Louttit said the diocese has lost some members because the national decisions go against their understanding of Scripture. But other people have joined because they find the denomination brave to have taken on the issue. Votes At Christ Church on Sunday, 137 of the 214 voting church members present agreed to become part of the American Anglican Council, a Washington-based organization that represents traditional Episcopalians who believe in Biblical authority. The vote also paves the way to possibly join the 3-week-old Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes. "They want to remain within the mainstream, mainline traditional Anglican heritage which says marriage is between a man and a woman," said David Hein, co-author of the new book "The Episcopalians." Sunday's vote puts a more public face on what parishioners believe, said the Rev. Marc Robertson, rector of the historic church on Johnson Square. "Christ Church has always held the historic faith and order of the Anglican Communion," he said. "We honor the centrality and authority of Holy Scripture." The vote does not separate the parish from the diocese and members have no plans to seek alternative Episcopal oversight, Robertson said. In his diocesan convention address in Valdosta last week, Louttit said he does not totally trust the American Anglican Council. But earlier this week, a diocesan spokesman said the bishop understands the need for some parishes to join the council. "As long as the AAC remains as they have stated publicly within the structure of the Episcopal Church USA E28094 (Bishop Louttit's) not going to take any kind of precipitous action against a parish for doing this," said the Rev. James Parker. Trend Hein, the author and chairman of the department of religion and philosophy at Hood College in Frederick, Md., described the Christ Church vote as part of a larger denominational trend, of mainline American Protestants losing the hold they used to have on American religion. It's being sidelined and represents fewer American Christians, he said. "Part of this seems to be almost a death wish," he said. "The (Episcopal Church) seems to be getting out of step with people in the pews, the people in the center." The denomination shrank from about 3.3 million members in 1965 to 2.3 million today, Hein said. Hein does not believe traditionalists will break from the Episcopal Church USA to create a second American branch of the Anglican Communion. "At first I thought it might be (a schism)," he said. "But it looks like the AAC is extremely conscious of remaining in the Episcopal Church and working to prevent a schism, partly because of the property problems. "If they left the Episcopal Church they might well lose a lot of property, and some of these traditional congregations are in parishes that go back 200 years." Many Episcopalians who stand by the Minneapolis decision believe in honoring the decades-old majority-rules process of creating laws that govern American Episcopalians. Those who disagree say the denomination is straying from Biblical teachings in favor of cultural thought. So they're joining such groups as the AAC and the new network. But one Christ Church parishioner who disagrees with the Minneapolis decision did not want to join the AAC. "In my opinion, I find them to be too political of an organization," said Karl Bohnstedt. "Probably the best way to solve (this) is to change the direction of the church in a subsequent convention," he said. "I am a proponent of working within the structure of the Episcopal Church to change it around." END