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Letter To the Editor   Church of England Newspaper   Dear Editor,     I would like to clarify a few points with regard to your recent article on the closing of our Mission church, Church of the Holy Cross.     The Christmas Eve service which you referred to as taking place in Rev. Wagner home actually took place on Christmas Day. It was held there because our usual meeting place, a local recreation centre, was closed for the holiday. Secondly, and more importantly, this was not our final service. We have continued to meet for Sunday morning services and have made arrangements for a clergy presence during these services.     Contrary to the declaration of Bishop Ingham, we consider ourselves genuine Anglicans and see no reason why we should cease to act as such. Church of the Holy Cross is a community, not simply a legal entity. Every decision we make is designed to keep us in full communion with the worldwide church. We have been in contact with a number of Bishops and at least one Primate to explain our situation and seek a way forward through this difficult time.     I feel strongly that this is a critical time for the Anglican Church of Canada. The unilateral declarations initiating rites which are contrary to the proclaimed mind of our national church and international communion display remarkable arrogance and insensitivity. The self-destructive actions taken by our leadership, such as the declaration of the closing of our church amidst a time when restraint and patience have been agreed upon, will eventually lead to the severe crippling and probable dissolution of our diocese. Clergy and laity, straight and gay are all fearful and confused as to the course mapped out and actions taken by the bishop of New Westminster.     Bishop Ingham has demonstrated by his words and actions that he has no interest is honouring the clear statement from the Primates, and the Anglican Church of Canada is unable to hold him to account for failing to do so. At a January 7, 2004 gathering of laity and clergy in the diocese of New Westminster which I attended, one question that was raised repeatedly to a visiting primate was: why wont the Archbishop of Canterbury help us?. Our options are running out.     Bill Glasgow Acting Warden Church of the Holy Cross, Abbotsford formerly of the Diocese of New Westminster British Columbia, Canada P.O. Box 102 Abbotsford, B.C. V2S 4N9   END

Church of England Newspaper Number: 5699     Jan 8, 2003     The truce brokered by the Canadian House of Bishops on Oct 31 between Bishop Michael Ingham and traditionalists in the diocese of New Westminster has collapsed following the closure of Holy Cross Church in Abbotsford, British Columbia, by the Bishop.     On December 18, Bishop Ingham banned the Rev James Wagner, vicar of Holy Cross, from ministering to the three-year-old congregation of 50 forcing it to close. Archdeacon Ronald Harrison told the National Post Holy Cross brought the closure upon itself. At its October meeting, the New Westminster diocesan council voted to disestablish Holy Cross and terminated its funding for having requested alternative Episcopal oversight. Bishop Ingham told Holy Cross that funding would be restored if the congregation rescinded its request for alternative Episcopal oversight.     On December 5 the wardens of Holy Cross rebuffed Bishop Ingham saying they would remain part of the Anglican Communion in New Westminster [ACiNW], a traditionalist coalition of parishes within the diocese of New Westminster that comprise 23 per cent of the dioceses communicants, and would soldier on without diocesan financial involvement.     In response Bishop Ingham wrote to Mr Wagner on December 18 stating he may not undertake any continuing or permanent Anglican ministry for which a licence would be required . The diocese also declined to offer another priest to Holy Cross.     Though it withstood having its funding cut off, Holy Cross could not continue without a priest and the mission closed. Holy Cross last service took place on Christmas Eve at Mr Wagners home.     By refusing to submit, Archdeacon Harrison said the mission had declared itself independent of the diocese forcing the decision upon Bishop Ingham.     Holy Cross senior warden Bill Glasgow denied the congregation wanted to be independent asking whether it is our church or the Diocese of New Westminster that has in fact declared itself independent.     The blessing of same-sex unions is the tip of the iceberg , Mr Wagner told The Church of England Newspaper. The issues at stake were the revelation of God, inspiration of Scripture, uniqueness of Christ and the ministry of the Spirit .     Bishop Inghams introduction of same-sex blessings creates a sixth lesser sacrament that our Lord didn’t institute or practice, Mr Wagner noted.     The demand that Holy Cross accept this new theology and submit to Bishop Inghams unconditional authority was at odds with the Primates October 15 and the Canadian Bishops October 31 statements endorsing an adequate provision for Episcopal oversight for traditionalist congregations, Mr Wagner stated.     A spokesman for the ACiNW denied that the request for alternative oversight was, in itself, schismatic. Chris Hawley told The Church of England Newspaper: the request for ˜alternate episcopal oversight is not leaving the Diocese of New Westminster or the Anglican Church of Canada, or a declaration of independence. Holy Cross wants to remain in the Anglican Church of Canada and the Anglican Communion.     Bishop Inghams new policy, critics charge, is at odds with his earlier statements of latitude. Addressing the Anglican Consultative Council in Hong Kong on September 18, 2002, on the situation within his diocese Bishop Ingham assured the ACC that, There will be no discrimination in terms of employment or advancement or licensing or ordination against any person who in conscience cannot support the decision of the diocese to support same-sex blessings.     His primary concern was to care for people of every point of view within the diocese; to make sure that everyone was pastorally supported.   END

About 2,600 Episcopalians will meet in Woodbridge today and tomorrow to discuss the future of the denomination     By JESSICA ALLEN Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star 1/9/2004   A conference this weekend sponsored by the American Anglican Council could give area Episcopalians a first-hand view of how deep the division over last summer vote to approve an openly gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire really is. About 2,600 Episcopalians are expected to attend the Plano-East conference in Woodbridge, a follow-up to a meeting among conservative members of the denomination held in Dallas in October.     Unlike the Texas gathering, this event, to be held at the Hylton Memorial Chapel on Gideon Drive, will be open to all members of the Episcopal Church USA, without a requirement that they sign a statement in opposition to the election of the Rev. Gene Robinson last August.     Some Episcopalians opposed that election and threatened to leave the church.     The Woodbridge conference will serve as an outlet for those who object to the decision, said Bruce Mason, spokesman for the American Anglican Council in Washington.     This is an opportunity for many to respond to the actions [of the General Convention] and move forward, he said. We will discuss where we stand today and where we are headed in the future.     The American Anglican Council is a network consisting of conservative bishops, clergy and laity within the Episcopal Church. It is not part of the structure of the Episcopal Church.     The group helped form the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes, which aims to realign itself with the worldwide Anglican Communion without separating from the Episcopal Church, Mason said.     The network is providing a home within the Episcopal Church for those who are still totally in line with the worldwide teachings of the Anglican church, he said.     Last year, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury in London, suggested creating a church movement or network in America to deal with the issue, Mason said.     Down the road, it will be up to the Anglican primates--international church leaders--to decide whether they want to recognize the network as the official expression of Anglicanism in the United States, Mason said.     One of the network goals is to create a program called adequate episcopal oversight. It will assist people in orthodox parishes who feel their bishops aren’t in line with their beliefs to work with an orthodox bishop outside their diocese.     Mason said the details have not been discussed yet. The network plans to meet again on Jan. 19-20 in Plano, Texas.     The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, bishop of Pittsburgh, who is helping to lead the network, will also participate in the Woodbridge conference. The Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, Episcopal bishop of Virginia, agreed to invite Duncan to attend the event. Before preaching in another diocese, a bishop must be approved by the bishop of that diocese.     Lee, who was one of the 62 bishops who voted to confirm Robinson, said last summer after the vote that he received hundreds of phone calls and letters from people expressing their discontent over the matter.     He will not attend the conference.     As a way to clarify its stand, the Richmond-based Diocese of Virginia adopted a policy in 1994 that states: The normative context for sexual intimacy is lifelong, heterosexual, monogamous marriage.   The controversy has taken a financial toll on the church.     Many Virginia Episcopalians asked that their church contributions not be sent to the diocese. About $188,000 in pledges from parishes went unfulfilled in 2003, said Nancy Jenkins, director of communications of the diocese. A hiring freeze has been imposed as a result, she said.     We are anticipating a 20 percent reduction in budget, Jenkins said. However, at this point, 83 churches have pledged the same amount or increased pledges as compared to the 51 churches that reduced or zeroed out their pledges. Not all the pledges are in.     Most pledges from the Episcopal churches in the Fredericksburg region have remained the same or increased, Jenkins said.     The Diocese of Virginia--one of three dioceses in the commonwealth--stretches from Richmond to the Washington suburbs and over to Charlottesville.     With 86,000 members and 188 churches, the diocese is the largest in the country, Jenkins said.     Lee said he can’t predict the conference outcome, but knows a number of leaders in the American Anglican Council who don’t want a schism.     I hope people who are gathering [at the conference] will understand they are valued members of the Diocese of Virginia, Lee said. And that they can respect people of different points of view who are also members of diocese.     But some local Episcopalians fear that the conference true intent is to split the denomination.     The Rev. Kent Rahm, senior rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, said he isn’t attending the conference because he thinks separation is high on the agenda.     It seems to me the family of church ought to stay together, discuss their disagreements and allow the Spirit to guide us, Rahm said.     The Rev. James Reed, who is a member of the American Anglican Council and plans to attend the conference, said the conference is a way to discuss the issue.     Reed, vicar of the Church of the Messiah, an Episcopal mission church in Spotsylvania County, said he felt hurt and betrayed when the church confirmed Robinson election as bishop and the blessing of same-sex unions. Reed said the election of Robinson was schismatic because it didn’t represent the beliefs of the majority of Episcopalians or Anglicans worldwide.     At the root of the debate is the authority of Scriptures. There are at least seven references in the Bible that call homosexual practice a sin, Reed said.     The church interpreted the Scriptures to prohibit homosexual practice, he said. But there are a number of progressive scholars who reinterpret it to say that those Scriptures don’t apply to homosexual practice today.     Reed didn’t attend the Texas conference, but he, his vestry and a number of his congregation signed the document supporting its stance.     I don’t want to leave the Episcopal church, he said. AAC is simply making a stand for those who are orthodox in the Episcopal church.     END

Editorial from New Hampshire Union Leader     ON THE SUBJECT of abortion, General Wesley Clark simply has no idea what he is talking about. He is in over his head. Worse, his ignorance has led him to an abominable conclusion.     In an interview with The Union Leader on Wednesday, Clark said that life begins with the mother’s decision. He said he would place no restrictions on abortion even up to the moment of birth. He went on to say that neither science nor religion nor law has any role to play in abortion decisions.   He then added that judges must uphold existing law on abortion. But existing law restricts a mother’s right to choose by placing limits on when a baby can be killed. So Clarks own views are inconsistent with the law and with the majority of Americans on both sides of the issue.     Asked whether he would appoint a judge who happened to hold pro-life views, Clark first said he had no litmus test for the federal bench. Shortly after the interview ended, he phoned back to say he would never appoint a pro-life person as a federal judge because people with pro-life views cannot be trusted to uphold existing law.     Well. That automatically eliminates every traditional Catholic from qualification for the federal bench. It also eliminates many Jews and untold numbers of Muslims, many of whom believe that abortion is proscribed either completely or before a certain point in the pregnancy.     If pro-lifers are not to be trusted to uphold Roe v. Wade as judges, we suppose they also aren’t to be trusted with writing the laws or administering the federal government, which means that they should never be elected to any federal office. Sorry, Catholics, you’re just too nutty to be given the reins of government.     Partial birth abortion is a practice that almost all Americans, even pro-choicers, find disgusting and repugnant. General Clark apparently does not, as he would allow abortions up to the very moment of birth.     Medical science has found that babies in the womb feel pain and are even aware of what is happening to them during some of the second trimester, in which the law allows them to be killed. Technology has advanced to the point that abortable babies now can survive outside the womb. None of this sways Clark to consider that perhaps it might be wrong to kill these infants. And that sways us to consider that Clark is either too ill-informed or too cold-hearted to be trusted with the Presidency.   END

First Report By Auburn Faber Traycik The Christian Challenge January 9, 2004     IT WAS CALLED as a follow-up to October Dallas (Plano) meeting--where some 2,700 conservative Episcopalians gathered to stand for the faith and seek a way forward after the watershed Episcopal General Convention--but its registration has well exceeded that of the Texas confab.     Welcome to Plano-East! the Rev. John Guernsey, rector of All Saints Church, Woodbridge, Virginia, near Washington D.C., told the enthusiastic congregation assembled this evening at Woodbridge huge Hylton Memorial Chapel. The January 9-10 gathering, meeting under the theme A Place to Stand, A Call to Mission, is being sponsored by the Virginia and Washington chapters of the American Anglican Council (AAC).   We are nearly 3,000 strong, Guernsey said, with bishops, clergy, laity and seminarians, persons of all ages, from 45 dioceses in 25 states “including, praise God, New Hampshire!“ home to Vicky Gene Robinson, the actively gay cleric the August General Convention approved as the state next bishop.     The turnout is the more remarkable considering that there was less lead time or publicity for  Plano-East. agreed AAC media officer Bruce Mason. IT SEEMS A GOOD GAUGE of the gathering strength of the nascent Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes, the movement of North American faithful that started to take shape in the wake of the convention endorsement of Robinson and of optional same-sex blessings. While the actions capped some 25 years of liberal revisionism in the Episcopal Church (ECUSA), they were for many the most biblically clear-cut. Because they defied what the vast majority of Anglicans see as the plain teaching of scripture--teaching repeatedly affirmed by Anglican leaders in recent years--ECUSA decisions, and the subsequent consecration of Robinson, have led to a crisis and breakdown in communion across the global church.   We are here to worship Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life, and to gather and unite around His leadership,  Guernsey said in his welcome address to Plano-East.. We are here for solid biblical teaching, for fellowship and mutual encouragement, to offer hope to the next generation, and to gain insights into Anglican realignment and the emerging Network, due to be formally inaugurated January 19-20 in Plano, Texas.     We are here to pray for our broken church, he went on.     We are not here because of what we are against, but of what we are for the transforming love of Christ, he said. He welcomed any persons present who may disagree with the AAC.     The evening gathering and worship had begun with robust, foot-tapping praise songs, and, after Guernsey remarks, led into the Eucharist service, with Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan preaching and celebrating.     In his moving sermon, Duncan elucidated obvious parallels between the situation of ECUSA conservatives and the gospel for the day, the story of Jesus walking on the water, and Peter attempt to walk out to Him. The disciple began to sink when he became afraid and looked away from Jesus. The scripture says the Lord  reached out his hand and caught him. `You of little faith, he said, ` why did you doubt? And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped him...Saturday session will begin with Morning Prayer and Bible study led by the Rev. Dr. John Yates, rector of the Falls Church in Virginia. Among others featured on the program Saturday will be the Rev. Kendall Harmon, canon theologian of the Diocese of South Carolina; the Rev. Canon Martyn Minns, rector of Truro Church, Fairfax, Virginia; Diane Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy; A Hugo Blankingship Jr., Chancellor of the AAC; the Rev. Thomas W.S. Logan Jr., rector of Calvary Church, Washington, Andrew C. Pearson, director of AAC Affiliates Ministry     Auburn Traycik is Editor of the The Christian Challenge   END

COMMENTARY   By David Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org October 8, 2025   I have interviewed, listened too, written about and lived through the reign of six Archbishops of Canterbury, starting with Archbishop Donald Coggan in 1974 in western Canada.   Here is what I have learned.   1.     Never trust anyone who desires power and who wants to lord it over you. 2.     Realize that most archbishops’ brains turn to theological mush once they get the job. (The one exception was Rowan Williams who was a liberal catholic to begin with.) 3.     The worst example of all six archbishops was Justin Welby, who quickly abandoned his evangelical faith for a hodgepodge of views and compromise that ended with his downfall. 4.     More often than not the gospel gets lost and most archbishops become ecumenists and managers. 5.     When they talk in interviews they try to placate you with platitudes, prevarications and half-truths. 6.     In interviews they are condescending, irritating and patronizing. 7.     The last thing they are really interested in is telling you the truth on just about anything as it might damage their reputations with their fellow archbishops, patriarchs and possibly a pope. They always have one ear to the ground to make sure they do not offend someone of equal importance. 8.     Placating the left becomes the concern of moderately orthodox archbishops. It never works. The left just wants more and more. Sexuality issues became the marker of 20 th Century orthodoxy and all the archbishops caved. In 1973 Coggan said this: “We must treat them with great sympathy and understanding,” acknowledging the presence of gay clergy in the Church of England. We know how that turned out. 9.     Sooner or later the left wins because an orthodox archbishop doesn’t want to be seen as lacking in compassion, inclusion and diversity. Theology disappears out the window. 10.                        You will never hear “thus saith the lord” on the lips of an archbishop. Way too prophetic and might alienate you from your friends. 11.                        To get along is the highest and noblest value for an archbishop. You will never hear a sermon about sin and salvation, heaven and hell or the last judgement, because it is not nice to tell anyone that rejecting Christ has eternal consequences.   I have lived under, listened too, questioned and interviewed these archbishops with the exception of soon to be Archbishop Sarah Mullally who has not yet begun her reign. For the record I see little point in interviewing her as she has nothing to say worth reporting on or listening too. She has no idea that her views are schismatic to the vast majority of the Global South and that she will probably preside over the dissolution of the church because her views are at odds with 95 percent of the Anglican Communion.   Here is the general theological outlook of the Anglican communion’s archbishops.   Donald Coggan 1974–1980 Evangelical Robert Runcie 1980–1991 Liberal Catholic George Carey 1991–2002 Evangelical Conservative Rowan Williams 2002–2012 Liberal Catholic Justin Welby 2013–2025 Open Evangelical Sarah Mullally 2025– Liberal Progressive   Lord willing, I may live long enough to see a formal schism in the Anglican Communion. Who knows. I do know that at the end truth will triumph because the stones would cry out.   END

Rome Still Doesn’t Get it: Our Hope & Salvation depends on Christ’s Own Righteousness Imputed to us   By Chuck Collins www.virtueonline.org October 11, 2025   The Second Vatican Council began sixty-three years ago, October 10, 1962. This famous meeting changed the face of Roman Catholicism forever, even if their core theology remained the same. Everyone wishes that the universal church of all Christian denominations could unite for the sake of our Christian witness to an unbelieving world - a world dying to know the hope there is in Jesus Christ! Even if I could overlook some of the extra-biblical and unbiblical dogmas of Catholicism (the equal place given the Bible and tradition, the pope as God’s vicar, transubstantiation, the mediation roles of Mary and the saints, mandatory celibacy for clergy, and Purgatory), it is how Roman Catholics answer the most basic human question, “Can mortal man be right and pure before his Maker?” (Job 4:17) that is an insurmountable hurdle for this Anglican to convert to Catholicism.   Catholics believe that justification (salvation) is a process by which a person is incrementally made righteous by the infused righteousness of grace in the sacraments. Protestants, on the other hand, believe that no one is righteous -not even one, not innately and not in this lifetime. Therefore, our hope and salvation depends on another’s righteousness: Christ’s own righteousness credited (imputed) to our account. This is the gospel of which St. Paul is not ashamed (Romans 1:17,18): the power and righteousness of God. Roman Catholics believe in a righteousness that is inherent to the person resulting in his or her holy standing before a holy God. Protestants believe that our best, our righteousness, is as “filthy rags,” and our hope rests fully in what theologians call the “great exchange”: we give Christ our sins and he gives us his righteousness.   Catholics say that those who are baptized “are made innocent, immaculate, pure, guiltless and beloved of God” (Trent, Session V.5). Anglicans affirm that “we are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings” (Article of Religion XI). Is this important? It is the critical distinction between Anglicans (Protestants) and Roman Catholics. One of Anglican’s best theologians, Richard Hooker, said, “The grand question, which hangeth yet in the controversy between us and the Church of Rome is about the matter of justifying righteousness.” Luther, the chief instigator of the Reformation, said that the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone is “the doctrine by which the church stands or falls.” St. Paul wrote, “Not having a righteousness of my own that comes through the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness of God that depends on faith” (Philippians 3:9). And every Sunday in Anglican churches around the world we acknowledge and pray: “We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies...” (Prayer of Humble Access).   So since our righteousness does not depend on our moral rectitude but on God's word and declaration (“...it was counted/reckoned to him as righteousness” Romans 4:3), how does moral change fit into the equation? Catholics don’t make the distinction between justification and sanctification that Protestants do. The life-long process in which a Christian changes to become more holy is called “sanctification.” But because this process will not be completed in our lives on earth, we will always be simultaneously justified and sinners ( simul justus et peccator ) because “this infection of nature doth remain, yea, in them that are regenerated” (Article IX).   The differences we have doesn’t mean that we can’t appreciate and support our common commitment to life, justice, and the dignity of every human being. However, the big issue that keeps me from becoming Roman Catholic is the age-old problem of the first formal cause of justification: is saving righteousness imputed and received by faith, or infused over time in the grace of the sacraments? Are good works “for” holiness or “from” our holy standing before God? Although I am a convinced Protestant living next door to convinced Catholics, it is not correct theology that saves any Protestant or Catholic, but the undeserved love of a Father who loves both brothers the same (Luke 15), who came to seek and save the lost (Mark 19:45), and whose life and death was nothing to do with improving the improvable, but the means by which God brings dead people to eternal life.   Dean Chuck Collins is a reform theologian and historian. He resides in Texas with his family.

Joshua Askew South East BBC NEWS October 11, 2025   US Vice-President JD Vance has criticised a new installation by marginalised communities and creatives at Canterbury Cathedral.   The artwork features red graffiti-style writing on ancient stone walls, posing questions to God such as: "Why did you create hate when love is by far more powerful?"   Mr Vance wrote on X that the exhibit had made a "beautiful historical building really ugly".   Others have praised the temporary installation, with Dean of Canterbury David Monteith saying it "intentionally builds bridges between cultures, styles and genres".   Mr Monteith added it "allows us to receive the gifts of younger people who have much to say and from whom we need to hear much".   "Above all, this graffiti makes me wonder why I am not always able to be as candid, not least in my prayers," he said.   Canterbury Cathedral Red graffiti-style writing is on an ancient stone church wall. Canterbury Cathedral   One person behind the exhibit said graffiti is the 'language of the unheard'.   Canterbury Cathedral said the exhibit, which officially opens on 17 October, has given visitors "visceral reactions".   "I think it's sacrilegious," said one cathedral-goer, while another questioned if the graffiti makes the historic site "look like an underground car park in Peckham".   Mr Vance said: "It is weird to me that these people don't see the irony of honoring 'marginalized communities' by making a beautiful historical building really ugly."   The cathedral said the project partnered with Punjabi, black and brown diaspora, neurodivergent, and LGBTQIA+ groups.   Through a series of workshops, groups were asked to collaboratively respond to the question, "What would you ask God?"   The installation, created by poet Alex Vellis and curator Jacquiline Creswell, also features questions such as "Why did you create hate when love is by far more powerful?" and "Does everything have a soul?"   The cathedral said the exhibition speaks to the "historical graffiti" within its walls, including masons' marks, crosses and Christograms and marks made throughout the centuries by pilgrims.   "This project, at its core, is about community, using your voice, and change," said Mr Vellis.   "Graffiti is the language of the unheard".

In a resounding display of shared conviction, the parish of All Saints Church in Pawley’s Island, SC, voted tonight to sever ties to the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) and to align itself with another Province of the Anglican Communion. Over 500 were in attendance to vote on two resolutions that will alter the church’s core documents. A congregation that claims over 1,000 parishioners and deep roots to its founding in 1745, All Saints officially amended its charter to reflect a revised statement of purpose, as well as its official affiliation. The vote affirmed the unanimous decision of the church’s vestry, made in October.     The church joins nine international Anglican provinces that recently severed ties to the ECUSA an institution whose revisionist and liberal actions are increasingly placing it at odds with much of the rest of the Anglican Communion.     On two separate ballots, those present voted overwhelmingly to declare a new identity and affiliation as a church. On the first, which called for all references to the Episcopal Church to be removed from All Saints charter, the vote was 464 in favor, 42 against, and 1 abstention. On the second ballot, nearly 94% of those present voted to remove All Saints from the Episcopal Church and transfer its canonical residence to another Province within the Anglican Communion.     That other Province will most likely be the Province of Rwanda, and its missionary movement in this country, the Anglican Mission in America. That decision will be finalized at a parish meeting later this month. As people were leaving the meeting, they had opportunity to transfer their letters of membership individually, and the response was overwhelming.     All Saints Rector Emeritus, the Rt. Rev. Charles Murphy, addressed the gathering before deliberations began. He made it clear that it was not a regular parish business meeting, but a special meeting of the corporation concerned with amending the church’s official charter, adopted in 1902. His comments embraced the following points:     *The Episcopal Church USA of today is very different from the Protestant Episcopal Church of 1902 under which the original charter was drafted   *The Episcopal Church has produced, by its actions, a major realignment in the Anglican Communion whereby two-thirds of the world’s Anglicans are now in a state of broken or impaired communion with ECUSA   *All Saints Church has resisted the revisions of the Episcopal Church for years, working for renewal and change from within   *The Episcopal Church has, in effect, abandoned the Faith and Order of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.   *There are now two strategies for addressing the international crisis: either to remain inside the ECUSA and become part of an orthodox ghetto, or move outside in order to come out from under coercive structures and canons, which is the strategy of the Anglican Mission in America.     The members of All Saints obviously agreed with their longtime leader, voting to follow an outside strategy from this point on.     All Saints and the Diocese of South Carolina have had strained relations for the last three years, due to actions on the part of the Diocese to claim interest in the church’s property, refusal of the Diocese to allow All Saints to vote at recent conventions, and recent efforts on the part of the bishop, Ed Salmon, to take over control of the parish. South Carolina’s Judge Breeden has twice ruled that the Diocese has no interest in the property, which was deeded many years before the Episcopal Church even existed. All Saints will continue to worship in their current facilities, even as the diocese continues its efforts to remove them through the courts.     Overall, it was a peaceful meeting where a few people spoke on each side of the issues, with one person observing that ‘the church was ready for this moment. In a recent statement, the leadership of All Saints reasserted its commitment to its members, the inhabitants of Waccamaw Neck Region, the worldwide Anglican Communion, and Christ’s Great Commission to His church.

Statement of the Bishops of the Anglican Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo on homosexuality and blessings of same-sex unions within the Anglican Communion     We, the Bishops of the Anglican Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, (DRCongo) gathered in Kinshasa, its capital city, on behalf of the clergy and laity from the DRCongo, take this opportunity to officially express our unhappiness regarding the issues which have recently arisen pertaining to the issues of homosexuality and the blessing of same-sex relationships which we believe are contrary to Holy Scripture, and to moral law in the Third World. We therefore strongly condemn:     - the consecration of Canon GENE ROBINSON, a divorcee and an actively gay bishop of the US New Hampshire Diocese of the Episcopal Church on 2nd November 2003     - the access to priesthood of actively gay and lesbian people     - the use of the newly devised Prayer Book published by the Diocese of New Westminster/Canada for the purpose of officiating the blessing of same-sex marriages.     We believe that the above-mentioned acts clearly and deliberately misinterpret:     a) the Word of God     b) the resolution 1:10,98 of the Lambeth Conference of 1998 prohibiting homosexuality, an act contrary to Christian calling in Holy Scripture. In its position of moral keeper, the Church must do all in its power to prevent immorality and itself avoid being corrupted and in turn corrupting the whole world.     c) the work of the Commission established to study in depth the issue of homosexuality. The findings of this Commission initiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury to try and establish proper solutions to homosexuality in the Church is due in October 2004. The bishops from the Third World opposed the consecration of Canon GENE ROBINSON as bishop in their meetings at Lambeth Palace, London in October 2003. We knowingly declare that:     1 the Anglican Province of Congo strongly condemns homosexuality and wishes to disassociate itself from relations with Dioceses and Parishes involved in homosexuality. Therefore, it disapproves the confirmation and consecration     2 of Canon GENE ROBINSON, a man living openly in a homosexual relationship, as bishop in God's ministry.   The Anglican Province of Congo is in fellowship with all Parishes, Dioceses and Provinces of ECUSA and of the Anglican Church of Canada in opposition to homosexuality. It is happy to support both morally, pastorally and spiritually all Christians from every part of the world within the network of theologically orthodox churches and Dioceses in opposition to homosexuality.     3 The Anglican Province of Congo condemns every immoral act which promotes active homosexuality as a cultural norm. The Gospel purifies all culture and must be in agreement with Holy Scripture.     4 The Anglican Province of Congo rejects the newly published New Westminster Diocesan Book of Prayer promoting the blessing of same-sex union. It calls upon each and every woman and man of God to think about Gods Word relating to marriage in Genesis 1:27,28 and encourages abstinence as the appropriate way for those who are not called to marriage. The Anglican Province of Congo therefore invites any person knowingly involved in homosexuality to repent from his/her sin and return to the fullness of relationship with Christ. (Lev.18:23 Mat.19:4-6 Romans 1:23-27).     5 The Anglican Province of Congo seriously warns any of its Dioceses or Parishes that have fellowship with any such groups that are involved in active homosexuality for the purpose of material interest and support.     6 The Anglican Province of Congo calls upon all goodwill Christians to refrain from criticizing, judging or remaining silent on issues pertaining to active homosexuality ravaging the western world and to seriously pray for their return to God in true repentance.     7 The Anglican Province of Congo invites all within the network of the theologically orthodox Anglican Communion to remain firm of faith and be involved in a fellowship based on spiritual, moral, material and/or financial support to each other.     8 The Anglican Communion is a precious gift from Christ Himself that needs to be jealously protected and promoted by each and every faithful Anglican Church.     Kinshasa, 20th December 2003     For the House of Bishops The Most Revd Dr DIROKPA BALUFUGA Fidele Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Congo   END

My consecration will never affect the average Episcopalian. V. Gene Robinson, Bishop-elect of New Hampshire at GC2003     Special Report     By David W. Virtue VIRTUOSITY     The Bishop of New Hampshire is in for a rude awakening. His consecration is affecting not only the entire Anglican Communion causing whole provinces to disassociate themselves from the ECUSA, it is drying up funds to The Episcopal Church from orthodox dioceses, and now it is beginning to affect local parishes as well. Here are the consequences to one parish in Americas Heartland. A lay leader in a conservative congregation in a liberal diocese sent the following report.     The question was raised at a recent parish meeting, where is the Episcopal Church going?     We are really going through a difficult time as a result of the Gene Robinson consecration, he wrote to Virtuosity.     Since September, both our attendance and our giving has declined by at least 20 percent.  We are more than $8,400 in arrears to the diocese--not because we want to withhold it--but simply because we can’t pay it.  In pledges for 2004, we only have about $75,000 which is about half of what we had in 2003 from half as many households and not enough to keep a full-time priest, and part-time secretary, organist-choirmaster, and sexton.     And that’s not all.     He writes: I think everybody on the vestry and about 95 percent of the congregation opposes what the Episcopal Church has done.  The rector tells me there are three or four individuals in the parish who think it was a good thing.  He wants to find a way to hold the parish together and remain in the Episcopal Church, but what are we to do?     Last Sunday the rector told him that four families had recently left the church.  They told him basically, We stayed until the end of the year--liked you asked--but nothing has happened and so were leaving.     I wish Gene Robinson could come and look this congregation in the face on Sunday morning to see what he hath wrought.  Even for those members who supported his consecration, it still affects them because of what is happening to their parish.     If nothing happens--if the powers that be do not provide an alternative for congregations like ours--I fear that we will dissolve and most members will leave before the end of the 2004. At best, I think most people will still leave and we will become a mission congregation with aid from the diocese.  But I have also heard that this same thing is happening in several other parishes in our diocese.     Gene Robinsons consecration affects little congregations like ours in Americas Heartland because we have been told all of our lives that we are a [capital] Church and we do things together and what one diocese or person does affects the whole Church.     Bishops and theologians have told us all our lives that we are not like those congregational churches where congregations and pastors do their own thing.     Now we are learning the truth, our Anglican theology is coming home to roost.     END

By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent THE TELEGRAPH 1/5/2003 The Church of England may have to split in two if women become bishops, one with female clergy and one without, an official report has concluded. An enclave for opponents of women priests could be created to avert a mass exodus when women are consecrated, possibly within five years.     The faction, effectively a church within a church, could have its own archbishop, bishops, parish clergy and training colleges. But it would exclude women clerics.     Proposals for a traditionalist third province have been floated before but this is the first time they have received official recognition.     They are included in a draft report on women bishops by a working party headed by the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir Ali. The report is due to be considered by the House of Bishops this month and could be debated by the General Synod this year.     The proposals for a third province are certain to provoke a fresh bout of infighting in the Church, which is already reeling from the civil war over homosexuality.     Although they are only one of a handful of options suggested in the draft report, they will horrify many in the Church, who will regard them as far too extreme.     Liberal supporters of women bishops will denounce them as officially sanctioned schism, especially as they threaten a new set of divisions in an institution already riven by dissension.     A recent survey suggested that, 10 years after the Church first ordained women priests, up to a quarter of the clergy remains implacably opposed to women becoming bishops.     Moreover, a number of senior bishops is still resistant and the Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope, has said that he would resign if women were consecrated while he is in office.     The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has privately made clear that he is sympathetic to the idea of a third province.     The draft report, which has taken three years to complete, outlines a series of strategies that the Church could adopt if, as seems certain, it goes ahead with women bishops.     At one end of the spectrum, it could decide to make no provision for dissenters, although Church leaders recognise that this would create widespread protest. At the other, it could opt for a third province, which would be fiercely opposed by most of the bishops.     A compromise could be tried by building on the present system of traditionalist flying bishops, which was created to minister to dissenters when women were ordained as priests.     But many acknowledge that even that would not placate diehard opponents of female consecration.     END