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From Anglican Mainstream Oxford   We are delighted at the announcement that Canon Stephen Cottrell is to be the next Bishop of Reading. We warmly welcome him as an evangelist, a leader in mission and a teacher-pastor. We look forward to working with him both in the Berkshire Archdeaconry and the wider diocese. We assure him of our support and commit ourselves to pray for him and his family as they come to live and minister amongst us. Philip Giddings, Jonathan Wilmot and Vaughan Roberts on behalf of Anglican Mainstream Oxford Dr Philip Giddings  Convenor of AM UK The Ven. Paul Gardner  Archdeacon of Exeter The Rev David Banting Vicar of St  Peter’s Harold Wood On behalf of AM UK Tuesday 6th January 2004   It has been announced from 10 Downing Street today that the Queen has approved the nomination of The Revd. Canon Stephen Cottrell, as the next Bishop of Reading.     Since 2001 Stephen Cottrell has been Canon Pastor and Vice Dean of Peterborough Cathedral, where he has been responsible for the pastoral care and faith development of the congregation, and the Cathedral’s links with the local community.     Stephen was ordained in 1984, having trained for ministry at St Stephen’s House in Oxford. He served his title in the Southwark diocese at Christ Church & St Paul’s Forest Hill where he began leading parish missions and teaching and writing about evangelism, particularly from a catholic perspective. This remains the main focus of his ministry. After this he was a Parish Priest of St Wilfrid’s, Parklands, a small council estate parish on the edge of Chichester, and Assistant Director of Pastoral Studies at Chichester Theological College. The growth and renewal that happened in this church has shaped and inspired most of his teaching about mission and evangelism.     In 1993 he became Diocesan Missioner for the missionary diocese of Wakefield. It was here that he was part of a group that wrote and developed the Emmaus programme for evangelism, nurture and discipleship. This is used by about 3000 churches in Britain, and also around the world, where it has been translated into several languages. In 1997 he began working for Springboard, the Archbishop of Canterbury and York’s initiative for evangelism. This involved teaching and speaking about evangelism and leading missions and conferences in England and also in the Anglican Communion. Throughout this time Stephen and his family were based and worshipped at the UPA parish of St Thomas’, Huddersfield. While working in Yorkshire, particularly through Emmaus and with Springboard, Stephen found himself working very closely alongside Christians of other traditions. This has been another big influence on his understanding of mission and ministry.   Stephen is on the Governing Body and is a founder member of the College of Evangelists. He has served on the Church of England’s Mission, Renewal and Evangelism committee. He has been a member of the Advisory group for Anglican Church Planting Initiatives, and remains an Associate Missioner with Springboard and a member of the Springboard Executive. Stephen is also a member of the Society of Catholic Priests, a group of clergy committed to evangelism, and a member of Affirming Catholicism.   He was born and brought up in Essex. Before ordination he lived in South London, working in the film industry, and for a year at St Christopher’s Hospice in Sydenham. Along with the growth and renewal experienced in Chichester, and working across traditions in Wakefield and with Springboard, his work at St Christopher’s is the other great influence on his ministry.     Stephen’s interests are writing, reading, cooking and music. He is married to Rebecca, who is a potter, and also works part time as a Learning Support Assistant in a secondary school. They have three lively boys - Joseph who is13, Benjamin, aged 10, and Samuel, 8.     Stephen has written widely about evangelism, the work of initiation and spirituality. His books include - Emmaus; The Way of Faith (Church House Publishing); Travelling Well (Church House Publishing), co-written with Steve Croft; Catholic Evangelism (DLT); and  Praying through Life (Church House Publishing). His most recent books are Youth Emmaus (Church House Publishing); On this Rock (Bible Reading Fellowship), an introduction to the Bible, that focuses particularly on the life of the Apostle Peter; and, just published, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent book for 2004, I thirst (Zondervan). This is a book about the cross.     On learning of his nomination, he said:  I am looking forward to becoming the next Bishop of Reading with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. I hope to be a Bishop whose ministry is based upon the apostolic call to live and share the gospel.     I believe my work in mission and evangelism has prepared me well for  the challenges facing the church in this new century. I hope and pray that my love for and understanding of the different traditions of the Church of England will enable me to be a focus for unity in the Reading Episcopal area. I have always worked in the church as a Pastor and an Evangelist: I believe that these must also be at the heart of the ministry of a Bishop .     He asks that the clergy and people of Berkshire will begin praying for him and his family as they prepare for the move, seek to sort out schools for the children, and begin to focus priorities for this new chapter in ministry. He also wants to assure everyone in the churches of the Berkshire area that he is already praying for them.     His outstanding work at Springboard has commended him widely as a Catholic Evangelist in the Church of England Rev David Banting, vicar of St Peter’s Harold Wood, Essex.   His consecration will be on 4th May 2004.     +++     Bishop of Oxford’s letter following Bishop’s nomination.   6th January 2004   To clergy and lay leaders in the diocese of Oxford   Dear Colleague, I am pleased to give you advance notice that at 11 am tomorrow, the Prime Minister’s office will announce that the next bishop of Reading will be the Revd Canon Stephen Cottrell, at present Canon Pastor and Vice-Dean of Peterborough Cathedral.     Stephen has gifts of mission and evangelism which have been widely recognised in the Church of England.  In 1997 he began working for Springboard, the initiative for evangelism of the archbishops of Canterbury and York.  This has involved teaching and speaking about evangelism and leading missions and conferences in England and other parts of the Anglican Communion. He is strongly aware of the serious challenges facing the Church today, and believes passionately in the power of the gospel to transform individuals and communities.     Stephen has rich pastoral experience from his time at Forest Hill in the diocese of Southwark, a council estate on the edge of Chichester, and a UPA parish in Huddersfield.  While drawing on the catholic perspective,he has worked very closely with evangelicals and ecumenical partners in bringing the good news of Christ to bear on the modern world.  He was part of a group that wrote and developed the Emmaus programme for evangelism, nurture and discipleship, which is used by some 3,000 churches in Britain and around the world, where it has also been translated into several languages.     He is married to Rebecca, a potter who also works part-time as a learning support assistant in a secondary school, and they have three boys aged 13, 10 and 8.     The consecration will be on Tuesday 4 May.  Stephen asks particularly for the prayers of clergy and laypeople in Berkshire as he prepares for his ministry.     Full details of the appointment will be available in a press release on the diocesan website (address below) from 11 am tomorrow, and I ask you to keep this news strictly embargoed until then.     With every good wish and blessing,   +Richard Oxon   END

The following is a letter to the Archbishop:     The Right Reverend Dr Rowan Williams Archbishop of Canterbury Lambeth Palace London SE1 7JU England   Dear Archbishop Williams:   Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ,     As the leader of a small American Wesleyan Pentecostal denomination, we acknowledge a lineage through the Church of England. Our most popular Bible translation comes from your James I. Our political family and many of our bloodlines are linked. Our marriage ceremonies have elements passed down through t he centuries from the Church of England. It is conceivable that we would be paying homage to Rome today, had it not been for the Church of England.     I acknowledge that you have sufficient challenges within your own communion not to worry about those without. However; in reflection of the effect that our television evangelists and molestation scandals have had on the universal church, I wish to plead with you to consider the damage the ordination of the homosexual bishop may do to all churches.   As a rising tide raises all ships, I am afraid that a recessing tide lowers all ships and churches. I have observed your pleasing comments  about Bishop Robinson’s appointment and t rust there is more you can do.     All churches are called to a prophetic role in society, not to be a  mirror. The unchurched are looking for a way up, not a way out. Please help us counter the moral slide that threatens all cultures who look to Christianity as a moral examples.     Thank you for your consideration.   Respectfully,   Clyde M. Hughes, Bishop International Pentecostal Church of Christ P.O. Box 439 London, OH  43140-0439   END

A 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   1/5/2004 [Anglican Communion News Service] We, the Bishops of the Anglican Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, (DR Congo) gathered in Kinshasa, its capital city, on behalf of the clergy and laity from the DR Congo, 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  relation ship, 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. It20 calls upon each and every woman and man of God to think about God’s 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 Chris t. (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

By SOLANGE DE SANTIS Staff Writer Anglican Journal   Hamilton, Ont.     The decision to marry two women in Hamilton ‘s Christ’s Church Cathedral last August was either a moment of grace or a moment of error, said Rev. Peter Wall, dean of the diocese of Niagara and rector of the cathedral.   Dean Wall confirmed in an interview that he was the priest disciplined by Bishop Ralph Spence after performing a same-sex wedding in a Niagara parish. The wedding took place Aug. 25 in the cathedral with about 90 people in attendance.     Gay couples have been able legally to marry in Ontario since June, when the provincial court of appeal ruled that limiting civil marriage to heterosexuals was discriminatory and unconstitutional. However, the canons, or church laws, of the Anglican Church of Canada restrict marriage to male-female couples and the church is wrestling with the issue of whether gay relationships should be blessed.     Bishop Spence announced in early September that a priest in the diocese had presided over the wedding of a gay couple that he was suspending the priest’s licence to marry for an unspecified time and that the priest would continue in parish ministry. Bishop Spence did not identify the priest at the time. The marriage licence was restored Nov. 1.     This was a mind of heart over a mind of reason. Though I disagreed with him, I understood that, said Bishop Spence.     Noting that British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario have legalized gay marriage, Dean Wall said, I need to trust that God’s grace may be extended to same-sex couples. Here were two people who demonstrated to me that the spirit worked within them, that the light shined through.     The couple has been together 14 years.   He had met with the couple earlier in the summer and learned that they had been turned away from another church. I was showing them around the cathedral. I always thought of the cathedral as a welcoming place and I had either a moment of grace or a moment of error and I said, It is your choice if you wish to get married here, he recalled.     Dean Wall said he modified the marriage service in the Book of  Alternative Services to fit the female couple.     Breaking the rules is a dangerous thing to do, he acknowledged, but sometimes the rules need to be bent. He considered, he said, the higher purpose of living what we say we believe against the rules by which we manage ourselves.     Bishop Spence said he learned of the wedding a day later, when Dean Wall came to his office to inform him. Complicating matters was the fact that Bishop Spence had sent an e-mail to all clergy in the diocese a few days prior to the wedding, responding to a newspaper story citing rumours that an unidentified Anglican priest was planning to bless a gay couple in a garden ceremony. (The rumours proved to be inaccurate and were not referring to the planned wedding at the cathedral.)     Bishop Spence’s e-mail reminded clergy that the blessing of same-sex couples was not permitted in Niagara and that such action would be a matter for discipline.   After receiving Bishop Spence’s e-mail, Dean Wall met with the couple in his office, then prayed alone. I prayed that I could be someone who could welcome all people into the church. I believe very strongly that God loves us all with all of who we are. I hope I can be part of a church that doesn’t sanction so unkindly the way we live out who we are,he said.   The status of gay people in the church strikes close to home, said Dean Wall, who is married with two children. Significant people in my life have been gay. I had a brother who died of AIDS. They have taught me a lot about what it is to be a real person, a whole person. I consider myself enormously blessed to have lots of good examples of same-sex couples who are deeply committed to each other, deeply cherishing, he said.   Both Bishop Spence and Dean Wall said their meeting after the wedding was very emotional. I felt blindsided, said Bishop Spence, who subsequently told the fall meeting of the house of bishops that he has tried to honour the bishops’ resolution not to move on the same-sex blessing issue until General Synod 2004 discusses the question.     Dean Wall said his intent was not to defy his bishop. I have the greatest respect and affection for my bishop and I understand and accept his disciplining of me, he said.     Bishop Spence said he has received criticism that his discipline of Dean Wall was too light. I respected his ministry and did not want it to end, said the bishop. He is a creative, dynamic individual; that is what makes his ministry successful. He’s been disciplined and told not to do it again. He’s made a promise to me he would not do it again. Peter’s ministry is going on.     A cathedral dean is considered the second-highest position in the diocese, after bishop. Dean Wall, 52, is a member of the national church’s faith, worship and ministry committee and chair of the worship committee for General Synod 2004. He also holds the position of diocesan liturgical officer and is on the board of the Anglican Foundation and serves on the team leading national consultations on how the question of same-sex blessings will come before General Synod. He is also the chair of Liturgy Canada, a national organization that researches and publishes material concerning liturgy.     FORMER CANADIAN PRIMATE PRESENT     Dear editor,     Hopefully the omission of Archbishop Ted Scott’s participation in the blessing of the civil marriage of deacons Alison Kemper and Joyce Barnett was mere oversight by the/ Journal/ (October). Archbishop Scott, the former primate, pronounced his archepiscopal blessing twice during the service: first after the couple’s declaration of lifelong promises of commitment and again at the end of the eucharist. The 10th primate of the Anglican Church of Canada (1971-86) participated with the prior knowledge of Archbishop Terence Finlay and at the invitation of the couple. He was vested, walked in the procession and participated fully in the ceremony.     Hugh McCullum Toronto   END

January 8, 2004 The head of the Anglican Church in Australia, Dr Peter Carnley, has announced that he will step down next year, ending a controversial reign marked by internal church disputes over homosexuality and the role of women in the church Archbishop Carnley said yesterday that he would retire as primate and as Anglican Archbishop of Perth in May next year, marking the 24th anniversary of his consecration and installation as archbishop.     Dr Carnley was anointed as Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia in 2000. Earlier he had ordained Australia’s first women priests. He will be 67 when he retires, two years before the compulsory retirement  age for clergy in the diocese. Dr Carnley said he was announcing his retirement early to provide an opportunity for a successor to be appointed and to take up the position with minimal interruption.     His final official engagements would be in February next year. He said that over his years in Perth, there have been some ups and downs but, generally speaking, the downs have been few and overshadowed  by far by the positively life-giving and good things that we have experienced.     Dr Carnley’s liberal stance on many issues has attracted fierce criticism from church conservatives.     He has also been critical of the Howard Government’s policies on asylum seekers and the war in Iraq.     END

Special Report   By David Virtue     The president of Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh, (PEP) an  inclusive organization dedicated to unseating orthodox Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, has written an article praising incest between brother and a sister.     The short story title Weekend Practice, explores in rather turgid prose, the topic of sibling incest.   Lionel E. Deimel wrote the article Weekend Practice which is at his  website Lionel Deimel Farrago described as a diverse collection of information, opinions, fiction, poetry, and trivia. (Farrago comes from the word comes from the Latin for mixed fodder.)     He writes:  Janet and Michael had always been frank in discussing the thornier details of growing up, a habit that made friends of both of them uncomfortable. Michael was, after their mother, the next person to know when Janet got her first period. He was first to know when Janet went on the pill. Janet was a similarly privileged confidant when Michael had his first ejaculation.     Michael’s Do you want to talk about it? was the beginning of another long evening.   Evelyn arrived right on time early Monday morning. Whatever her  limitations, she was punctual. Janet was already packed. She assured Michael that he didn’t have to see her off, and she went out to the car How was the weekend? asked Evelyn.   The corners of Janet’s lips moved upward almost imperceptibly. It was good, she said. Good. I got lots of schoolwork done. I saw some friends, and I worked in some really good downtime. I even got to see Michael playing on the soccer team. He’s gotten really good. And, she thought, going to bed with Michael had been good practice.     This site also includes a celebratory poem for Playboy’s 50th anniversary.   Deimel, who says he has a Ph.D., said the idea for this story occurred  to him after encountering the phrase sibling incest.     The word incest had always brought to mind sex between fathers and daughters, and this unfamiliar phrase suggested possibilities I had never considered. I am an only child; it is hard even to imagine what having a sibling “either male or female” might be like. Nonetheless, writing the story was fun.     Deimel has been in the forefront of Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh (PEP) an organization he describes as wholeheartedly inclusive. INTERPRETATION: pansexual. PEP seeks to preserve and build our church through local, national, and international action. We provide a forum within the Diocese of Pittsburgh for the free expression of ideas on contemporary issues, where all persons are afforded respect and Godly grace and kindness, writes.     I was already an active member of Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh (PEP) when Canon Robinson’s New Hampshire election was ratified by General Convention. PEP soon found itself leading an effort to resist Bishop Duncan’s attempt to break with the Episcopal Church, and I became one of the leaders of this effort. A petition, two diocesan conventions, many press interviews, and a host of other activities later, I now find myself the first president of PEP. Alas, the fight for a diverse, welcoming Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Pittsburgh (and, in fact, in the nation generally) goes on.     There is quite a story I could tell of PEP’s campaign against the ultraconservatives in the diocese and the Episcopal Church. Were I a compulsive blogger, I would have been telling this story as it happened. This would probably have required my completely giving up both sleeping and trying to make a living, so I will be only so apologetic for my lack of diligence. I suspect that I will eventually get around to telling the story.     In an article titled BABES AND SUCKLINGS the revisionist Episcopal layman offers this analysis of the Episcopal Church: The Anglican way has generally been to agree on how we worship and not to inquire too deeply into your exact theological beliefs beyond the basics. But the people who are supporting Bishop Duncan are very much concerned about purity. They feel they have ‘the’ interpretation of Scripture. It’s very un-Anglican.     Midwest Conservative Journal writer Christopher S. Johnson unmasked Deimel’s progressive agendum saying, Read everything ever written by Anglican theologians from Thomas Cranmer, Lancelot Andrewes and Richard Hooker down to N. T. Wright, Alister McGrath and Kendall Harmon and you will not find a better diagnosis of why the Episcopal Church is dying than that one.   Look around my parish, say diversetarians like Deimel, see how many types of Anglicans there are. That man over there thinks that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world and rose to life again.  The woman next to him thinks the Gospel stories should be read figuratively while her lesbian lover, that woman next to her, isn’t sure what she believes about God or Jesus.     Our book club just finished reading the new biography of the Dalai Lama and we’ve just started a Cathar spirituality study group to see what the dualist tradition can teach us.  I hope you can stay for adult education next Sunday because we’re going to begin our ‘Introduction to Islam’ series.     But what’s great is that all of these groups can meet together to worship God on Sundays.  And isn’t that what’s really important?   No, writes Johnson, If Mr. Deimel is any indication, liberal Episcopalians don’t worship Yahweh, they worship a concept. They are rather like those French revolutionaries who turned Christian churches into temples of reason during the French Revolution.     It is indeed ‘the Anglican way’ to worship together when we have differing ideas of how the Word of God is to be interpreted.  But it is most emphatically not ‘the Anglican way’ to worship together when I believe in God as He is revealed in His Word while you worship a god of your own invention, concluded Johnson.   END

If there is no absolute moral standard, then one cannot say in a final  sense that anything is right or wrong. By absolute we mean that which  applies to all people, that which provides a final or ultimate standard.   There must be an absolute if there are to be morals, and there must be  an absolute if there are to be real values. If there is no absolute  beyond man’s ideas, then there is no final appeal to judge between  individuals and groups whose moral judgements conflict. We are merely  left with conflicting opinions. - How Should We Then Live? By Francis  Schaeffer (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1976), page 145.     Dear Brothers and Sisters,     The Robinson consecration is coming home to roost. Slowly but surely, in one parish after another stories abound of parishes suffering  financially, parishioners feeling betrayed and departing, and much more.   It is not just a matter of international opprobrium and rebuke or even  of orthodox bishops in ECUSA withholding monies from the national  church; The New Hampshire action is now filtering down to the parish level Virtuosity had predicted this would happen, as did many others, and now  it is coming all too sadly true.     E-mails coming into Virtuosity’s mailbox by the dozen, tell stories of individuals and families leaving in despair and disillusionment, taking themselves off to the Anglican Mission in America, one of several Orthodox branches of the Christian Church, the Roman Catholic Church and more.     There is also the interesting side bar of orthodox Episcopal parishes  growing as believing families leave revisionist parishes that affirm  homosexual behavior or who cannot sign off on the creeds, Scripture and  more. So in order to remain in the Episcopal Church they sometimes drive 20 or 30 miles on Sunday to find a biblically faithful parish. And when they do, they rejoice.     One layman wrote to me his story and I have written it up for you in  today’s digest. It is set in America’s heartland, and it is a sad story  of the decline of a once proud parish into mission status and, by year’s end will, in all probability, close its doors.     The sad truth is that there are some 3,465 Episcopal parishes in the ECUSA (nearly 50 percent of the entire Episcopal Church) have 37 members  actually attending on Sunday and the Robinson consecration will push most of them into extinction. It is only a matter of time.     In Pawleys Island, All Saints will make a decision tonight (Thursday)  about what they will do, that is, will they leave the Diocese of SC and  ECUSA and officially join with the AMIA, or will they not.     Liberal bishops, who have sat on the fence, are suffering alongside openly revisionist bishops as they watch the slow but inevitable decline. It is now either/or; the middle ground of compromise is fast disappearing. Many of the smaller parishes may stay temporarily propped up now that ECUSA is in concordat with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), but that is a short-term stay of execution. The  former Bishop of Colorado now wishes he hadn’t voted for Robinson.     One bitter former ECUSA employee wrote: I am seeing the destruction of two ECUSA congregations. . . bit by bit. The destruction is, I think, part of the whole death wish syndrome of sodomites. They are so anxious for the church  -- any denomination -- to declare they are sinless, that they are willing to reduce to ruin anything that appears to be an obstacle. Here and there, the destruction does give them money and power, both de jure and de facto.     A Lutheran pastor and Virtuosity reader wrote and told me this week, that things were no better in his church, and says that what is happening to ECUSA is happening to his own church as pansexualists take over and biblically illiterate, theologically flabby Lutheran bishops have no stomach to fight on scriptural grounds or hold back the flood of sad sack, feel your pain stories from pansexualists.     There is even a story about a Presbyterian pastor (PCUSA) and editor of The Presbyterian Layman about to be tossed out of his church because he urged Presbyterians to withhold undesignated gifts to the denomination because of its support for partial-birth abortion, homosexuality, and other practices that violate scripture. For daring to stand up to the powers that be, the Bible-believing Presbyterian minister may be stripped of his ordination credentials for criticizing leaders in his denomination.     Writers like George Orwell and Malcolm Muggeridge saw it all coming.   The truth is, we are just seeing the beginning of the decline.   On the other side there are wonderful stories of orthodox ECUSA parishes (both Evangelical and Anglo-Catholic) that are growing, because these rectors have a vigorous understanding of what the gospel is, and how to communicate it.     A group of some 20 top orthodox rectors in the country meet once a year to exchange stories, to listen and learn what God is doing in their lives and churches. These are parishes with 500 plus members, and while I am not privy to their conversation, it hardly takes a brain surgeon to figure out what they talk about.     The question is, do any of these men have futures as bishops in today’s moral climate? One doubts it, but one remains hopeful. No wannabe bishop would ever obtain consents if he did not agree to the ordination of women, and it is only a matter of time, if it hasn’t already come, that Standing Committees will want to hear words like inclusion and diversity if a person steps up to the plate to be a bishop - buzzwords for pansexual acceptance.     These world class rectors may have already reached the height of their careers. It is a sad indictment of the current sick situation the ECUSA finds itself in - hated by a majority of the primates, despised by Global South bishops, several of whom now openly accuse ECUSA of using money to bribe them.     The story of Jesus and the temple moneychangers now has a familiar 21st Century ring to it. There is nothing new under the sun. Money (the Western churches have it), Sex, (The Western churches are morally bankrupting over pansexuality) and Power (revisionist bishops are exercising it to abolish faithful orthodox priests) is now writ large over the ECUSA.     All the while the Global South has no money, and their churches are growing like crazy, sex stays within monogamous marriage between a man and a woman, and power is interpreted as authority, not half-crazed power-mad bishops like a Schimpfky or Bennison or Shaw who hate orthodoxy with a living passion, and who would sooner see the church die than compromise their heterodox unbelief.     What heart of darkness so fills these bishops that they can turn the truth of God into a lie? Do they not understand the Last Judgment, the final sorting out of those who believed and those who didn’t. And what of God’s first judgement descending on the household of faith. Do they  honestly believe that God will wink and nod and say, of course you changed my mind, how brilliant and brave of you.  And then the final word, depart from me I never knew you. Searing and sobering words indeed.     There is no denying it; no weaseling one's way round it. It is there for all to see. The Episcopal Church has sown to the wind and it is now reaping the whirlwind.     BUT OCCASIONALLY THERE IS A RAY OF SUNSHINE. This week the Queen announced a new BISHOP OF READING. We are delighted that Canon Stephen Cottrell is to be the next Bishop of Reading. We warmly welcome the appointment of a dedicated evangelist, a leader in mission and a teacher-pastor to this important post, said Dr Philip Giddings, Convenor of Anglican Mainstream UK. His outstanding work at Springboard has commended him widely as a Catholic Evangelist in the Church of England said Rev David Banting, vicar of St Peter’s Harold Wood, Essex.   Canon Michael Green, Wycliffe college, Oxford also gave the new bishop rave reviews. Score one for the Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries who made it possible. Jeffrey John is history.     I WROTE TO CANON PATRICK MAUNEY at National Church headquarters, the church’s chief dispenser of Episcopal largess to overseas provinces  seeking money for various projects, asking whether in light of the Province of Uganda’s dis-invitation to Frank Griswold to attend the consecration of their new Primate, and alleged bribery charges, would he still go ahead and send the money, (for the Gulu’s) even though ECUSA’s delegation was not welcome at the new Ugandan Primate’s consecration? He wrote back saying The DFMS has not declared itself ‘out of communion’ with anyone and so all our budgeted grants remain on offer and will be sent if accepted.     I’ll write to the Primate in a couple of months and see if they got the check.       MUCH IS BEING MADE ON THE INTERNET about how the AHMANSON FOUNDATION (he’s an Episcopalian) is busy funding conservative causes, some of which are Episcopalian like the Institute for Religion and Democracy and  other orthodox groups as well. There is talk of sinister efforts by Mr. Ahmanson to undermine ECUSA’s liberal bias. Really. One wishes he had that sort of power. He doesn’t.     So here’s turnabout for the books. Software entrepreneur Tim Gill of the Gill Foundation is a Colorado-based nonprofit philanthropic organization providing grants to nonprofit organizations, for people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities that make up American society.   Since its inception, the foundation has invested nearly $40 million in nonprofit organizations throughout the country, with a focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and HIV/ AIDS organizations and non-LGBT organizations located in Colorado. With an endowment of approximately $200 million, the Gill Foundation is the country’s largest funder of LGBT organizations. Does ECUSA’s Integrity org. get money from the Gill Foundation and where did the $300,000 war chest come from that was used to push the PR campaign for Robinson’s confirmation at GC2003?   Inquiring minds want to know?     THEN THERE’S THE NEW BISHOP-ELECT one James Cowan, 52, of the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia “ essentially Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands (13,400 souls) who said in an interview that it’s time for Anglicans to take a page out of some of the New Age spiritual movements. I hope to set up, fairly soon, a discussion in the diocese about what evangelism for this diocese looks like, he said. This is a very different age. Missionaries would talk about the faith and compare the two faiths, and sometimes there would be baptisms and conversions and sometimes there wouldn’t. But the dialogue was always between people who believed in something. Now, for the first time, you have a complete generation or perhaps more where they claim no religious affiliation.     He said the answer might be in the New Age movement. Perhaps he and New Westminster bishop Michael Ingham can seek enlightenment together while banging Native American drums and dancing in circles, or they could  invite Frank Griswold out to the Pacific Northwest teach them both how to dance the Circle Dance of Dispossession. It did wonders for ECUSA’s House of Bishops, God knows what it will do for Canada’s flaky lot of  Purple.     I AM POSTING A NUMBER OF STORIES in today’s digest that should be of interest to you. Based on the Biblical injunction let another man/woman praise thee and not thine own lips, I am posting a story from the Washington TIMES about the Internet and its impact on The Episcopal Church. VIRTUOSITY and this writer receives a favorable review. The writer is Culture Editor Julia Duin.     PLEASE NOTE THAT STORIES ARE NOW BEING POSTED DIRECTLY TO THE WEBSITE  ON A DAILY BASIS. You can keep up with the news as it breaks. It’s all  on the front page. www.virtuosityonline.org .     CORRECTION: In my last digest I said that four ECUSA dioceses - Springfield, Florida, Central Florida and South Carolina held special Diocesan Conventions to discuss the crisis in ECUSA. That was incorrect.  Springfield held it’s annual synod in October. There was not a special synod. The fourth diocese was Pittsburgh.     By the time you receive this digest I will be in Charleston, SC to cover the Anglican Communion Institute’s annual meeting with scholars, Primates and bishops coming together to discuss the issues of the day. I will post directly to the website as the news breaks.   PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT to cover this ministry with your prayers and support it with your charitable dollars. For me to get you the news I do need your support. You can make a tax-deductible donation at the website  www.virtuosityonline.org and hitting the PAYPAL link. You can send a check by snail mail to: David W. Virtue, VIRTUOSITY, 1236 Waterford Road, West Chester, PA 19380. Thank you for your support.   All Blessings,   David W. Virtue DD   END

By Jay L. Greener Jan 8, 2004   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 AnglicanCommunion. 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 Provinces 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.   END

The following graphic image is a province map of ECUSA, showing the believed current status of each diocese regarding the consecration of Gene Robinson, and the believed relationship of the dioceses to the new confessing network. The dioceses who have endorsed the network, or probably will, are shown as purple. We recognize that this is a dynamic map, and it will be corrected, changed and redistributed as needed. It is offered to further the understanding of how the politics of the current situation is affected by geography.     END

By Kelly Marshall The Sun News Myrtle Beach     The congregation of All Saints Waccamaw Episcopal Church will take a historic vote Thursday night when members decide whether to split from the Episcopal Church USA or join the conservative Anglican Mission in America. The move comes during a turbulent time for the 264-year-old Waccamaw Neck church.     It has been engaged in a three-year fight with the diocese over ownership of church property and a recent attempt by Bishop Edward Salmon to remove 12 church leaders.     While other churches have disagreed with the appointment of an openly gay bishop in August and many have threatened to separate from the Episcopal Church USA, All Saints was one of the first churches in South Carolina to vote to leave and operate under an archbishop from a different province.     I’m not aware of any other parishes that are doing that, said Bruce Mason, spokesman for the American Anglican Council. Churches have been amazingly patient. We’ve been encouraging parishes to hang in there a little bit longer.     We want to find a way for them to network with one another. There has not been a mass flight.     Members of All Saints disagree with the liberal stance taken by the Episcopal Church USA, said church spokesman Russ Campbell.     The bishop learned last month the church would vote to leave the union. He tried to remove 12 church leaders after he said they participated in schismatic actions. He said the church cannot remain part of the diocese if they are not part of the Episcopal Church USA.     The move was not successful because Salmon could not prove All Saints was a distressed or troubled parish, Campbell said.     Salmon also objects to a change in the church’s charter reflecting its split from the national church.     Representatives from the diocese met Monday with leaders from All Saints, said Craige Borrett, president of the diocese standing committee.     He said the leaders discussed ongoing issues in the church. He does no t know if they will attend Thursday’s meeting.     I’m praying that God will work through the leadership to resolve this situation, he said. I think the atmosphere at Monday’s meeting was very positive and helpful to everybody.     If the congregation votes to leave the national church, Campbell said he does not know when the split would happen. After Thursday’s vote, the church members will possibly change their church mission statement to reflect their split with the Episcopal Church USA.     By leaving the communion, we leave the bishop in America and go to an orthodox bishop, Campbell said.     The church also is still battling an attempt by the diocese to claim 50 acres of church property. That dispute went to court, which ruled in favor of All Saints, saying the diocese and Episcopal Church have no legal interest in the property.     All Saints was formed in 1745, before the Episcopal Church and the diocese were established, Campbell said.     The diocese appealed, and both sides await a ruling from the state appeals court.     END

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 of Canon GENE ROBINSON, a man living openly in a homosexual relationship, as bishop in God’s ministry.   2. 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 God’s 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   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 America’s 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 we’re 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 Robinson’s consecration affects little congregations like ours in America’s 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