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By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent THE TELEGRAPH 13/01/2004     The Church of England lost 100,000 worshippers between 2000 and 2002, according to figures that will make gloomy reading for the clergy.     The decline of nearly eight per cent is greater than some statisticians expected.     Figures show signs of growth in attendance among the young   In 2002 the average number of people attending a church at least once a week was 1,166,000, down from 1,274,000 two years earlier, the Churchs provisional figures show. The average number going to a service on Sunday but not during the rest of the week was 1,002,000, down from 1,058,000 in 2000. Between 2001 and 2002, one diocese lost 5,600 weekly worshippers and another lost 4,700.     But the Church said there were signs of growth among young people, with the average number of under-16s attending church at least once a month increasing by one per cent between 2001 and 2002.     It is evidence for the first time in a long time that the rapid decline in the numbers of young people going to church may have stopped, a Church of England spokesman said.     Peter Brierley, the executive director of Christian Research, an independent organisation, said the overall drop was worrying and needed urgent attention. Dr Brierley, a former Government statistician, predicted that the decline could speed up after about 2020 when ageing churchgoers died.     He said his research suggested that smaller churches tended to do better than larger ones. A few churches, mostly evangelical, were growing.     The Church’s official figures show that a number of dioceses, including London, Exeter and Manchester, added to their numbers between 2001 and 2002.     Others suffered dramatically. Blackburn lost 3,000 worshippers at weekly services, Liverpool lost 3,000, Lichfield 4,700 and Chester 5,600.   END

By RICHARD N. OSTLING .c The Associated Press     PLANO, Texas (AP) - Episcopalians opposed to a gay bishops consecration and other liberal church trends are threatening to establish a ``church within a church that could pose a significant threat to leaders of the denomination.     A two-day meeting beginning Monday of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes involves conservative bishops, clergy and lay delegates from 12 dioceses with 235,000 members, a tenth of the nation’s Episcopalians. The networks temporary leader, Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, says the meeting will give traditionalists ``some sense there is a future.     Delegates will adopt an organizational charter, elect leaders and debate how to help conservative parishes in liberal dioceses. Planners insist the network isnt a breakaway denomination or schism, but a ``church within a church.     Outside observers and reporters have been barred from the meeting and the network has been tightlipped about most details, including who wrote the charter draft and what it proposes. One reason conservative parishes don't want to officially leave the church is that under secular law they usually surrender their properties to the denomination. The Rev. Donald Armstrong, a delegate representing Midwestern and Mountain states, says of his Colorado Springs, Colo., parish, ``Weve got a $12 million facility and we can’t just walk away from it.     The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the international Anglican Communion, consisting of denominations that stem from the Church of England. Many foreign Anglican churches have denounced or broken fellowship with the Episcopal Church over its November consecration of New Hampshire's V. Gene Robinson, who has lived for years with a gay partner.     A dispute over network intentions last week showed the edginess of the moment. A leaked memo from a network leader said the ``ultimate goal was a ``replacement jurisdiction aligned with the conservative majority in world Anglicanism.     The host bishop, James Stanton of Dallas, says calling the network schismatic ``gets things exactly backwards because ``the act of schism was the national denomination's approval for Robinson.     On Sunday night Canon David Anderson, president of the American Anglican Council that is helping organize the network, charged that attacks were unleashed to "derail the network meeting."     Anderson said the Episcopal Church’s actions created the need for a new structure through which orthodox Episcopalians can remain in full fellowship with Anglicans worldwide, and any replacement" is up to overseas Anglican leaders who suggested the idea.     Within the United States, the crunch point is likely to involve conservative congregations existing under pro-gay bishops. The Episcopal Church's presiding bishop, Frank Griswold, has proposed a plan for temporary visiting bishops for disgruntled conservatives, but network leaders say its inadequate.   Parishes in 37 dioceses have applied to the network to provide visiting bishops. An ecclesiastical tangle would result if the network sends bishops into dioceses without permission from regular local bishops.     Last week’s leaked memo said such disobedience of church law ``may be necessary and conservatives should be prepared to risk trials in church or secular courts.     However, Bishop Stanton opposes such lawbreaking. He wants a positive tone so the network can gain further support among the 43 Episcopal bishops who voted against the elevation of Robinson. Sixty-two bishops backed Robinson.     END

With regard to your article entitled Dissident Anglican Parish back in fold, I wish to clarify the situation.  Bishop Michael Ingham, through his appointed wardens, is forcing the parish to rejoin the diocese.  The last parish vestry meeting clearly instructed the elected trustees and wardens, who have since been dismissed by the bishop, to continue allegiance with the ACiNW.  The bishop will not hold another vestry meeting because he knows that a clear majority of parishioners would vote against him.  He must be held accountable for his actions.   Florence Wilton,  St. Martins Parishioner----------------     As a member of St. Martins for the past 25 years, none of Bishop Ingham’s appointed wardens speak for my wife and I or the majority of members of St. Martins.   Bishop Ingham has disobeyed the House of Bishops, the worldwide Anglican Communion, and breached the obligations he swore to when Consecrated - specifically, to be an instrument of unity in the church, and uphold the teachings of the church.  He answers to no one.  He has portrayed the dissenting parishioners of St. Martins as homophobic and divisive rebels, even though we are in keeping with what Anglicans believe around the world.                                                                      Gordon & Erica Barrett   ---------------     I am rarely moved to write letters to the editor, but I find that I simply must protest Douglas Todd’s article today. Regardless of what the Diocese of New Westminster may be claiming, the majority of parishioners at St. Martins have NOT agreed to the things which the bishops warden may be suggesting.  They have not been allowed to express any opinion in a democratic fashion since the bishop took over, so how these claims can be made as though they were the will of the parish defies any definition of truth.  It is quite clear, if the facts are investigated, that a handful of diocesan appointees are making unilateral decisions on behalf of the diocese, and claiming that these are the decisions of the parish.  The diocese may make whatever claims it wishes, using whomever may be willing to be used as their spokespersons, but that does not establish those claims as true.          In fact, the leaders chosen by the legitimate vote of the parishioners have been systematically removed and replaced since the diocesan takeover.  Every person in any position of leadership or authority (right down to the Sunday school teachers) who do not agree with the bishop or the diocese have been removed or barred from exercising ministry in the parish.  The parish has not been consulted regarding their wishes, nor have they been afforded any opportunity to make decisions about the future of the parish. It is difficult to imagine how this could be construed as a way forward.  When the expressed wishes of the people are being ignored, when their right to be consulted about the future of their own parish is being denied, and when they are being dictated to by unelected leaders appointed to do the will of the diocese it is difficult to imagine how any sort of wonderful sense of community can possibly be built.       Sincerely, Linda Seale Chairperson of the ACiNW media committee.     ----------------     For Douglas Todd to say that the lay leadership of St. Martins has decided to return to the fold by restoring relations with the Diocese of New Westminster is to imply that Lindsay Buchanan (cited in the article) and the other wardens appointed by Bishop Michael Ingham somehow have the moral and legal authority to make such a decision. However, these wardens do not enjoy the support of the majority of parishioners of St. Martins. If they think they do, they should call a vestry meeting to see if they can persuade others to their point of view. Fat chance.       Gerry & Linda Taunton St. Martin Parishioners North Vancouver, BC     ----------------     For Douglas Todd’s report in the Vancouver Sun, Fri. Jan. 16, to truly be factual & complete, the following items must be included. I presume this to be your mandate to your readers.     On Sept 7, the Bishop FIRED the entire elected Church Committee, as well as the Newsletter Editors, Roster of Collection Counters, Telephone Coordinator & even the Youth Pastor. He then imposed a form of MARTIAL LAW.   How could these actions help St. Martins?   On Sept. 28, an ALL-Parishioners Vestry meeting was held. Trustees were confirmed, Wardens, Treasurer and a full slate of committee members democratically elected, but are ignored.     The Lay leadership consists of an Interim priest & the three (3) imposed Wardens. This in spite of the fact they represent 22% of the Parish, while 78% Orthodox/Conservative Parishioners are being told follow me or leave.     Since when does the Minority rule - only in the Diocese of New Westminster you say!   John Hopkins North Vancouver B.C.   END

by: BOBBY ROSS JR. Associated Press Jan. 17, 2004     PLANO, Texas - The Rev. Canon David Roseberry has built the congregation he started in 1985 with 13 members into the Episcopal church that boasts the largest attendance in the nation.     His success with the flourishing Christ Church Episcopal - which draws 2,200 worshippers each weekend to this Dallas suburb - has helped make him a national leader in the conservative revolt against his denomination’s consecration of an openly gay bishop.     I feel like a very unlikely leader for all of this, said the 48-year-old rector, whose church will welcome a constituting convention of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes next week. Yet the upcoming meeting puts him, once again, in the thick of the debate over homosexuality within his denomination.     The conventions aim will be to produce a church-within-a-church arrangement, so that Episcopal conservatives - estimated by opponents as roughly 15 percent of the denominations 2.3 million members - can work together directly. Its relationship to the Episcopal Church’s national structure is still emerging.     Bishops, clergy and lay delegates from as many as a dozen conservative dioceses plan to develop an organizational charter and a theological platform during the two-day session, which starts Monday.   Roseberry’s high-profile role doesn’t surprise the Rev. Alden Hathaway, a former Pittsburgh bishop who became the priests mentor after a chance meeting in Tucson, Ariz., two decades ago.     He’s a natural leader, said Hathaway, now retired and living in Tallahassee, Fla. I think one reason why is the way he sees himself. He doesn’t have any aspirations or any ego or any need to put himself forward at all.       When Hathaway first met Roseberry in the early 1980s, the recent seminary graduate was divorced and out of sorts, unsure what he believed. After two years of ministry in his native Arizona, Roseberry said, he was out of gas and had no strength.     I was preaching a kind of open-ended, God-loves-you, easy gospel, and I realized that people weren’t changing.     Hathaway challenged him to take a giant leap of faith and trust the Scriptures.     Roseberry said emphasis on the Bible as the error-free word of God was a new concept for him and changed his approach to ministry. When he started Christ Church, he said, he wanted a parish as rooted in the Scriptures as ceremonial tradition.     His vision of a Bible-believing church plays heavily in his opposition to the Episcopal General Conventions approval last August of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as New Hampshire bishop. Robinson has lived openly with his male partner for 14 years.     There are fewer subjects about which the Bible is more clear than homosexuality, Roseberry said.     For those on the other side, however, the issue is far less clear-cut.     The Rev. Canon Mark Harris, a Delaware priest, said he finds it offensive when conservatives such as Roseberry so easily dismiss progressive interpretations of the Bible.     I’m glad (Roseberry) is struggling with Scriptures, said Harris, past director of the Global Episcopal Mission Network. It just happens when I struggle with them, I come out in a different place as to whether gays and lesbians ought to have a place in the church.     After the General Conventions vote in Minneapolis, Roseberry resigned as a delegate and booked a flight home.     In October, his church hosted a meeting of 2,700 Episcopal traditionalists at a Dallas hotel. Roseberry moderated the meeting and helped take the groups concerns to Anglican Communion primates in London.     As he has spoken out, his own past has drawn scrutiny. A Dallas Morning News columnist noted that Roseberry’s divorce would disqualify him as a minister or even deacon in many churches.     I confessed my sin, Roseberry told The Associated Press. God gave me a new chance.     He and his second wife, Fran, married 20 years ago. He adopted her two children and they had two of their own.     Christ Church combines the liturgy and communion of Roseberrys youth with a biblical emphasis that he suggests most Episcopal churches lack. The musical program ranges from the 18th century All Hail The Power of Jesus Name to the 21st century Here I Am To Worship. The mix of sacred rites and evangelical-style preaching drew John Bock, who grew up Roman Catholic, and his wife, Melody Bock, who was raised Southern Baptist. An estimated 75 percent of parishioners had no Episcopal ties before joining Christ Church.     God didn’t call me to be Baptist, Methodist or anything else, said Melody Bock, 44. He called me to be his child.     But while denominational labels mean nothing to many of Roseberry’s parishioners, the Episcopal rift deeply troubles their priest.     The Episcopal Church that I’ve given my life to and that really raised me has a rip in the hull that is going to send it to the bottom of the ocean in just a matter of decades, he said. I don’t want to have wasted my life on a sinking ship.       http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/7731919.htm     END

By David W. Virtue   Dear Brothers and Sisters,     If the orthodox in ECUSA want to beat the revisionists there is one  simple way to achieve that. There is a strategy that will work. They must pick a certain Sunday and 50 orthodox bishops, (active and retired) and acting together, cross diocesan lines and go into claim faithful parishes against the local revisionist diocesan bishop.       If that happens there is no way that all 50 bishops would be presented against, (the HOB couldn’t present either Bennison or Duncan, they are constitutionally impotent), and there isnt enough money in all those diocesan coffers for bishops to sue to take the parishes back in the likelihood the rectors would be deposed and inhibited. In short it would be a slam dunk for the orthodox. Alternative Episcopal Oversight (AEO) becomes a reality and not the wishy, washy pastoral care notions currently being floated by Frank Griswold to the Anglican Communion, and rejected by the American Anglican Council. Why wont it work Because there is no way the orthodox bishops could or are able to get their act together or focus on a single strategy and agree on a date and time. (So far only 13 bishops have signed on to the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes.)       But the simple truth is, it could work. Power lies in numbers. We know that. Over the years the revisionists went from a minority to a majority and they are using their power now to ruthlessly extirpate the orthodox while making sure that in the process the orthodox go on paying the bills for their liberal agenda even as they are being pushed out the door. (Please leave your buildings, the key and endowment at the front door as you leave). Have a Nicene day.       It is brilliant, clever, devilish and ultimately from the pit. It is the strategy of Satan in the human form of 62 revisionist bishops, with hundreds of priests fed from seminaries that have a reductionist gospel with no Good News to proclaim, except for something called inclusion and diversity and by extension the failure to preach that gospel declare those in opposition as homophobic.       THE AMERICAN ANGLICAN COUNCIL statement is not without its errors. There are two fundamental mistakes in the AAC statement attached to the bishop’s letter. In the Frequently Asked Questions portion, there is a reference to Philadelphia and to not declaring that you have abandoned the communion of the church. This apparent reference to Father Moyer is completely incorrect. Father Moyer never abandoned the communion of the church. Bennison falsely and fraudulently used the abandonment of communion canon to deny Father Moyer a trial. Secondly, the AAC needs to recognize that Father Moyer was right and that AAC  priests have the duty to reject the sacramental ministry of revisionist bishops. The present strategy of one bishop crossing lines to rescue one parish only leads to confusion, despair, the danger of presentment against that one bishop and inhibition and deposition of the priest. Power lies in the numbers.       IN CANADA, the 11 parish priests in The Anglican Communion in New Westminster (ACiNW) who have successfully been holding Michael Ingham the revisionist Vancouver bishop from acting against them are growing weary with the six-year old battle. Time is running out. Half of the priests are here in Destin at the AMIA conference trying to figure out their future. They hold no hope for the Task Force set up by the Canadian House of Bishops to save them and they are probably right.       Furthermore, Ingham is ratcheting up the pain by moving against two parishes, Holy Cross in Abbotsford and St. Martins in North Vancouver. He destroyed Holy Cross and has taken back the other. The lay leadership of St. Martins parish in North Vancouver has decided to go through official Anglican channels to hire a replacement priest and to stop its protest of withholding annual dues to the diocese, according to a newspaper report. Ingham had thrown out the original vestry, retired the rector, locked the doors, and cajoled the parishioners so they either left or gave in. As most are fairly old and have nowhere to go they give up the fight. The bully Ingham won.       The big crisis will erupt when the remaining nine decide what they will do. But even they are divided. Big parishes like St. Johns Shaughnessy have multi-million dollar properties, endowments and more to protect and don’t see the AMIA as their savior. A Chinese Anglican congregation, on the other hand, meets in a warehouse. They have little to lose. But some of the other parishes do see the AMIA as their hope. We shall know more soon.       BUT THE BIG NEWS THIS WEEK OCCURRED when a bombshell was dropped over a private memo written by the Rev. Geoffrey Chapman an AAC board member and leaked to the Washington POST and picked up by the Associated Press and blasted around the Internet. (It is on Virtuosity’s front page www.virtuosityonline.org .)       What he said was this. The AACs ultimate goal is a realignment of Anglicanism on North American soil committed to biblical faith and values, and driven by Gospel mission. We believe in the end this should be a replacement jurisdiction with confessional standards, maintaining the historic faith of our Communion, closely aligned with the majority of world Anglicanism, emerging from the disastrous actions of General Convention (2003).       But Chapman does not speak or make policy for the AAC and their media man Bruce Mason stepped up to the plate to say as much. But the damage was done and reactions flowed think and fast. Louie Crew, ECUSAs First Sodomite likened it to Watergate and I have weighed in on Crews false assessment.       Bishop Don Johnson of West Tennessee falsely accused the AAC of deceitfulness and subversive sabotage and vowed to purge his diocese of any association with the AAC. The AAC fired back saying, We are deeply concerned about the individuals, clergy and congregations in West Tennessee who are affiliated with AAC, and we stand in full solidarity with them.  We urge Bishop Johnson to refrain from punitive action, harassment or intimidation of the people under his care who uphold historic Anglican faith and order and whose affiliation with AAC provides them a place to stand. The American Anglican Council wants a church within a church which is not a parallel jurisdiction. This is just one more case where the ugly head of revisionism has reared its head.       But a lay person wrote crying Help! We in West Tennessee are now under attack. Our Bishop has been constantly reminding us that he voted No in Minneapolis, but his real agenda is now apparent. I wondered how long it would take. We have some scripturally faithful clergy in this town, but they dont stand a chance. Another layman, a doctor, who knows the bishop said Johnson cried when he said he voted no at GC2003, he felt he had betrayed his gay brothers and sisters. It was the timing he didnt like.       AND IN VERSAILLES, KENTUCKY, Bishop Stacy Sauls outdid himself in stupidity when he dismissed the leadership of St. Johns Episcopal Church in that town because he thought the parish was going to split over the consecration of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson. He downgraded the church from a parish to a mission. But the dismissed members of the parish’s vestry said they never planned to take the assets and weren’t preparing to abandon the denomination. All they wanted was alternative episcopal oversight from a more conservative bishop. And the result: The move split the church and led to the creation of a new, independent congregation. Sauls should see a brain surgeon.       HERE IN DESTIN, FLORIDA WHERE THE AMIA is holding its fourth annual winter conference, Kenyan Archbishop Benjamin M. P. Nzimbi sent his greetings saying, God is in our midst in all we are doing. He knows our struggles. God wants us to walk in the light. Be encouraged brothers and sisters. Put your faith in God and you shall not be moved. Brothers and sisters here in Kenya are praying for you. The AMIA now has seven Primates on board, and while not formally endorsing the AMIA, their presence here and letters of support should give Frank Griswold heartburn.       And Bishop Thad Barnum turned up the heat on Griswold at an evangelistic worship service before 900 folk. He said he was not a wolf in sheep’s clothing, you can see his tail. He has spit upon our Savior. Indeed.       And in the ongoing struggle about who owns the property of All Saints, Pawleys Island, it would appear that Bishop Salmon may have overplayed his hand in dumping the vestry and appointing his own. On Friday morning after the overwhelming vote by the parish to secede from the diocese was passed, someone from the new parish went down to Atlanta and filed the new corporation papers in the State Dept. A State Dept. official stamped it validating the new corporate entity. If the bishop wants the parish he will now have to sue both the state and the new corporation. This comes hard on the heels of two rulings by Judge John Breeden that the diocese had no interest in the property. I am running Bishop Salmons letter to the parish in todays digest, but there will be further commentary on it at a later date. This is a messy complicated business, but it would seem that in the near future the parish is safe in the hands of the AMIA until the next round of court action.       IN AUSTRALIA, The Anglican Church of Australia faces a major change of direction in the wake of Archbishop Peter Carnley’s announcement that he intends to retire as Primate next year. The church’s evangelical wing - based in the biggest diocese, Sydney - has its best chance in years to elevate a member to the top job. At 59, Archbishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen is a relatively youthful bishop and could win. If he does it would be the first Western province to have an openly orthodox primate running it. Don’t pop the champagne cork yet, there are more liberal archbishops than orthodox in that country and the fat lady hasn’t sung yet.       AND VIRTUOSITY has learned that there will probably not be a meeting of the Primates in March this year. They are waiting for the outcome of the  Eames Commission report in September. Then they will decide if they are going to meet.       When I asked Primate Yong Ping Chung (South East Asia) if Frank Griswold turned up what he and his fellow orthodox Primates would do he said, We have broken communion with Griswold and we would not break bread with him. Walking out is a real possibility. The wild card is Nigerian Primate Peter Akinola and he IS the biggest player in town. What he decides could swing all the other orthodox provinces.       Word has also been received that if the Communion does break up after the Eames report, the conclusion being unsatisfactory for the orthodox Primates, then it wont be a federation (touted by Rowan Williams) but a new Anglican Communion with Africa, South East Asia, Southern Cone (and Australia if Jensen wins Carnley’s job). Now I wonder who will tell the Queen. Your majesty we have some bad news for you. Dr. Williams is history and Lambeth Palace would make a nice hotel. Oh and by the way the next Lambeth conference will be held in Lagos, you are welcome to come...and yes we do have Liptons tea bags, but bring your own water, ours leaves much to be desired.       The Organizing Convocation of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes will be held next week on Monday, January 19 and Tuesday, January 20, 2004, at Christ Church, Plano, Texas. The Network is being formed within the Episcopal Church and the Convocation will include representatives from 12 Episcopal dioceses. Virtuosity will be there.       I am posting a number of stories verifying what I have written today. The power plays we now see issuing forth from revisionist bishops only highlights the fears they have that without a gospel to proclaim they have to resort to vicious underhanded political tactics to maintain their power over orthodox parishes and their rectors. Regrettably it will only get worse.     I do hope you will make a donation to VIRTUOSITY. The coming months are going to be crucial in the life of the whole communion. 2004 will be a decisive year. I will be traveling the globe to bring you the stories. PLEASE send your tax deductible donation to VIRTUOSITY, 1236 Waterford Road, West Chester, PA 19380, or you can make a donation through PAYPAL at my website www.virtuosityonline.org . Thank you.      All blessings,     David W. Virtue DD

By Chris Young    Vancouver Sun January 17, 2004     Re: Dissident Anglican parish back in fold, Jan. 16     This latest move at St. Martins Anglican Church in North Vancouver has been carried out by Bishop Michael Ingham’s wardens only, without authority, and has not been backed by a vote of the people of the parish.     The parishioners who voted to stop paying the diocese and to withdraw from Communion with the Diocese of New Westminster have not even been consulted about this recent move. This is yet another repression of the majority that has been pushed upon us by the renegade bishop who is out of communion with the majority of Anglicans in the world.     Chris Young North Vancouver   *****

BY DOUGLAS LEBLANC January 23, 2004     The name does not trip off the tongue, but maybe that’s just as well. There is nothing easy about the task that the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes has set for itself.     The fledgling organization held its inaugural meeting this week in the Dallas suburb of Plano, Texas, attracting about 100 people--roughly half laity and half clergy, including 11 bishops. The Rev. Kendall Harmon of Charleston, S.C., a participant, said that the delegates, at first, felt insecure and anxious. But by the second day they managed to agree on a founding charter. What happens next is unclear. The network is the latest expression of resistance to the Episcopal Church's novel approaches to theology and ethics. When the General Convention, the Episcopal Church’s governing body, last summer approved Gene Robinson as the first openly gay bishop in Episcopal history, it did so despite warnings that this would separate the American church from Anglicans world-wide. There was even the possibility that conservative Episcopalians might break away.       Such a breaking away hasn’t happened, of course. But is the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes a sign it will In the shorthand of many religion reporters, the networks raison d'etre is--ominously and only--to unite dissidents who reject Mr. Robinsons consecration as a bishop. Some go further, saying its founders want to foment a schism within the world's 77 million-member Anglican Communion.       These feverish theories found some support last week when the Washington Post discovered a strategy memo by the Rev. Geoffrey Chapman of Sewickley, Pa., a member of the new network. The memo discussed, as a form of protest, the faithful disobedience of canon law.       Father Chapman did not define that phrase precisely, but in the same document he referred to conservative bishops crossing into liberal dioceses to perform services and alienated parishes withholding money from the parent church. (Liberal bishops have engaged in their own civil disobedience for the past few decades by ordaining gay priests and blessing gay unions, but they claim the mantle of social justice, so no one seems to mind.) In response to the Post piece, Bishop Don E. Johnson of Memphis, Tenn.--who had actually voted against confirming Mr. Robinson--wrote a scathing pastoral letter to Episcopalians in his diocese, urging any with ties to the American Anglican Council to sever them. (The new network has arisen from the Washington-based AAC.)       All this served as a backdrop to the gathering in Plano, creating a certain tension among the participants, who had to wonder just what kind of organization they were forming. In fact, the network has divisions within itself. By the end of the inaugural sessions, various factions had agreed to disagree about, for instance, the ordination of women. And various concerns were smoothed down, like those of Bishop John W. Howe of Orlando, Fla., who had worried aloud that the network could become a shadow province within the Episcopal Church.       Still, the groups’ conservative purpose is clear. It approved Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh as its first leader. The day after the network adjourned, he boarded a jet for Uganda, where network members will be the only Episcopalians welcome to celebrate the enthronement of that nation’s newest Anglican archbishop.       The inaugural sessions also made clear that the networks dissent has to do with more than sexual ethics. The Rev. Steve Wood, rector of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Mount Pleasant, S.C., is typical of many members. He feels increasingly alienated from the Episcopal Church’s image as Trinitarian on paper but Unitarian in practice. Like others, his greatest concern is for the authority of Scripture in Christians daily lives. Critics of conservative Episcopalians claim that some are guilty of Donatism, a heresy in which Christians question the validity of sacraments, such as Holy Communion, if a priest or bishop teaches errant doctrine. Im not questioning whether the sacraments are still valid, Father Wood says. Im questioning whether we worship the same God.       The network will face various tests in the months ahead. It will contend with Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold about what sort of pastoral care he can provide--i.e., what sort of protection--to conservative congregations that may suffer under punitive liberal bishops. And the network will undoubtedly form liaisons with Global South archbishops--the orthodox clergy in the Third World--who no longer consider themselves in communion with the Episcopal Church.       Some critics may have hoped to bury the network as stillborn this week. Instead, it seems to have emerged as a newly baptized baby--with, naturally, an uncertain future.       Mr. LeBlanc is an associate editor of Christianity Today magazine.

AS EYE SEE IT:   By John Donnelly     Like many people, I am often quite bewildered by the many, many conflicting messages that conservative/orthodox Episcopalians are receiving from our opponents in ECUSA.   The other day, I received a piece of hate mail from an Episcopalian in my diocese.  I have never met the person. He had heard about us from others in the diocese (Diocese of Newark), and had read our web site. He had heard that I am antigay, and was appalled at the Robinson election.  He suggested that bigots like me should leave the Episcopal Church.  For many of us, such love letters are a common occurrence. However, we receive a mixed message from others in the same camp.  They say, We value you...we love you in God...please stay and dialogue with us  Or, You may leave, but not with your property.     Maybe  we conservative Episcopalians should pick up a daisy, and pull off the pedals, one at an item, asking, They love me...they love me not.     For the time being, I personally do not wish to leave ECUSA.  But I resent the kiss and slap mentality of the liberal Episcopal community.     Coming up at 130th Diocesan Convention, the Diocese of Newark will be voting on a resolution to promote the Unity of the church in the Spirit of the Gospel. [Resolution 2004-11   http://www.dioceseofnewark.org/convention/resolutions.html     This resolution commends the Diocesan Convention of Upper South Carolina for setting a tone of reconciliation by voting  to set aside all of these  [divisive General Convention ]resolutions. They did so not because they believe in the actions of General Convention, but because they did not want polarization around these issues further to interfere with the ministry, mission, and unity of the Diocese. Through their resolution, they are committed to seek deeper unity, more profound love, and more faithful discipleship.     Does anyone else see the irony here. The Diocese of Newark has led the charge in these battles for years and years, and now they commend a diocese for not polarizing the church Where is the truth in this resolution.     The Rev. Canon John Donnelly co-Rector, St. Michaels, (Wayne, NJ) An American Anglican Council affiliate in the Diocese of Newark END

Australian News Service     The Anglican Church of Australia faces a major change of direction in the wake of Archbishop Peter Carnley’s announcement this week to retire as Primate next year.     The church’s evangelical wing - based in the biggest diocese, Sydney - has its best chance in years to elevate a member to the top job.     At 59, Archbishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen is a relatively youthful bishop. The most senior contenders for the position, Archbishop of Adelaide Dr. Ian George, and Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Watson, are set to retire in the next few years.     The church’s other senior bishop, Archbishop of Brisbane Dr Phillip Aspinall, has only been in the job for two years, but could be a compromise candidate.     In a strange twist, Dr Jensen is almost certainly guaranteed support from two wings of the church - the low church evangelicals and the high church Anglo-Catholics.   The two wings have come together on a number of issues in past years, most notably opposition to the ordination of women clergy and the leadership of homosexuals in the church.     In essence, the evangelicals see women clergy as being contrary to the Bible and the Anglo-Catholics see them as not in keeping with the long-standing, God-inspired traditions of the church.     Both have also been critical of liberal elements in the church accepting homosexual clergy and gay marriage.     The Primatial Election Board comprises all 23 diocesan bishops, as well as 12 clergy and 12 lay people elected by the General Synod to be held later this year.     At the last election in 2000, Dr Carnley won narrowly from former Archbishop of Sydney Harry Goodhew.     Then Archbishop of Brisbane Peter Hollingworth was eliminated on the third of four ballots, and Dr Carnley defeated Archbishop Goodhew by 24 votes to 17 in the final ballot.     Archbishop Goodhew had received the most votes of all candidates in the first two ballots, but it was believed his imminent retirement influenced voters in the end.     With a number of key changes to the bishops frontbench in the past two years, the vote is likely to have shifted away from the moderate rump of the church.     Handing leadership of the Australian Anglican Church to Dr Jensen, who was elected Archbishop of Sydney in June 2001, could have far-reaching consequences.     A profile posted on his website quotes him as saying: Our fundamental aim should be to address the secular challenge by providing flourishing Bible-based, gospel-centred, people-nurturing churches in as many places as possible.     Moves to incorporate women into leadership, including women bishops, embrace changes in secular society and extend a friendlier welcome to homosexuals - all issues championed by Dr Carnley - are likely to flag.   But, given recent national church life statistics, which show strong growth in the so-called happy-clappy churches which feature strongly in Sydney, Dr Jensen could in fact lead the church to renewal.     As national leader, he could also be influential in the world-wide Anglican Communion, which is struggling to remain united in the face of difficult issues.     In the lead-up to the 2005 primatial elections, the church will need to consider what sort of future it wants and what sort of leadership it needs to thrive in that future.   ©AAP 2003

The parishioners are responding to support for an openly gay leader     BY ALBERTA LINDSEY TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER January 17, 2004     Some Virginia Episcopalians, angered by actions the denomination has taken in support of homosexuals, are showing their displeasure by cutting back on donations and pledges. Giving to the Diocese of Virginia, the largest in the Episcopal Church USA, is about $230,000 short of the dioceses $4 million-plus budget for 2003, said the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, the dioceses bishop. In addition, pledges for the 2004 year are running about 18 percent behind last year at this time, he said. The Rt. Rev. David C. Bane Jr., bishop of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, said church members pledges are coming in slower than usual.   Churches pledge to the diocese based on what members pledge to their churches. A great deal of our budget is being prepared with a pencil instead of a pen, Bane said. We have set priorities as best we can, but there probably will be a couple months before we will know what we have. We are continuing with our mission and ministry.     At the Episcopal Church’s General convention last summer in Minneapolis, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest who had been living with another man for 13 years, was confirmed to be the bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Lee voted for Robinsons confirmation. Lee said at the time that Robinson was selected by the people of New Hampshire, who knew he was gay. Lee said he thought he should respect the Diocese of New Hampshires decision. Bane, on the other hand, voted against Robinson’s confirmation. Lee and Bane lead dioceses that are largely traditional.     They do not bless same-sex unions and do not ordain noncelibate gay or lesbian priests. Still, they have received phone calls, e-mails and comments from parishioners angry over the general convention’s confirmation of a gay bishop. William H. Goodwin Jr. denied a rumor circulating in some Episcopal churches that he and his wife, Alice, are withdrawing a matching grant they gave the Virginia diocese in 2000 to start new churches.     The Goodwins are members of St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Richmond. Goodwin said yesterday that he and his wife pledged $5 million to the diocese to be paid over five years. We will honor our pledge.     We have always honored our pledges, he said. We indicated at the time that we might pledge another $5 million. We probably will not renew that. We don’t necessarily agree with the bishop on his vote to confirm Robinson.     Some churches are telling parishioners to write on their checks if they do not want their contributions to go to the diocese or to the Episcopal Church USA, said the Rev. John A.M. Guernsey, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Woodbridge.   Restricted money will be given to mission work, he said.   We will still give away 43 percent of our budget. We are not withholding  money from the diocese and spending it on ourselves, Guernsey said. This is not aimed at Bishop Lee personally. People just have strong feelings of grief and disappointment with the way he voted, Guernsey said. Lee said he hopes no churches split from the denomination.     The American Anglican Council, a conservative organization within the Episcopal Church, may provide an alternative for unhappy Episcopalians. It’s a network of churches that will support one another, Lee said. If people don’t want their donations to go to a diocese, Lee hopes they will look at other ministries where they can continue to participate with conscience.     The council is a part of the Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church, said the Rev. Jeffrey Fishwick, rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville and a council member. One thing the council is looking at, Fishwick said, is to have a church pick a different bishop if they don’t like the views of their current bishop. Christ Episcopal’s 2004 budget will stay the same as its 2003 budget, which is $725,000, Fishwick said. Staff is not getting a raise. We have done well in previous years.     There are good seasons and not-so-good seasons, he said. St. Jamess Episcopal Church in Richmond also will keep a flat budget for 2004, said the Rev. Randy Hollerith, rector. Money pledged to last year's $1.4 million budget is still coming in, he said. I’m hoping we will be no lower than that, Hollerith said. Fewer than 10 families have left St. Jamess because of the general convention's actions, he said. But each has been very, very painful, Hollerith said.     St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Richmond is discontinuing its women’s prison ministry. The stock market rather than decreased contributions is to blame, said the Rev. Robert Hetherington, the rector. The church runs a halfway house for women who have been released from prison. Four women currently live there, Hetherington said.     The house, which is to close March 31, is being financed though St. Paul’s investment income and grants. The grants also are running out. Efforts to find someone to take over the program have failed, he said. Some churches are trying to put last summers general convention behind them and go on with the work of the church.     At Christ Church, we have decided we cant be paralyzed by this one issue,  Fishwick said of the Charlottesville church. Its time to get on with the greater mission of the church. We are all fired up about our mission and the  things God is doing here.     END

By MARK I. PINSKY Orlando Sentinel 1/17/2004     Early in this presidential election year, the Republican Party faithful are  already rolling up their sleeves - and passing the collection plate. In church  social halls, they are raising money for voter registration, issue  advertising and Christian scorecards, which rate candidates on their positions on key cultural issues such as abortion and homosexuality. By contrast, there is little activity at the other end of the ideological spectrum. Left- wing religious efforts at political mobilization - where they exist - seem puny, aged and marginalized. After decades of riding popular social movements such as civil rights, the left splintered and now seems unable to regroup. Conversely, the GOP has co- opted the support of religious voters by focusing their attention on cultural and lifestyle issues - such as gay marriage.     On economic issues, another mainstay of the left, the outlook is no brighter.  Unless they are directly affected, people in the pews seem unwilling to grapple with economic disparity and job losses, which defy simple solutions.   Despite the loss of 3 million jobs since 2001 and falling retirement and investment portfolios, they are more likely to object to teaching Darwin in the classroom than to struggling in an economy increasingly based on survival of the fittest.     The poll numbers are ominous for Democratic candidates, who seem to have written off voters with strong religious convictions. A survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that nearly two-thirds of Americans who attend religious services at least once a week vote Republican. For those who say they seldom attend a house of worship, that figure is reversed: Two-thirds vote Democratic. Though preachers don’t pick presidents in America, for  at least 150 years they have helped set the political agenda.       Thundering from pulpits, mobilizing congregants, religious activists in the  19th and early 20th century helped end slavery; supported women’s suffrage; brought about Prohibition; and supported the rights of workers to organize into trade unions. More modern inheritors of this social gospel were also vigorous agents of change and resistance, propelling the civil-rights and anti- Vietnam War movements. As recently as the 1960s and 1970s, left-wing religion was a force to be reckoned with. We had the feeling that we were getting somewhere, recalls the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, former chaplain at Yale University and one of the patron saints of mainline religious activism.     We criticized American practice in the name of American ideals. But today  liberal religion is seen as a spent force, says Mark Tooley, a researcher for the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a conservative Washington, D.C., think tank. The religious left comprised denominational leaders and tended to be elite, as opposed to grass roots, he says.     Today’s religious right is younger and more vigorous, drawing its support from growing charismatic and nondenominational churches. The religious left was mobilized and excited by the civil-rights movement and by the anti-Vietnam War movement, and has had difficulty finding equally passionate causes to replace those, he says. The religious right has abortion, homosexuality and church-state issues that have energized them over the past 25 years.     There's no sign that any of these issues are going to go away anytime soon. Evangelicals who previously voted Democratic because of economic issues are trending Republican because of cultural issues, Tooley says. But at the same time, most of those people are still, by and large, not activists by nature.     They are largely middle-class, suburban people who are not drawn to the same kind of economic wedge issues that would excite the religious left or liberal evangelicals. Nor are they willing to follow their spiritual leaders on other issues. For instance, opposition to the death penalty, globalization and the Iraq war by Roman Catholic bishops and mainline Protestant leaders has failed to generate grass-roots support.     There are a variety of explanations for the virtual collapse of the religious left in America. Some believe its members never recovered from the divisive period of the 1970s, when the movement split into identity politics. After working together to break down old barriers, the unified movement headed in diffuse directions: affirmative action, feminism, gay rights and multiculturalism.     Others think the left was simply outmaneuvered and outorganized by the right. Savvy religious conservatives decided it was a mistake to see political involvement as something unclean for so many years, conceding the field to liberals by default. And the perceived excesses of the 1960s galvanized conservative  Christians into action. Experts say the eclipse of the religious left by the religious right also may reflect the decline of mainline denominations and the rise of evangelicals in the 1980s - both politically and theologically. For many old activists, this is the winter of their discontent.     Skeptics say the cold reality is that you cant build a mass political movement on nostalgia. Americans today live in a high-stress, fiercely competitive work environment, which tends to reinforce a certain degree of eelf-centeredness. No Democratic candidate or liberal religious leader has offered a credible plan for reversing globalization or even ameliorating its impact. Much of the  social safety net was eliminated during the boom years of the 1990s.     With no simple answers to big problems, there is a pervasive feeling of  powerlessness - and frustration. In November, a group of liberal and moderate religious leaders from mainline denominations announced the formation of a new organization that is trying to fill the gap, calling itself the Clergy Leadership Network. The group’s goal is to become what some called a Christian Coalition of the left. Founders include Coffin and the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, former general secretary of the National Council of Churches.     They are a Who’s Who of veterans of the civil-rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. The Rev. Albert Pennybacker, a Disciples of Christ minister, heads the new organization. Backers say they want to offer an alternative to the partisan God embraced by the GOP, and to turn their loose-knit group into a coalition of conscience. The odds against the new group are long. I don’t think it’s going to go very far, says Tooley. Its leaders are largely retired, mainline Protestant leaders.     It would have better prospects if it had enlisted pastors of large black  churches, or a few liberal evangelical pastors or more Catholic clergy and bishops. It just doesn’t seem to have plugged into the more dynamic and growing parts of American religion. Still, there are faint signs of life - and youth - in the religious left, according to Jim Wallis, of the Washington, D.C.-based Sojourners community.     Founded in 1971, the group is a Christian ministry whose mission is to  proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice. Wallis considers himself a theological conservative, pro-life evangelical - and a radical social activist. Unlike many evangelicals, he believes that religious concern for the poor and the powerless should be motivated by justice, not by charity.     Wallis says he has many requests from young evangelicals to join his community, which focuses on economic and social justice. When he and others like him, including Tony Campolo, another radical evangelical, carry their message to heartland churches, the response is positive, he says.     It may be the case that the baton of social justice has passed from liberal, mainline Christianity to evangelicals. I agree that liberal religion is in  decline, but I don’t agree that social justice is in decline in the church, says Wallis. The problem with most mainline denominations, he says, is more theological than ideological. If you don’t have a real Bible- based, Jesus-centered faith, then all you have is upper- middle-class, affluent Americans who are not going to be your primary constituency for social justice, he says.     In battles around the country for a living wage, mainline ministers make a political mistake when they frame the debate in secular terms, talking about fairness. A more effective strategy, Wallis says, is to rally evangelicals with verse from the Bible, especially prophets such as Isaiah, who spoke out forcefully for fair payment for those who labor. However, there is little evidence so far that even that strategy moves believers.     END

Church of England Newspaper   Since the start of the Millennium the Church of England has maintained an average loss of 54,000 once-a-week-churchgoers per year.     Average weekly attendance figures for 2000 fell by more than 100,000 to an average of 1,166,000 in 2002, according to the latest provisional attendance figures, announced on Monday. The Church tried to counter the news of decline by focusing on a rise in monthly attendance figures among young people, but it is getting harder to encourage clergy in the face of pew drains such as those in Dioceses such as Lichfield and Liverpool where average weekly attendance went down by 4,700 and 3,000 respectively.     Signs of growth were highlighted in a statement accompanying the latest figures, pointing out that although regular weekly attendance among children remained static on the whole, the Dioceses of Manchester, Peterborough, Ripon and Leeds, Southwark, Southwell and Winchester all reported increases in each of their Sunday, weekly and monthly attendance levels for children and young people.       Whether this trend could grow to fill the reported loss of 108,000 churchgoers over two years is yet to be seen. The new figures also show the result of new measures to gauge more accurately the role of the country’s churches. Parishes were asked to start recording the number of young people attending activities other than worship over a typical month. These non-worship statistics could widen the goalposts in the future as churches eager to push up these figures find new ways of getting involved in their communities.     During 2002 a total of 162,000 under-25s attended non-worship activities and 41,000 adults are working with young people aged 11 and over.     END