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January 16, 2003   Bishop Donald Johnson’s deeply troubling January 15, 2004 Pastoral Letter to the Diocese of West Tennessee raises serious questions of freedom of association and freedom of speech as well as abuse of the office of bishop by dictating the conscience of Episcopalians in his diocese. Bishop Johnson wrote his pastoral letter (which he posted on the Diocese of West Tennessee website) in response to a draft document of an American Anglican Council (AAC) subcommittee outlining plans for adequate episcopal oversight.    Bishop Johnson falsely accuses the AAC of deceitfulness and subversive sabotage and vows to purge his diocese of association with the AAC. 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.     Bishop Johnson emphasizes his desire to preserve the church’s as it currently exists.  Here are the facts about the Episcopal Church’s USA (ECUSA) as it currently exists.  It is a Church’s that is no longer in relationship with the majority of Anglicans worldwide.  It is a Church’s that no longer turns to Holy Scripture for its guidance. It is a Church’s that has chosen the ways of man over the ways of God.  It is a church’s that has undermined the institution of marriage. It is a church’s with which many worldwide Christian denominations have broken relations.  It is a church’s that has lost its heart and soul and its commitment to making disciples and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ.   We must ask: Is this truly the Church’s that Bishop Johnson wishes to preserve?   The AAC has long worked for the reformation and renewal of the Church’s. This is still our desire. We have NEVER said that we are leaving. We have not oved anywhere. We are still in full relationship with the worldwide Anglican Communion and we are resolutely determined that orthodox Episcopalians will remain so. For years we have spoken of the need for adequate episcopal oversight.  It has been one of our goals, and it will continue be one of our top priorities.  In October, the Anglican Primates unanimously called for this oversight to be provided within ECUSA, and we are committed to finding a way for it to be delivered, even if the leadership of ECUSA is unwilling.   In this time of crisis, we must first and foremost pray; we must repent and ask God’s forgiveness. We must also move forward with the mission and ministry of the Church’s -- whatever the cost.   -----   The American Anglican Council is a network of individuals, parishes, specialized ministries and Episcopal Bishops who affirm Biblical authority and mainstream Anglican orthodoxy within the Episcopal Church’s. For more information on the AAC, please visit http://www.americananglican.org .    ###     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   January 16, 2003   Contact: Bruce Mason Director of Communications 202-250-0996 202-296-5360 Cynthia Brust Assistant Director of Communications 202-412-8721     Bishop Salmon Writes to The Members of All Saints Parish, Waccamaw January 16, 2004   TO: The Members of All Saints Parish, Waccamaw FROM:  Bishop Salmon   Dear Friends in Christ,   The opening chapter of St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians provides the greeting to you for this letter. I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ (I Cor.4). in the same chapter St. Paul appeals to the Corinthians for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ to make up the differences between you (I Cor. 1:10). In that spirit I write you all this letter.              In all the recent events around All Saints Parish and the Diocese of South Carolina, a number of public statements have been made about our relationship. It is my intention in this letter to present the position that I have taken and offer documentation to support that position. Having heard both sides, you may then draw conclusions, as you are so led, which conclusions will I pray move us closer together rather than apart.   When Bishop Murphy was consecrated in Singapore in an irregular consecration in 2000, I was not in favor of the consecration because I believed that it would be divisive to orthodox unity. I believe it has. I could not change the fact that it had taken place.  Since Bishop Murphy was no longer under our Canons, I had no control over the exercise of his ministry. The hope and expectation was that  All Saints Parish would remain a faithful part of the Diocese of South Carolina.   When the Vestry in Moorehead City, N.C. voted to leave the Diocese of East Carolina they first transferred title to the church’s property to another group, and then informed the bishop that they were leaving the Diocese of East Carolina. Because of this the Chancellor advised me to record in the Georgetown County Courthouse, the Canons of the Diocese reflecting the requirement regarding property under which all congregations operate. In the North Carolina suit AMiA claimed that because the Diocese of East Carolina had not done so, the Diocese had no claim on the property. In the suit filed against the Diocese, the claim has been made that because the Diocese of South Carolina recorded the applicable canon, we had placed a cloud on the title. Bishop Murphy has stated that it was similar to building a swimming pool over a property line. It must be removed by legal action.     The facts are the opposite. If permission of the Bishop and Standing Committee are not given the title is clouded. Ross M. Lindsey, Parish Chancellor, admitted in his deposition, that in a transaction in 1986 the bank itself asked that such permission be sought. I am enclosing a letter written by Bishop Murphy, when he was a member of the Standing Committee, asking permission for All Saints to borrow money from the bank in 1988. The canons require such permission and not to seek permission clouds the transaction. I am also enclosing a sample page from the Standing Committee records showing similar permission requested by St. Peters by-the-Sea and the Church’s of the Holy Communion in 1965 as standard operating procedure for the Standing Committee. This has been a part of our common life for well over a hundred years.     When All Saints Waccamaw sued the Diocese ( we are the defendants) over the recording of the applicable property canon, they claimed, in a deposition, that they were not under the canons, and kept them as a matter of courtesy. The Chancellor ruled that a church’s could not be not under the canons and in union with the Diocese at the same time. The convention, hoping for some reconciliation, voted to give All Saints Parish seat, voice, not a vote.     In the meantime, Bishop Murphy has continued to live in the rectory, meet with the Vestry when he is in town, appoint a vicar to represent him, and generally to be in charge. Tim Surratt who, until now, has been the only clergyman canonically resident in the diocese, has been the supposed interim rector. He has, as of January 12, asked to be transferred to Rwanda. I plan to do so.     Because of the legal action, I have not met with the Vestry or made a visitation. Bishop Skilton has been to All Saints, for a visitation once.     I discovered, by happenstance, that the All Saints vestry had voted to amend the 1902 Charter which the then serving Chancellor had assisted the parish in securing. By way of background, the granting of the 1902 Charter by the Secretary of State was followed by the Trustees of the Dioceses conveying the title to the church’s property to All Saints Church’s Parish by quit claim deed dated 1903.   Because of the actions of the vestry, I immediately informed the Chancellor and notified the then Wardens and Vestry that they had in fact voted to leave the Church’s and could no longer be considered the vestry because by leaving they were no longer communicants in good standing, and thereby did not qualify to be vestry members. I did not excommunicate them as has been said. They are free to receive communion whenever and wherever they choose. They cannot vote to leave the church’s and at the same time be the vestry. I am enclosing copies of the letter and documents sent to them.     I called a meeting of the Standing Committee and informed them of my actions. After considerable discussion, the members of the Standing Committee decided to talk directly with the vestry. I gave my full support to such discussions. I am enclosing the report of their meeting written by the president of the Standing Committee. I told the Standing Committee that I was more than willing to consider and implement their suggestions, but that I was not willing to drop the appeal because (1) it had already been heard (September 10) and we were simply waiting for a ruling. I reminded them that (2) because of the original ruling no one now owned the property and this issued needed to be settled.   The basic issues on the table are those of lawlessness and the stability of the Diocese itself. We have no theological issues with All Saints. If any parish in the Diocese can unilaterally decide to not be under the Canons, appoint vicars, do what they want to when they want to, our strength as a Diocese is soon destroyed. There is no authority, only individual choice. That is exactly why the Episcopal Church’s is in the mess it is in. Bishops have individually acted without accountability, believe or not believe as they choose. That is lawlessness. It is my duty to oppose it.     I have met with members of All Saints who are loyal to the Diocese. It was my decision to treat the loyal membership as a parish rather than a mission. We have organized and elected wardens. We plan to meet again as All Saints Parish Waccamaw under the Canons of the Diocese. We have notified the Secretary of State that there is a new vestry representing All Saints Parish, and Articles of Correction will be filed with the Secretary of State giving notice that the original charter of All Saints, Waccamaw remains unchanged.     It is my prayer is that the Holy Spirit will give us all a way to Godly solution to this situation, which is painful for all concerned. You are in my prayers. I cherish yours.     May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (II Cor. 13:13)   Yours Faithfully in Christ,     Edward L. Salmon, Jr. Bishop of South Carolina, XIII     ...

by David Virtue   Dear Brothers and Sisters,   It was another stormy week in the life of The Episcopal Church as the ship tossed and turned, the timbers of the Communion boat creaked, the winds showed little sign of calming. The Communion, as one theologian put it, has been hit by a tsunami, and we are salvaging what we can and hoping things have not gone beyond the possibility of repair.     One can but hope. Another rally drew 3,000 orthodox Episcopalians at what was billed as Plano East, following the highly successful Dallas meeting last year, and the troops were once again fired up to hold fast the faith and not abandon the ECUSA ship, as help was on the way. There was no battle plan; no strategy was laid out, just a giant pep rally, and a promise of good things to come. A new strategy will be revealed unto us on January 19-21 when the deep thinkers in the The Network of Anglican Dioceses and Parishes within the Episcopal Church, (and approved by the Archbishop of Canterbury) will meet in Plano, Texas. A public statement of major proportions affecting all the orthodox in the Episcopal Church will be forthcoming. Conclusion - There must be a realignment in Anglicanism.   In the meantime nothing will really change until two events occur: The first is the willingness of a substantial number of priests to stand up to their diocesan bishops and refuse to recognize their sacramental authority, and secondly that biblically orthodox Diocesan bishops are willing to enter the Dioceses of revisionist Bishops and perform sacramental acts without the permission of Bennison et al.   Put another way, nothing will happen unless the orthodox bishops and priests move from speech to action. D-Day approaches.   IN ANOTHER CONFERENCE with the eerie title, Does the Anglican  Communion have a Future, and attended by Virtuosity in Charleston, SC  saw several hundred conferees listen to an array of theologians attack the subject.   Dr. Chris Seitz, president of the Anglican Communion Institute said that any talk of a federation must be rejected. We are a Communion, unlike the Lutheran World Federation, which consists of independent national churches. Anglicanism has found its life and mission in a genuine Communion of accountability and interdependence. Within the US, we have tried to emphasize this with the language for a network now forming: Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes.   While the American Anglican Council focused exclusively on The Episcopal Church’s problems, the ACI sought to set the conflict in the larger context of the Anglican Communion, arguing that splitting up was also not the answer and sticking together through thick and thin, with the help of the Holy Spirit was the way to go.   In the midst of their deliberations and papers, the parish of ALL SAINTS CHURCH, WACCAMAW announced it was pulling out of the DIOCESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA and the Episcopal Church and aligning itself with the Anglican Mission in America (AMIA), provoking anguish from the Bishop Ed Salmon and the parish of St. Philips where the ACI conference was being held.   They issued a statement, which you can read in today’s digest. The bishop had previously fired the vestry and put in his own forcing a confrontation and a vote in the parish as to what they should do. It was a slam dunk for the parish. By an overwhelming vote the All Saints, parish comprising 507 eligible voters, voted 468 voted to leave with 38 voting no and one abstention.   The Standing Committee promptly urged Salmon to drop the appeal to the lawsuit, recommend that seat, voice and vote be given to All Saints at the upcoming Diocesan Convention, that the Vestry be reinstated and the parish restored. At this time of writing no one knows what Salmon will do. He has said if the national church ever voted to legitimize homosexual behavior he would take the diocese out of ECUSA, but he has backed down from that position. Uncertainty reigns.   In the meantime the Anglican Mission in America goes from strength to strength, scooping up plum Episcopal parishes around the country. They meet in Destin, Florida this Thursday for four days. Virtuosity (who will be there) was told that more than 1,000 have so far signed up to attend, significantly more than last year.   BUT THEN THERE WAS ANOTHER UNEXPECTED TURN this week when two orthodox ECUSA parishes in the DIOCESE OF ATLANTA announced they were seeking episcopal oversight from the Province of the Southern Cone and its Primate Greg Venables.   This is a first. To date Episcopal parishes wishing to stay in ECUSA have sought cover from African Primates, but this time they turned to the Bishop of Bolivia, Frank Lyons for help. One reason is that one of the parishes has a large number of Hispanics. One parish split almost down the middle with the rector staying and more than half the parish leaving; the other rector announced he was leaving ECUSA over its bankrupt morality and theology and taking three-quarters of the parish with him. Needless to say the bishop, one Neil Alexander is not amused.   The financial loss to the diocese will run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. You can read those stories in today’s digest.   BUT FINANCIAL LOSSES TO REVISIONIST DIOCESE are increasing at a rapid pace. Following my story on one parish in Americas heartland, I got a note from a parishioner in an ultraliberal parish in Annapolis, MD.  In Tieline, the parish newsletter for St. Annes, pledges for 2004 are only $500,000 against a goal of $800,000 and last year’s numbers of $710,000. So it’s not just affecting orthodox parishes who leave and take their people, it is going on in revisionist parishes where, it was thought, the dyke would hold. Not so. VIRTUOSITY has repeatedly said that Episcopalians are far more conservative than their liberal priests and revisionist bishops. And now these bishops will learn a bitter hard truth - no money, no mission. We will see more and more parishes being reduced to mission status and, over time, many closing their doors. It IS only a matter of time. Oh see what Vickie Gene hath wrought...and the fun has only just begun.   BUT NOT TO BE OUTDONE REVISIONISTS ARE CLAWING THEIR way up diocesan ladders looking to take over the reigns of power wherever they can in order to push their sodomite agenda.   In the orthodox DIOCESE OF THE RIO GRANDE where the biblically orthodox bishop Terence Kelshaw has announced plans to retire, the process of replacing him, and the politics have already started.     The rector of an Albuquerque church obtained the confidential mailing list of the Diocesan newspaper, and did a mailing under the Via Media label (the new tactic of revisionists to position themselves in the middle). As a result Kelshaw wrote every member in every parish a letter explaining what had happened, telling them in no uncertain terms that the Via Media mailing was not official and not from the diocese. The revisionists will stop at nothing to get power even as the ship sinks.     And in the DIOCESE OF NORTH DAKOTA, recently vacated by the godly Bishop Andy Fairfield the revisionists are trying to wedge one of their people in their as well. But voters in that diocese will now have six candidates instead of five to choose from when they select a new bishop next month, angering the liberal selection committee who had stacked it with five liberals. Three clergy and three lay persons nominated the Rev. Henry Thompson III of Coraopolis, Pa., through a petition process.   He joins five others picked by a selection committee. None of the five candidates had directly expressed their views on the recent confirmation of the openly gay New Hampshire bishop.   And in the DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH, Bishop Robert Duncan withdrew a measure that would have left each church in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh in control of its own property and buildings in a rift over the consecration of a gay bishop in New Hampshire. The resolution introduced by Bishop Robert Duncan, leader of the diocese, prompted a lawsuit by a revisionist Episcopal parish in Pittsburgh against Duncan and the dioceses board of trustees to prevent the transfer of any church property. A headline in a local newspaper screamed: Attorneys withdraw Episcopal land-grab resolution. You can read that story today.   And in the DIOCESE OF WESTERN NEW YORK, the Bishop there, Michael Garrison told an orthodox congregation to go pound sand, declaring, you have your opinion, you will not change mine. These were the words spoken repeatedly by the revisionist Garrison as he visited St. Bartholomew’ s in Tonawanda, NY. on January 8th.  It was a bitter cold snowy evening when members of all ages (from babies in arms to those in their late 80s) filled the sanctuary for a scheduled meeting to tell the Bishop of their concerns regarding his vote in favor of the consecration of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. St. Bartholomew’s, a godly parish of over 1100 members, with a godly rector has long been known as a faithful congregation who both know and love Holy Scripture. You can read what that vicious bishop said to these people then he demanded more money from them. You can read that story today as well...and weep.   HARVEST U.S.A. is a ministry to a hurt and sexually broken world. HARVEST has been ministering to men and women afflicted by pornography, same sex attraction, and other forms of sexual brokenness. There are countless, wonderful witnesses to the healing power of Christ for those who have been healed from their sexual problems and are now living in the light of Christ. If you live in or near Philadelphia and would like to attend a luncheon and hear about this ministry then call 610 944-4040 at Church of the Good Samaritan, Paoli, PA. Luncheon is set for Thursday, January 22 at 12 noon.     I AM POSTING A NUMBER OF STORIES including an exclusive interview with the Primate of the West Indies, Drexel Gomez who publicly blasted Frank Griswold, ECUSAs presiding bishop, calling him duplicitous. There are a number of stories coming out of the ACI conference in Charleston. WEBSITE. Most of you are aware of the new VIRTUOSITY website that can be accessed at www.virtuosityonline.org . New stories are posted daily. Register for a user account on the website and you can configure it to be notified when news stories are posted. Up to 30 people are visiting the website at any given time. More than 2,000 people are visiting the website every day. All blessings,   David W. Virtue DD

In August, 2002 our previous rector Alan Hansen left the parish. The bishop met with the vestry and recommended that the vestry be frozen until a new rector was called. We have remained in place in an effort to keep the wheels onand I think we have been successful in doing so. When Alan left, we were in a critical financial crunch, and the effects of 9/11 added to the crisis. The vestry worked diligently to reduce operating costs, and with the involvement of our dedicated parishioners, we were able to turn things around. Our year-end balance sheet shows assets of:   $246,165.48 in checking, money market, and investment accounts $1,056,972.58 in buildings and property $561,383.59 in restricted funds/trusts Total Assets of $1,864,521.65.   In December, the vestry made the following charitable contributions to various, deserving, outreach ministries:   Salvation Army - $2,000.00 Food For The Poor - $5,000.00 St. Agnes House  3,000.00 Shoes For Kenya - $1,500.00 10 Scholarships for Youth Quake - $1,800.00 ACTS 29 Ministry - $1,000.00 Woodford Ministerial Association (Food Pantry) - $1,200.00 Woodford Educational Endowment Fund - $1,000.00 Woodford Project Graduation - $500.00 Tuition to Asbury Seminary for Youth Minister Ron Garner - $2,500.00 For a total of $19,500.00     The budgetary surplus for 2003, after meeting our entire diocesan pledge amounts to $39,961.66. This alone should indicate how seriously this vestry has taken its stewardship responsibility. There can be very few churches in this diocese able to make a similar claim.   In August, 2003 after the National Convention, a letter was written to the bishop, stating clearly that the vestry was in disagreement with his vote in favor of the consecration of an openly gay bishop and the blessing of same-sex unions. We subsequently had four meetings in our church regarding differing viewpoints on what had transpired at the Convention, including one at which the bishop shared his opinions. In November, the vestry sent out surveys to see how each parishioner felt on the issues and in what direction they wanted our church to move. Of the 300+ surveys sent out, over 170 were completed and returned. A compilation of results told us that over 75% of St. John’s parishioners were in disagreement, that they would not be pledging as in the past, and that over 60% were in favor of aligning with an orthodox bishop within ECUSA, if it were a possibility.   A small group of parishioners went to the bishop to complain about what the vestry was doing. They clearly thought that we were planning on bringing in a new rector who would take us out of the diocese and the Episcopal Church. We were, in fact, searching for a rector who fit our parish profile, and we had hoped that eventually there would be adequate alternative oversight available. Never have we considered taking St. John’s out of the Episcopal Church.  In fact, I wrote to one of this small group to explain that in a worst-case scenario, what would likely happen was that the vestry would resign at some point, leave St. John’s, and form a new mission church under an orthodox, biblically centered, Anglican affiliation. I further stated that we were not interested in seizing the property of St. John’ s, and were certain to leave the church in better financial condition than that in which we had found it. I defy anyone to demonstrate where this vestry has been anything other than completely devoted to the care of our congregation, deliberate and honorable in our search, true to the majority opinion of our congregation, and above reproach in the administration of our fiduciary duties to this parish.   On December 9, 2003, the vestry submitted the name of our chosen candidate for rector. The bishop replied December 9 that he was happy to give consideration to our candidate . On December 13, the bishop convened a meeting of the Executive Council to request that St. John’s be reduced to mission status. The vestry was not made aware of this meeting, and in fact, was hopeful that the bishop would initiate his background check and plan meetings with our candidate. On December 18, the bishop contacted our candidate and suggested that they meet January 5th and 6th, 2004.  After cordial, but fruitless meetings, we awaited the bishop’s answer. On the evening of January 6th, records of the Executive Council meeting of December 13 were found, quite by accident, having been posted on the diocesan website. Vestry member, Judge Wilson met immediately the next day with the bishop, and was invited to the Executive Council meeting held that same evening, January 7. At this meeting, Judge pleaded with the bishop and the Executive Council to reconsider their actions. After facing a grueling session of questioning and intimidation, Judge left completely devastated.   The Executive Council ended having granted the bishops request to reduce St. John’ s to mission status. The vestry is to be removed, and the bishop is to take control of this church.   For 156 years, St. John’s has been aligned with the Protestant Episcopal Church. St. John’ s is a corporation registered in the state of Kentucky. All property is titled to the senior warden and vestry of St. John’s Church. We have been asked repeatedly over the years to hand over the deed to this church to the bishop, but we have never done so. We have never borrowed money from the diocese. Clearly, the only way that the bishop can take over the property is by removing us from our elected positions and putting in place those persons who would be willing to turn the property over to him. The only concern the bishop has had throughout the process of the Executive Council meeting was in regard to the property and assets of St. John’s. In explaining the outcome of the meeting to me, Fr. Jay Pierce said those words to me verbatim.   Under the administration of this bishop, within this diocese, you can find 5 churches without rectors. Having bought a huge, old house in Lexington for use as an office, at a cost to the diocese of over a million dollars and restoring it at an additional cost of another half million dollars, this bishop now finds it necessary to extend his credit line from $100,000 in 2003 to $500,000 in 2004. He is taking money from trust funds to pay operating expenses, and is finding that pledges have diminished, making a budget impossible. As a result, he has enacted Canon 28, calling for an assessment of 18% of annual parish revenues. Based on our 2002 revenues, this assessment would total $64,213. An initial, adjusted assessment (to make it more palatable) brings our bill to $33,404 this year.   You now have the facts before you. I urge you to consider them carefully, before you allow this bishop to take control of your church. There is so much at stake here. The actions of this bishop toward St. John’s have been destructive to individual families within our parish, to the unity of the parish family, and the diocese as a whole. Our fate is to serve as an example for all the other parishes in this diocese. As a bishop, this man is expected to lead his flock, not beat it into submission.   We have asked for alternative Episcopal oversight as set forth by the Primates of the Anglican Communion. We are not, nor have we ever sought to be anything other than faithful, orthodox Anglicans. One of many examples is that for a decade, we have been a primary advocate of the Alpha Course throughout the state. Alpha is a uniquely Anglican approach to evangelization enthusiastically endorsed by the past and current Archbishops of Canterbury. The only reason we can imagine why this bishop would act in such an uncanonical and unethical manner towards us is his deep animosity towards evangelical and orthodox Anglicans.   I am saddened by the prospects for my church. Serving this church alongside such dedicated people has been a great honor. However, the effort has become a heavy burden. Our lives have been filled with fear, pain, anger, and ultimately, great sadness. That is not what God intended for his people. We will continue to pray for each of you, and always for our beloved St. John’s Church.   In His service,   Mr. Thomas J. Thornbury Sr. Warden, St. John’s Church, Versailles, Kentucky

By Prof Stephen Noll Vice Chancellor Uganda Christian University     While there are many high principles of theology and ecclesiology worth discussing at this time of historic crisis, the bread-and-butter political issue facing most conservative leaders in ECUSA is how to keep the property.     Several years ago, I wrote that the key issues were twofold: international recognition and property. In my opinion, the first issue is now settled. Conservatives have already received adequate recognition by the Primates-Who-Count to consider themselves an ongoing part of the Anglican Communion. It strikes me that most conservatives are willing even to forgo recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury if they can be partnered with the Province of Nigeria. Is this not so? So the main problem now is property. I begin with an anecdote from one of the first AAC Board meetings in 1996. I posed to an AAC bishop the question: ˜What if your liberal counterpart in the House of Bishops came to you with a proposal to stop the infighting in the Church’s by means of a property settlement, for example, by allowing each congregation to decide whether it wanted to affiliate with Church’s A or Church’s B.™ I asked: ˜Would you take up the offer? In a moment! was his reply.     Again, one of the truly great post-mortem remarks from GC 2003 was Canon David Anderson’s comment that the AAC was looking for as amicable a separation as Gene Robinson had gotten from his wife.     Acrimonious divorce     The problem is, when it comes to church property, the Episcopal establishment is not interested in amicable settlements. Why? Because they wrote the divorce law in such a way that ˜no-fault” divorce and equal division of the property is not an option. And they are either mean-spirited and power-hungry or self-deluded enough to make it stick.     One might think true liberals would say: ˜OK, we admit it. We have made a daring departure from 2,000 years of Christian teaching on sexuality. We believe this decision is prophetic, but we acknowledge that many will see it as a deviation from Scripture and tradition on a matter of conscience. Therefore, in the spirit of Gamaliel, we are willing to let conservatives follow their conscience and take their property with them. When our cause is vindicated, we shall graciously welcome them back into our fold.”       But they don’t say that, because they are mean-spirited and power-hungry, governed by neo-Marxist convictions that all conflicts of right are veiled conflicts of might, in which case they think: ˜We’ve got the power, they want it; why should we give it up?™ Or they are self-deluded, believing their own theological-propaganda that homosexuality is unarguably the work of the Holy Spirit which conservatives are resisting.     The fact is, they do hold the power in the constitutions and canons of the Episcopal Church’s USA, which are the only governing documents recognized by the secular courts in matters of property ownership. Case after legal case has demonstrated this. Again, one may have a theoretical debate about whether the Dennis canon is the mother of all evils. The irony, of course, is that the same people who believe the Bible the fundamental constitution of the Christian Church can be twisted into pluriform knots become wooden literalists when it comes to the Episcopal C&C. But that’s the way it is: we can’t change this fact.     Exodus strategy     In my opinion, this reality explains much of the apparent machinations and ˜win-win” statements of the American Anglican Council. To be sure, the AAC began with the hope that the Episcopal Church could be reformed from within. I think that in recent years, at least since GC 2000 and GC 2003, most of the AAC leaders and members have come to agree that the Episcopal Church is unreformable. The problem they are facing is: how do we get out of Egypt with the booty?     The problem of property also explains why the most coherent and the best short-term reactions to the present crisis have been happening at a diocesan level but only in dioceses with a strong bishop that have already been thoroughly infiltrated by conservatives (Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Florida, Central Florida, Fort Worth, Quincy, Albany, any others?). Constitutionally, the national churches will find it hard to depose the bishops and recapture whole dioceses, although it may be able to prevent them from freeing their parishes (for example, if the lawsuit against the Diocese of Pittsburgh succeeds, which it may).     Parishes and clergy in hostile or lukewarm dioceses, however, seem extremely vulnerable. I assume this is one reason why some have kept a low profile over the last decade as the spectre of Gene Robinson slouched toward Minneapolis to be born. I would assume that this is because some clergy have sworn to live and die with their episcopal boots on and have foolishly kept their congregations in the dark on the pending crisis. Honestly, how many of you clergy out there wouldn’t jump at the chance to join a parallel orthodox jurisdiction within the Anglican Communion if you could take your pension, your buildings, and your budget with you?     Viable options     The problem is, it looks like you can’t have it all, barring an act of God. Look at your options:     1. Take the Anglican Mission in America route and leave now.   2. Wait and see if the Primates and the AAC leaders can carve out an alternative jurisdiction with at least quasi-rights of tenure and property ownership via alternative episcopal oversight.   3. Muddle along congregationally and hope your bishop or the next GC don’t force you out.     Have I missed any other options? A long-shot might be a lawsuit claiming that the Episcopal Church has violated its Constitution and thus its canons are of no effect.     This option, it seems to me, would only work if the Primates, including the ABC and/or the Lambeth Conference, excommunicated ECUSA and named an alternative jurisdiction as the legitimate USA branch of the Communion. This will not happen Immediately, and even if it does, I’m not sure we’d get the property from the secular courts.     Let me conclude with a brief spiritual reflection. By focusing on the property issue I am not necessarily accusing conservatives of bowing the knee to Mammon. As someone recently noted, all property is God’s and we have an obligation to be stewards of it as best we can. We also have responsibilities to provide for our families though not necessarily ˜in the manner to which we have been accustomed™. We also know that Jesus sometimes calls his disciples to ˜sell all that you have and follow me”. This is part of our Reformation Anglican heritage,  let goods and kindred go” and has been experienced on the mission field and in the Global South churches.     I am sure that there is room for us conservatives to think together about the ecclesiastical crisis we are in both theologically and politically. But let’s be patient and charitable, aware that we are working within very constricted parameters, and let’s be attentive to God’s call in case at some point we may have to get out now     END

By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent and Jonathan Wynne-Jones THE DAILY TELEGRAPH 1/19/2004     The Church of England is being asked to take its biggest step towards accepting the primacy of the Pope and the concept of infallibility since Henry VIII broke from Rome 450 years ago.     A joint Roman Catholic and Anglican report arguing that the Pope should be recognised as the universal primates to be debated by the General Synod next month. Church leaders anxious to promote unity have welcomed the proposals, but they will meet fierce resistance from conservative Protestants.     The Rev David Phillips, the general secretary of the Church’s Society and a Synod member, said: We would reject universal primacy even if the papacy is reformed. There is no way we would want to be linked to the Roman Catholic Church. On some issues, its teaching is even worse now than it was at the Reformation.     The Gift of Authority report was published several years ago by the Third Anglican/ Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC).   It argued that Anglicans should accept the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome as long as the Pope devolved much of his power to his bishops and local churches.     More controversially, the report also suggests that the Church’s as a body could, in certain circumstances, make infallible pronouncements on matters of teaching.     Most Anglicans, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, are opposed to the present concept of papal infallibility, which allows the Pope to make such declarations, which cannot be overturned, on his own.     In reality, however, there have been only a few such ex cathedra statements, relating mainly to the Virgin Mary. Catholic teaching on controversial issues such as birth control is not covered.     The Pope has recently signalled his willingness to re-examine his role and even evangelical bishops have indicated that they could accept him as a spokesman.     However, many will view the Synod debate as largely academic as unity talks have been derailed by the Anglican decision to ordain women and the row over homosexuality.     Moreover, the Bishop of Peterborough, the Rt Rev Ian Cundy, who is the chairman of the Church of England’s Council for Christian Unity, is expected to slow progress on the ARCIC report further when the Synod meets from Feb 9.       While the bishop will welcome moves towards greater unity between the Churches, he will criticise aspects of the report and ask for more detail and clarity in key areas.     END

By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent 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 Church’s 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 church goers 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 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 The Associated Press     PLANO, Texas (AP) - Episcopalians opposed to a gay bishop's consecration and other liberal church’s 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 network's 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 isn’t 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, we’ve 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’s 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’s 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

Today, Monday (Jan. 19) and Tuesday (Jan. 20) the Organizing Convocation of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes will meet at Christ Church’s Episcopal in Plano, Texas. Twelve Episcopal dioceses are sending representatives to this historic gathering.  The Convocation is a significant step forward in the ongoing realignment of Anglicanism in North America. Attacks unleashed against the AAC   A letter to AAC members from the Rev. Canon David Anderson   1/18/04   Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,   Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!   This past week a series of attacks were unleashed against the AAC in a thinly veiled effort to derail the Network Convocation. There is an attempt to divide the participants by painting the American Anglican Council, and those who uphold the biblical faith, as the cause of the current crisis in the Episcopal Church’s.     Here’s how the attacks began: A draft strategy paper drawn up by an AAC subcommittee on Adequate Episcopal Oversight (AEO) was given to at least three media outlets (Washington Post, Religion News Service, and the UKs Guardian) by an unknown source this past week. The draft strategy paper was reported by a Washington Post article as supposed proof of a hidden AAC agenda to supplant the Episcopal Church’s.     While this makes a good storyline, there was almost nothing in the draft strategy paper that the AAC and others haven’t said publicly before.  It is no secret that the AAC has been pursuing Adequate Episcopal Oversight as a way to provide relief and pastoral care for orthodox congregations in hostile dioceses. Since October, we have had an oversight application form and guidelines posted on our website! More Importantly, the Anglican Primates said unanimously in October that adequate oversight must be Implemented in ECUSA.  It is also no secret that ECUSA has abandoned the historic faith and doctrine of the Church’s and has tragically broken its fellowship with most of the Anglican Communion.  And it is also no secret that, because of ECUSAs actions, there now needs to be a new structure formed through which orthodox Episcopalians can remain in full fellowship with Anglicans worldwide.     As for a desire to replace ECUSA, it is the mainstream Anglican Primates, themselves, who have suggested it.  Will there ultimately be such a replacement jurisdiction? We can’t know, and even if we desired it, it is not up to the AAC or orthodox Episcopalians to make that decision. It is up to the Anglican Primates.     Expect more of these types of attacks. They will probably get nastier and more personal in the days ahead.  Don’t believe what you hear and be assured that these attacks will not deter the AAC. The plain truth is this: the General Convention of ECUSA brought this pain and division to our Church.     Stand firm and remember that Jesus is the only truth, and His truth will prevail.     Faithfully in Christ Jesus,     The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson AAC President and CEO   *****

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’s, 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. Martin’s have NOT agreed to the things which the bishop’s 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’s 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 to 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.   *****

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’s that boasts the largest attendance in the nation.     His success with the flourishing Christ Church’s 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 churches 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 convention's aim will be to produce a church’s-within-a-church’s arrangement, so that Episcopal conservatives - estimated by opponents as roughly 15 percent of the denomination's 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 priest’s 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’s, he said, he wanted a parish as rooted in the Scriptures as ceremonial tradition.     His vision of a Bible-believing church’s 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 Roseberry’s youth with a biblical emphasis that he suggests most Episcopal church’s 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’s.     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’s 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     *****

Dissident Anglican parish back in fold   By Chris Young      Vancouver Sun January 17, 2004     This latest move at St. Martin's Anglican Church in North Vancouver has been carried out by Bishop Michael Inghams 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.     North Vancouver   How to beat the Revisionists in ECUSA   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 claiming 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 isn’t 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 Bishops 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’s. This apparent reference to Father Moyer is completely incorrect. Father Moyer never abandoned the communion of the church’s. 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 don’t 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 didn’t like.       AND IN VERSAILLES, KENTUCKY, Bishop Stacy Sauls outdid himself in stupidity when he dismissed the leadership of St. John’s Episcopal Church’s 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’s 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’s 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 stated 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’s 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 primateYong 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 NigerianprimatePeter 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 won't 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’s 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 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 churches 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 churches. (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’s.     Still, the group’s 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’s 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’s. 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.   *****