by Pat Ashworth CHURCH TIMES   THE Church of England’s Bishops will look at a draft report on women bishops this month, at its first meeting of 2004, but it is likely to be the end of the year before anything is published. A motion before the Synod in July 2000 asked the Bishops to initiate further study on the episcopate focusing on the issues that need to be addressed in preparation for the debate on women in the episcopate in the Church of England and to make a progress report on this study to Synod in July 2002 .   No View from Rochester The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, who chairs the working group, would make no comment this week in advance of the Bishops’ meeting.   His chaplain, Canon Chris Stone, said on Monday that all options for the future were being examined in the draft report. It is setting out the issues rather than trying to answer them, he said. The document had no official status, and the House of Bishops could send it back to the working group to ask for more work to be done.   Speculation is centred on the possibility of creating of a third province in England to accommodate those opposed to women bishops. The Archbishop of Canterbury is on record as looking with some sympathy on the option.   Dr Williams told the Church Times in an interview before his election as Archbishop was confirmed: You can’t indefinitely perpetuate a situation in which, in one body, the ministry of some is regarded wholly negatively(29 November 2002).   Scots view   The Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church voted in June 2003 to admit women to the episcopate. Women candidates are thought to be on the nominations list for the current vacancy for the Bishop of Argyll & the Isles, but are less likely to be on the shortlist, which is due to be announced in February or March.   It could well happen that a woman was nominated from the Church of England, said the Revd Alison Wagstaff, co-ordinator of the Movement for Whole Ministry, a Scottish group campaigning for women’s involvement, on Tuesday.   There was no debate on a further province or alternative episcopal oversight in the Scottish Church. We had a very strong College of Bishops, led by Richard Holloway, who were all exceedingly against any idea of flying bishops, said Mrs Wagstaff.   END

Here is my account of another travesty in the Diocese of Western New York.   These were the words spoken repeatedly by Bishop Michael Garrison as he visited St. Bartholomew in Tonawanda, NY. on January 8th. It was a bitter cold snowy evening (5*) when members of all ages (from babies in arms to those in their late 80) 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, a parish of over 1100 members, has long been known as a faithful congregation who both know and love Holy Scripture. Over and over Parishioners stood in the sanctuary to give their own personal faith statements and their opinions of their Bishop decision at General Convention. Some mentioned that the many letters sent before General Convention appealing to the Bishop to carefully consider his vote had gone unanswered. The bishop’s reply was that he was too busy to answer these letters. The parishioners continued to pour their hearts out to the bishop and implore him to hear what they were saying and to understand the pain and suffering his vote had caused them. Hundreds of faithful people had braved the cold and snow just to ask their bishop to be their pastor in the midst of this issue. The Bishop may have heard the words being offered but clearly he did not understand the hearts of this loving congregation. For in the middle of the evening he said : I hear what you are saying and quite frankly if this is who you are I would not like to be a member of your church. Although somewhat stunned, a member was quick to remind the Bishop that as  bishop of the diocese and  he was indeed a member of St Bartholomew.    And so it went as one person after another rose to speak. Finally the Bishop said he wanted to address the congregation on their recent decision to cut their fair share pledge from 67,000 to 1,500, in the upcoming year. The Bishop then read a letter he had addressed to the vestry about this. He started by citing what he called the stinginess of St. Bartholomew. He further stated that they should know all parish, assets, property etc. would revert to the diocese in the event that St. Bartholomew ever tried to leave the diocese (a move which the parish has not discussed). Finally, he said that in the event that this fair share was not paid within this calendar year he would move to have the parish declared delinquent and thus come under the classification of dependent.   Such a decision would make the diocese the ultimate controlling authority in the life of St. Bartholomew. His letter further reminded the church that such a classification would allow the diocese to select all future clergy for this church.  Following the reading of this letter his Administrative Canon, who had accompanied him on this visit, rose to tell the congregation that earlier that day the Diocesan Council had met and given their affirmation to the bishop letter and the information which it conveyed. As if this letter had never been read, several minutes later the bishop told the congregation that he had come to listen to them and certainly not to threaten them. It was this comment that caused the congregation to pause in disbelief and moved a member of the congregation, who was also a litigating attorney, to call the Bishop on what he had just said to this congregation.  The Bishop then said that he was the one being attacked and that he felt like Michael in the Lions den.   Still this faithful congregation stood to give personal faith statements of who they were as Christians and what Jesus meant to them. Certainly there was a passion to the words which they spoke, but it was the passion of those who know right from wrong - the passion of those who know the truth of Holy Scripture.   Finally the meeting was over;  it was now 3 1/2 hours since parishioners of all ages had braved the elements of a stormy night to come and share their faith with the man they called their Bishop. Yet, the last to speak was the young Rector of this parish, Arthur Ward. Thanking the bishop for coming, this brave priest continued to stand his ground on what he and his parish believed. There were no names called, no threats offered. Instead, this young priest looked pastorally at his flock. As he stood before them he realized that on that dark and cold January night his congregation had stood for what was morally true and just. His congregation had ministered to the Bishop of The Diocese of Western New York.   Submitted by: David Rich Christ Our Healer Ministries Buffalo, New York   SOUTHERN BAPTISTS TO PULL OUT OF WORLD BODY   by Bill Bowder   THE Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is facing the loss of one third of its members. The 16-million-strong Southern Baptist Convention is planning to withdraw from the 48-million-strong BWA because of what it calls a leftward drift. A key element in the rift is a report of the BWA study committee prepared for the Southern Baptist Convention by Professor Paige Patterson of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.   Southern Baptists were not being given a fair hearing, said Professor Patterson. The BWA showed a leftward drift, which included an anti-American tone, continued emphasis on women as pastors, and no open discussion about abortion.   Those and a host of other facts had led to the decision not to support the BWA, as it no longer represented world Baptists, he said.   View of Germany As an example of the drift, Professor Patterson cited a meeting at which a German Baptist theologian said: I am not sure that there is any such thing as the Great Commission, but if there is I am confident that Jesus never said it.   Professor Eric Geldbach, a visiting professor at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in the Czech Republic, believes he is the theologian referred to, and claims to have been misquoted.   All your allegations are totally unsubstantiated, Professor Geldbech said in a letter to the Southern Baptist Convention’s committee chairman, Dr Morris Chapman, quoted in this week’s Baptist Times. Your committee is therefore guilty of trespassing at least two commandments: ˜Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, ˜Lie not one to another.  Religious games The Southern Baptist Convention expects to withdraw its financial contribution” $300,000 in this current year” to the BWA by 1 October. Its president, the Revd Jack Graham, said at the end of last month: In a world full of terrorists and extremists, we do not have time to play religious games or become bogged down in the quagmire of Baptist debates. It is time for Southern Baptists to move on.   Dr Denton Lotz, the BWA general secretary, has called the decision a sin against love. It brought schism into the life of Baptists worldwide, he said in a statement last week.   The BWA leadership had bent over backwards to accommodate the concerns of the present Southern Baptist leadership, but, alas, now to no avail , he said.   What message is this schism against love sending to the non-believing world?   Illiberalism confirmed He rejected the false accusation of liberalism made by the Southern Baptists against the BWA. It did not have a liberal agenda and it had rejected the theology of liberalism, he said.   Dr Billy Kim, president of the BWA, said that SBC had pioneered the establishment of the BWA nearly a century ago. It is essential that we remain united to fulfil the Great Commission before Christ returns.   The final decision over a split will be taken at the Southern Baptist Convention in June.   END

The Anglican Church of Australia faces a major change of direction in the wake of Archbishop Peter Carnley announcement this week to retire as Primate next year.   The church 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 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.   ÂP 2003   END

BY DAVE MUNDAY Of The Post and Courier Staff   PAWLEYS ISLAND--One of the biggest Episcopal churches in South Carolina voted itself out of the denomination Thursday night.   The 1,000-member congregation of All Saints Episcopal Church of Pawleys Island called a special meeting to sever ties with the Episcopal Church and amend its charter to delete references to the denomination and the Diocese of South Carolina.   The motion to amend the charter passed 464-42 and the one to sever ties 468-38. Of 507 voting members present, two stood to voice objections. What the rush? said Guerry Green. We need to keep trying.   The denomination's approval of an openly gay bishop last summer might have been the last straw, but the separation had been coming for a long time.   We've been feeling for years like the liberal side of the Episcopal Church USA has hijacked the church we know and love, Russ Campbell, a vestry member, said before the vote. S.C. Bishop Ed Salmon, also a vocal critic of the Episcopal Church, has been urging members to stay put while awaiting intervention from the primates of the Anglican Communion, the worldwide body of which the Episcopal Church is a member.   All Saints wants to work outside the national church. We want to work within the national church, to try to reform, Chancellor Ned Zeigler of Florence, the diocesan attorney, said before the vote.   Were all working for the same thing. It hard to understand why we don’t just work together.   All Saints had to leave the Episcopal Church because many parishioners were threatening to leave otherwise, Campbell said.   We are already seeing the potential for the erosion for what has been a strong and vibrant church here by not standing up for what we believe, he said. We certainly don’t want to leave the Diocese of South Carolina, which we consider not to be representative of the Episcopal Church. But how do you reconcile going along with this revisionist theology and political correctness, which is based on culture and not on Scripture?   The diocese plans to continue a three-year legal battle to regain control of the property, Zeigler said.   The canons of the Episcopal Church say that members hold the property in trust of the denomination. In other words, members can choose to leave, but they can’t take the property with them.   A judge already has ruled that the church deed, which is older than the denomination, invalidates the denomination claims on the property. The diocese has appealed that ruling.   Salmon recently said he will replace the leadership at All Saints, but getting a new vestry into the building may require another court order.   Were still functioning, and we have possession of the property, Campbell said. We have a court order that says neither the diocese nor the  denomination has control of the property.   There also the problem of who would pay the bills on the multimillion-dollar, 50-acre property if Salmon deposes the vestry, which would likely cause most of the members to leave.   That would present a plethora of interesting questions, said the church rector, the Rev. Tim Surratt, who is also a target for replacement. If a small minority wishes to remain, how could they pay the bills?   The local church, rather than the diocese, pays a priest salary, he said.    All Saints has already had two priests leave the Episcopal Church and remain at All Saints. The Rev. Chuck Murphy resigned in 2000 after becoming a bishop of Rwanda. A year later, his successor, the Rev. Thad Barnum, also became a bishop of Rwanda.   All Saints is headquarters of the Anglican Mission in America under Murphy leadership. The network includes about 60 congregations who have left the Episcopal Church and affiliated with the leaders of Rwanda and South East Asia.   AMIA was preceded by a movement at All Saints called First Promise. The charter document in 1997 rejected the authority of the Episcopal Church USA where it contradicts the traditional gospel and vowed to set up alternative Anglican networks where necessary.   END

Dear editor,   Hopefully the omission of Archbishop Ted Scott participation in the blessing of the civil marriage of deacons Alison Kemper and Joyce Barnett was mere oversight by the/ Journal/ (October). Archbishop Scott, the former primate, pronounced his archepiscopal blessing twice during the service: first after the couple declaration of lifelong promises of commitment and again at the end of the eucharist. The 10th primate of the Anglican Church of Canada (1971-86) participated with the prior knowledge of Archbishop Terence Finlay and at the invitation of the couple. He was vested, walked in the procession and participated fully in the ceremony.   Hugh McCullum Toronto   END   Presbyterian Pastor Says He Will Stand for Truth -- Even at Cost of His Ministry   By Jim Brown and Jenni Parkere December 29, 2003   (AgapePress) - A Bible-believing minister in the Presbyterian Church USA may be stripped of his ordination credentials for criticizing leaders in his denomination and accusing them of denying the authority of scripture. A committee in the Presbytery of Western North Carolina is recommending that Pastor Parker T. Williamson be removed from his position as CEO of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and editor-in-chief of its publications.   The Presbyterian Layman, a magazine that Williamson edits, recently urged Presbyterians to withhold undesignated gifts to the denomination because of its support for partial-birth abortion, homosexuality, and other practices that violate scripture. The pastor and editor has long spoken out against what he perceives as apostasy in the denomination, both vocally and in print.   A Presbytery of Western North Carolina committee recently voted to approve a recommendation to place Williamson on inactive status. Presbytery officials call the action administrative rather than disciplinary, and claim they are concerned about the minister character and conduct. But he believes the church leaders are simply worried about losing money.   According to Williamson, denomination officials have put up with the biblical stance of his ministry since its inception in 1965. But now that money is involved, he contends that things have reached a new level.   We have criticized the leadership of this denomination for its abandonment of scripture as the authority for the church faith and life, the pastor says, and they are having a hard time tolerating the existence of the critic.   The Presbytery of Western North Carolina Committee on Ministry voted in a closed session on December 9 to approve a recommendation to withdraw its validation of Williamson ministry. Next the matter will go before the full presbytery at a January 31 meeting at First Presbyterian Church in Asheville, North Carolina. The outspoken minister says he is prepared to defend himself.   I intend to argue the case there. I’m fully prepared to lose my ordination if that what it takes in order to stand for what clearly is God truth, Williamson says.   Should the presbytery concur with the committee decision, the minister would be placed on inactive status and lose his speaking and voting privilege s at presbytery meetings. And if Williamson ministry were not restored to active status within three years, then his ordination would be revoked and his name would be stricken from the presbytery roll.   Williamson became a member of the presbytery in 1971 and served as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Lenoir, North Carolina, before he was hired by the Presbyterian Lay Committee in 1989.   END

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

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

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

The group was formed in protest to the approval of an openly gay Episcopalian bishop.   Tampa, Bay Florida   The group was formed because of disagreement about the approval of a gay bishop. Episcopal churches in the Bay area are now part of a new breakaway network of dioceses.   The new group was formed because of disagreement about the approval of an openly gay Episcopalian bishop.   Mark Sholander, a church leader of the St. Alban Episcopal Church in Polk County, says the approval has left his parishioners feeling that their church has been hijacked by a small group of innovative thinkers.   There’s a very small, but very vocal minority who is trying to impose upon the ancient church new belief systems, said Sholander.   Sholander says the network is a way to preserve their beliefs that have existed for more than 500 years. Leaders of the network want to eventually be recognized as the authentic Episcopalian church by Anglican bishops overseas.   END

The Rev. Tom Logan   Source: AAC News January 11, 2004     Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong.  They are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Amen.     I have two emotions as I am attending this conference, and I had two same emotions when I attended Plano One.  The first is one of great joy to see this many Episcopalians in one place, here praising God, and singing his praises.  But the second one is one of profound sadness.  If you look around here you see one portion of our Episcopal family that is missing. Now, its been talked about in the press, and as I was talking with the organizers, I brought it up.  And, as we gathered around, they looked down and said, Well, youre right.     The African American Episcopal Community is missing.  Last night, there were only three African American priests here for Eucharist. Plano East is a wonderful experience of a Biblically-based Anglicanism.  But my community is not represented in large numbers, and this causes me great pain.  What is also painful is that the leadership of my community, and I am a former board member of the Union of Black Episcopalians.  I was at the conference in Minneapolis at Gethsemane Church that was right before General Convention, and some of my members, who are here today, were there and we were angry as we heard the support of what was coming.     Not only that, [but] the vast majority of African American Episcopal lay persons are silent on these issues.  What is also so very painful to me is that we sons and daughters of Africa in this country are out of step with our brothers and sisters from the mother continent.     But I have a faith in a good God. He can turn my brokenness into holiness.  My pain into an impetus for action.     And how do I know it?  Because the Bible tells me so.     An African American priest colleague of mine said, This is not my issue. When I questioned him further, he told me that this controversy of homosexuality was not his issue.  My brothers and sisters in Christ, we have allowed those who supported GC actions to set the parameters of the discussion.  In the words of Malcolm X, We have been bamboozled, hoodwinked, run amuck. They have determined that the issue is inclusiveness.  We need to declare this day that the issue in the Episcopal Church after the General Convention is the authority of the Word of God.     We need to shift the discussion to the basic instruction before leaving earth: the B-I-B-L-E.  It is not a doctrine of inclusiveness that will save you and me, but the word made flesh in Jesus, who is God incarnate, who lived in Palestine, who was arrested, died on the Cross, rose on Easter Sunday, and opened the gates of heaven to us poor sinners.  It is that which will save you and me.   And how do we know it?  Because the Bible tells me so.     Now, St. Luke in his gospel, gospel of Luke, chapter 8, verses 22-25, that he was asleep in the back of the boat.  And, if I was a brother, How dare you, brother, be sleeping in the boat when this boat is sinking?     I would have been the first back there to wake him up and say, How dare you Jesus.     What you mean, brother.     He didn’t say that.     And the important part of that, he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and he caused them to cease, and there was a calm.  And then he turned to them and he said, Where is your faith?     Where’s your faith, Afro-Anglicans?  Where’s your faith, Episcopal Church?  Is your faith rooted in the theological profundity of political correctness.  Is your faith rooted in sound bites that sound oh so good and oh so hollow?  Or is your faith rooted in the Biblically based Anglicanism that your grandmother would recognize?     That Biblically-based Anglicanism is found in the message that came into the world starting in Genesis and ending with Revelation. It is the story of Moses and the Hebrew children being freed from bondage in Egypt that suckered African Americans through the oppression of slavery.  It was the message of hope that saw us through the dark days of Jim Crow.  It was the message that we had a friend in Jesus, who we came to know in the gospels.  Who walks with us and talks with us.  That is our constant companion as we faced dogs and water canyons.     It is the struggle of African Americans in this church rooted in the Word of God.  This church has changed and called racism a sin, not because of inclusiveness, but because we are all created in his image.  That we are accepted as oneness in our creation.  That we have a new life in Jesus Christ.  Jesus died for us all.     And how do we know it? Because the Bible tells us so.     I must confess that I have been complacent.  I have sought not to be involved because I believed that there were more pressing issues I was called to face.  Within a 5 block radius of Calvary Church, you have all the issues facing an inner city.  I must confess that these were more important than to deal with the issues facing the Episcopal Church at General Convention.  I confess that I believe that all this discussion about sexuality and the Episcopal Church was an issue for the white community that really didn’t affect my parish or me.  I confess that I had uncharitable thoughts about those conservative, Bible-thumping charismatics who were on the fringes of intellectually sound, theologically profound Episcopalians.  For these, and other sins, I publicly confess and ask forgiveness.     I affirm that my attempts to help those in need is rooted in the word of god.  I affirm that my striving for justice and equality and fighting against racism in this church, and elsewhere, is rooted in the Word of God.  I affirm that my entire ministry is rooted in the     Word of God.  And if all these things are not rooted in the Word of God, and all of our ministries, all of our worship, all of our wonderful liturgies are not rooted in the word of god, they are nothing.  And we need to close up shop and find something else to do with our time.     General Convention took away the biblical basis of what I, and my parish, are attempting to do.  And what you and your parish are attempting to do.  The important aspect of what happened at General Convention is not what the decision was, but the method that it used.  As I read the testimonies of those who supported the decision, there were few references to the Bible.  All those who opposed talked Bible, Bible, Bible.     I can no longer say to the young people in my parish, and in the community surrounding Calvary, the Episcopal Church teaches the Bible tells you, Don’t shack up.  Reserve the gift of sex for marriage because that’s what the Bible says. I can no longer say the Episcopal Church bases its teaching on the Word of God.  The Bible says don’t do it, and that’s where we stand. I can no longer tell them that.     I call on the Afro-Anglican community in America, and the Episcopal Church, and Episcopalians across the nation, to repent.  To return to the faith of our ancestors.  To return to that faith rooted in the Word of God that saw us through slavery.  To return to the faith of your grandparents.  Return to a Biblical foundation of liberation theology.  Return to a Biblical, Bible-based Theology.     When you are in the hospital, how do you know that there is a healing power in the blood of Jesus?     The Bible.     When you’re feeling hopeless, how do you know that God will make a way when there is no way? The Bible.     When you’re feeling broken, refused, and abused, how do you know that you have a friend in Jesus that will never fail you?     The Bible.     How do you know Jesus died for your sins?     The Bible.     How do you know there is a heaven?     The Bible.     How do you know there is a hell?     The Bible.     How do you know there is everlasting life?     The Bible.     We need to get the light of the Word of God to shine in our lives.  We need to let the light of the Word of God shine in our decisions and our discussions.  We need to let the light of the Word of God shine in 815.  We need the light of Word of God shine in Lambeth Palace.  We need the light of the Word of God to shine in our lives because this little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.     END

ST. JOHN EPISCOPAL MEMBERS FORM NEW CONGREGATION   By Frank E. Lockwood HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER     VERSAILLES - The leadership of an Episcopal parish opposed to the ordination of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson has been dismissed by Lexington diocesan officials.     St. John Episcopal Church, a place where heads of state have worshiped, has been downgraded from a parish to a mission. The move allows Bishop Stacy Sauls to dismiss the congregation leadership and provide direct pastoral supervision of the body. The move split the church and led to the creation of a new, independent congregation.     Sauls said the diocese executive council empowered him to take control of the conservative parish last week, because the council feared that the parish nine-member governing board would leave Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) and take away church property and bank accounts worth $1.87 million. Sauls said members of St. John who want to remain in the ECUSA asked him to intervene.     I’m very concerned that if we had not done this, the group of loyal Episcopalians would have lost their church, and the leadership of the diocese could not allow that to happen, Sauls said. I think all the signs indicated there was a significant risk that they were days away from leaving the church.     But the dismissed members of the parish governing board, called a vestry, say they never planned to take the assets and werent preparing to abandon the denomination.     Instead, the parish was hoping the ECUSA would allow it and other traditionalist parishes in more liberal dioceses across the country to receive alternative episcopal oversight from more conservative bishops. Tom Thornbury, the top governing official of St. John  until the vestry was disbanded, called Sauls intervention painful, punitive and unnecessary.   In a statement read at Sunday services, Thornbury said Sauls actions have been destructive to individual families within our parish, to the unity of the parish, and the diocese as a whole.   As a bishop, this man is expected to lead his flock, not beat it into submission, Thornbury said. The only reason we can imagine why this bishop would act in such an ... unethical manner towards us is his deep animosity towards evangelical and orthodox Anglicans.   Sauls denies any animosity and said he is committed to working with conservatives and liberals alike.     It’s unclear how many people St. John is losing, although Sauls said yesterday it may have lost a majority of its members. The church average attendance was about 150. St. John has been a fixture on Versailles Main Street for more than 150 years. Two of its rectors became bishops of Lexington. Over the years, St. John visitors have included President George Herbert Walker Bush and Elizabeth II, the Queen of England and the Defender of the (Anglican) Faith.     But for the past decade, relations between St. John and diocesan leadership had deteriorated, Sauls said.     After the denomination general convention allowed an openly gay man, Lexington native Gene Robinson, to become a bishop, relations got worse.   The church protested Sauls vote supporting Robinson.   Then, the Versailles parish, which was seeking to hire a new priest (known as a rector), kept Sauls in the dark as it went about its search, the bishop said. The vestry eventually selected a finalist to lead St. John without consulting with Sauls first, the bishop said.     Former leaders of St. John say they followed ECUSA rules while going about their search. They now plan to focus on church-building, not lawsuits.     Mudslinging is not the answer, and were not going to partake in that, said former junior warden Paul Afdahl.     Pat Ewing, an Episcopalian for seven decades, says shell join the new congregation once it finds a place to worship. We’re getting rid of all that old baggage we had, and were going into a new church where we’ll be able to ... open up our Bibles, and go by what the Bible says, she said.     The Rev. Philip Haug, interim minister-in-charge at St. John, said he has confidence in Sauls. He has a difficult job ... and he doing it the way he thought was right and best for the future of the church. He has my full support.     http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/local/7705218.htm     END

Senior Bishops Also Ready To Cross Diocesan Lines, Plano-East Meeting Told     Report/Analysis By Auburn Faber Traycik The Christian Challenge (Washington, DC) January 13, 2004     IF THE OVER 3,000-STRONG Plano-East meeting January 9-10 just south of  Washington, D.C., is an example, the network of faithful Episcopalians emerging   within the Episcopal Church (ECUSA), but outside its official structure, is  becoming - as one speaker put it - a force to be reckoned with. The new Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes reportedly  has--among other things--the encouragement of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr.  Rowan Williams.     But, while it seems highly unlikely that he would presently support the  designation of it as a replacement for ECUSAâ₠-an unprecedented step--he may face  a hard choice on that score.     That is because the Network--even before its formal launching next week--is  already starting to be treated as the legitimate U.S. branch of the Communion  by several Anglican provinces and even other Christian bodies, said Pittsburgh  Bishop Robert Duncan and other principals at Plano-East in Woodbridge,  Virginia, sponsored by the D.C. and Virginia chapters of the American Anglican  Council (AAC).     The shift in ecclesial relationships is flanked by earlier announcements that  some 20 Anglican provinces considered their communion with ECUSA liberal  leadership broken or impaired, in the wake of the American Church consecration  of an actively gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, and support for  optional  same-sex blessings. The actions--seen by most Anglicans worldwide as defying  scriptural authority, established policy, and widespread appeals--have quickened a process of realignment across the Communion.     The most remarkable recent illustration of the change taking place came in a  stinging letter to ECUSA Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, in which the Ugandan  Anglican Church--which earlier broke ties with ECUSA--turned back the U.S.  Church plans to send a delegation to the installation of Uganda new  presiding bishop. It also saw ECUSA offer of aid as an attempt to buy Uganda  silence and cooperation for its unbiblical policies.     The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not for sale, even among the poorest of us who  have no money, the letter declared. Eternal life, obedience to Jesus  Christ, and conforming to His Word are more important, said the Ugandans--who  invited Network representatives to attend their archbishop installation instead.     That is radical stuff, the Rev. Martyn Minns, rector of Virginia Truro  Church, Fairfax, told Plano-East participants, who outnumbered the some 2,700  faithful Episcopalians who attended October landmark meeting in Dallas  (Plano). Minns said the Ugandan event would be attended by Bishop Duncan, the  Network Moderator, and Dallas Bishop James Stanton, and others.     The formal inauguration of the Network--a move the AAC says is strongly  supported by many Anglican primates--is set to take place January 19-20 at Christ  Church, Plano, and to include among its participants representatives of at  least a dozen dioceses: Albany, Pittsburgh, San Joaquin (CA), South Carolina,  Florida, Central Florida, Dallas, Fort Worth, Quincy and Springfield (both in  Illinois), Western Kansas, and Rio Grande. THE NEW NETWORK also got a boost from a group of senior bishops which Minns  announced is now prepared to exercise episcopal ministry to marginalized or  embattled parishes across diocesan lines--with or without the permission of  the local ECUSA bishop.     Though there was speculation that this may involve foreign  bishops--canonically untouchable by ECUSA--Minns did not name names, and neither would other AAC  spokesmen TCC queried.     But the provision of adequate episcopal oversight for conservative parishes  in hostile circumstances has the backing of Anglican primates (provincial  leaders), who inferred at their October meeting in London that they will monitor  such provisions via the Archbishop of Canterbury role as consultant in the  matter.     Still, it appears virtually certain that there will be a need for bishops  willing to cross lines without permission. Already, ECUSA and AAC officials are  stalemated over a draft bishops plan that provides no override of the local  bishop if he fails to permit adequate alternate care (adequate being judged  by the recipients). And the stakes are growing higher by the day: some 100  parishes are said to have applied through the AAC for alternate episcopal care.     -Navigating Uncharted Waters-     Minns sparked amusement with his understatement that providing unauthorized  episcopal ministry--though pastoral in intent--may cause some controversy.     And of course, no one could expect that, for beleaguered faithful  Episcopalians,  it will be all smooth or swift sailing through uncharted Anglican waters.  Nor is the new Network likely to offer a panacea for all believing  Episcopalians, since it will not adopt the catholic position on women ordination.     Some confusion and questions were generated recently in the wake of Bishop  Duncan comments to the effect that the Network is not seeking to be a province  separate from ECUSA.     Indeed, it remains intertwined with a body that--despite its rebellious  pro-gay actions and the serious damage they have caused to Anglican unity and  ecumenical efforts--has yet to be de-recognized by the Archbishop of Canterbury  and/or the primates jointly. In remarks to reporters at Woodbridge, as well,  Duncan still held out hope that sufficient pressure could be brought to bear on  ECUSA to step back from its anti-scriptural position on homosexuality.     That was not exactly the message that some heard earlier--if not from Duncan, from other leading spokesmen--at the Dallas meeting and elsewhere.     One online commentator asked what happened to some conservative leaders  assertions that there would be a new province, that the irreformable ECUSA  would be `excommunicated, that no one was working on establishing a `church  within a church--a phrase lately used to describe the Network by both Duncan and  AAC President David Anderson, but a scheme that has been tried and failed.  (Based on its experience, the traditionalist Forward in Faith, North America, has  been urging some Communion-recognized means of separate existence for orthodox U.S. Anglicans since at least 1997, and had promoted similar concepts since  1976.)  As well, there have been largely fruitless prior pledges and pursuits  of alternate episcopal oversight, and, some have asked, could that be more  than an interim solution?     In sum--especially after a Pittsburgh diocesan move putting church property  into the hands of congregations was recalled in a bid to halt a lawsuit over  the motion--some have wondered whether the stay in network meant that a desire  to retain church property and remain in the club would again trump  theology, and genuine unity and communion.       But it is not that AAC spokesmen do not see the importance of clarifying  relationships and statuses--including that of the Network--along theological lines  within the Communion; it is that it is not up to U.S. faithful to  adjudicate that, the Rev. Canon Kendall Harmon of South Carolina told TCC in  Woodbridge.     Harmon and other AAC spokesmen see the realignment as requiring a patient  process in which their main task is to identify and gather their constituency  within ECUSA and fully establish the Network, so as to distinguish the faithful  for foreign bishops seeking to maintain fellowship, and to be ready (as Fr.  Minns put it) for other possibilities.     And they are encouraged by the international situation as they see it  developing. Though many U.S. faithful would have welcomed stronger, swifter action,  the conservative majority of primates--which only began to awaken to the state  of ECUSA about eight years ago--have already significantly changed the  Anglican landscape in that time. What was first solidly manifest at the 1998 Lambeth  Conference, is now evident in unprecedented declarations of broken communion  (by about 25 percent of provinces so far).     Some provinces have apparently responded to Archbishop Williams appeal for  forbearance, and are waiting for next September results from a new  commission. That panel, led by Irish Primate Robin Eames, is to sort out the legal and  relational implications of ECUSA unilateral actions within the  Communion--though it should be noted that there is a wide range of expectations about what  this commission will do, not all of them likely to be met.     And as the first Eames Commission promoted a doctrine of reception (testing  process) on women ordination at the expense of a hallmark of communion--the  interchangeability of ministries--one might well ask whether Eames II cannot  be expected to find ways of allowing and managing two sexuality doctrines in  one Communion as well.     As Harmon sees it, the tale will be told by how the Eames Commission  performs, how it interfaces with the global South, the response of global South  leaders, and where Williams places himself in regard to that. But he thinks the  odds favor the conservatives.     Unlike the women issue, about which he contended that scripture speaks  bifocally, Harmon told TCC that it wont work...to glorify the doctrine of  reception on the gay issue. You cant `receive something which has no  scriptural grounds, and which he said has been rejected by all four advisory  instruments of Anglican unity--the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth  Conference, the Primates Meetings and the Anglican Consultative Council.     Global South leaders, in particular, will not tolerate dual theologies on the  issue, he believes--something which also might suggest that they will not  long allow an unrepentant ECUSA to retain full membership status in a Communion  of which they are also a part.     As well, Harmon sees an edge in the fact that Eames II and Archbishop  Williams will have to take the existence of the Network into consideration in  formulating their positions--a Network he also said is already receiving growing  recognition within the Communion and ecumenically.       Moreover, he believes that liberal arguments about ECUSA pro-homosexual  innovations--that it no big deal, that it can be handled like women  ordination, that it not a Communion-dividing issue--are fast losing ground. It is a  process he thinks has been quickened by the performance of ECUSA presiding  bishop. Griswold supported the October statement of Anglican primates--which  grimly warned of a serious breakdown in commmunion if Robinson was  consecrated--and then proceeded to act as the gay bishop chief consecrator. While U.S.  conservative activists expected this result, some global South leaders were  shocked by it, Harmon said.     The bottom line, he told TCC, is that, international support for the U.S.  faithful is steadily increasing.     AND SOME LEADERS of the emerging Network have scored an approach too focused  on clinging to church property, the club, and/or the general status quo.     Last fall, Bishop Duncan told brethren in Canada that: We need to give up  our idolatries, our comfortable lives that include buildings, properties and  offices. We need to submit to godly leaders...     At Plano-East, AAC Chancellor A. Hugo Blankingship described the  unencouraging legal outlook on church property rights. But, while he noted that church  property is consecrated to the Lord and should be protected, he drew applause  when he added his belief that our orthodox clergy are our chief assets, and far  more important to us than the property. He also joined other speakers in  pointing to the conservatives own role in creating ECUSA dire situation, a  matter addressed with repentance and prayer during the meeting. This is our mess,  and we must deal with it, Blankingship said.     And in his final remarks at Plano-East, Minns asked: Which future do you  want? A safe and comfortable club for people who appreciate the finer things of  life, or are you willing to take the risk and become a missionary community  where all sorts and conditions of men and women are welcome?...Are you willing to  welcome the down and out as well as the up and out?...Not everyone who comes  will be properly dressed and know how to behave or when to sit or stand, but  saving lives is at the heart of God vision. The question is whether we are  willing to pay the price to make it our future. God vision for His Church is  not one of tidy little clubs that sing pretty little songs. God vision for  His Church is one of radical inclusion but it is also one of profound  transformation...     That vision was certainly encouraged and enlarged by moving talks given  during the meeting from representatives of some truly inspiring orthodox  ministries--Anglican Frontier Missions, which seeks to reach world  still-unevangelized; Five Talents, which aids the development of small businesses in developing  countries; Regeneration, a ministry to those seeking to overcome homosexual  attraction; SOMA (Sharing of Ministries Abroad); Alpha; and several others.     -Getting Connected-     And if anything sounded like a rejection of compromise, it was the engaging  talk by Diane Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy  and a member of ECUSA Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations.     The big lie is that one must choose between truth and unity, she said.  Rather, she declared: Genuine truth defines our unity. Genuine unity protects the  truth.     Noting the terrible blow that the General Convention decisions dealt to  Christian unity, she said it is preposterous that we are called schismatic or  separatist. We `dissenters are the ones committed to Christian unity.     Fr. Minns agreed. Will the Network divide [ECUSA]? he asked. No, that  division has already occurred.   Minns sees the Network as being a move of the Holy Spirit by which people  are getting connected over lines that used to separate us.     We are connected by a common vision for the Gospel and a passion for  mission; by a desire to see the Word of God proclaimed with sensitivity and power,  and apply its truth to our lives.     For members of dioceses that are part of its initial formation, the Network  will give an opportunity to bring orthodox leadership to our church at a time  when [its] very future...is at risk. It will allow new partnerships  and...relationships within North America and beyond, Minns told the Plano-East  gathering.     Reportedly, the Network will be open as well to conservative Anglicans in  Mexico and Canada, where New Westminster Bishop Michael Ingham and his diocese  have made some major waves over the issue of same-sex blessings.     For parishes that are not part of the founding dioceses it will give a place  to stand and a community with which to connect, Minns went on. Some parishes  may remain canonically within their existing dioceses, but seek spiritual  oversight through the Network, while some of the more isolated and embattled  parishes may become extra-territorial parts of the founding dioceses, or the basis  of new missionary districts, he said.     Individuals in parishes that have supported the General Convention decisions  have a few options, such as trying to build a network within their parish or  local community. Minns said the Network would also encourage the planting of  new churches.     What it will do is give hope and a place to belong for Anglican Christians  in North America who are committed to a biblical worldview and a biblical way  of life, Minns said. Around the Communion and ecumenically, he said, the Network gives us a way  to connect with those sisters and brothers around the world...who will no  longer recognize the current leadership of [ECUSA], he added.     Could it be a replacement for ECUSA? Only God knows, but well be ready.     -----------------