By Julia Duin THE WASHINGTON TIMES   More than 3,000 conservative Episcopalians met Friday and yesterday in Woodbridge to pledge solidarity against their denomination decision last summer to consecrate a homosexual priest as bishop.The gathering was larger than the 2,700 Episcopalians who met last fall in Plano, Texas, in what became known as the Plano Conference to oppose the Aug. 5 consecration of Canon V. Gene Robinson at the Episcopal General Convention as the new bishop of New Hampshire. The meeting this weekend at the Hylton Memorial Chapel, termed Plano East, was held for those who couldn’t go to Texas.     Conservative Episcopalians are angry over church decisions last year to approve Bishop Robinson and to allow blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples.     Homosexuals are due their civil rights, and I am in no way challenging that, said Fred Haeberer of Stafford County, Va. However, this is a spiritual realm, and our church is founded on Scriptures that define homosexuality as a sin.     The crowd, mainly church members from the Dioceses of Virginia and Washington, heard nothing negative about their two bishops “the Rt. Revs. Peter Lee and John Chane” who both voted for Bishop Robinson. One of Bishop Lee chaplains, the Rev. Kathleen Christopher, took part in the communion service Friday night.     However, the theme of the speeches was unmistakable: That the Episcopal Church is in deep trouble by allowing the consecration of Bishop Robinson and thereby incurring the wrath of many of the 70 million members of the Anglican Communion. This is our mess, said Hugo Blankingship, a Fairfax lawyer who spoke about how to avoid lawsuits by hostile bishops, and we must deal with it.     Other speakers predicted a similar gloomy scenario. The Rev. John Yates, rector of the Falls Church Episcopal in the city of Falls Church, spent at least 20 minutes explaining how Scripture cannot be reinterpreted to allow homosexual relationships.     If it our claim to submit to Christ, we must submit to scriptural authority as well, he said. We dare not say, as one of our bishops said, Well, we wrote them, we can rewrite them. Or, as another bishop said, We need a new Christianity for a new world.   Since the 1960s, he said, Episcopal leaders and teachers have jettisoned the historic distinctives of the church. Many believers left in August. We have stayed. ... We have to say: Enough is enough.     The Rev. Kendall Harmon, canon theologian for the Diocese of South Carolina, said church liberals often cite the apostles decision in the New Testament to allow Gentiles to become Christians, as a landmark decision similar to the Episcopal Church decision to allow homosexual bishops.     People say were doing a new thing, as in Acts 15, Mr. Harmon said, God doesn’t do new things that are opposed to Scripture. The idea of God doing a new thing is a Mormon idea, not a Christian one.     This story is based in part on wire service reports   END

You sir are duplicitous: you have repeatedly spun the truth     AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with the Archbishop of the West Indies, The Most Rev. Drexel Gomez.     By David W. Virtue VIRTUOSITY     The following interview took place at the new Anglican Communion Institute conference (formerly SEAD the Society for Ecumenical Anglican Doctrine which was formerly SEAD the Scholarly Engagement with Anglican Doctrine) in Charleston, SC.   VIRTUOSITY: Archbishop, are you in impaired communion or broken communion with the Episcopal Church?   GOMEZ:  We are in impaired communion with ECUSA, which is the official position of the Province of West Indies.     VIRTUOSITY: At what point would it become broken?   GOMEZ: We will be having our provincial meeting in November. Prior to that we await  the result of the Eames Commission and we will hold the relationship [of impaired communion] till then. We will also see how the communion acts. We have expressed a strong concern for faithful Anglicans in America and a large number of Caribbeans in the US who are preserving the faith in The ECUSA.     VIRTUOSITY: In your speech to attendees at the Anglican Communion Institute conference you called Frank Griswold a duplicitous man who has spun the truth from several Primatial meetings over homosexuality. Can you be specific?     GOMEZ: Within the meeting itself he would always say in the ECUSA there are different approaches it, but he would never discuss what the individual positions were, or  give any resolution. These divisions were the last word so by do nothing you allowed the Practice to continue.     VIRTUOSITY: You mean no authority of Holy Scripture informs him?     GOMEZ: His approach to Scripture is totally alien to our traditional approach to Scripture.     VIRTUOSITY: What should faithful Episcopalians do now? Should they leave? Join the AMIA or what?     GOMEZ: I would not advocate joining the AMIA. I would advise persons to hold on and to bear witness in their particular context as the church works through this question. Let me be clear homosexuality affects the entire Anglican Communion not just ECUSA. There are Caribbean Anglicans questioning whether they should stay in the Anglican Church, it is not just a local one.     VIRTUOSITY: Are you hopeful that the Episcopal Church can be reformed over time?     GOMEZ: Over time, perhaps. It would take a long time because there is a strong revisionist leadership within the ECUSA and most of the seminaries are revisionist and producing a revisionist mindset, and for me that is a very dangerous sign for the future health and wellbeing of the church; it lacks Anglican diversity.     VIRTUOSITY: What do you understand Anglican diversity to mean?     GOMEZ: A variety of opinions on non-essential elements. An example is the approach to  Holy Communion. Some people are receptionists, some broad church, while the Anglican Church teaches the real presence. I see no difficulty tolerating those differences of opinion while emphasizing, doing and participating in the Eucharist. Diversity ceases to be diversity when we teach contradictory and mutually exclusive teaching and doctrines where opposites cannot be true.     There are instances where one set of issues can be both/and but there are other issues that are presumptively secular and are not open to both/and. You cannot say therefore that heterosexual and homosexual lifestyles are equally holy patterns of living, they are not. VIRTUOSITY: What do you understand the Doctrine of Reception to be?     GOMEZ: It is essentially an approach started by the Roman Catholic Church and found in some forms of orthodoxy. A teaching is presented to the church and is allowed to ferment. The doctrine of the church begins at the community level where it becomes comfortable and absorbed into the broader teaching of the church.     VIRTUOSITY: Why could homosexuality not be a part of a new Doctrine of reception?     GOMEZ: Because it contradicts the revealed teaching from Genesis of the creation of humankind, wherein God makes male and female and it is part of the divine order and plan for being human. It is a contradiction of that affirmed by Jesus. It also denies the complementarity that God has placed into the created order and introduces a new anthropology in which human beings are simply persons without differentiation; so any two persons can love any two persons. It is not possible to involve this is a new doctrine of reception.     VIRTUOSITY:  In the present crisis the Episcopal Church finds itself in, what should Episcopal laity do at this time?     GOMEZ: The first approach is to remain in the church. Secondly, I think they should  search out those faithful parishes where they can worship. People have cars they can travel. It wont hurt them. Thirdly they should take time and effort to study the issues more deeply. Stop complaining and get informed.     VIRTUOSITY: How should the Archbishop of Canterbury discipline the Bishop of New Westminster?     GOMEZ: I believe Dr. Williams should make a public comment after the next Canadian General Synod on last day of May after they have elected a new Primate. New Westminster is a diocese within a province. The Archbishop has made a public commitment to uphold the official teaching of the Anglican Church on this issue and  any province that departs from that teaching would present him with a problem.     VIRTUOSITY: Canon John Peterson and the Anglican Consultative Council have very manipulative with the Primates? Has he or can he been stopped?     GOMEZ: Peterson has used the office of General Secretary to promote the cause of the revisionists at the expense of the traditionalists. In terms of the ACC itself, it is due for a structural review. It should represent the more general feeling and rich diversity of the communion.     VIRTUOSITY: Should the next leader of the AAC be from the Global South?     GOMEZ: Yes.     VIRTUOSITY: Should he be orthodox in faith and morals?     GOMEZ: Yes.     VIRTUOSITY: Is there Racism in the ECUSA and at what level?     GOMEZ: My own belief is that racism is still a live issue within the church and wider society, and we have been too quick to cover it up and pretend to be where we are not.   Within the Global South there is a strong feeling that the North does not give to the persons of the South the due recognition that is due to them as persons.     VIRTUOSITY: Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison likened the growth of African Christianity to Hitler Nazi Party? What is your response to that?     GOMEZ: It was and is a racist and uninformed statement and meant to be pejorative. Leaders like Bennison are doing grave harm to the Christian cause not just the Anglican  cause, because he is deficient in Christian orthodoxy and exploits the power of his office to achieve his own ends.     VIRTUOSITY: Do you think there is an implied racism in bishops like Griswold and Spong?     GOMEZ: They are condescending in their attitude towards the Global South and that is racist.     AFTER I WROTE MY LETTER TO FRANK GRISWOLD CONDEMINING HIM FOR CONSECRATING V. GENE ROBINSON I GOT A MESSAGE FROM THE VATICAN SUPPORTING MY LETTER TO GRISWOLD.     I am still praying that we will be able to stay together and be a stronger church out of the present problems, but I am strongly of the view that we must pay greater attention to the teaching of The Faith, and we must reduce the pseudo cultural teaching that is being promoted under the guise of Christianity.     VIRTUOSITY: What are your hopes for the Anglican Communion?     GOMEZ: We are in dialogue with the African and Asian bishops, South East Asia and  Indian archbishops and we are planning a meeting before the end of the year.     VIRTUOSITY: What is the real point of the Eames Commission, can it make any serious contribution to the ongoing debate?     GOMEZ: The Eames Commission is about structural and relational issues. It is NOT about the truth or falsity of homosexual behavior. That issue has been decided. The Lambeth Resolution resolved that. It is now about how we remain in communion and address the question of communion in the face of diversity and the reality of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the various parts of the communion in the situation of diversity. These are issues of provincial autonomy and inter-Anglican relationships, and the Commission is to make recommendations to the Archbishop with special reference as to how he is to function.     VIRTUOSITY:  A Federation rather than Communion perhaps?     GOMEZ: There is a strong possibility by might, but there are efforts devoted to being a Communion. It will be a great tragedy if we are reduced to a federation. It will do immense harm to the image of Anglicanism and it would certainly reduce our influence at the ecumenical level it would reduce it considerably.     I am glad to say that I am able to exercise some influence in the Global South and I am happy to report that we are all, at this time, working off the same page.       END

What is the Network?     The Rev. Canon Martyn Minns Source: AAC News January 11, 2004      Duncan Sermon at the AAC A Place to Stand Gathering in Virginia   The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan source: AAC News January 10, 2004       http://www.americananglican.org/News/News.cfm?ID=933&c=21     God’s Vision, Our Future - Plano East Closing Address     The Rev. Canon Martyn Minns Source: AAC News January 11, 2004     http://www.americananglican.org/News/News.cfm?ID=935&c=21   Marriage is between a Man and a Woman Only   END

http://www.freerepublic.com/    01/09/2004     Ok, just come home from the most glorious Festival Eucharist I’ve been to since The Holy Spirit conference in New Orleans, August, 1997.   Magnificent. The procession was several hundred Priests long, and 2 Bishops in attendance: Bishop Duncan and Bishop MPango of Tanginika, who attended VTS and was married at Truro Church (by Rt. Rev. John Howe, I believe, well, it was during his time at Truro).     The sermon by Bishop Duncan was on the text of Peter and Jesus walking on the water and Jesus reached out and helped him into the boat - that in the same way, the Holy Spirt, Jesus, God - the Trinity are reaching out to us as a group. I heard the doctrine of orthodoxy but not to Griswold or Williams although at the announcement time, Bishop Duncan had 3 announcements one of which was that Griswold and Williams would be informed of this conference, and the last was flyover Bishops that those who want to have Confirmations, or send candidates for Holy Orders, or for Seminarians, these Bishops would be available. Means to us at Church of the Apostles, Truro, Christ the Redeemer, The Falls Church and Church of the Holy Spirit, Dale City, that Confirmation can now proceed without having to invite Bishop Lee!   YES!   After the service ended, there was prayer in front for those wishing to receive prayer, and the lobby/narthex was filled with clergy in informal receiving lines welcoming those from their Churches or just those who wished to have a word with them.     I confess that I went for prayer - during the end of the service I realized that I was furious with Bp. Lee for doing this to us - anger that welled up and spilled out of me. Having had a childhood friend who left the Episcopal Church to become a Jewess, sent me the article on Truro Church, Martyn Minns and the Bishop from the Sunday New York Times Magazine section. There was nothing in the envelope with the article - nothing but it might as well have had one that said, Nah nah nah na!. And it was in this article that I read that Bishop Lee was prodded to take this position by his wife who said, Peter, do you want to be part of the past, or part of the future? And ON THIS SCRIPTURAL BASIS of wifely reminders, he based his decision? Oh joy, this just thrilled me to tears. NOT. BTW, the Bishop has gained a significant amount of weight. He has always been trim and fit, and this picture showed a double chin, a puffed face, and a belly! Must be eating to salve the pains of dissension he feeling, eh?     Interestingly, Martyn nodded in the procession in my direction - I was standing in the narthex, to watch the procession - and saw David Harper who of course never sees anyone except the person back in front to him. Saw Tom Herrick, vicar from Christ the Redeemer, the Mission Church from Truro - in tough times because of disassociating ourselves from Bp. Lee. I have no idea where they got their money to make the Jan. salary budget. Hmm – saw John Guernsey from Dale City, Phil Ashey formerly of Apostles, then Pittsburgh somewhere, is now vicar at South Riding (an entire planned community you’ve never seen off of Rt. 50 hard to pick a mile marker for you to know where it is, when all you remember is forest, followed by more forest, which is now houses, condominiums, and very expensive tony townhomes and single-family homes, and a golf course designed by someone impressive for very costly club fees.     I plan on taking notes during tomorrow panel discussions as this is where the ideas of separation will be presented.     I have had a foretaste of Heaven - the service was glorious, the synchronized responses marvelous, and the rafters just rang with the precise amen of about 3000. I would estimate that the place was 75% full, meaning about 3000 in attendance. Parking confirmed this, as busses were required from 3 distant parking/hotel/motel locations! I arrived in time to get one of the last spaces within the confines of the Hylton Chapel parking lots without being in the extended area!     It was a joy to be among so many devout, joyful, orthodox conservative Episcopalians. The Episcopal Church lives!     Freeper Report on Second Day of Plano East in Northern Virgina   01/10/2004     http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1055546/posts     Today was started with a wonderful historical service in the Episcopal Church, Morning Prayer. This daily office is said daily by Priests in our Church and we don’t’ celebrate it often enough in the Church. There are times I wish every Eucharist started with Morning Prayer as did the Cathedral of my childhood.     Opening comments were again delivered by The Rev. John Guernsey of All Saints, Dale City, who welcomed us to a thoughtful consideration of today speakers.     The day was a composite of panels presenting various topics for our consideration. The call to Orthodoxy was a thread throughout them all, and amazingly so, since they were given different topics with the instruction Come up with 3 questions - which most followed and answered with Biblical text, or song, or with Anglican precendent or history, or a call to remain strong, that those who have embraced the results of GC 2003 have LEFT the Church; that WE are the Church.     The final panel of the day included a young man from Christ the Redeemer who delivered an impassioned plea for us to remember who we are, and to get on with the central tenet of our faith - doing the work Jesus has us on earth to do. This from one so young with almost stinging words, was received with a standing ovation followed by prayer for all those 22 and younger. Hands were laid on those who were in attendance by groups of those around them, and prayer was spontaneous and repentant for having ignored the future of the Church, our youngsters.     The theme throughout today was ever constant - do the work that Jesus sent us here to do, and the business of the Church, how we will align will come out of that but not at the sake of it.     The Rev. Canon Martyn Minns summed this up at the end, giving as the parallel stories of Tex, Ruth and Emily - redemptive inclusivity, radical transformation. Redeeming work done at the risk of reaching out to the unclean, unwashed and outcast, but because they received the love of Christ through one of us, they came to believe in God, accepted His Son as the living Christ, and whose lives were radically transformed as a result.     Today, whether it was epistemological, historical, analytical, musical or rhetorical, the love of Jesus and the focus on Him was made clear. Over and over, we were urged to place our faith in the Bible, the Trinity, and get on with getting on. These discussions interspersed with prayer and then with song, drove the message deep: There is hope, there is life in this Church (us) after all; there is meaning to all of this when we keep our eyes on the One who came to earth to show us how it done, and that mission - the kind of mission that evolves out of each and every one of us, is central to our existence because living the great commission is more important than living the social life of meaningless Sunday Church services.   With the focus back on Jesus, with the emphasis on mission and service, there was a release of anxiety over where do we go, what do we do now which morphed instead into this is what we do, this is how we proceed, we keep doing the work of Jesus and the mechanics of our Anglican Communion here in America will be worked out. Time will help us work this out. The pressure to see something, almost anything happen NOW was released into peace and patience and commitment to doing the work on earth that God has for us to do.     When I entered the building this Morning, I wondered how I would ever feel peace, ever feel contentment in being an Episcopalian in America. As the day progressed, any anxiety or pressure to have something resolved today or even tomorrow faded away, in to the certainty that our leadership is pursuing with all alacrity that which would make us central to Anglicanism, without worrying about splitting off from or or splitting up ECUSA. Who knew where this would end today? With teenagers performing skits that showed the peer pressure they could face about that homosexual Bishop thing which the central character worked out to be the issue of Biblical authority rather than a homosexual issue.     A fantastic witness was given by a man who is involved in a ministry to those trapped in the homosexual lifestyle, as he told us his story and let us see the pain of what he experienced, followed by the healing and love and wholeness that Jesus has called him into. It was one of the most powerful testimonies of God mercy and grace I think I’ve ever heard. Like all of us, his is a process of healing, but also like us, one that he has recognized the choices he has to make and the fight he has to wage daily.   This is simply and remarkably, the kind of healing and wholeness that God calls us all into.   In the theme of the day, I have 3 questions.   What did I like best? The singing. No, the panels. No, the skits the teenagers did. No, the stories Canon Minns told. No, the congregational prayer we were led in, in small groups. Okay, I liked everything.     Starting with the Festival Eucharist last night, to the Morning Prayer, panel discussions, congregational prayer, group prayer, teenager skits, each had a part to play in the fabric of the day that wove us to the final conclusion - we can retain our rich Anglican heritage by standing firmly on the Word of God and doing His work.     What did I Learn? I learned that we aren’t headed to some major schism, leaving consecrated property, splitting parishes apart, abandoning Priest and Bishop retirement monies, and introducing incredible amounts of doubt. We can continue with who we are, claiming the Biblical authority that we have, and making some requests about our future that will progress slowly, with thought and with care (and with legal help!).     What touched me most? Two things. One, the availability of the Priests and Bishops, to talk with us - at breaks, at lunch, after the last session. With so many white collars around, people could approach them and ask them their most burning concern. If they didn’t feel something had been answered for them (most likely, it just hadn’t been answered yet), they could address it with the nearest Priest. I thought this openness and availability was spectacular. No pedestals, or barriers to questions here.     Second, the pace of the day. I don’t know how they did it, but the time from 8 AM to 4:30 PM just flew by, but instead of feeling like it whizzed past, there was this sense of accomplishment, of peace, of contentment, of renewed passion for ministry. I wanted to thank the heretical Bishops who voted for the consecration of the errant Bishop in NH, to say a loud thank you. Why?   Because bringing this many of us together in No. VA was a treat. The comfort of familiar liturgy, the rhythm of treasured hymns and songs, the cadence of the leaders prayers, the assurance of steadfastness in our faith through humorous stories and Biblical quotes led to a peacefulness that our denomination is not teetering on the precipice of destruction, but instead is focusing on a new emphasis, a call to righteousness. A call of faithfulness.     No matter what you call us, we are Episcopalians.   One final note. I heard two different numbers for attendance today. From the panels, from the introductions by The Rev. Crocker, an Assistant at Truro, I heard 3000 several times. From someone who did the computer print out for name badges, I heard the number 3275.     So, let just call it 3000+. Quite a turnout in this busy No. VA area where there was supposition that not many would bother showing up. 3275 people bothered to show up, and were rewarded for it.   END

AMIA Wave-on-line News Anglican Mission in America     The small African nation of Rwanda has suffered much loss in the last ten years.  The genocide of 1994 cost it an estimated 800,000 lives, and left it to walk a difficult road of rebuilding and restoration.  It has also paid in other ways.  When the Anglican Province of Rwanda came to the aid of orthodox Episcopalians in the United States, it was threatened with the loss of financial support from the powerful Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA).  When the province went ahead, on principle, to establish the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA), it felt the wrath of the ECUSA hierarchy in the forfeiture of much needed  financial support.   In one instance, Trinity Church Wall Street withdrew a promised sum of funds to theological education in Rwanda an amount of over $150,000 that was subsequently raised by the fledgling AMiA. Today, Theological Education by Extension, or TEE, is thriving in Rwanda, having trained nearly 2,000 candidates since 1999.  The Rev. Canon Martin Nzaramba, TEEs Coordinator, is clear about the vital role the program fills: Our immediate vision is to help the Episcopal Church in Rwanda to grow numerically and spiritually.  We also desire to offer theological education to all levels of our church leaders, that our churches would have abundant life. Nzaramba was beaten in the early stages of the genocide, presumed killed and buried alive.  He regained consciousness, got out of the grave and walked to safety in Burundi!     Last year the TEE program trained Diocesan coordinators and facilitators across the country that oversee the local programs and administrate the appropriate examinations each term.  They hope to train 60% of church leaders by the end of 2007.     The House of Bishops in Rwanda has declared that it has a goal to establish a residential theological college that would also be home to the extension program.  Several Anglican Mission congregations have expressed interest in assisting with this goal, and attendees of the AMiAs Winter Conference in Destin will have opportunity to contribute to this project through the conference offerings.     For Canon Nzaramba, it is a partnership that is paying important ministry dividends in Rwanda, We are pleased that the program is progressing so well, and were very thankful for the support we have received.   END

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

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

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

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

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

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

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