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By Cynthia P. Brust The American Anglican Council deplores the action of the Anglican Church of Canada's General Synod yesterday in their vote to "affirm the integrity and sanctity" of same sex relationships. The day before, it appeared that the General Synod had grasped the magnitude of this issue as well as its potential impact on the communion and had chosen to display caution. Their concerns were so great that the Synod asked for the advice of a primatial theological commission and deferred the decision itself until the 2007 General Synod. Deferment would have allowed the Canadian Church to proceed carefully and prayerfully toward a more hopeful future. This perception was reinforced by a statement of the Archbishop of Canterbury released yesterday in which he responded to the decision the night before: "The decision to defer the question of the right of dioceses over same sex blessings offers hope for the continuing collegiality of the Anglican Communion." "It is important that the Canadian church has held back from a structural shift that would have run counter to the pleas and wishes of the Primates' meeting last Autumn and of so many around the Communion. In doing so, it has avoided complicating still further the work of the Lambeth Commission." As we fast forward to the Synod session yesterday, surreal circumstances marked the proceedings. The very body judging the issue of same sex blessings too grave to consider one day turned 180 degrees in its passage of an amendment to affirm such blessings the next day. The Canadian Church chose to deem same sex unions worthy of the term "sanctity", language clearly intended to place such unions on a par with marriage. The very church that seemed to be listening to their brothers and sisters worldwide has now declared through their action, "We have no need of you." Through their decisions, both ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada reflect a body capitulating to the spirit of the age. We find this decision outrageous. Its flies in the face of clear teaching of Scripture, natural law, the four instruments of Anglican unity, and the vast majority of Christians worldwide. As if all this were not egregious enough, the amendment is clearly the result of a highly dubious process which involved last minute maneuvers, curtailed debate and most astounding on a vote of this significance, a vote by hands. How is that even possible? We take heart from the fact that despite the actions of ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada, the United Methodist Church, a denomination four times the size of ECUSA recently voted to uphold Biblical teaching on marriage and sexuality. This victory proves that such a pan-sexual agenda is neither an intrinsic component of North American culture nor inevitable for mainline Christian denominations. Rather, the decisions of ECUSA and the Canadian Church represent unilateral acts of rebellion that have resulted in disunity and schism. We are particularly concerned for our orthodox brothers and sisters in Canada who have seen their church embrace heresy through a procedure lacking in clarity and due process. We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters offering our prayers, our thanks for their strong efforts and our deepest sympathies. We at the American Anglican Council are blessed by the efforts of the global Anglican Communion which stands passionately in solidarity with us as we resist revisionist theology attacking Christianity. The shameful decision by the Canadian Church only serves to reinforce our resolve and commitment to work for the realignment of Anglicanism in North America, seeking to preserve the precious Anglican heritage that we may pass it on to our sons and daughters. Cynthia Brust is Communications Director for the American Anglican Council END

Dear +Charles, I write to request and urge you to relinquish your demand to visit the Church of the Good Samaritan, Paoli, Pennsylvania on June 6, 2004. First of all, as you know, you are able to fulfill the canonical responsibility we have as bishops to visit our congregations every three years with meetings that are not on Sundays, and do not include all of the elements of preaching, celebrating, and confirming. Thus, it seems to me, that your insistence on doing all of the above is provocative, to say the least, with a congregation that regards your position on so many issues to be heretical. You have denied the authority of scripture ("the Church wrote the Bible, and the Church can rewrite it"), the divinity of Christ ("he is a forgiven sinner"), and the arrangements of the last meeting of the House of Bishops (Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight - "it will never happen here.") I am saddened by all of this, Charles, and I hope you will reconsider. Greg Brewer was my priest before he was yours, and I know him to be an absolutely faithful, orthodox, Nicene Christian. It is a crisis of conscience to him, his vestry, and his congregation, to have you insist on coming on a Sunday morning to do a full-fledged Episcopal Visitation, when you no longer hold the Faith Once Delivered to the Saints. Please allow +Clarence Coleridge, (or someone outside the Diocese, like myself) to visit on your behalf. Warmly in our Lord, +John W. Howe Episcopal Bishop of Central Florida 1017 East Robinson Street Orlando, Florida 32801 407-423-3567

"REJECT THEIR ADVANCES," SAYS MOODY By Bishop Robert Moody On March 14, 2004, five retired bishops of the Episcopal Church violated the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church by going uninvited into the Diocese of Ohio and confirming more than one hundred people. In a statement issued by the House of Bishops, we declared that the five bishops "used the sacrament of unity in Christ as an instrument of division and defiance. Secretive in its planning, their action was discourteous, disruptive and willful violation of out constitution and canons." That service was planned by the American Anglican Council. In early May, some sixty members of St. James Episcopal Church in Oklahoma City met secretly and formed a new Church called St. James Anglican Church. Their network proclaims that they are associated with the American Anglican Council. On May 22, an article in the New York Times, written by Laurie Goodstein and David Kirkpatrick, describes the efforts of well financed and determined conservatives in the Presbyterian, Methodist and Episcopal Churches to split the Churches along liberal and conservative lines. In that article these words appeared, "When the Episcopal Church elected an openly gay bishop last summer, the institute (on Religion and Democracy) organized and housed a conservative secessionist group called the American Anglican Council…" The American Anglican Council has established an Oklahoma branch. It is called the Oklahoma Anglican Council. They were present at our annual convention in Tulsa last November. I have not written of it or against is in the last several months because I believe it to be an expression of loyal opposition that had a legitimate place within out Church. In the light of the above, I can no longer remain quiet. The American Anglican Council and its Oklahoma expression have moved from loyal opposition to disloyal opposition. Their purpose is to divide the Church and create schism. They are willing to break the constitution and canons of the church. They meet in secrecy. They spread half truths and falsehoods. They are attempting to discredit your bishop. They will wound the congregations of this diocese if you allow them to do so. I encourage you to reject their advances and invite them to have no part in the life of this diocese. Faithfully, +Robert M. Moody

By David W. Virtue LONG BEACH, CA (6/3/2004) — A bishop from Western Kenya, the Rt. Rev. Joseph Wasonga, blasted the Episcopal Church saying, “we will never accept money from anyone who does not acknowledge the authority of Scripture or believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.” Speaking to more than 800 orthodox Episcopalians, the bishop said that any part of the Anglican Communion involved in homosexuality is in disunity. “The devil is always against the will of God. We have three enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil. We should not allow the world to swallow us up.” The bishop said the African Church would never again accept money from The Episcopal Church under its present leadership. END STATEMENT FROM THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY ON THE DEFERRAL OF A DECISION OVER THE BLESSING OF SAME-SEX UNIONS BY THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA 3 June, 2004 The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Dr Rowan Williams, has welcomed the decision by the Canadian General Synod to defer a decision on the question of same sex blessings until 2007. “The decision to defer the question of the right of dioceses over same sex blessings offers hope for the continuing collegiality of the Anglican Communion. “It is important that the Canadian church has held back from a structural shift that would have run counter to the pleas and wishes of the Primates’ meeting last Autumn and of so many around the Communion. In doing so, it has avoided complicating still further the work of the Lambeth Commission.” END NINE BISHOPS “EXPRESS SORROW” AT SYNOD’S ACTIONS STAFF — ANGLICAN JOURNAL St. Catharines, Ont., June 3, 2004 — Nine bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada issued a statement saying Synod committed an error when it approved a statement affirming “the integrity and sanctity of committed, adult same-sex relationships.” They said the decisions may cause confusion and appear to pre-empt theological work already underway. They urged Anglicans across Canada not to despair and to take part in diocesan and provincial synods. END THE FATAL DECISIONS OF CANADA'S GENERAL SYNOD Commentary By David W. Virtue The Anglican Church of Canada made two serious blunders this week: electing an ultra-liberal archbishop and passing same-sex blessings via an amendment affirming the “sanctity” of same-sex relationships. These actions, the author argues, will alienate the Canadian Church from the wider Anglican Communion and accelerate decline. The commentary criticizes liberal theology, leadership decisions, and perceived departures from historic doctrine, contending that these choices threaten unity and faithfulness within the church. END

June 03, 2004 ST. CATHARINES, Ontario (AP) — The Anglican Church of Canada approved a measure Thursday to “affirm the integrity and sanctity of committed adult same sex relationships.” The move stops short of authorizing dioceses to hold same-sex blessing ceremonies but is still likely to complicate efforts aimed at unifying the 77 million-member Anglican Communion. The worldwide Anglican body is deeply divided over homosexuality. Delegates to a national church meeting handed the victory to supporters of gays and lesbians as a consolation prize the morning after they voted to delay any national go-ahead on church blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples till 2007 and possibly 2010. The “integrity and sanctity” measure was approved by a show of hands. World Anglican unity was one reason widely cited for delay on the same-sex rituals bill, which would have authorized the ceremonies under a so-called “local option.” Anglicanism is already split over consecration of an openly gay bishop in the U.S. Episcopal Church and an emergency commission is pondering how to hold the 38 self-governing national churches together. The Canadian church action comes in the midst of a federal election campaign in which full-fledged gay marriage is an issue. END

Statement to faithful Canadian Anglicans from a consultation of Archbishops, bishops, theologians and leaders meeting in Nassau. Warm greetings from the Bahamas where a group has been meeting in theological consultation about the current crisis in the Anglican Communion. Word has come to us of very serious actions of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada. We note the decision to defer paragraph (2) of resolution A-134 to the Primates Theological Committee for a determination as to whether or not the implementation of liturgies for the blessing of same-sex unions represents a doctrinal change. We are sad, however, that the General Synod of the ACC has passed an amendment to resolution A-134 which has the effect of negating the deferral of paragraph 2 to the Primates Theological Committee. In our view, the amendment is much more serious than even the original form of the motion. The amendment goes much further than the original motion in employing expressions which Scripture uses to describe marriage (Eph 5:25–33). In accordance with Scripture, your own Prayer Book uses this language in its marriage service. It is completely unacceptable to Bible-believing orthodox Christians that same-sex unions are described as “holy.” Such language is reserved for marriage alone. The attempt to give “committed adult same sex relationships” the same theological stature as marriage exacerbates the crisis in the communion and will reap devastating consequences. We stand in solidarity with you as you seek to maintain catholic faith and practice and to reject such innovations. Please be sure we are praying for you in this critical time in the life of the church. Archbishop Drexel Gomez on behalf of the Theological Consultation in Nassau, June 3, 2004. END

From Anglican Essentials ST CATHARINES, ONTARIO – Less than twelve hours after the Anglican Church of Canada’s governing body was braced to defer a decision to bless same-sex unions for theological study, Synod today passed an eleventh-hour amendment to the motion affirming the “sanctity” of same-sex relationships. The amendment was briefly debated on the floor of General Synod late last night, and deferred until this morning’s plenary session. Several orthodox delegates rose to speak against the amendment, saying it didn’t make sense to affirm the sanctity of same-sex relationships ahead of the theological discussion Synod had already called for. One delegate tried to change the language of the amendment to “affirm and love those who are in same-sex relationships,” but that effort was voted down. In church language, “sanctity” means “blessed,” “holy,” or “sacred.” It is twice used in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer in relation to marriage ceremonies. But Rev. Garth Bulmer, mover of the amendment, told Synod he didn’t intend for “sanctity” to hold any theological meaning. Anglican Essentials Canada, a coalition of orthodox Anglicans, says the amendment to affirm the sanctity of same-sex relationships goes even further than the original motion, which merely assigned jurisdiction of same-sex blessings to individual dioceses. “Sanctity equals blessing,” said Rev. Charlie Masters, national director of Anglican Essentials. “This entire discussion is about whether we can bless same-sex unions. So the matter has suddenly already been decided.” Masters said the Essentials group will wait for the response from the international community before making any further decisions about their future. The Synod’s decision overturns a 1998 resolution by an overwhelming majority of all Bishops in the Anglican Communion, which stated that same-sex activity was incompatible with Scripture. The church has been in turmoil since June 2002, when the governing body of the Vancouver-based Diocese of New Westminster voted by 62 percent majority to become the first in the world to officially enact a blessing rite for same-sex unions. In October 2003, the world’s 38 Anglican national leaders said decisions in the United States and New Westminster threatened to “tear the fabric of our communion at its deepest level.” The Canadian and U.S. churches jointly represent about 4 percent of the worldwide communion. END

STAFF — ANGLICAN JOURNAL St. Catharines, Ont., June 3, 2004 — Nine bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada issued a statement saying Synod committed an error when it approved a statement affirming “the integrity and sanctity of committed, adult same-sex relationships.” They said the decisions may cause confusion and appear to pre-empt theological work already underway. They urged Anglicans across Canada not to despair and to take part in diocesan and provincial synods. END THE FATAL DECISIONS OF CANADA'S GENERAL SYNOD Commentary By David W. Virtue The Anglican Church of Canada made two serious blunders this week: electing an ultra-liberal archbishop and passing same-sex blessings via an amendment affirming the “sanctity” of same-sex relationships. These actions, the author argues, will alienate the Canadian Church from the wider Anglican Communion and accelerate decline. The commentary criticizes liberal theology, leadership decisions, and perceived departures from historic doctrine, contending that these choices threaten unity and faithfulness within the church. END

3 June, 2004 The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Dr Rowan Williams, has welcomed the decision by the Canadian General Synod to defer a decision on the question of same sex blessings until 2007. “The decision to defer the question of the right of dioceses over same sex blessings offers hope for the continuing collegiality of the Anglican Communion. “It is important that the Canadian church has held back from a structural shift that would have run counter to the pleas and wishes of the Primates’ meeting last Autumn and of so many around the Communion. In doing so, it has avoided complicating still further the work of the Lambeth Commission.” END

By David W. Virtue LONG BEACH, CA (6/3/2004) — A bishop from Western Kenya, the Rt. Rev. Joseph Wasonga, blasted the Episcopal Church saying, “we will never accept money from anyone who does not acknowledge the authority of Scripture or believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.” Speaking to more than 800 orthodox Episcopalians, the bishop said that any part of the Anglican Communion involved in homosexuality is in disunity. “The devil is always against the will of God. We have three enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil. We should not allow the world to swallow us up.” The bishop said the African Church would never again accept money from The Episcopal Church under its present leadership. END

June 03, 2004 ST. CATHARINES, Ontario (AP) — The Anglican Church of Canada approved a measure Thursday to “affirm the integrity and sanctity of committed adult same sex relationships.” The move stops short of authorizing dioceses to hold same-sex blessing ceremonies but is still likely to complicate efforts aimed at unifying the 77 million-member Anglican Communion. The worldwide Anglican body is deeply divided over homosexuality. Delegates to a national church meeting handed the victory to supporters of gays and lesbians as a consolation prize the morning after they voted to delay any national go-ahead on church blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples till 2007 and possibly 2010. The “integrity and sanctity” measure was approved by a show of hands. World Anglican unity was one reason widely cited for delay on the same-sex rituals bill, which would have authorized the ceremonies under a so-called “local option.” Anglicanism is already split over consecration of an openly gay bishop in the U.S. Episcopal Church and an emergency commission is pondering how to hold the 38 self-governing national churches together. The Canadian church action comes in the midst of a federal election campaign in which full-fledged gay marriage is an issue. END

Statement to faithful Canadian Anglicans from a consultation of Archbishops, bishops, theologians and leaders meeting in Nassau. Warm greetings from the Bahamas where a group has been meeting in theological consultation about the current crisis in the Anglican Communion. Word has come to us of very serious actions of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada. We note the decision to defer paragraph (2) of resolution A-134 to the Primates Theological Committee for a determination as to whether or not the implementation of liturgies for the blessing of same-sex unions represents a doctrinal change. We are sad, however, that the General Synod of the ACC has passed an amendment to resolution A-134 which has the effect of negating the deferral of paragraph 2 to the Primates Theological Committee. In our view, the amendment is much more serious than even the original form of the motion. The amendment goes much further than the original motion in employing expressions which Scripture uses to describe marriage (Eph 5:25–33). In accordance with Scripture, your own Prayer Book uses this language in its marriage service. It is completely unacceptable to Bible-believing orthodox Christians that same-sex unions are described as “holy.” Such language is reserved for marriage alone. The attempt to give “committed adult same sex relationships” the same theological stature as marriage exacerbates the crisis in the communion and will reap devastating consequences. We stand in solidarity with you as you seek to maintain catholic faith and practice and to reject such innovations. Please be sure we are praying for you in this critical time in the life of the church. Archbishop Drexel Gomez on behalf of the Theological Consultation in Nassau, June 3, 2004. END