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The Rev. Julian Rush watched the headlines as 13 United Methodist pastors in the Pacific Northwest judged the fate of one of their colleagues. Few, if any, facts were in dispute. The Rev. Karen Dammann was living openly in a lesbian relationship and leveled with her superiors. And everyone knew, after a generation of bitter strife, that their Book of Discipline banned "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" from ministry, because gay sex is "incompatible with Christian teachings." Rush wasn't surprised by the trial and he wasn't surprised by the verdict -- not guilty. After all, he survived a similar ecclesiastical minefield two decades ago in Colorado. "What surprised me was the way the news reports brought it all back," said Rush, 67, who rocked the whole United Methodist Church when he left the closet in 1981. "It was spooky, like a flashback. ... I remembered that whole feeling of powerlessness and total vulnerability. "I think that's probably a good thing. No matter how much progress we've made, we need to be reminded that things aren't settled yet." Rush eventually retired with his clergy credentials intact. In the mid-1980s, his peers in the Rocky Mountain region twice ruled that there was "insufficient evidence" to bring the AIDS activist and former youth pastor to trial. After all, church law focused on "self-avowed practicing" homosexuals and Rush simply declined to answer questions about his sex life. "I remember my lawyer saying, 'Make them prove it,'" said Rush, whose easy-going manner still betrays his Mississippi roots. "What were they going to do, hire a private investigator? No one wanted to do such an unseemly thing." The Dammann jury found a similar technicality. While the Discipline says "the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teachings," the jury ruled that it never formally, legally, makes a "declaration" of this. But the jury did find this declarative statement: "Inclusiveness means openness, acceptance, and support that enables all persons to participate in the life of the Church, the community and the world. Thus, inclusiveness denies every semblance of discrimination." Based on decades of experience, Rush knows what will happen next. Furious conservatives will, on April 27, arrive at the two-week national United Methodist General Conference "with their nostrils flared and breathing fire," he said. At the same time, the confidence of the church's progressive establishment will "move up a notch or two" after a much-publicized victory. Both sides will go to Pittsburgh "with their guns loaded," he said. The Internet is buzzing with drafts of resolutions to fix the Discipline and to force the bishops to get their flocks under control. Leaders on both sides acknowledge that the evangelical, growing churches of the heartland and Bible Belt hold a clear majority. Some of their leaders will call for repentance and reform in the Pacific Northwest. "Fact is ... we don't need anything more in the Book of Discipline. We just need folks who are willing to abide by it or enforce it," said the Rev. James V. Heidinger II, president of the Good News renewal movement. "We could tweak and tighten, but unless folks are willing to abide by the will of General Conference, they will always find some words to parse or interpret differently." Strangely enough, Rush basically agrees with this legal opinion. Laws cannot hide the fact that the United Methodist Church contains two radically different approaches to the faith, he said. Traditionalists believe there is an "established," "infallible" and "permanent core of doctrine that people have to believe if they are going to be Christians," said Rush. But the "liberal side of the church sees itself as open and expansive and its doctrine, quite frankly, is not as well defined. It sees faith as a kind of process and it is constantly changing. ... "One side knows how to lay down the law and the other side knows how to emote." But the infighting will continue, said Rush, because everyone is afraid to push the scary button labeled "schism." That would be financially devastating. "Everyone dances around that button," he said. "They really aren't trying to be clear and specific. They have to keep the Discipline vague enough to keep everyone in the tent. You end up with a kind of spiritual schizophrenia, but it holds things together."

St Alban's Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship reacts to Jeffrey John appointment 27th April 2004 Reflecting the widespread concern over the appointment of Canon Jeffrey John to be Dean of St. Albans, a meeting of the Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship committee, together with a large number of clergy and laity from across the St Albans Diocese, expressed dismay at this appointment and the consequences that will flow from it. We recognise that the ministry of the Dean is confined primarily to the Cathedral but in view of the role such a person takes in the Diocese as a whole and also the importance of the Cathedral as one of the larger churches in the Diocese we regret this appointment. We note that this particular appointment has been made despite the request of the Lambeth Commission that perceived controversial appointments should be avoided during their 12 months consultation period. We consequently regard this step as a serious error of judgement. Furthermore, we are aggrieved that the Diocesan Bishop, who has also called on people not to take precipitate action, should have agreed to the appointment, thus creating division within the Diocese and the wider Anglican Communion. Such disquiet and concern has been compounded by the statements made at the Press Conference, both by Canon Jeffrey John and the Bishop of St. Albans. We regard their views as reported as wholly erroneous and contrary to Scripture, tradition and reason, as well as the statements of the House of Bishops (‘Issues in Human Sexuality’) and the Anglican Communion. We respectfully request that the appointment be withdrawn. We recognise that individual clergy, congregations and lay members have taken, or will wish to take, further action. We will continue to consult, work and pray together for the advancement of the gospel of Christ and the upholding of biblical standards in the Diocese. For further information, please contact: Revd Canon Nick Bell, Vicar of St Mary’s Parish Church, Luton Tel: 01582 721867, Email: nickbell@stmarysluton.org Canon Mr Philip Lovegrove, OBE, Chairman of the St Albans Diocesan Board of Finance Tel: 0207 448 4754, Home: 01462 481880, Email: philip.lovegrove@fiskeplc.com

Ethics & Religion Support for Federal Marriage Amendment Grows by Michael J. McManus This week an Oregon judge gave advocates of gay marriage an historic victory - the nation's first recognition of same-sex marriages. Multnomah County Circuit Judge Frank Bearden told the county to stop issuing licenses for same-sex marriages. But he ordered Oregon's legislature to recognize the 3,022 marriage licenses issued since March 3 to gay couples, and to pass a new law legalizing same-sex unions. Does this sound familiar? The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in November that gay couples have the right to marry and ordered the state legislature to make same-sex marriages possible within 180 days. The magic day is May 17, when Massachusetts is slated to begin allowing gay marriage. The legislature did not do as it was told. It began the process of passing a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to the union of a man and a woman. But the amendment would also legalize civil same-sex unions, which is marriage by another name. However, to be adopted, it must re-pass the legislature in 2005 and then be approved by the voters in a 2006 referendum. Gov. Mitt Romney asked the state's highest court to stay its order, pending full Massachusetts acceptance or rejection of the amendment. That's unlikely. The state's Attorney General, a Democrat, supports the court decision, while Romney is a Republican. What's common to both cases is fierce judicial activism, in which a court orders the legislature to pass a law granting same sex couples either the right of marriage or civil union. In studying American history, I learned it is the job of elected leaders to pass laws, and for the courts to interpret them. On this issue, however, elected leaders have also acted illegally. San Francisco's mayor ordered city clerks to grant homosexual and lesbian couples marriage licenses, though Californians voted in a referendum that marriage is between a man and a woman. One prescient man foresaw these developments and developed a long-shot answer - a U.S. Federal Marriage Amendment that states "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any state shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman." Matt Daniels is the man of the hour. Although white, he grew up in Spanish Harlem as a son of a father who deserted his mother when he was only two. "My growing up was miserable," he told USA Today. His father was "a gifted and irresponsible aspiring writer." His mother was a secretary until she was mugged and left disabled, depressed and on welfare. "Things would have been different if my father had been around." Matt was also attacked at knifepoint and gunpoint. No wonder Matt Daniels says, "Marriage is the key to reducing the high levels of youth crime and child poverty, caused by the epidemic of fatherless families in America." Inspired by his mother, he excelled at school, won a scholarship to Dartmouth and became a lawyer. He created the Alliance for Marriage to craft a Federal Marriage Amendment several years ago. Anticipating the argument that gay marriage is a civil rights issue, he first won the backing of Rev. Walter Fauntroy, a former aide to Martin Luther King, Jr. Black denominations were his first national supporters. He now has the backing of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals. It was a brilliant strategy. Today a higher percentage of Hispanics and African-Americans say that marriage is the union of a man and a woman - than whites. And public support for the Federal Marriage Amendment has grown from 55 percent last July to 64 percent. Equally important, President Bush has given his support, as have 118 Members of Congress and leading U.S. Senators such as Majority Leader Bill Frist. However, the amendment is opposed by such conservative groups as Concerned Women for America. Its president, Janet LaRue, is concerned that the amendment would allow states "to create marriage in another name, a phony marriage." Vermont's law permitting same sex civil unions would be untouched by the amendment. Finally, few Democrats in the House or Senate co-sponsor the amendment that must win the support of two-thirds of Congress. So far, the public seems apathetic. Few have called or written Congress. Gay marriage is not inevitable, but it is likely unless an aroused public demands the constitutional protection of marriage. END TXT Copyright 2004 Michael J. McManus

Church of Apostles no longer funds diocese, national church By Frank E. Lockwood HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER PRESTONSBURG - Leaders of a Lexington Episcopal congregation, objecting to the consecration of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson, are no longer sharing communion with Lexington Bishop Stacy Sauls. Church of the Apostles, a 7-year-old evangelical parish, has stopped giving money to the Lexington diocese and the Episcopal Church USA. The congregation, with an average attendance of about 110 people, has contemporary worship services -- no pews, prayer books or pipe organs. But it adheres to traditional scriptural interpretations, and is in "impaired communion" with the diocese, said its minister, the Rev. Martin Gornik. The Lexington parish is the second parish to publicly challenge Sauls. Saint John's Church in Versailles split in January after diocesan leaders dismissed that church's governing board. Earlier this month, the church's governing board voted unanimously to join the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes -- a national group which claims the Episcopal Church has abandoned "the historic faith of the Bible." Yesterday, at the diocese's annual convention, Gornik and four members of his congregation declined to take bread and wine which Sauls had consecrated. They sat in silence while others went forward. "Clearly, this is an unusual thing," Sauls said afterward. The impaired communion capped a day that featured diocesan elections, a worship service and a brief debate about marriage for gays. Asked whether he thinks Apostles will leave the Episcopal Church, Sauls said he doubts that will happen, but added, "It certainly is a possibility that can't be ruled out." Gornik said the congregation is committed to the Anglican tradition. But locally, Apostles will continue to dissent "until there is a change in direction by the leadership of the diocese." Relations have been strained since Sauls voted to approve the election of Robinson, a Lexington native, as bishop of New Hampshire. "It is serious and grievous that our diocese cannot affirm what we understand to be basic and central teachings of the faith," Gornik said. Sauls said he respects Gornik and hopes the relationship will be restored. "I do not consider myself in impaired communion with them in any way," he said. "But I respect the fact that they see the relationship as impaired from their perspective." In recent weeks, Episcopal leaders have downplayed the importance of correctly interpreting scripture. The Episcopal bishop of Virginia, Peter James Lee, recently told his diocese's annual convention: "If you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always choose heresy." Sauls put it differently. Saying that "Scripture is full of logical inconsistencies," he told his annual convention Friday that "when it comes to family, how I love matters more than how I think." Loving each other, Sauls told the convention, "matters more than how many other commandments, laws or rules I can quote or how many specks I can see in the eyes of others while ignoring the log in my own." Gornik said he can't support efforts "to revise and change what has been understood as traditional and historic teachings of the church, based on scripture." Since founding Church of the Apostles in 1996, "We have taught, preached, discipled and formed people in the orthodox traditions of the church. That's who we are." In other convention business: • A resolution opposing marriages for gay couples in the church, tabled by the convention's resolutions committee, remained off the agenda -- despite protests from some deputies. Lay deputies voted 54-46 not to debate the issue now, siding with a resolutions committee which Sauls had appointed. Clergy voted 19-7 to delay the discussion. • The convention voted to oppose the death penalty for juvenile offenders and to increase assistance to Haiti. • Deputies approved a resolution praising Sauls' "perseverance, wisdom and visionary leadership." END

News Analysis By Uwe Siemon-Netto UPI Religion Editor WASHINGTON, April 26 (UPI) -- As soon as Sheikh Mohammed Mohammed Ali leaves his house in Baghdad for a drive around town, he takes off his white turban that marks him as a Shiite Muslim scholar, and places it on the seat next to him in his Toyota. "Many Shiite clerics are doing this. It's safer that way," he told United Press International Monday in a telephone interview from his London home where he had just returned after an extended stay in Iraq. "My turban would make me a target of Wahhabi assassins, who have already killed so many Shiite scholars. That's why I wear the turban only indoors -- and always in the mosque." The Shiite clerics' turbans, which are distinct from the headgear of Sunni imams, come either in black or in white, depending on whether the bearer is a direct descendant of the prophet Mohammed -- in which case black is the proper color -- or not. Mohammed Mohammed Ali wears white. Wahhabis, a puritanical sect that originated in present-day Saudi Arabia in the 18th century, have traditionally not been part of the religious scene in Iraq. "They have begun infiltrating the country already in the last 10 years of Saddam Hussein's regime," said Ali, who before the outbreak of the war was a leader of the London-based Iraqi National Council. "The Sunni sects in Iraq used to be non-violent. But then the Wahhabis came and bribed Iraqi Muslims to join them. This way they took control of mosques even in Najaf and Karbala (the Shiites' holy cities), and in Basra in the South." Complaints by Shiites that Wahhabi infiltrators target them for assassination have been common almost since the beginning of the current war more than a year ago. They also claim that adherents of this sect are intent on provoking a war between the Shiite majority and the Sunni minority. But the sect's spokesmen angrily contest reports in some of the most respectable Western media, including London's Daily Telegraph and the Christian Science Monitor, that its agents are fanning the Iraqi insurgency. A book titled "The Wahhabi Myth" authored by Maneef James Oliver and authenticated by Sheikh Naasirud-Deen al-Albaanee, a top religious leader in Saudi Arabia, attributes the extremism of Osama bin Laden and his fellow terrorist to a different source. "They are adherents of a newly risen sect called Qutbism, whose origins come from Egypt, not Saudi Arabia," he wrote. This movement is named after Sayyid Qutb who founded Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. As the London newspaper, The Independent, observed two years ago, this is not an Islamic tradition but very much a Western-based ideology. In an article titled, "How Marx turned Muslim," the Independent's correspondent John Gray explained, "The inspiration for Qutb's thought is not so much the Koran but the current Western philosophy embodied in thinkers such as Nietzsche, Kierkegaard and Heidegger." But Mohammed Mohammed Ali, a moderate Shiite scholar propagating interfaith harmony as the only possible means to bring peace to Iraq, does not see things that way. "In the last 10 years there have been huge transfers of funds to Iraq to make Muslims convert from their own sect to extreme Wahhabism," he said. "This happened with the support from politicians in the Gulf states and many other Arab countries." While a prominent Wahhabi cleric, Sheikh Muhammad Bin Saalih al-'Uthatmeen, condemned terrorist outrages such as suicide bombings, saying their perpetrators would go to hell, the tradition of Wahhabi violence has a history of almost a quarter of a millennium. In "The Wahhabi Movement," historian Ted Thornton reminded his readers that in their zeal Wahhabis even once declared holy war on fellow Muslims, an act expressly forbidden by the Koran. They destroyed other believers' minarets and grave markers and, in 1802, the tomb of the Shiites' Imam Husayn in Karbala, their holy city in Iraq, an event that has remained unforgotten to this very day. Copyright © 2001-2004 United Press International

“Rather than encouraging honesty, charity, clarity and harmony within the American church and within the larger Communion, the leadership of ECUSA has resolutely pursued a course of response to evangelical outrage over Robinson’s consecration (and other related matters) that has furthered obscurantist denial, malicious accusation, ecclesial confusion, and discord – something we might have been spared had disengagement from the Communion by these leaders been pursued vigorously and openly from the start.” Anglican Communion Institute statement, April 2004. Dear Brothers and Sisters, COLORADO SPRINGS--It was a kairos moment in the life of the Episcopal Church this week when several hundred Episcopalians gathered in the Adams Mark hotel to actively penetrate the fog of the Episcopal Church’s revisionist hegemony. A former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. George Carey, along with a bevy of scholars and churchmen representing some of the best minds in the Anglican Communion, met to dissemble the latest spin coming out of western Anglicanism. Meeting under the auspices of the Anglican Communion Institute, the conference pulled no punches with its bold banner declaration: “The Future of Western Anglicanism – History and Hope.” In his opening remarks the Rev. Dr. Christopher Seitz, an American born theologian, now teaching at St. Andrew’s University in Edinburgh, said that the Anglican Communion, and the US Episcopal Church was at a crisis point “that we are all trying to adjust to.” “The situation is sufficiently messy, and unstable, and changing from moment to moment, that if one were to produce a tidy paper in preparation for this event, it would likely be dated by the time we assembled. Such is the volatile, confusing, indeed rather frightening, reality we now find ourselves in as Anglican Christians,” he said. Seitz said the Lambeth Commission, was an epicenter, clearing house, and dumping ground for the church’s present problems and confusions. “On the one hand, its timeliness as a meeting is obvious and essential, whatever one’s hopes for its outcomes or effectiveness. On the other hand, it serves the purpose of changing the subject if but for a brief season.” Seitz said it was by no means clear that the now-annual Primates Meeting would [ever] find themselves able to sit down and discuss, much less break bread or celebrate The Lord’s Supper, with Frank Griswold or Michael Peers of Canada. ‘The last emergency meeting in October led to an appeal for forbearance which, before the ink was dry, was ignored in the name of protecting the human rights and decision processes of a small diocese in a small American church, in a state whose motto is ’live free or die.’ Live free they did indeed. In the aftermath of that decision have come wave after wave of reaction and counter-reaction, so that the work of the Commission is super-heated beyond anyone’s imagining.” AMONG CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS were panelists working directly with the Commission and who are in contact with the Primates of the Global South, who met recently in Nairobi; or with Canterbury itself. Other input to the Commission is coming from England and elsewhere. The Anglican Communion Institute (ACI) completed its own submission which VIRTUOSITY has posted in today’s digest. The ACI leaders were convinced of many truths in their deliberations, but one single over arching truth exercised their minds the most - the discipline of the Presiding Bishop of ECUSA and of consenters to the consecration of Canon Robinson, as well as resolutions associated with same-sex blessings. Their main conviction was that unless such discipline was exercised against Griswold and 62 revisionist bishops, the Communion could not survive. What they resolved was that the Episcopal Church should separate itself from faithful orthodox Episcopalians who wish to uphold ‘the faith once delivered’ and who wanted to be in sync with the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide, and they should declare themselves a national, autonomous denomination with its own brand of religious faith lead by Griswold and those revisionist bishops who wish to join him. This, they argued, was the only honest way forward. They could take all the revisionist resolutions of the last half dozen General Conventions and practice them to their heart’s content. Issues of property, etc. could be resolved “graciously,” (a much favored word of Griswold), or the courts could decide. But at the end of the day, you would have one revisionist Episcopal Church, unaffiliated with the worldwide Anglican Communion, but perhaps in harmony with the majority of Anglicans in the Anglican Church in Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. The faithful remnant would be THE Episcopal Church with full ties to the Anglican Communion. YOU CAN READ ALL THE STORIES IN TODAY’S DIGEST that flowed from this conference. Lord George Carey the former Archbishop of Canterbury had some harsh things to say about the Episcopal Church as did Dr. George Sumner, Canon Bill Atwood and others. This conference was truly a mixture of history and hope with much sober reflection on the reality that faces us as a Communion and the Episcopal Church. On a personal note I would like to say that I have rarely met such a group of men and women that embodied scholarly heads and pastoral hearts. Among them were Dr. Ashley Null, Dr. Edith Humphrey, Dr. Robert Prichard, Dr. Jeremy Begbie, Dr. Peter Walker, Dr. Ephraim Radner, Bishop John Karanja, Canon Bill Atwood and Dr. George Sumner. This writer was privileged to address a banquet gathering. Many of the speakers like Dr. Radner are scholars in pastoral ministries because their orthodox views are not welcome in liberal ECUSA seminaries. They labor uncomplainingly in the Episcopal vineyard, reviled by their revisionist bishops, but faithful to their Lord. Please feel free to post these stories far and wide as they deserve wide reception and reading. IN OTHER NEWS, the American Anglican Council has come out with a strong statement in support of the recent meeting of CAPA (African) Primates meeting in Nairobi. They like the African bishops chastise ECUSA for the moral positions it has taken. You can read their statement. Canon David Anderson, AAC’s president was at the ACI meeting in Colorado Springs, indicating that the realignment presently under way will embrace all those who stand against the revisionist Episcopal Moloch. THE DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA HELD THE LINE on sexuality issues at its recent convention. Following their bishop’s lead they said no to same-sex blessings and that celibacy for single persons or fidelity in marriage would be the standard. There were a number of resolutions affirming the church’s traditional teaching on human sexuality lead by orthodox Bishop Charles E. Jenkins. But even traditional dioceses are feeling the financial pinch. The diocese passed a budget of $1.4 million but the diocese will only send $78,000 to the national church, 66 percent less than last year. IN ENGLAND the Evangelical backlash over the appointment of Dr. Jeffrey John the homoerotic dean of St. Alban’s has aroused the wrath of the Church of England’s evangelicals. They have called for an urgent meeting with Tony Blair to express their fury at the appointment of the homosexual cleric Dr Jeffrey John as Dean of St Albans. No sooner did he get the job than Dr John pressed for the blessing of same-sex unions. In the latest word from England, the Evangelicals are threatening to withhold funds and possibly bankrupt the C of E. This is a tactic that North American Evangelical and Anglo-Catholic Episcopalians are doing in ECUSA. It’s a tactic that is worthy of emulating apparently. The liberals (in England) and the revisionists (in the US) are canonical fundamentalists and literalists when it comes to money. You can watch the presentments and threats start to really fly when dioceses start to mandate assessments and orthodox parishes start to balk. Hell hath no fury like a revisionist bishop scorned. KEEPING THEM IN THE DARK. A Virtuosity reader recently sent the following note. It is typical of what the revisionists are actively doing to keep people blind, deaf and dumb to its tactics. “While reading David Thorman's recent letter to Virtuosity, I was intrigued by his comment with regard to the events of General Convention last year. “I too knew absolutely nothing about the issues to be acted upon at General Convention, and this is why: “At my former parish, not one of the deanery members and delegates to diocesan convention ever bothered to tell the congregation about the issues coming before the August General Convention. They no doubt supposed that we would read about it in Episcopal Life or our diocesan paper. They evidently forgot that one of their responsibilities as representatives of their parish was to keep their fellow parishioners informed! So it is no wonder that I was surprised and taken off-guard, and consequently, I must assume that this same sort of thing happened in many other parishes. I therefore am not at all surprised that the reaction to the events at General Convention, followed by the "consecration" of Gene Robinson was as widespread and as negative as it was!” PLEASE NOTE A CHANGE OF WEB ADDRESS FOR THE NETWORK (NADCP). It was http://www.anglicancommuniondioceses.org it is now http://www.anglicancommunionnetwork.org. I AM POSTING a number of stories for your enlightenment and education. Please feel free to forward them to your friends. With the INTERNET nobody needs to stay in the dark anymore. Tell your friends to join by going to the website: www.virtuosityonline.org and joining up, or you can simply read the stories at the website. PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING VIRTUOSITY. New stories are posted daily to the website. If you want to stay completely current then go to www.virtuosityonline.org and scan through the categories that interest you. The dates will show how current the story is. Please know that your financial support and encouragement makes this ministry worthwhile. This is a critical year in the life of the Anglican Communion and VIRTUOSITY is pulling out all the stops to keep you informed on a daily basis. Please be generous and make a donation through PAYPAL at my website or send a check by snail mail to VIRTUOSITY, 1236 Waterford Rd., West Chester, PA 19380. Thank you. British readers can send their tax deductible cheque to: VIRTUOSITY c/- Brycedale 105 Ridgeway Northaw Herts EN6 4BG Thank you for your support. All blessings, David W. Virtue DD

Remnant Church must remain faithful and live in “internal exile”, says Missiologist By David W. Virtue COLORADO SPRINGS—(4/23/2004) A world renowned missiologist and seminary head, says the Episcopal Church should be disciplined through the instruments of unity including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates, for its theological and moral apostasy. The Rev. Dr. George Sumner, Principal of Wycliffe College, Toronto, and former ECUSA missionary to Tanzania, told several hundred churchmen and theologians to an Anglican Communion Institute conference that “members of the traditional wing of the Episcopal Church should endeavor to stay and be the Episcopal Church through various strategies of challenge and witness.” Outlining a three-stage strategy for staying, Sumner said the orthodox must first understand themselves as a “remnant on behalf of the whole and coming generation”; secondly “we must understand ourselves ecclesiologically as a bridge to the whole communion especially in our weakness,” and thirdly “we must understand ourselves sociologically as a subculture by creating a “rich local culture” that included strong colleges, a feisty journal, lively yearly lay and clergy conference, a strong fellowship of prayer which could constitute in embryo renewed Anglican Church in North America.” The seminary head who earned his PhD from Yale University, said that a movement among Anglican traditionalists marked by these three features stands the best chance of success and stands on the “solidest grounds theologically and spiritually.” Sumner admitted that such a strategy could fail, “but ultimately the call of our Lord is to faithfulness, and if He wills the humbling of the Episcopal and [Canadian] Anglican Churches”. Sumner acknowledged that the future of Anglicanism seemed to change almost daily, “but we are slowly and surely coming to an end and to a beginning.” The days of arguing over the issue of homosexuality are gone. Business as usual is no longer possible in the Episcopal Church. Whatever comes of the Eames Commission, sooner or later conservative Episcopalians and Anglicans will find themselves alone in official relationship with most of our Communion, a status that will probably not be recognized by our own Church officials in North America. Sumner said conservatives would sit in anomalous continuity and discontinuity for some time, in a form of “internal exile” but as “the true Episcopal Church or Anglican Church.” While the Churches of North America have a false teaching on the subject of sexuality, against the consensus teaching of all major traditions…they still confess the divinity of Christ and baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Sumner said the root of the present issues was, as in earlier eras of Church history, “a compromise with our form of Gentile culture, characterized by consumption and individualism. We are all complicit in the much wider compromise. This crisis is the final expression of weaknesses and temptations in modernist Anglicanism long a-coming, as a result of which many Anglicans in North America are effectively deaf to parts of the traditional faith.” Two options present themselves said Sumner. “One outcome is for traditional Anglicanism to break into various separate splinter groups formally departed from ECUSA.” Sumner said the record of such groups, over the past quarter century was “discouraging.” Separating Anglicans run the risk, as time goes on, of resembling those tiny Marxist/Trotskyite/Maoist splinter groups whose doctrine got purer as they got smaller and smaller. By contrast the alternative of simply staying on, to live lives of quiet dissatisfaction, also has its demoralizing prospects. Surely the conservative numbers will be weakened by defections. Young evangelicals may not choose to set out on the Canterbury way. Traditional clergy will be less willing to move to parishes in liberal dioceses that need them, or may find themselves unwelcome there. Sumner said the lesson of the United Church of Canada was an instructive lesson. It still has a brave but diminutive rump of “loyal opposition” which they call themselves. Sumner noted humorously that it was the “only Church he knew where you could move right simply by standing still.” United Church leaders still harbor hopes that further shrinkage and resultant crisis in the denomination will bring it to its senses. Sumner said Isaiah 10 was a lesson we could all absorb. “A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. That surely is the predominant theological theme for us in this time and circumstance. The theme of remnant follows from the judgment of God which has come upon the faithless people of God.” A theology of the remnant is preserving the word of God, and contours of the life it calls us to, for a generation to come. The remnant has an obligation to this future generation, he said. “This does not mean that ECUSA will shrink or suffer in a worldly sense - they may or may not. But with respect to this decision they have molded for themselves a teaching to their own liking, disregarding the limit set by God in creation.” Being a remnant also means that we have a responsibility for the spiritual tradition of Anglicanism in this continent on behalf of the whole Church, he said. “It means that we are obliged to find a way to survive so as to pass the faith on to a new generation we hope will be more receptive to the apostolic tradition. We have the responsibility of being the Anglican Church in North America on behalf of all, including those who disregard us, criticize us, and seek to hamstring us.” Sumner said the role of being a remnant being a “bridge – the life-line between the churches in North America and the churches of the Global South. We will be defined by our continuing communion with the Global South, and we need to see this in a deeper way as integral to our vocation.” Sumner cited the historical example of the Wesleyan-Methodist movement of the later 18th and early 19th century. “The Anglican establishment was unable to find a space and sympathy enough for the new movement, and so Methodism left our church. If one considers varied forms of independent evangelicalism, the charismatic movement, and Pentecostalism as in some sense grandchildren of Methodist piety, and if we consider the astronomical rise of these movements in the past several decades, we can see what a critical historical loss the departure of Methodism was. The history of Christianity in the US in the 19th century is in large measure the history of Methodism, cut loose from Anglicanism, spreading across the prairies.” Sumner said that the views of the primate of Uganda on the Bible, and so on homosexuality, are the same as John Stott’s, and come theologically from the same lineage. “Our leaders will flunk the new Methodist challenge and that will leave us in our remnant role, with the task of maintaining this link, this bridge to the larger communion, especially the southern churches, and so passing the Methodist test.” As a result, said Sumner “all we have to offer is our own weakness and need. Matters are reversed, and the North American churches look to their southern partners for help, not only in theological legitimacy, but also in spiritual guidance and revitalization.” Our vocation is to be recipients as churches of the South will increasingly send missionaries to the North. Sumner said Tanzania Archbishop Donald Mtetemela spoke of the Churches of the West as their spiritual grandmother whom they love and revere, but now see granny’s gone daffy, she needs care, and a good talking to sometimes! The difficulty, said Sumner, will be to make the ties between churches stronger in a time of reduced resources. “Circumstances have now bound us together in a more compelling way than when, one or two decades ago, we engaged in companion diocese or invited the occasional African seminary student.” Sumner said that in a sub-culture as the orthodox now find themselves in one should “seize the radio station. The goal is not simply polemics and the ability to out narrate our peers in the national church papers, we must have our own journal of news and opinion. Sumner pointed to theological colleges like Wycliffe College, Regent College, TESM, Nashotah House, diocesan efforts, and new endeavors in theological education – seminaries are seed beds where you plan a new generation of leaders.” NOTE: If you are not receiving this from VIRTUOSITY, the Anglican Communion’s largest and most comprehensive evangelical and orthodox Anglican Online News Service then you may subscribe for FREE by going to www.virtuosityonline.org. A weekly digest of stories will come directly into your E-mail.

by Rev. Stephen Boissoin 4/20/2004 CALGARY, ALBERTA-- On Saturday April 17, 2004, a fundraising dinner was held on my behalf at the Coast Plaza Hotel in Calgary, Alberta. This dinner was organized and hosted by the Concerned Christian Coalition. Author of the book, Christophia, Rev. Tristan Emmanuel and myself, were the guest speakers at this event. When I arrived at the hotel, there were a few dozen protesters, picketing in front of the hotel brandishing signs and chanting their pro-homosexual mantras. Half way through the event a dozen or more self-proclaiming "gay activists", calling themselves the "gay militia", stormed into our meeting room at the Coast Plaza Hotel and surrounded the podium in the middle of an amazing presentation by Rev. Tristan Emmanuel. Rev. Emmanuel's informative and passionate presentation just happened to be about "Christophobia" and the persecution of Christians in today's society. While banging on the walls and pounding drumsticks together, these protestors cursed and yelled things like, "haters and gay power" etc etc. Many were even dressed in camouflaged military apparel with masks over their faces. On and on they went and marched around the room, swearing and yelling, making complete fools out of themselves. One of them approached a lady that attended our dinner and got right in her face. I stood there ready to defend my sister in Christ concerned that the protestor would become physically violent. Hotel management had to bring in additional staff and ask them to leave and when they would not, the police had to attend and remove them. From what I hear the hotel has pursued charges against this group. Praise God!!! It was absolutely amazing to see our group pause and join hands in the midst of this criminal outburst and pray for those that were there persecuting us. Some of us would have loved to talk with these protestors but they were far too aggressive and immature to attempt such. Coincidentally, or most likely by divine providence, I happened to be sitting with a young man who I invited as my guest, who just happens to be a homosexual. He was shocked and angered by the actions of these people. Please pray that our Lord would move the authorities to take legal action against this group as they would certainly do to us, if we acted out in such a manner and most importantly, pray that Canadian Christians would rise up against this threat. The Rev. Stephen Boissoin is an ordained minister in the Canadian Evangelical Christian Churches in Calgary, Alberta. He works for a para-church Christian ministry called the Alberta Outreach Youth Foundation. END

By Elizabeth Day THE TELEGRAPH 4/25/2004 Evangelical Anglican churches are threatening the Church of England with financial ruin in protest at the appointment of Canon Jeffrey John, a homosexual, as the Dean of St Albans Cathedral. Several parish churches in the Diocese of St Albans are planning to cap their financial quota contributions after Dr John's elevation, accusing the Church of pursuing "a homosexual agenda". Their move could leave the diocese several thousand pounds out of pocket. It relies on the "parish share" to provide more than £7 million annually to pay for stipends, pensions and some administrative costs. Each parish is given a "quota" that it is expected to pay to the diocese every year, depending on the number of its parishioners. If it raises more money than its allotted quota, this too goes to the diocese - and it is this contribution that the evangelical churches are threatening to cap. Parishes in the diocese of St Albans currently donate about £30,000 a year each on average, but evangelical parishes give considerably more - sometimes as much as double. They are threatening to cap the quota contributions by as much as 10 per cent. The Rev Charles Dobbie, the vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Lyonsdown, New Barnet, north London, said that he was "shocked and grieved" by Dr John's appointment and felt that he could not "in conscience" pay the full annual quota "if it's going to be used in the furtherance of this kind of agenda". He added: "Canon Jeffrey John is plainly not within the parameters of orthodoxy, as evidenced by his public call for the Church to approve life-long same-sex unions. "We will certainly be considering every option, including the review of payment of our quota." Evangelical churches tend to contribute more as they are generally bigger, explained Mr Dobbie, "and their members tend to give sacrificially". Although he declined to discuss the figures or percentages involved, he said that his actions would reflect the "shock, sadness and incredulity" of his congregation at Dr John's appointment. "We would be looking at elements of the quota that we believe we could not in conscience give if it's going to be used in the furtherance of this kind of agenda. I have yet to raise this with the [parochial] council, but we will certainly be looking at that once we've had time to digest and assess the ramifications of this appointment." Another parish priest in St Albans, who refused to be named, said that he too was considering capping the quota by "up to 10 per cent" - a loss to the diocese of several thousand pounds annually. "As far as many evangelicals are concerned, we are very frustrated because we feel that we are being pushed out even though we're the orthodox ones," he said. "When the Archbishop of Canterbury set up the Eames Commission last October [to investigate the impact of homosexual ordination on the Anglican Communion], he appealed for calm. "We have kept our end of the bargain up till now, but with Jeffrey John's appointment, they've provoked us into action." Frank Knaggs, the executive officer of the Church of England Evangelical Council and a member of the General Synod, said that quota capping would be happening "all over the country". "I know of at least 20 parishes in the St Albans diocese which are seriously considering capping their quotas as a manifestation of people's frustration. If it went ahead, the Church of England would be bust in no time as we [evangelical churches] are the biggest givers." Parish share is calculated according to numbers on the electoral roll or church membership. More than one third of Sunday churchgoers are evangelical and in 2002, non-evangelical churches had an average income of £40,000 while the average evangelical church income was £84,000. Income from evangelical churches represents about 40 per cent of total parish church income, which stood at almost £450 million in 1999. If every evangelical church in the country capped their quotas, it could cost the Church of England about £200 million. This would leave it unable to pay all its clergy stipends or its pensions and, in effect, bankrupt it within a few years. The Rev David Holloway, the vicar of Jesmond Parish Church in Newcastle, said that his congregation had already introduced quota-capping after a series of same-sex blessings in neighbouring churches. "The homosexual agenda is positively wrong," he said. "As parish priests we have a moral problem because you have a duty to make sure that your congregation's money goes precisely where the donors want it to go. It's like ethical investment. "I have to say that the appointment of Jeffrey John is very serious and it Is now not so much a question of when the split will be, it is the split. It is a complicated, countrywide issue." Dr John was appointed Bishop of Reading last July, despite revealing that he was in a long-standing celibate homosexual relationship. Then, evangelical churches in the Oxford Diocese also threatened to cap the parish share, eventually forcing Dr John to stand down from the new post. A spokesman for the Diocese of St Albans said: "We haven't yet heard anyone say this to us at this stage. We've always accepted that the appointment would prompt debate both locally and nationally. We accept that there will be a range of views and that Christians will want to take time to reflect." The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement yesterday called for the Church of England to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies. At its annual general meeting in London, attended by more than 100 delegates, the movement said that the Church should "strive for theological recognition of partnerships". END

Scripture passages the group read included Leviticus 18:22, which says, "Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abhorrence." And Romans 1:26-27, which refers to homosexual acts as "shameless." The interpretation of these and other verses creates the chasm that divides conservatives and liberals on the issue. Conservative Christians apply the Bible literally and say it's clear that homosexuality is a sin like greed, anger or lust. And no religious leader who openly practices any sin should be endorsed, they say. But Robinson and Greenberg said there is more than one way to interpret the Scriptures. "We both take the texts very seriously," Robinson said. "We both think the way to deal with those few, brief verses which supposedly deal with homosexuality is to go through the text and not around the text by eliminating the text." Greenberg said he believes in scriptural authority and that the Torah is the word of God. But he finds it "astounding" that anyone including pastors or rabbis would claim to know the true meaning of any verse. "I just think it's marvelously, amazingly unclear, and intentionally so," he said. "Because were it clear it would have died a very early death. Its divinity is in the multiplicity of possibilities that it embodies." Rabbi Mark Diamond, executive vice president of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, said the textual discourse was a step in the right direction, but that it's often more difficult to interact with those of the same faith. "The discourse and heated rhetoric within our own faith traditions is more challenging to us," he said. Greenberg said discussions about homosexuality are just beginning within Orthodox Judaism. The Rev. J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, said the debate has been ongoing for 30 years in his denomination. The Rev. Susan Russell, executive director of Claiming the Blessing, a collaborative of organizations that promote issues like the inclusion of homosexuals in the Episcopal church and the blessing of same-sex relationships, said only a few participants at Thursday's seminar were conservative theologically. It was mostly "preaching to the choir," Russell said. 'But the choir needs preaching, too!' Russell said conversations between people with conflicting interpretations of Scripture can take place if people don't feel they have to change each other's minds. "The essential ingredient for healthy dialogue is the willingness to admit you might be wrong," Russell said. "... My salvation doesn't depend on being right, but on being faithful." Robinson's election as bishop triggered an avalanche of controversy in the Anglican church. The Rev. Gene Wallace, of Church of the Transfiguration in Arcadia, said recently the debate has hurt his church, which has lost donations and members. Conservatives are rallying around the American Anglican Council, a group formed in 1996 to try and reform the denomination by preserving the orthodox Anglican tradition and Biblical authority. "We cannot pretend that all is well," the AAC states on its Web site. "We cannot ignore that ECUSA has abandoned 2,000 years of Christian moral teaching as well as Anglican tradition." Other conservatives have left Episcopal parishes altogether, and some who have remained are withholding their money from the diocese. Several international Anglican provinces have excommunicated the Episcopal Church USA over the issue. Robinson said he's "very hopeful" the Holy Spirit will pull the two sides together. Episcopalians hold a spectrum of viewpoints on many issues, including abortion, who should be president and the war in Iraq, he said. "The question is: Can we come together at the communion rail, be nourished by the body and blood of Christ, and then go back to our pews and fight about abortion and whether we should be in Iraq," Robinson said. The conservatives will have to decide if they can continue to come together, Robinson said. "I don't hear anyone wanting them to leave," he said. "But they'll have to decide that." END

THE TIMES EDITORIAL April 21, 2004 The appointment of Rowan Williams as the Archbishop of Canterbury two years ago initially appeared a positive, even inspired, development. He came to his post with a reputation as a deep thinker, yet with a useful flair for the popular touch. Here was a man equally comfortable reflecting on the symbolism of the Gospels and the parables to be drawn from the likes of The Simpsons. He seemed to be capable of making Christianity accessible and relevant once again to those who had come to find it dull, distant or inconsequential. His elevation to the See of Canterbury was thus widely welcomed. On the basis of his sermon in Cambridge yesterday, however, Dr Williams produced a false prospectus of Shell-like proportions. Politics fascinates him, understandably, but he seems unaware of the danger of striding, in his idiosyncratic way, into the middle of political controversies. Although billed as a series of thoughts about Christianity, democracy and obedience, his address rambled through the decision to participate in the war in Iraq, the failure of the Government to secure "attention" for its actions and the possible need for civil disobedience to prevent such events from occurring in the future. For this politicised Archbishop, the "Gang of Four" plainly consists of a group other than Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This was not a particularly coherent attempt to borrow a pulpit for political purposes. Among the many sentences whose purpose we may have to wait until the next life to ascertain was the following: "Government of whatever kind restores lost trust above all by its willingness to attend to what lies beyond the urgency of asserting control and retaining visible and simple initiative, by patient accountability and the freedom to think again, even to admit error or miscalculation." He went on, perhaps to clarify, "Happy the person or the government that can simply find the right, the inevitable gesture that fully fits the truth of circumstances as gracefully as the scoring of a goal". What does any of this mean? We think it might have been "Blair should apologise for overthrowing Saddam Hussein", but there may be other interpretations. Perhaps it was a vision of the Chelsea game last night. But whatever the real meaning, the word "gobbledegook" was invented for such a moment. It would surely have been clearer in Hebrew, Greek or Latin than in English. If it had been in Dr Williams's hands, there would not have been Ten Commandments but some 716 anguished suggestions. The Archbishop spoke yesterday about the "trivialisation of democratic government". It is the trivialisation of his office that Anglicans should be concerned about.

By Ruth Gledhill Jeffrey John says Church and State should offer couples a covenant of faithfulness JEFFREY JOHN, the gay cleric who is to be appointed Dean of St Albans, called on the Church of England yesterday to move towards blessing same-sex unions. Dr John, the canon theologian at Southwark Cathedral who had to withdraw last year from his nomination as Bishop of Reading after concerns that the appointment would damage church unity, said that Church and State should offer gay and lesbian people a "covenant of faithfulness". Dr John was speaking at a news conference at St Albans Cathedral, where he will be installed as Dean this year, succeeding the Very Rev Christopher Lewis who is now Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. Dr John's views are significant because, although the appointment is not as provocative as if he had been made a bishop, his promotion has the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. Dr John, who abides by church rules on homosexuality and has had an abstinent 27-year relationship with his partner, another Anglican priest, pledged not to contravene canon law. He said: "Certainly I won't be attempting to do anything in the abbey which goes against the canons of the Church of England. Certainly as things stand, anything resembling a same-sex marriage service would be against these. I support the State and the Church offering gay people a framework to live their lives within, a covenant of faithfulness to each other. I do not much mind whether one calls that a marriage or not. What matters is that gay people are given that framework for stable, healthy living." He hoped the Church would follow the State in supplying that framework. He said a relationship between two men or two women could be sacramental in the same way as a heterosexual marriage because it can reflect that love of God. Dr John said he had been banned from visiting St Albans Cathedral in the past few months in case news leaked out that he was being considered for the post of dean. He said: "It's a wonderful place. It's not only a very beautiful place, it's a deep place, a profound place." Dr John, 51, said that as dean he would help the cathedral to work towards its 36.4 million pound appeal target for education, music and fabric, but he also wanted to develop his role as pastor, teacher and preacher. "This is a place that has been prayed in for a good 17 centuries by monks, parishioners and pilgrims, a think place, as the Celts say, where the barriers seem to be down between Heaven and Earth." "That's very important, because so often the Church, let alone the world, has lost this sense of place and holy presence, and losing that has left us bereft of something crucial." The Bishop of St Albans, the Right Rev Christopher Herbert, welcomed the appointment. He backed Dr John's statement on same-sex blessings, saying such relationships could have something of the mercy and the love of God. Bishop Herbert said: "I am very, very pleased that the State is beginning to recognise same-sex partnerships. I agree entirely with Jeffrey that human relationships are based on covenant. Marriage is obviously what God desires for many of us but I think what God desires overall is covenant, faithful relationships." The Bishop added: "Jeffrey John has a well-deserved reputation for being a good, caring pastor. He is an intelligent, courageous priest who will follow a long line of superb deans of St Albans and will bring to the abbey a wide range of gifts. He is a man of prayer, a preacher and teacher of real authority and grace." The appointment comes at a sensitive time in the Anglican Communion, which remains in danger of being split by the debate over gays. Dr John's remarks on same-sex blessings and Bishop Herbert's backing for him will deepen concerns among conservative evangelicals that the Church of England is heading in the same direction as Canada and the US. Last week, leaders of the Church in Africa issued a statement insisting that they would accept no future funding from dioceses in the West that took a liberal approach on the gay issue and giving the American Church three months to "repent" for its ordination of the openly gay priest Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. Dr Williams had pleaded for a period of calm reflection in Anglican provinces worldwide until the Lambeth Commission that he has set up to resolve the issue reports at the end of the year. The appointment of Dr John to St Albans was made by the Queen on the advice of Downing Street. Because St Albans is a parish church cathedral, Bishop Herbert was consulted as patron of the parish. He said: "I had to take this entirely on my own shoulders and have not been able to discuss the appointment with my closest colleagues nor with the cathedral staff or wardens, simply because the system of appointment does not allow this."