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Delegates to the Episcopal Diocese of Texas quietly concluded their annual council meeting Saturday after an hour of often impassioned debate over biblical authority and sexual morality. More than 40 of the 1,000 delegates attending the concluding council session argued for and against the national church's action in approving the ordination of an openly gay priest as bishop last summer. The national church also approved the blessing of same-sex unions, further intensifying the dispute between denominational conservatives and liberals. The American church and worldwide Anglican Communion are deeply divided over the ordination of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire and the morality of homosexual unions. Several international churches, especially in Africa, have declared "impaired communion" with the American church in protest. Bishop Don Wimberly, who voted against Robinson and same-sex blessings, scheduled the non-voting debate after successfully calling for the tabling of four resolutions that were critical of the action of General Convention, the church's legislative assembly. Wimberly said he preferred the debate rather than polarizing the church further through a vote. But some delegates, like John McGarvey of Houston's Church of the Holy Spirit, were upset with Wimberly's action. The delegation from St. Paul's Church in Katy walked out in protest Friday. "You have chosen to mute the voice of the Diocese of Texas on the matter," McGarvey told Wimberly. Most of the delegates spoke against the actions of General Convention. "The current issue of the church is not about the sin of homosexuality," said Andrea Widdows of St. Richard's Episcopal Church in Round Rock. "This is only a symptom of the bigger problem in our church. The issue is about the church condoning all kinds of sinful practices by allowing our leaders to continue in sin, instead of repenting and thus leading us to repentance as well." Some delegates said the issue was not easy to decide in a vote. The Rev. James Nutter, rector of Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, said he was a delegate to the national assembly and voted against the approval for Robinson. He said he was opposed to the circumstances surrounding the vote including the lack of theological study of the issue. But Nutter said he was still conflicted about the issue. "As I have looked at the five or six texts that are pertinent to this issue, the harder it is for me to discern whether or not there is a clear, absolute definitive ethic on homosexuality," Nutter said. The Rev. Rick Benson, of St. Mark's Church in Rosenberg, defended the actions of the national church. Benson argued that scientific research supported the view that homosexuals did not freely choose their orientation. "Science just doesn't support that," Benson said. He said Galileo and other scientists were condemned in their views by the church that cited the authority of Scriptures. "We need to take Scripture seriously, but we also need to take the reality that science presents us within our deliberations," Benson said.

While some may be protesting with their wallets, others are joining new national groups. Episcopal decisions on homosexual issues last summer hit home this week. On Sunday, members of the 271-year-old Christ Church, the Mother Church of Georgia, voted to join a nine-year-old Anglican group that wants to preserve Biblical authority. Meanwhile, the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia expects a dip in donations from its 71 congregations this year, attributed in part to those protesting actions taken by the national convention in Minneapolis last August. Congregational pledges are down $219,528 from last year's pledged amount of $1.63 million, Bishop Henry I. Louttit Jr. said Wednesday. Also, the diocese has an estimated 18,649 active members. As a result, the Diocese of Georgia will reduce its contribution to national headquarters. "I understand the frustration of those who want to do something, but the cost is to the poor of the world," Louttit said from diocesan headquarters in Savannah. Archbishop Desmond Tutu listens to the debate in the Chamber at the Church of England's General Synod in London, Wednesday Feb. 11, 2004. Church of England General Synod members were debating homosexuality and so-called "gay marriages", for the first time since the row over gay priests in the Anglican Communion. In Minneapolis last year, Episcopal delegates approved the election of an openly homosexual priest to be bishop of New Hampshire. The Rev. V. Gene Robinson, who has been living with a male partner for over a decade, was consecrated as bishop in November. Leaders also recognized but did not endorse that some bishops allow ceremonies blessing same-gender couples. Louttit said he is not aware of any such ceremonies performed in his diocese, which consists of 14,000 members throughout the southern section of the state. The Episcopal Church USA is a democratically operated denomination. Louttit said the diocese has lost some members because the national decisions go against their understanding of Scripture. But other people have joined because they find the denomination brave to have taken on the issue. At Christ Church on Sunday, 137 of the 214 voting church members present agreed to become part of the American Anglican Council, a Washington-based organization that represents traditional Episcopalians who believe in Biblical authority. The vote also paves the way to possibly join the 3-week-old Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes. "They want to remain within the mainstream, mainline traditional Anglican heritage which says marriage is between a man and a woman," said David Hein, co-author of the new book "The Episcopalians." Sunday's vote puts a more public face on what parishioners believe, said the Rev. Marc Robertson, rector of the historic church on Johnson Square. "Christ Church has always held the historic faith and order of the Anglican Communion," he said. "We honor the centrality and authority of Holy Scripture." The vote does not separate the parish from the diocese and members have no plans to seek alternative Episcopal oversight, Robertson said. In his diocesan convention address in Valdosta last week, Louttit said he does not totally trust the American Anglican Council. But earlier this week, a diocesan spokesman said the bishop understands the need for some parishes to join the council. "As long as the AAC remains as they have stated publicly within the structure of the Episcopal Church USA (Bishop Louttit's) not going to take any kind of precipitous action against a parish for doing this," said the Rev. James Parker. Hein, the author and chairman of the department of religion and philosophy at Hood College in Frederick, Md., described the Christ Church vote as part of a larger denominational trend, of mainline American Protestants losing the hold they used to have on American religion. It's being sidelined and represents fewer American Christians, he said. "Part of this seems to be almost a death wish," he said. "The (Episcopal Church) seems to be getting out of step with people in the pews, the people in the center." The denomination shrank from about 3.3 million members in 1965 to 2.3 million today, Hein said. Hein does not believe traditionalists will break from the Episcopal Church USA to create a second American branch of the Anglican Communion. "At first I thought it might be (a schism)," he said. "But it looks like the AAC is extremely conscious of remaining in the Episcopal Church and working to prevent a schism, partly because of the property problems. If they left the Episcopal Church they might well lose a lot of property, and some of these traditional congregations are in parishes that go back 200 years." Many Episcopalians who stand by the Minneapolis decision believe in honoring the decades-old majority-rules process of creating laws that govern American Episcopalians. Those who disagree say the denomination is straying from Biblical teachings in favor of cultural thought. So they're joining such groups as the AAC and the new network. But one Christ Church parishioner who disagrees with the Minneapolis decision did not want to join the AAC. "In my opinion, I find them to be too political of an organization," said Karl Bohnstedt. "Probably the best way to solve (this) is to change the direction of the church in a subsequent convention," he said. "I am a proponent of working within the structure of the Episcopal Church to change it around."

An Anglican church defying the bishop of New Westminster by refusing to support same-sex unions has offered him a legal ultimatum. In a letter delivered to Bishop Michael Ingham on Friday, St. Martin's parish in North Vancouver said that unless the parish is allowed to control its own finances and staffing, it would ask the B.C. Supreme Court to overturn the firing of two church wardens last year. "We want our church and we want to be able to control our own destiny," parish spokeswoman Linda Taunton said Saturday. Ingham has until Feb. 23 to respond, she told The Canadian Press. Diocese chief legal officer George Cadman said the bishop was within church regulations. "The steps that were taken last year were within the canons and constitution of the diocese," Cadman said. Last September, Ingham invoked an obscure piece of church law to remove the wardens, St. Martin's parishioners say. The parishioners maintain that as a legally incorporated organization, they have the right to make decisions for themselves. They contend Ingham's actions violate the provincial Societies Act. Cadman, though, says that's not quite accurate. "The parish corporation is formed under a separate act of incorporation of the diocese which provides for parishes to be incorporated," Cadman said. "All incorporated parishes are subject ultimately to the jurisdiction of the diocese and have their corporate being only through the diocese." Parishioners say officials appointed by Ingham have changed the church's locks, fired a youth minister, closed down the parish newsletter and website, suspended vestry meetings and blocked volunteers from holding key positions. The parish has voted twice to seek alternative episcopal oversight. Ingham has said before he acted only out of concern for maintaining order in the church, and insisted he did not remove the St. Martin's officials because of their views on homosexuality. Jim Burns is one of the wardens removed by Ingham and says the views of the parish on same-sex unions are consistent with the worldwide church. It is the New Westminster diocese that is out of step, he said. "The diocese has made decisions outside Anglicanism," Burns said. "Our decisions have been consistent with Anglicanism. So why are we being punished?" Almost a dozen churches split away from the New Westminster diocese after it approved the blessing of same-sex unions in 2002. Now, three of the worldwide church's top 38 leaders have come forward to offer episcopal oversight for the dissidents. Several parishes are considering the offer by church primates from Africa and Southeast Asia, said Leslie Bentley, spokeswoman for the parishes. The Canadian House of Bishops has established a task force to see how alternative oversight can be established. "Some of the congregations are just very, very frustrated because it has taken a long time," Bentley said. "This really underscores the need for (the House of Bishops) to get its act together." Ingham's decision to sanction same-sex unions, and the broader issue of homosexuality, has caused a deep division in the Anglican church. In October, Anglican leaders met at a crisis conference in London called in part because of Ingham's approval of same-sex unions. Priests at the protesting parishes have been defying Ingham's authority since 2002. The parishes have stopped paying annual dues to the diocese and started their own organization. Late last year, Ingham closed one church. Archdeacon Ronald Harrison had said the church brought the closure upon itself by seeking episcopal oversight from another bishop. He said that a result of the church declaring itself "independent" was that its funds had been stopped and eventually the bishop was forced to close it. LONDON: HOMOSEXUALITY AND HATE SPEECH Defending Moral Principles Is Getting Riskier. Christians defending moral teachings on homosexuality are increasingly running foul of laws that ban any negative statements about the subject. A British Anglican bishop, for instance, who suggested that homosexuals seek psychological counseling was the target of a police investigation, the Telegraph newspaper reported Nov. 10. Bishop Peter Forster of Chester told a local paper: "Some people who are primarily homosexual can reorientate themselves. I would encourage them to consider that as an option, but I would not set myself up as a medical specialist on the subject—that's in the area of psychiatric health." Police investigated the statements and a spokesman said a copy of the article would be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service. Subsequently, the police dropped the case, the Independent newspaper reported Nov. 11. The matter raised fears about restrictions on defending Christian morality, the British-based Christian Institute explained in its January newsletter. It added that the bishop's position was backed up by a lot of academic research. Even a longtime supporter of homosexual rights, Columbia University professor Robert Spitzer, recently published a study finding that homosexuals could become predominantly heterosexual through psychotherapy, the newsletter observed. Debate also flared last year in the United Kingdom over whether churches should be allowed to refuse employment to homosexuals. The government finally agreed to add a clause to anti-discrimination legislation giving religious organizations the right to exclude a person on the grounds of sexual orientation, the Sunday Times reported June 1. Still, the Christian Institute warned in its January newsletter that employers must be prepared to argue their case in court. In Ireland, meanwhile, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties warned the Catholic Church that distributing the Vatican guidelines on same-sex unions could bring prosecution. The document published last July by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith falls foul of the Incitement to Hatred Act, according to sources quoted in the Irish Times on Aug. 2. "The document itself may not violate the act, but if you were to use the document to say that gays are evil, it is likely to give rise to hatred, which is against the act," said Aisling Reidy, director of the civil-liberties council. Those convicted under the act could face six-month jail terms. Of the Vatican document Reidy said: "The wording is very strong and certainly goes against the spirit of the legislation." On the other side of the Atlantic, December saw a victory for Christians. In Michigan, U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen upheld the right of a Christian student to express her religious beliefs in opposing homosexuality, reported a Dec. 5 press release by the Thomas More Law Center. The law center had filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Betsy Hansen as a result of a dispute over the 2002 Diversity Week program held at the Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. School authorities censored the speech to be given by Hansen, a Catholic, as part of the activities of the "Homosexuality and Religion" panel. Officials claimed that her religious view toward homosexuality was a "negative" message and would "water down" the "positive" religious message that they wanted to convey—that homosexual behavior is not immoral or sinful. School officials also only allowed clergy who espoused a pro-homosexual position to take part in the panel, denying Hansen's request to have a panel member who would express the Catholic position on homosexuality. "This case presents the ironic, and unfortunate, paradox of a public high school celebrating 'diversity' by refusing to permit the presentation to students of an 'unwelcomed' viewpoint on the topic of homosexuality and religion, while actively promoting the competing view," observed Judge Rosen in his decision. Another case, still to be finalized, involves a Colorado mother who left a lesbian relationship after converting to Christianity in 2000. Cheryl Clark is appealing a ruling by Denver County Circuit Judge John Coughlin to "make sure that there is nothing in the religious upbringing or teaching that the minor child is exposed to that can be considered homophobic," the Washington Times reported Nov. 5. Her former partner, Elsey McLeod, was awarded joint custody of the child, an 8-year-old girl. Matthew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, a public-interest law firm based in Orlando, Florida, has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case. He commented that the judge gave no similar orders to McLeod regarding remarks or teaching about Christianity or Christians. "It's a real one-way street on this," Staver said. Controversy regarding criticism of homosexuals has been increasingly common in Canada. A recent case involves the Archdiocese of Vancouver. The Vancouver Sun reported Sept. 24 that the archdiocese canceled a long-standing partnership with VanCity Credit Union, owing to the fact that the institution actively supports the local gay and lesbian community. The turning point for Archbishop Adam Exner was an ad campaign by the credit union, featuring a homosexual couple. Consequently the archbishop put an end to a VanCity program operating in four Catholic schools. Under the program, students learned out to save and invest their money and opened savings accounts with the credit union. A document posted on the archdiocese Web site explained the reasons for the decision. "VanCity in its advertising and by its sponsorship has publicly manifested its support for agendas which are worrisome and harmful to the Church and to society," said the statement signed by Archbishop Exner. "Any cooperation with an organization that publicly supports such agendas appears unacceptable." The decision drew strong criticism, as Archbishop Exner noted in a letter published Oct. 1 by the Vancouver Sun. When news of the move became public, it "opened the floodgates to letters, e-mails, phone calls and faxes, alleging everything from bigotry to fascism," he said. "I found myself accused of teaching intolerance and hatred of homosexuals—something contrary to Catholic teaching and my own convictions." David Bernstein, professor at George Mason University School of Law, addressed the topic of how antidiscrimination laws are creating problems for free speech in his recent book, "You Can't Say That!" Fear of litigation, he observed, "is having a profound chilling effect on the exercise of civil liberties in workplaces, universities, membership organizations, and churches." Bernstein related how one U.S. Catholic university was beaten down by legal actions into giving full recognition to student homosexual groups. And citing several recent legal cases in Canada, he commented: "Indeed, it has apparently become illegal in Canada to advocate traditional Christian opposition to homosexual sex." On the question of how homosexuals are to be treated, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is careful to point out: "They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided" (No. 2358). Nevertheless, the Catechism is no less clear when it deals with the morality of homosexual acts: "They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved" (No. 2357). Defending this teaching, in a charitable way, is no easy task. And in the current legal climate, it could get a lot harder. SYDNEY: ARCHBISHOP CARNLEY SAYS EXTREMISM MAY LEAD TO CHURCH SPLIT The Anglican Primate of Australia, Archbishop Peter Carnley, has made a stinging attack on the leadership of the Sydney diocese. In a new book, Reflections in Glass, Dr Carnley warns the diocese itself might split because of the extremism of the ruling group. The archbishop, who is to retire next February, said that while the leadership of the diocese resisted most of his ideas, they were not universally rejected. "The diocese of Sydney contains as much diversity of thought as most of the other Anglican dioceses, even if is to be frankly admitted that a distinct and characteristic kind of evangelicalism predominates," he said. "It is reported that up to 50 Sydney parishes might consider approaching the college of Australian bishops to seek a form of 'alternative episcopal oversight'." If Australian Anglicanism split, the "first divide" might be "within the diocese itself".

The Archbishop of Canterbury received a petition signed by 8,500 individuals from the new Inclusivechurch network of Anglicans on the steps of Church House in London on February 10, during the meeting of the Church of England's governing body, the General Synod. The handing over of the petition marks the first milestone in the life of a grassroots organization that began in August 2003 in response to the overturning of the appointment of Jeffrey John, a celibate gay priest, as Bishop of Reading in the diocese of Oxford. "We are an organization set up to campaign for an open, honest and generous spirited Anglicanism that has always been the very heart and soul of the Church of England," explained the Rev. Giles Fraser, chair. Fraser said Inclusivechurch began as a group of friends from Southwark, London and Oxford who, prompted by the Jeffrey John debacle, were increasingly worried about the future direction of the Church of England. They organized an open meeting in the church of St. Mary's Putney in London, site of the 1647 Putney Debates, taken by many historians as the birthplace of modern democracy. Others similarly concerned asked if they could join, including individuals from the evangelical wing of the Church of England. It snowballed very quickly to the 8,500 who have now registered their support on the website, www.inclusivechurch.net . Fraser said the group's main concern is that the Elizabethan Settlement—the classical Anglican compromise based upon tolerance for diverse points of view—is being called into question and that broad church Anglicans are being forced out of the Church of England. As the Rev. Nick Holtam, Vicar of St. Martin in the Fields in Central London, put it, "I am fighting against being made illegitimate in the church." "It is excellent that so many people have supported the petition in such a short time, and with such little promotion," Fraser continued. "Liberals are bad campaigners. We're also a bit gutless. But what those of us who are very angry need most of all is a call for action. It is clear that the people of our country will not tolerate a homophobic church at the centre of our spiritual life, nor will they be edified by a theology born of ecclesiastical expediency rather than theological principle." The vast majority of Inclusivechurch's signatories belong to the Church of England. In addition to individual Anglicans who have signed the petition, more than 100 parishes have signed up too, each having passed motions of support through their Parochial Church Councils, the English equivalent of the vestry in ECUSA. Signatories also come from parishes belonging to conservative organizations like Reform, and Inclusivechurch reports receiving emails from individuals keen to protest against their own churches, notably from places like Pittsburgh in the US, because they fear gay people are not made welcome there. "People want an inclusive church," says Ann Kiem, a laywoman from All Saints Church, Fulham in London, and a signatory of the petition. "I do not want to belong to an organization that excludes people on any grounds. This is what, I believe, the vast majority of people in the Church of England think too." The interesting thing about this "diverse middle" of the church, as Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold of ECUSA has put it, is not that they are pro-gay, and for that reason horrified at the treatment of Jeffrey John, said Fraser. It is their sense of common decency that is affronted. "Grassroots members of the Church of England are now speaking loud and clear to Anglican leaders," says April Alexander, the lay chair of Southwark Diocesan Synod, another signatory. "We believe that it is appalling that some parts of our Church are threatening schism over issues like homosexuality. When secondary issues come to dominate over the church's core beliefs about the loving-kindness of God, something very serious has gone wrong." After handing in the petition, Inclusivechurch held a Eucharist at St. Matthew's Church, Westminster. The preacher was the newly appointed American priest, the Rev. Marilyn McCord Adams, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University and Canon of Oxford Cathedral. "We who regard gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Christians, not as the latest problems on the sexuality syllabus, but as spiritual treasures for the whole community, cannot afford to equivocate or temporise," Adams said. "We must support them in their life in Christ, and bear wide and public witness to how we have experienced their partnerships as sacraments of God's love in a broken and divided world. The Body of Christ is pregnant with holy opportunity. We shouldn't want to abort it." GEORGIA: LOCAL EPISCOPALIANS RESPOND TO ROBINSON CONSECRATION While some may be protesting with their wallets, others are joining new national groups. Episcopal decisions on homosexual issues last summer hit home this week. On Sunday, members of the 271-year-old Christ Church, the Mother Church of Georgia, voted to join a nine-year-old Anglican group that wants to preserve Biblical authority. Meanwhile, the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia expects a dip in donations from its 71 congregations this year, attributed in part to those protesting actions taken by the national convention in Minneapolis last August. Congregational pledges are down $219,528 from last year's pledged amount of $1.63 million, Bishop Henry I. Louttit Jr. said Wednesday. Also, the diocese has an estimated 18,649 active members. As a result, the Diocese of Georgia will reduce its contribution to national headquarters. "I understand the frustration of those who want to do something, but the cost is to the poor of the world," Louttit said from diocesan headquarters in Savannah. Archbishop Desmond Tutu listens to the debate in the Chamber at the Church of England's General Synod in London, Wednesday Feb. 11, 2004. Church of England General Synod members were debating homosexuality and so-called "gay marriages", for the first time since the row over gay priests in the Anglican Communion. In Minneapolis last year, Episcopal delegates approved the election of an openly homosexual priest to be bishop of New Hampshire. The Rev. V. Gene Robinson, who has been living with a male partner for over a decade, was consecrated as bishop in November. Leaders also recognized but did not endorse that some bishops allow ceremonies blessing same-gender couples. Louttit said he is not aware of any such ceremonies performed in his diocese, which consists of 14,000 members throughout the southern section of the state. The Episcopal Church USA is a democratically operated denomination. Louttit said the diocese has lost some members because the national decisions go against their understanding of Scripture. But other people have joined because they find the denomination brave to have taken on the issue. At Christ Church on Sunday, 137 of the 214 voting church members present agreed to become part of the American Anglican Council, a Washington-based organization that represents traditional Episcopalians who believe in Biblical authority. The vote also paves the way to possibly join the 3-week-old Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes. "They want to remain within the mainstream, mainline traditional Anglican heritage which says marriage is between a man and a woman," said David Hein, co-author of the new book "The Episcopalians." Sunday's vote puts a more public face on what parishioners believe, said the Rev. Marc Robertson, rector of the historic church on Johnson Square. "Christ Church has always held the historic faith and order of the Anglican Communion," he said. "We honor the centrality and authority of Holy Scripture." The vote does not separate the parish from the diocese and members have no plans to seek alternative Episcopal oversight, Robertson said. In his diocesan convention address in Valdosta last week, Louttit said he does not totally trust the American Anglican Council. But earlier this week, a diocesan spokesman said the bishop understands the need for some parishes to join the council. "As long as the AAC remains as they have stated publicly within the structure of the Episcopal Church USA (Bishop Louttit's) not going to take any kind of precipitous action against a parish for doing this," said the Rev. James Parker. Hein, the author and chairman of the department of religion and philosophy at Hood College in Frederick, Md., described the Christ Church vote as part of a larger denominational trend, of mainline American Protestants losing the hold they used to have on American religion. It's being sidelined and represents fewer American Christians, he said. "Part of this seems to be almost a death wish," he said. "The (Episcopal Church) seems to be getting out of step with people in the pews, the people in the center." The denomination shrank from about 3.3 million members in 1965 to 2.3 million today, Hein said. Hein does not believe traditionalists will break from the Episcopal Church USA to create a second American branch of the Anglican Communion. "At first I thought it might be (a schism)," he said. "But it looks like the AAC is extremely conscious of remaining in the Episcopal Church and working to prevent a schism, partly because of the property problems. If they left the Episcopal Church they might well lose a lot of property, and some of these traditional congregations are in parishes that go back 200 years." Many Episcopalians who stand by the Minneapolis decision believe in honoring the decades-old majority-rules process of creating laws that govern American Episcopalians. Those who disagree say the denomination is straying from Biblical teachings in favor of cultural thought. So they're joining such groups as the AAC and the new network. But one Christ Church parishioner who disagrees with the Minneapolis decision did not want to join the AAC. "In my opinion, I find them to be too political of an organization," said Karl Bohnstedt. "Probably the best way to solve (this) is to change the direction of the church in a subsequent convention," he said. "I am a proponent of working within the structure of the Episcopal Church to change it around." TEXAS: DEBATE OVER GAYS ENDS DIOCESAN CONVENTION Delegates to the Episcopal Diocese of Texas quietly concluded their annual council meeting Saturday after an hour of often impassioned debate over biblical authority and sexual morality. More than 40 of the 1,000 delegates attending the concluding council session argued for and against the national church's action in approving the ordination of an openly gay priest as bishop last summer. The national church also approved the blessing of same-sex unions, further intensifying the dispute between denominational conservatives and liberals. The American church and worldwide Anglican Communion are deeply divided over the ordination of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire and the morality of homosexual unions. Several international churches, especially in Africa, have declared "impaired communion" with the American church in protest. Bishop Don Wimberly, who voted against Robinson and same-sex blessings, scheduled the non-voting debate after successfully calling for the tabling of four resolutions that were critical of the action of General Convention, the church's legislative assembly. Wimberly said he preferred the debate rather than polarizing the church further through a vote. But some delegates, like John McGarvey of Houston's Church of the Holy Spirit, were upset with Wimberly's action. The delegation from St. Paul's Church in Katy walked out in protest Friday. "You have chosen to mute the voice of the Diocese of Texas on the matter," McGarvey told Wimberly. Most of the delegates spoke against the actions of General Convention. "The current issue of the church is not about the sin of homosexuality," said Andrea Widdows of St. Richard's Episcopal Church in Round Rock. "This is only a symptom of the bigger problem in our church. The issue is about the church condoning all kinds of sinful practices by allowing our leaders to continue in sin, instead of repenting and thus leading us to repentance as well." Some delegates said the issue was not easy to decide in a vote. The Rev. James Nutter, rector of Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, said he was a delegate to the national assembly and voted against the approval for Robinson. He said he was opposed to the circumstances surrounding the vote including the lack of theological study of the issue. But Nutter said he was still conflicted about the issue. "As I have looked at the five or six texts that are pertinent to this issue, the harder it is for me to discern whether or not there is a clear, absolute definitive ethic on homosexuality," Nutter said. The Rev. Rick Benson, of St. Mark's Church in Rosenberg, defended the actions of the national church. Benson argued that scientific research supported the view that homosexuals did not freely choose their orientation. "Science just doesn't support that," Benson said. He said Galileo and other scientists were condemned in their views by the church that cited the authority of Scriptures. "We need to take Scripture seriously, but we also need to take the reality that science presents us within our deliberations," Benson said.

"This is a fantastic day," exclaimed Rita Taubman, one of several hundred who gathered to launch a new mission church in Melbourne, Florida. "There is a lot of life, joy and peace here. It's an exciting beginning!" Her words seem to echo those of other worshipers who came together to mark the first day of a new congregation's journey. Prince of Peace Anglican Church today held its first worship service since joining the Anglican Mission in America—a beginning that the congregation hopes will enable it to grow and move forward in the work of the gospel. 350 worshipers of all ages were welcomed to the facilities of Our Father's House, a non-denominational church that has offered space to the fledging mission. As a leader of the host church was heard to say, "We can't wait to see how the Lord will bless us by having you here." The new path chosen by Prince of Peace and its several hundred members began several weeks ago at St. John's Episcopal Church, merely five miles from the new location. St. John's leadership, including the Rev. John Miller, had become increasingly concerned in recent years by the direction of the parent denomination, the Episcopal Church in the USA (ECUSA), a constituent member of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Following ECUSA's decision last year to install a practicing homosexual into the role of bishop—a move condemned by the Anglican Communion—many at St. John's knew that it would be the last straw. "A lot of my colleagues in the Episcopal Church have had a hard time understanding what they call 'impatience'," reflected the Rev. Miller. "But they are where I was three years ago. We have been teaching for nearly seven years at St. John's about the real crisis of faith and leadership in the Episcopal Church. Our people know what is going on. Following the actions of last fall, if I had said 'let's just keep on keeping on', I would have had a crisis. My key leadership would have left and the church would have disintegrated." In a special parish meeting last month about 80% voted to leave the Episcopal Church and form a new congregation under the Anglican Mission in America, a growing missionary movement in the United States sponsored by Anglicans in Africa and Asia. This affiliation allows the members to remain a part of the global Anglican Communion, without having to stay connected to the Episcopal Church—a church that Miller calls "toxic to the work of the gospel." This decision, however, meant that the people would have to leave their well-loved buildings and surroundings and start over. Many of them had spent decades at St. John's, investing years of their lives in the church. Patsy Arrouet, a long-time member of St. John's and a key figure in the church's transition team, was asked about any sense of loss: "Yes, there is a grief. But I've been grieving about my church for a long time. I do hate to leave our beautiful church and property, and also the people who chose to remain, but we must be continually willing to live where God is growing us. For that, I'm excited." 'Excited' seems to be the word of the hour. "Excitement, certainly, but also a lot of freedom," offered John Miller. "I'm not waking up with an agonizing dark pit in my stomach. And I am totally joy-filled by the motivation and enthusiasm I'm seeing in those who have decided to be a part of this new thing." Asked to reflect on those who would stay behind at St. John's, Miller was sympathetic, "My heart and love remain with them. These are people I have served in Christ for eight years, and we have greatly enriched one another's lives. I will miss them, and I understand that leaving a church as warm and lively as St. John's is an extremely difficult thing to do. It's been agonizing for me—the hardest 'yes' I've ever given to God. But I don't see this in terms of those who left are right and those who stayed are wrong. It's a matter of God building a new thing. And we're in for something truly exciting!" Prince of Peace Anglican Church worships Sunday mornings at 8:30am at Our Father's House, 535 Cassia Boulevard in Satellite Beach, Florida. Church offices are: 1360 Sarno Road, Melbourne, Florida, 32935. Their phone number is 321-253-9102.

In hours of debate by the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention over whether to legalize "same sex marriage," the more articulate advocates opposed a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to "one man, one woman." Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, an African American, said she was born "one generation removed from slavery" in an Arkansas shack "because the public hospital would not allow blacks to deliver children." She saw same sex marriage as a civil rights issue: "I know the pain of being less than equal and I cannot and will not impose that status on anyone else. I could not in good conscience ever vote to send anyone to that place from which my family fled." However, marriage is not a civil rights issue. No one at the Constitutional Convention noted that America's major black denominations support a Federal Marriage Amendment which states "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman." House Speaker Thomas Finneran, a Democrat, was eloquent at one point: "Every society, every culture, every nation in all of recorded history, including Massachusetts, has up until this point at least defined marriage as one man and one woman." Yes, but why? Social science research can answer that question, but it was not offered. Outside the Constitutional Convention, Ron Crews, President of the Massachusetts Family Institute, said, "The reason we are in this battle to preserve the definition of marriage is that we believe the state should be concerned about the highest good. And we believe that the highest good, the ideal, is that children need a mom and a dad." That is backed up by a large and growing body of social science research. The Witherspoon Institute at Princeton has posted the "Top 10 Social Scientific Arguments Against Same Sex Marriage (SSM)." Children hunger for their biological parents. A third of lesbians have children according to the Census. Some do it by In Vitro Fertilization, deliberately creating a class of children who will never know their father. Yale Psychiatrist Kyle Pruett reports that children of IVF often ask, "Mommy, what did you do with my daddy?" "Can I write him a letter?" "Has he ever seen me?" "Didn't he like me?" Children need fathers: "We know that fathers excel in reducing antisocial behavior/delinquency in boys and sexual activity in girls," says Witherspoon. "Girls who grow up apart from their biological father were much more likely to experience early puberty and a teen pregnancy than girls who spent their entire childhood in an intact family." Children need mothers: A fifth of gay couples have children. There will be more if SSM is legalized. "Mothers excel in providing children with emotional security and in reading the physical and emotional cues of infants. Obviously, they also give their daughters unique counsel as they confront the physical, emotional and social challenges (of) puberty and adolescence." Evidence suggests children raised in SS homes experience gender and sexual disorders. Judith Stacey, an advocate for SSM and a sociologist, writes "lesbian parenting may free daughters and sons from a broad but uneven range of traditional gender prescriptions." For example, sons of lesbians are less masculine and daughters of lesbians are more masculine. She found that a "significantly greater proportion of young adult children raised by lesbian mothers than those raised by heterosexual mothers...reported having a homoerotic relationship." Sexual fidelity. Witherspoon asserts, "One of the biggest threats that SSM poses to marriage is that it would probably undercut the norm of sexual fidelity in marriage." In his book, "Virtually Normal," Andrew Sullivan writes "There is more likely to be greater understanding of the need for extramarital outlets between two men than between a man and a woman." Research of civil unions and marriages in Vermont reveals that while 79 percent of heterosexual men and women value sexual fidelity, "only about 50 percent of gay men in civil unions" felt similarly. Women & marriage domesticate men. Witherspoon reports, "Men who are married earn more, work harder, drink less, live longer, spend more time attending religious services and are more sexually faithful... It is unlikely that SSM would domesticate men in the way heterosexual marriage does." Gay activists like Andrew Sullivan disagree but are likely "clinging to a foolish hope. This foolish hope does not justify yet another effort to meddle with marriage." For the other "Top 10" findings, see Witherspoon's website, http://www.winst.org/toptenlists.htm . Advocates for traditional marriage need to cite this sort of research if they expect to win the day.

Episcopal bishop requests shelving of 4 resolutions By RICHARD VARA Houston Chronicle Religion Editor Bishop Don Wimberly will ask delegates to the Episcopal Diocese of Texas' annual meeting next week to shelve four resolutions that concern biblical sexual morality and the national church's approval of an openly gay bishop. In his address to the council, Wimberly also plans to declare out of order a proposed amendment to the diocesan constitution and canons that would nullify any national church assembly action that was "contrary to Holy Scripture and the Apostolic Teaching of the Church." More than 1,100 clerical and lay delegates will begin meeting in Tyler Thursday to act on diocesan business and policy matters. It will be their first meeting since the national church's General Convention voted in August to approve the consecration of V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest, as bishop of New Hampshire. Not everyone is happy about Wimberly's request on the resolutions. "There is an elephant in the room, and I wonder if we as a church have to have courage to address it," said the Rev. Lanny Geib, who is among the clergy who submitted the resolutions for council consideration. "There is a great exodus out of this church right now because people are so disgusted because we don't have the courage of our convictions," said Geib, who has lost 10 families from his 300-member congregation at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Katy over the Robinson issue. Another four families are ready to leave, he said. "They are sick and tired of it," Geib said. Nonetheless, Geib said he would not bolt the Episcopal Church. "I am not leaving the church," Geib said. "Never. I will stand and fight this thing until I can't preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified. Period." Robinson's consecration provoked a firestorm of controversy in the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church in this country and the worldwide Anglican Communion. Several national Anglican churches have broken ties with the American church and have threatened to leave the worldwide communion if Robinson is not ousted. In his pre-published council address, Wimberly, who voted against Robinson's consecration, asks delegates not to bring to the floor resolutions that: Call for affirmation of sexual intimacy between a man and a woman only in marriage. Repudiate the General Convention's approval of Robinson and acceptance of the blessing of same-sex unions. Commend the August vote of Diocese of Texas delegates who opposed Robinson and the blessing of same-sex unions. Affirm historic Anglican doctrines and policies that state Scriptures trump actions of human councils. "If we learned anything at General Convention, it is that voting against one another will only divide this house further instead of allowing us to name our concerns, fears and opinions in a healthy forum," Wimberly says in the address. "Bringing them to the floor of Council will only mire us in parliamentary maneuvering rather than addressing the state and welfare of the church as a whole," he states. The bishop asks delegates to air their differences instead in a special hour-long "conversation." "We must engage one another in a loving, respectful and honest manner," the address says. The Rev. Susan Bear, rector of St. George's and St. Patrick's Episcopal Church in Houston, is one of the 30 clergy endorsers of the resolutions. But she said she was willing to heed Wimberly's call to lay them aside. "Part of my ordination vows is that I will be obedient to my bishop, and I trust Bishop Wimberly's judgment," Bear said. "I may have my own ideas in mind, but he is my bishop and I will listen to what he has to say at this council. "As long as there will be room for some dialogue and some discussion, and it is my understanding that is what we will have," Bear said. The Rev. Laurens "Larry" Hall, rector of St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, is a leader of traditionalist diocesan clergy. His church has recently aligned with the conservative American Anglican Council. But Hall said he supports the bishop's position. Hall believes the bishop and the church worldwide are waiting for the titular head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, to issue a statement on the Robinson issue this fall. "In some ways, everybody is waiting for somebody else to make some kind of decision," Hall said. The Rev. Helen Havens, rector of progressive St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Houston's Montrose area, will support the bishop's request. "He is simply suggesting, as many people have suggested, that we would be far better off sharing our ideas, praying together, listening to each other, being civil to one another rather than duking it out in a legislative battle on the floor," Havens said. The Rev. Joe Reynolds, dean of Christ Church Cathedral and a progressive, said debating issues is part of church tradition. "That is the nature of the Episcopal Church -- we like to fuss," Reynolds said. "I don't think anyone will say the Episcopal Church is terribly united right now. But I don't think the Council will be divisive." The annual meeting will begin with a service Thursday night at Tyler's First Baptist Church, the only church in the East Texas City large enough to accommodate the delegates. Business sessions will be held Friday and Feb. 14 at Harvey Convention Center. Wimberly also will ask the diocese to focus on missions and outreach. He plans to convene a diocesan-wide gathering with a goal of increasing average Sunday attendance by 10 percent. The council will also vote on a $5.6 million diocesan operations budget and a $3.2 million missionary budget, which funds missions, outreach and other programs, said Ron Null, diocesan treasurer. About $400,000 will go to the national church, slightly less than last year, Null said. The overall missionary budget is down 5 percent from last year's $3.4 million budget. He said that reflects continuing economic woes and some parishes' displeasure with the national church's actions. "It is not anything that is crippling the ability of the diocese to do good missionary work," Null said.

By Rt. Rev. Ronald C. Ferris Anglicans in Canada are facing a divisive controversy. The issue has come onto the General Synod 2004 agenda following a decision in the diocese of New Westminster, where the bishop and that diocese have implemented the blessing of same-sex unions. This is being done in opposition to the expressed wishes of much of the Anglican world, including the Lambeth Conference, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the 1997 guidelines of the Canadian house of bishops as well as their October 2002 meeting. The global primates, meeting in October 2003, also disapproved. As we enter a national debate that is potentially divisive, what are the rules? Many Anglicans believe that the blessing of same-sex unions is contrary to Scripture, that it would overturn a 2,000-year moral tradition of the church, and that it would be contrary to the Articles of Religion, the marriage liturgies, and Marriage Canon. How would such a decision be constitutionally possible? Could General Synod authorize implementation of same-sex blessings by local option on the basis of a simple majority vote? Or by canonical change, as a matter of doctrine, worship, and discipline, requiring a two-thirds majority vote at two General Synods? Or only after fundamental constitutional review and re-agreement by constituent dioceses? Anglicans view themselves as a comprehensive Christian community encompassing wide polarities, yet bound together in a single, unified structure, built upon a common commitment to Holy Scripture and our constitution. In the past century, two streams of Anglicanism have co-existed, accommodated to one another, and I believe, enriched one another. These two streams could be characterized as Salvationist and Liberationist. The Salvationist stream emphasizes a unique salvation available only through the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the necessity of conversion to newness of life, and right living as the outflow of receiving the gift of salvation. The Liberationist stream emphasizes the Creator's care for all of humanity, Jesus as a liberator enlightening human progress, and the obligation of all believers to seek justice. These positions are not mutually exclusive, but rather highly compatible. Christ and the Scriptures testify that righteousness and justice are but two sides of the very same thing. "Mercy and truth are met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other." (Psalm 85:10). The presenting issue for this unity crisis in the Anglican church is the blessing of same-sex unions. But that is just the first of many issues coming at us. Signals of upcoming issues including bisexuality and the blessing of common-law unions were clearly present in the deliberations of the last General Synod. Inclusion has been one of the principal themes of theological education for the past two decades. Inclusionism taken to the extreme undermines many basic Christian teachings. Ultimately an inclusionist gospel is embarrassed by exclusive claims for Jesus Christ. The bold New Testament proclamations of Jesus as "the way, the truth, the life" become an offence. The overall unity issue cannot be easily avoided. Every diocese and congregation will ultimately have to face questions about what are the outward boundaries of tolerance. With more and more dioceses taking independent actions, albeit for what they see as justice reasons, are we to give up our vision of a single church which is a bridge to ecumenical unity? We know (from observing the United Church of Canada, the Episcopal Church of the United States, and the diocese of New Westminster) that wherever a church proceeds to the implementation of same-gender unions, four kinds of division inevitably result. The four kinds of division are attrition, external splits, internal rifts and distancing between congregations and their governing bodies. Some would argue that these perceived threats to Anglican unity are exaggerated. They argue that we have come through many other changes, and they feel that the talks of disunity are mere posturing. But other changes were largely preceded by widespread consensus and were supportable by some measure of Scriptural warrant. In this instance, division is not simply a risk, but a present reality. Many are calling for local option and alternate episcopal oversight as solutions to insoluble differences. It will take some time to discover whether these will be devices to keep the church together in the midst of transitory controversies, or whether they are, in fact, separation agreements. General Synod will feel tremendous pressure to downplay its own constitution and ground rules. It will no doubt be tempted to give rushed or tacit approval of local option. It may well devise some new process of education in the hopes of finding fresh opportunities for compromise. Some are feeling that dialogue easily turns to persuasion and that middle ground is simply a stopping place towards an unacceptable destination. Though we are Anglicans, our ultimate loyalties are to Christ and his whole church. Our branch is but one vessel of the Holy Catholic Church. We know that our church is coming into a storm that all sides wish we did not have to go through. We do not know what the future holds. Will it be common, or will there be many new expressions of the Anglican church, some flourishing, some floundering? We need to suffer our griefs and losses with charity and good will to all. We need to prepare ourselves to enter unfamiliar terrain. Ronald Ferris is bishop of Algoma, Canada.

February 10, 2004 The American Anglican Council (AAC) is pleased to learn of the sympathetic reaction that the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes received from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, in his General Synod address yesterday. We are also encouraged that Archbishop Williams spoke of ongoing conversations and work with "several parties" regarding "some sort of shared future and common witness, so far as possible." This acknowledgement of work with representatives of the Network and the American Anglican Council to help map the direction of North American Anglicanism as well as "to make adequate provision for Episcopal oversight" clearly refutes statements from ECUSA leaders implying no such discussions have occurred. We applaud Archbishop Williams' remarks affirming his commitment to adequate provision for Episcopal oversight. His vision is consistent with that of the Anglican Primates (as outlined in their October 2003 statement), the new Network and the American Anglican Council, and not with the leadership of ECUSA and their proposal for "supplemental pastoral care." The Archbishop's statement offers much needed clarity as the American Anglican Council moves forward with plans to provide Adequate Episcopal Oversight (AEO) to beleaguered congregations in the Episcopal Church. END

Episcopalian rift centers on process, priest says The Rev. Ephraim Radner: 'Over the centuries, it's always been easier to split off than to reconcile.' By MARVIN READ THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN This was supposed to be a straight-on news item, reflecting an interview with the Rev. Ephraim Radner, the rector-pastor of Pueblo's Ascension Episcopal Church. It didn't work out quite that way. By way of background: Radner was a delegate to last August's General Convention of the U.S. Episcopalian Church, at which the selection of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of the New Hampshire diocese was confirmed by delegates. That approval process is standard procedure, but the confirmation was complicated by the fact that Robinson lives openly with his male partner of 13 years. Some warned beforehand that the confirmation would cause great problems for the U.S. Episcopal Church. Although the confirmation was approved by the necessary majority of delegates, the process irked - to put it mildly - many of those who attended and the half year that has passed since has brought turmoil throughout the worldwide Anglican Church, of which the U.S. Episcopal Communion is a part. At the extreme, "schism" is discussed; at the minimum, laity and clergy are involved in the sort of hand-wringing that accompanies the "what are we going to do now?" syndrome. Radner, who has been at Ascension since mid-1997, was one of several delegates - laity, clergy and bishops - who walked out of the Minneapolis convention, protesting the legitimacy and constitutional validity of the approval. He said at that time that the consent of the convention to Robinson's election violated the church's constitution "in that it knowingly contradicts the historic faith and order that defines our identity as part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church." And so, six months later, the interview with Radner was unsatisfactory in the sense that it produced no easy quick-question, quick-answer dialogue. It's not that the veteran of 22 years of the Episcopal priesthood wouldn't answer certain questions, but that he wanted and intended to focus on what for him is the center of the issue: the communion of the church, in its sense of parish, diocese, worldwide faith expression and in its broader, ecumenical sense, too. The interview was satisfactory - even edifying - in the sense that the priest exudes an aura of love for his church and its integrity. He is, by his own calculation, no homophobe, but a priest dedicated to preserving the structural, traditional and communal integrity of the church. Radner, a lively intellect - he has a doctorate in theology from Yale University, where he also taught - is affable and clearly a man with a peacemaking mission. "Communion" is a word used in all Christian churches. It refers to the sacrament or symbolism of the Lord's Supper, and, by extension, to the Body of Christ, the church - the community of believers throughout the ages with Christ as its head. Radner clearly grieves about the threat to institutional communion that the Robinson affair and the national and worldwide reactions afterward have brought. Individuals, parishes and even dioceses are threatening to quit the national body. Anglican institutions worldwide are seeking to distance themselves from the U.S. Episcopals. The fiscal problems that would ensue over personnel, property and finances are dismayingly complex. The Rev. Ephraim Radner: There are virtues that ought to predominate in the Body of Christ. Radner, however, focuses not on separation, but on unity, both that which prevailed before and that which yet remains a goal. "There are virtues that ought to predominate in the Body of Christ," Radner said, enumerating peace, self-control, mutual subjection, love and forgiveness as a few of them. Submission to conciliar process ought to be stereotypical of how Anglicans and Episcopalians operate as a sign of that communion, Radner said. The conciliar process, the priest said, "involves the Lambeth Conference of Anglicans, the Anglican Consultative Council, the Meeting of Primates (archbishops) and the Archbishop of Canterbury." "It has been the practice of the church that we reflect and respond to the calling of communion within this framework, but the Minneapolis general convention failed to give itself over to the process and the Word, even though it had been decided by Lambeth, the council, the primates and the Archbishop of Canterbury that we would not at this time in history go this route. "The issue is not gays and sexuality in the first place, but how we interpret the Scriptures about sexuality and other matters within the process of communion. Many of us feel that the convention in August betrayed the process, the communion itself and, as a result, the integrity of the Scriptures," Radner said. "There was a commitment by the American church not to do this without patiently going through the process. But cultural imperialism won the day." The pastor's articulate love for his church is clear as he talks about his involvement on both national and international levels - he is a participating member of the Anglican Communion Institute, an influential think tank of Episcopalians - to maintain the solidarity of the church, as well as working at the level of his own Downtown Pueblo parish. Concern for the people of Ascension is why "I really don't want to say anything publicly that might promote divisiveness. Sure, I have my own views and judgments, but what's immediately important to me is the vitality and unity of this congregation," he said. "We're a strong, healthy and growing parish," he said, explaining that Ascension has grown by 20 percent in the last two years, half of that in the last six months. Radner admits that, when he returned from Minneapolis, "I was frightened what I might find, and I was worried about division in our parish. "But it hasn't happened. While there are people on both sides of the issue, our parish is articulate, informed and is making a conscientious approach to continually discovering what it means to be church. "I think I can say that, as a parish, we are committed to living the virtues of communion, among ourselves, with the diocese and the worldwide church with all its ecumenical considerations and dimensions," he said Radner's bishop at the time of the general convention, the Right Rev. Jerry Winterrowd, supported the confirmation of Robinson, as does the bishop who succeeded Winterrowd in January, the Right Rev. Robert O'Neill. On a larger scale, Radner is aware that American Episcopalians, like Americans in general, are too often seen by African, Asian and Third World churches "as doing whatever we want because we think we have the money and the power. We need to step back, to evaluate the communion and realize that we can't simply strike out on our own. The result of that refusal to step back has been enormous, and has brought disintegration and division to the American church and to the whole Anglican communion. "We have to hear the Scriptures with the larger church. That's my bottom line about all this," he said. The priest refuses to give credence to the expression, "God renews the church through division." "That encourages separatism and schism," he said, "and that's not what communion is about. "Renewal is accomplished by communion, not division," he said. Reflecting his concern for his church - "there are some who warn this could be an apocalyptic division, a dark unknown" - Radner said that the "history of the Christian church does not bode well for our future. Over the centuries, it's always been easier to split off than to reconcile." The pastor laments what he has seen happen in the halfRetryDVContinue-year since the Minneapolis convention: "It's been personally stressful to me to see people I admire, people with whom I've worked, now estranged from each other, and to realize the damaged ecumenical implications for a genuine catholic or universal church, as well. In some ways, much of what I've worked for and toward for more than 20 years has crumbled." Radner, last June, was among five candidates being considered to become the Episcopal Diocese's 10th bishop. Delegates to an election convention in Denver chose O'Neill, a Massachusetts priest, instead. There's no faulting that choice, but had the Colorado Episcopalians chosen Radner, they would have found an articulate priest who clearly loves his church, grieves the threat that hovers over it and works with dedication to avoid breach and heal wounds. These days, Episcopalians need that sort of priest. END

"These difficulties are not all of a merely disciplinary nature, some extend to essential matters of faith and morals." Pope John Paul II to Archbishop Rowan Williams Dear Brothers and Sisters, Three important events transpired this week. THE FIRST was that the Archbishop of Canterbury said at the Church of England Synod meeting in Windsor that he supports the new network of orthodox dioceses, clergy and parishes set up in the US that oppose the homosexual consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson. This is in direct contradiction to what Frank Griswold said in an interview with Beliefnet. Dr. Williams, addressing the General Synod of the Church of England said that he had been following "sympathetically" the discussions about setting up a network to operate within the Episcopal Church of the United States. THE SECOND EVENT was the meeting of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council in Tampa which reported a shortfall of $3 million in the 2004 budget, a drop of over 6 percent of the $48 million expected revenue. The cause: parishes and dioceses withholding funds to protest the Robinson ordination. The revised budget was dropped to $45.1 million. Julia Duin at the Washington TIMES observed that if 107 dioceses followed the lead of the Diocese of Virginia, the country's largest, which recently shaved $257,428 off its annual contribution to the New York-based denomination, the losses could be in the millions. The national church headquarters alone has about $300 million in assets, its finance officer said. Denominational assets run into the billions when added to assets from 7,305 parishes: everything from the stained glass to the pews, altars and carpets. Kurt Barnes, the national church's treasurer, called the lower contributions "almost not material" in the effect on church operations. "The reduction is well below what nay-sayers and doomsdayers were predicting last August," Barnes said. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said the church intends to keep some vacant jobs open and trim other expenses, but added that its religious and charity missions will not be affected. He said church operations would be "slightly curtailed." The national church has pledges of $16 million from 51 dioceses, along with pledges of future support from another 33 dioceses totaling $8.1 million. Two dioceses, Pittsburgh and Dallas, have refused to send any money to the national church in protest. Bruce Mason, spokesman for the American Anglican Council, a conservative group of Episcopalians, said the reduction in financial support for the national church might be slight this year but that doesn't mean it will remain so. Mason said some dioceses have tapped endowments to make up for parishioners' cutbacks. The more than 7,000 congregations of the Episcopal Church receive $2.14 billion in offerings a year, and forward a portion to the national church. Individual dioceses are asked to send 21 percent of their income, but about half of the dioceses who have already made their financial pledges to the national church fall below that threshold. And while the budget shortfall is small and will not effect much of anything, you can be sure that this is only just the beginning. Virtuosity is receiving reports from across the country of parish and cathedral budgets experiencing dramatic drops in income. And it can only get worse. Every time a parish splits and the majority of its member leaves, that is a direct income loss to the parish, the diocese and ultimately to the national church. There is no escaping it. Oftentimes it will cost more. In the end The Episcopal Church will operate more and more on Dead Men's Money, spent by a generation of Spiritually Dead Men and Women. THE THIRD EVENT occurred at the Church of England Synod in Windsor where a report by four bishops called for "interpretive charity" between reformers and conservatives and a balancing of biblical teaching with social reality. "Christian tradition is dynamic and not static," said revisionist Oxford Bishop Richard Harries. It was Harries, you will recall, that tried to broker in Jeffrey John as the next Bishop of Reading and got destroyed by Oxford's Evangelicals. The report he and three other bishops compiled says the debate on sexuality will not go away and he urges Christians to remember that "real people really do have homosexual and bisexual desires." The bishop is right of course, and occasionally this writer has a real desire to be a millionaire, but fantasy must give way to reality, and it ain't gonna happen. Funnily enough, Richard Kirker, general secretary of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, said the report was "very deficient". "No self-respecting gay or lesbian person has put their name to it. It talks to, rather than with or about, gay people, in any meaningful sense," he said. So Harries report is being shot at from both sides. One sincerely hopes retirement is just around the corner for this bishop. He has done enough damage as Bishop of Oxford. IN A QUESTION AND ANSWER PERIOD THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY again reiterated that he would not license New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson to officiate in England even though he was duly elected by ECUSA, but has said he will license Fr. David Moyer to officiate even though he was fraudulently "deposed" by Pennsylvania Bishop Charles E. Bennison - a double rebuke of ECUSA. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF CHURCH SPLITS there is some oddly good news. In almost every instance a parish that has left the Episcopal Church and gone to the AMIA or come under the authority of another Anglican jurisdiction they have started out in good financial shape. I am posting two stories of churches that are doing very well thank you very much. Local communities and other churches kick in organs, chairs, hymn books, prayer books, start up money and a place to worship and much more. The Prince of Peace parish that split from St. John's in Melbourne, Florida met last week for the first time and when they had finished passing the hat around they had taken in $100,000! The new parish in Morehead City, North Carolina has been dubbed the "miracle church" for the abundance of riches bestowed upon them, and in Atlanta the new Light of Christ Church had pledges of $270,000 from 100 people. And a parish split in Jackson Tennessee already has a new group looking for a church to buy. There is clearly something galvanic about starting over free from the clutches of ECUSA that has people reaching deep into their pockets. ON THE ECUSA SIDE OF THE FENCE comes this news from a Virtuosity reader. It is typical of most dioceses. A report from the Diocesan Council of the Diocese of Mississippi shows giving to the National Church will decline about $150,000 in 2004. The bishop is balancing his budget (as Virtuosity predicted) with trust funds. AND THEN THERE'S THIS FROM A VIRTUOSITY READER in Williamsburg, VA. "There is lots of talk about money, but no one is really talking about the decline in volunteerism. One symptom in our church is that there are not enough volunteers to serve a Shrove Tuesday pancake supper - the people just don't have the heart to involve themselves with church business. The minister has responded by scrapping the pancake supper and substituting a bring your own meal dinner. There is no question that the church is hurting more than just financially. The 2003 convention has ripped the very heart out of most congregations and substituted suspicion and angst in its place. As far as I can tell, the revisionist inclusiveness doctrine would accept incest, bestiality and polygamy if modern society said it was OK - really sick." FINALLY THERE'S A REPORT OUT OF THE ENGLISH SYNOD that the three wise men who visited Jesus might not have been men. The Magi could refer to three women, queens perhaps? I suppose we should be grateful that in the slightly crazed world of professional theologizing that the Magi's historic genealogy does not reach ECUSA's very own Quean Lutibelle. AND IN A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO SPIN THE LIBERAL LINE in the Anglican Communion, something called the Anglican Telecommunications Commission, dreamed up by John Peterson and the Anglican Consultative Council, as "an instrument of community" will attempt to use the Internet to push its "gospel", that is, " find meaning and significance in community with one another." They use the term "telecommunications" in a broad sense to mean office and wider area networks, multimedia, online collaboration tools and other Internet and web-based services. A whole range of liberal Anglican illuminati can be found on this board. One insider said the real motivator for the emergence of this group is the rapid growth of orthodoxy on the Internet that is seriously damaging the liberal agenda. They recently met in Canterbury where representatives from across the communion came to the inaugural meeting. The idea is that linking ECUSA's website with Nigeria will create Anglican clubiness! I can assure you that linking these two provinces is like connecting a spider web with a black widow in the middle. The imbalance, often called the "Digital Divide" is being addressed in dramatic ways by the Trinity Grants Program, of Trinity Church in NY, the richest church in the world, who will pour a ton of money into this project to see if they can undo the likes of Virtuosity. It's off to war we go. And UPI Religious Affairs Editor Uwe Siemon-Netto reports that more than 50 million Americans, perhaps even twice as many, including a substantial segment of Catholics, consider themselves evangelicals, according to the Rev. Gerald R. McDermott, an Episcopal scholar. You can that story today. I AM POSTING A NUMBER OF STORIES on churches dissolving, new ones forming and much more. From Puerto Rico comes fresh word that the Bishop there one David A. Alvarez is stepping up his campaign against two orthodox priests who did not approve of last year's General Convention votes on sexuality issues. He started this campaign once before but stopped when Virtuosity got wind of the story. Now he is trying for a second run at the Rev. Professor Dennis Paris, author and priest. Whoever said the revisionists believe in inclusion clearly is not reading from the same script as the rest of us. Inclusion means stamping out the opposition by any means possible or whipping them into line so they pay for the church's revisionist agenda. I have also done a lengthy interview (in two parts) with the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, orthodox Episcopal theologian. He makes the case for staying in the ECUSA torn as it is 'by heresies distressed.' And in LATE-BREAKING NEWS nine clergy in Western Canada have obtained Alternative Episcopal Oversight from four Anglican Primates. You can read all these stories and more in today's digest. CORRECTIONS: From Bishop William J. Cox (ret.) Oklahoma. "I need to correct an article published on line by VIRTUOSITY VIEWPOINTS 1-31-2004. It is not true that Bishop Moody of Oklahoma "has stripped me of my Episcopal functions" The Bishop does not have that authority, although he could prohibit my ministry in congregations in his diocese. If he were to do that, I would respect his decision since he is the Bishop of Oklahoma and he has jurisdiction. Yet, he has not done that. I celebrate the Holy Eucharist almost every Sunday at St. John's Church in Tulsa. It is no secret that the Bishop and I are in disagreement on the issue of the Consecration of Vicky Gene Robinson in New Hampshire. I can never accept that decision of the General Convention for many reasons. Guatemala is a diocese in the province of IARCA (IGLESIA ANGLICANA DE LA REGION CENTRAL DE AMERICA), it is not a province on its own. Virtuosity wrote: "A NUMBER OF ANGLICAN PROVINCES including Guatemala, Papua New Guinea, Kenya and the Sudan all expressed themselves in profound disagreement with the actions of the Episcopal Church this week. We are happy to correct the record. In the story on Women and the cost to the C of E, the figures were wrong. Jonathan Petre's story said A326m which is $ 48.3m. The number 3 was in fact a pound sign. My error. WELCOME TO VIRTUOSITY. If you are a first time reader and like what you read please pass the good word around and invite others to sign up. You can do so by pointing them to the website: www.virtuosityonline.org. PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING VIRTUOSITY. Without your donations Virtuosity would not exist. Please give generously. You can support this ministry in one of two ways. Through PAYPAL at the website www.virtuosityonline.org or by sending your tax-deductible check to: VIRTUOSITY, 1236 Waterford Rd., West Chester, PA 19380. Thank you for your support, All blessings, David W. Virtue DD

COMMENTARY By Uwe Siemon-Netto UPI Religious Affairs Editor WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- There is no doubt that the cloning of the first mature human embryos in South Korea is a triumph of sorts. But from the Christian point of view, it is a scary triumph indeed -- the triumph of man's hubris. As Margot Kaessmann, bishop of the territorial church of Hanover, Germany, said last year, "Cloning humans is an attack upon God's creative power." In the eyes of the Rev. Gerald E. Murray, a Catholic canon lawyer and pastor of the Church of St. Vincent de Paul in New York, this is a diabolical act "violating the laws of God and nature for the sake of human pride." "This stunning news from Korea means that we are manufacturing human beings in order to dismember them to use their body parts or their cells to benefit other people," Murray told United Press International Thursday. "This is a new form of slavery. Not only could one own another person but also kill him or her for personal use." In a similar vain, the leaders of the Eastern Orthodox Churches have condemned stem cell research as "an un-Christian form of human sacrifice." In 1997, Gilbert Meilaender, the eminent theological ethicist of Valparaiso University, told the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, "I am aware that we can all imagine circumstances in which we ourselves might -- were the technology available -- be tempted to turn to cloning." Meilaender listed some examples: "Parents who lose a child in an accident and want to 'replace' her; a seriously ill person in need of embryonic stem cells to repair damaged tissue; a person in need of organs for transplant; a person who is infertile and wants, in some sense, to reproduce." "Once the child becomes a project or product, such temptations become almost irresistible," Meilaender went on. "There is no end of good causes in the world, and they would sorely tempt us even if we did not live in a society in which the pursuit of health has become a god, justifying almost anything." Then Meilaender went on the attack: "Even Protestants, those stout defenders of freedom, "have not had in mind freedom without ... the limit that is God." He reminded his audience of the true meaning of a child -- "offspring of a man and a woman, but a replication of neither." According to Meilaender -- and all good Christian theology -- children are not products whose meaning and destiny their parents can determine. And this constitutes "a limit to our freedom to make and remake ourselves." Trying to copy oneself -- either to provide spare parts in case of hitherto incurable illness, or to narcissistically create another human being in one's own image -- is, of course, the very antithesis of the Judeo-Christian faith. Jews and Christians believe that God has created humans in his own image for the distinct purpose of being partners in the ongoing process of creation. Cloning, on the other hand, is an act of human self-glorification. "Man is playing God, out to create the uebermensch," warned Gabriel Jay Rochelle, an Eastern Orthodox theologian, referring to Nietzsche's vision of the superhuman, a vision frighteningly caricatured by the Nazis' attempt to develop a master race. If the cloned man ever becomes reality, what's he or she going to be? "Conceived in an unnatural way with an unnatural genetic makeup, not the product of love between a man and a woman," Murray said. "Can you imagine human beings incapable of saying, 'I have a father and a mother?" asked the Rev. Johannes Richter, a retired bishop in Germany. "Cloning would deprive humans of their true human origin," warned Cardinal Joachim Meisner, archbishop of Cologne. Ultimately, it seems, though, that those who clone -- rather than the sad product of their cloning -- are the principal problem, according to Richter. "If man consciously or unconsciously assumes the place of the Creator, man inevitably becomes a threat to himself," said Richter, warning that then there is nothing left to put reins on human hubris. As for the clone, he or she may look like the original but would still be a separate human being. For all of man's arrogance, Christians hold, it is God who creates human souls and ultimately determines man's destiny. END