May 3, 2004 On August 5, 2003, the Episcopal Church USA abandoned the clear teaching of Holy Scripture as well as the faith and order of Anglicanism. Since that time, events have unfolded which prove that ECUSA has lost its moral compass. Recently we have seen a juxtaposition of significant incidents that illustrate ECUSA’s continued slide into a secularized religion scarcely resembling the spiritual and moral foundation upon which Christ formed His Church. On April 25, 2004, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) sponsored the “March for Women’s Lives” on the Mall in Washington, DC. One of the primary purposes of RCRC outlined in its mission statement is support of the constitutional right to abortion, and participants carried signs with slogans demeaning the sanctity of life in a chilling fashion. Both the Episcopal Church USA and the Episcopal Women’s Caucus are members of RCRC and were listed as co-sponsoring organizations for the event. Episcopal News Service (ENS) ran a story applauding participation by individual Episcopalians: “Also marching behind the Episcopal Church banner were the Rev. Margaret Rose, director of the Episcopal Church Office of Women’s Ministries; Executive Council members Louie Crew and John Vanderstar; long-time women's rights activist and General Convention deputy Marge Christie; and Maureen Shea, director of the Government Relations Office.” Under the banner of “justice,” the Episcopal Church’s official news service justifies, in fact blesses, participation in a blatant pro-abortion activist rally. Also over last weekend, Otis Charles, the 78-year-old retired bishop of Utah and former president of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., “married” his homosexual partner Felipe Sanchez Paris. The so-called “wedding ceremony” was held before several hundred people at St. Gregory’s of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. Mr. Paris had been married and divorced four times previously. The bishop had been married 42 years and fathered five children before reaching the conclusion he was gay in 1976. He did not make a public announcement until after his retirement in 1993, and he and his wife divorced shortly after that. According to news accounts, the bishop was “guided by his belief that all human beings are called upon to live as fully as they can.” These accounts also describe details of the 2-hour-and-45-minute service, depicting theatrics in no way reminiscent of the sacramental nature of marriage. The news reports failed to note that marriage is a holy institution ordained by God—a sacramental union of a man and a woman. According to Scriptural standards, anything else is mockery. For several weeks, CLAIMING THE BLESSING has been publicizing an event entitled, “It’s All About Love: A Celebration of Music, Faith and Equality,” scheduled for May 2, 2004 at All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena. The event is billed as a benefit for CLAIMING THE BLESSING, “a national collaborative of organizations that advocate for gay rights in the church and same-sex marriage.” “It’s All About Love” also boasts a bevy of stars gathered to honor special guest V. Gene Robinson, and tickets range in price from a modest $100–$200 for open seating to higher levels of reserved seating: Bronze ($1,000), Silver ($2,500), and Gold ($5,000). For those willing to “benefit” CLAIMING THE BLESSING with a $10,000 donation, the prize is two tickets at a private dinner with V. Gene Robinson. The first and obvious problem is interaction with a bishop for sale—no matter how noble a cause might be, selling access to a bishop is reprehensible. A more subtle but perhaps more disturbing concern, however, is the fundraiser itself. Why does CLAIMING THE BLESSING need such massive funds? On their website, we read: “Our initial commitment was obtaining approval of a liturgical blessing of the faithful, monogamous relationship between two adults of any gender at General Convention 2003. The results were history-making, and CLAIMING THE BLESSING was instrumental in making that history happen: • Resolution C051 was passed, recognizing for the first time that ‘local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions.’ • Gene Robinson was confirmed by General Convention and consecrated Bishop Coadjutor in the Diocese of New Hampshire: the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion. What CLAIMING THE BLESSING offers is an alternative to those presuming to speak for Christian values—an alternative desperately needed as the Religious Right responds not only to General Convention 2003 but to the recent decisions by the civil courts in Texas and Massachusetts and to President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.” Note that this is CLAIMING THE BLESSING’s initial commitment. The word “initial” begs the question, “what’s next?” Did the organization not succeed in its goals at General Convention 2003? Was not their very raison d'être fulfilled? We see a hint of the answer on the website: “There is much reason to rejoice—and much hard work left to do. Perhaps the greatest indicator of how much we have achieved is how mobilized our opposition has become: they are well financed, well organized, and well focused. Never has CLAIMING THE BLESSING's organized, recognized progressive collaborative voice been more important.” Clearly the work of CLAIMING THE BLESSING has only begun, and it is essential that we understand that sexuality is only the presenting problem—the real issue is the authority of Scripture as the foundation of Christian theology and doctrine. For orthodox Christian Anglicans, these three events illustrate unequivocally that we face an unparalleled attack on the sacrament and sanctity of life and marriage in both civil and religious arenas. Those involved with these incidents would claim they uphold marriage, family, and morality. The distinction lies in definition and interpretation. As Susan Russell, Executive Director of CLAIMING THE BLESSING, said about Scripture, there is a “crucial difference between contradicting God’s revelation and expanding our understanding of God’s revelation.” From the AAC perspective, if revisionists succeed in altering or destroying the traditional theology of sexuality, marriage, and family, we stand to lose all truth—for the final target will be the salvation message itself. As Bishop Ingham of Canada has predicted, the horizon holds a not-too-distant battleground centered on the exclusivity of Christianity—is Jesus truly the way, the truth, and the life, or will He be reduced to “one of the ways” to fulfillment and self-actualization? We hope and pray that the Lambeth Commission and the Primates of the worldwide Anglican Communion will consider the often unseen and rarely spoken goals of revisionism and their threat to morality. END

News Analysis By David W. Virtue Jesus once said to would-be disciples that whoever would follow him must take up his cross daily… lose himself… forget about his own personal fulfillment, and, if necessary, lay down his life. The former Episcopal Bishop of Utah and Episcopal Divinity School president Otis Charles, at 78, believes in the exact opposite. At his recent “wedding” to a four-times-married man, Charles said his actions were “guided by his belief that all human beings are called upon to live as fully as they can.” For the believer, to live “fully” is to live fully into Christ, but that is not what Charles meant. He meant that to live “fully” was to personally fulfill oneself sexually, in this case with another man, despite the fact that neither the Christian Church, 2,000 years of church history, nor Holy Scripture gives him that right to do so. Furthermore, one must ask oneself just how much fulfillment does Mr. Charles have in mind for him and Sanchez? Between the two of them they have had five marriages, double-digit kids, and in Charles’ case, grandchildren. When or where does personal fulfillment end… does it ever? Mother Teresa lived “fully.” She spent herself in the service of others; she understood what Jesus said and meant. She, like millions of Americans, daily sacrifice their lives for others— their own personal “fulfillment” often runs a distant second. Take one Episcopal lady I know whose husband left her after a number of years, denying her children, and then one day he announces he is gay and is “in love” with Guido. He leaves, she cries, then she gets off the floor and takes care of her parents—one has Alzheimer’s, the other MS. Where is the fulfillment for her? She’s 44. Her chances of finding an understanding single man who is not in recovery from something are less than zero. She has better odds of being hit by a Mack truck. The greatest commandment is to love God and then your neighbor as yourself. We are not told to specifically love ourselves—presumably because that comes naturally to most people who can find a mirror. The Good News of the gospel is the greatest news the world has ever known. To embrace it and proclaim it in whatever form God has called you is the noblest cause of all. It is not amassing great fortunes, looking to be CEO of Disney, embracing the culture of celebrity, joining Integrity, or having sex at 78 with someone of your own sex! Those things are not worth laying down your life for, nor is the pursuit of them worth endangering the destiny of your eternal soul. “He that loses His life for My sake and the gospel will find it,” said Jesus. Otis Charles has it all wrong. In reversing Jesus’ command, he endangers his own soul and those of others—especially his 7-year-old grandson who was obliged to watch a farce of a “wedding” take place, and may well be permanently scarred as a result. The Episcopal Church may well be in its death throes, the Global South ready to pull the plug on the whole stinking mess of Griswoldian pluriformity and pansexuality. The Otis Charles “marriage” is just another example of the Gadarene slide toward the abyss. God save us all. END

American Anglican Council Washington, DC May 3, 2004 On March 14, 2004, five retired bishops—C. FitzSimons Allison (South Carolina), Maurice Benitez (Texas), William Cox (Oklahoma), Alex Dickson (West Tennessee), and William Wantland (Eau Claire)—confirmed 110 individuals at a multi-congregational service in Akron, Ohio, without the permission of the local diocesan bishop. At the March 2004 House of Bishops meeting, their actions were condemned as “unilateral,” “discourteous, disruptive, and a willful violation of our Constitution and Canons,” and accused of using confirmation “as an instrument of division and defiance.” While no discipline was imposed, the House warned that future infractions would bring “consequences.” In an April 16 letter, Bishop Charles Jenkins of Louisiana—President of the Presiding Bishop’s Council of Advice—invited the five to meet in Atlanta on May 27 to “discuss the reasons for your actions” and learn about the bishops’ “ministry of reconciliation.” Attendees would cover travel costs; lunch would be provided. Referencing the church’s crisis, Jenkins urged dissenting clergy to “share personal views with the diocesan Bishop” and warned that performing episcopal acts without consent would now trigger canonical discipline. In response, the five bishops sent the following letter: May 3, 2004 Dear Charles: We thank you for the invitation. Each of us has sworn to uphold the faith that gives birth to and unifies our Church. Territory and canons are secondary. Since we believe this faith must be the Episcopal Church’s first priority, we gladly accept—provided it is the central topic. Our concerns: Will the House hold accountable bishops who deny or rewrite core Christian doctrine? Will it address the 84 bishops who voted against Resolution B001—thereby rejecting Scripture, Creeds, Sacraments, and Apostolic Ministry? Does the House intend to restore communion with the 21 Anglican provinces that called for repentance? Will it seek to repair ecumenical relations with Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and other Christian bodies? Polity cannot be resolved until we are united in the faith we vowed to guard. We request an open meeting—nothing done in secret. Not all are available May 27, but if you agree to prioritize doctrine over polity, we will find a suitable date. In His Name, The Rt. Rev. C. FitzSimons Allison The Rt. Rev. Maurice M. Benitez The Rt. Rev. William J. Cox The Rt. Rev. Alex D. Dickson The Rt. Rev. William C. Wantland Cc: The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold ECUSA House of Bishops Anglican Communion Primates — The American Anglican Council 1110 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20005 Phone: 800-914-2000 | Email: info@americananglican.org God Changes Lives for Good!

May 3, 2004 By Ruth Gledhill The London Times Plans for a formal split in the Anglican Communion are under consideration to resolve deep divisions over homosexuality. The Lambeth Commission—an 18-member international body appointed by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams—is studying a proposal to transform the Communion into a looser “Anglican confederation,” modeled after the World Lutheran Federation. Under this model, national provinces would retain autonomy to adopt doctrines or practices as they see fit, while still identifying as “Anglican” and remaining in communion with the Church of England through the Archbishop of Canterbury. Provinces deemed too progressive—such as The Episcopal Church (USA), which ordained an openly gay bishop, or the Anglican Church of Canada, which authorized same-sex blessings—could be downgraded to “observer” status or excluded from gatherings like the Lambeth Conference. This would allow conservative provinces to effectively “excommunicate” liberal ones without full schism, maintaining a symbolic global unity. Already, plans are underway to significantly reduce the number of bishops invited to the 2008 Lambeth Conference in South Africa. Unlike the 1998 gathering—which included nearly 800 bishops—cost and controversy will likely limit attendance. Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire is unlikely to be invited. Canon lawyers are reviewing the Lutheran structure ahead of the Commission’s next meeting in Kanuga, North Carolina. “The quality of the communion depends on how far the Western Church is willing to sacrifice its lesbian and gay members,” one source noted. Recommendations are expected to circulate among primates by late July, possibly establishing tiers of membership: full members, non-voting participants, and observers—based on each province’s actions. The model is fitting: Anglicans and Lutherans already share fellowship under the 1995 Porvoo Declaration. The Anglican Communion comprises 38 provinces and nearly 70 million members across 164 countries. In a recent letter, Lambeth Commission chair Dr. Robin Eames, Primate of Ireland, urged conservatives not to form breakaway dioceses until the Commission’s report is complete by year’s end. “It is my prayer… that the report will enable the Anglican Communion to move forward together in ways that will stand the test of time,” he wrote. © 2004 Times Newspapers Ltd.

By Terry Mattingly The Rev. Julian Rush watched as 13 United Methodist pastors in the Pacific Northwest tried one of their own: the Rev. Karen Dammann, who openly lived in a lesbian relationship and disclosed it to her superiors. Their Book of Discipline clearly bans “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from ministry, declaring gay sex “incompatible with Christian teachings.” Rush wasn’t surprised by the trial—or the “not guilty” verdict. Two decades earlier, he’d faced a similar ordeal after coming out in 1981. “What surprised me was how the news reports brought it all back,” said Rush, now 67. “It was spooky, like a flashback… I remembered that feeling of powerlessness and total vulnerability. That’s probably good—we need reminding that things aren’t settled.” Rush retired with his credentials intact after regional panels twice found “insufficient evidence” to try him—largely because he refused to answer questions about his private life. “My lawyer said, ‘Make them prove it.’ What were they going to do—hire a private investigator?” Similarly, the Dammann jury exploited a technicality: while the Discipline states that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teachings,” it never formally “declares” this as doctrine. Instead, the jury cited another passage affirming “inclusiveness” and opposition to discrimination. Rush predicts conservative United Methodists will arrive at the April 27 General Conference “with their nostrils flared and breathing fire,” while progressives gain confidence from this high-profile win. Both sides are drafting resolutions to clarify or enforce the Discipline. Yet, as Rev. James V. Heidinger II of the Good News renewal movement notes: “We don’t need more rules. We just need people willing to abide by or enforce the will of General Conference.” Rush agrees: the real issue isn’t legal wording—it’s that the denomination houses two irreconcilable worldviews. Traditionalists hold to an “established, infallible, permanent core of doctrine.” Liberals view faith as an evolving process. “One side knows how to lay down the law; the other knows how to emote,” Rush said. Yet no one dares press the “schism” button—fearing financial and institutional collapse. “Everyone dances around that button,” he said. “They keep the Discipline vague enough to keep everyone in the tent. You end up with spiritual schizophrenia—but it holds things together.” Terry Mattingly teaches at Palm Beach Atlantic University and writes a weekly column for Scripps Howard News Service.

April 27, 2004 Clergy and lay leaders of the Diocese of South Carolina voted during their annual convention (March 5–6, North Charleston Convention Center) to affiliate with the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes. In his address, the Rt. Rev. Edward Salmon, Jr., Bishop of South Carolina, attributed the crisis in The Episcopal Church—sparked by the 2003 consecration of a gay bishop—to the improper resolution of a profound theological issue by popular vote. He described the Network’s purpose as upholding orthodoxy and providing mutual support during this turbulent period. “The Network also provides a means for primates and others to support us more effectively in this struggle,” Bishop Salmon said. “Its purpose is to provide a place of strength and witness within the American Church.” Bishop Salmon helped draft and signed the Network charter. Both the standing committee and diocesan council had previously approved affiliation, though some delegates opposed it. “I believe this resolution would continue the divisiveness… because it would institutionalize a movement that not all parties agree with,” said Andy Brack of St. Stephen’s Church, Charleston, suggesting individual parishes—not the whole diocese—should decide. The resolution passed by show of hands, with roughly 24 of 296 clergy and lay delegates voting against. Convention also approved a $2.3 million budget—$200,000 more than the prior year—but reduced payments to the national church from $120,000 to just over $32,000. END

By Michael J. McManus An Oregon judge recently delivered a historic victory to advocates of same-sex marriage—the nation’s first judicial recognition of such unions. Multnomah County Circuit Judge Frank Bearden ordered the county to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses but directed Oregon’s legislature to recognize the 3,022 licenses already issued since March 3 and to pass a law legalizing same-sex unions. This echoes the November 2003 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which declared that gay couples have a constitutional right to marry and ordered the state legislature to implement same-sex marriage within 180 days—by May 17, 2004. Instead, the legislature began drafting a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman—but also creating civil unions, effectively “marriage by another name.” The amendment must pass again in 2005 and then win voter approval in 2006. Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, asked the court to delay implementation pending this process, but the Democratic Attorney General supports the ruling—making a stay unlikely. Both cases reflect judicial activism: courts ordering legislatures to enact laws on deeply moral and social issues—traditionally the domain of elected representatives. Meanwhile, San Francisco’s mayor unilaterally directed clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, despite a statewide referendum affirming traditional marriage. In response, Matt Daniels—a lawyer raised in Spanish Harlem by a single mother after his father abandoned the family—proposed a long-shot solution: a Federal Marriage Amendment stating, “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.” Having witnessed firsthand the consequences of fatherlessness—crime, poverty, instability—Daniels believes marriage is foundational to societal health. He founded the Alliance for Marriage and secured early support from Rev. Walter Fauntroy, a former aide to Martin Luther King Jr., as well as Black denominations, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the National Association of Evangelicals. Public support for the amendment has grown from 55% in July 2003 to 64%. President George W. Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and 118 members of Congress back it. However, some conservatives, like Concerned Women for America’s Janet LaRue, worry the amendment allows states to create “phony marriage” through civil unions—as Vermont has done. Few Democrats support the measure, and public engagement remains low. Yet unless citizens actively defend traditional marriage through constitutional means, same-sex marriage may become widespread by judicial fiat. END © 2004 Michael J. McManus Michael J. McManus is Co-Founder & President of Marriage Savers, Potomac, MD.

By David Phillips Following the announcement that Jeffrey John would become the next Dean of St. Albans, contradictory messages emerged from the diocese. Richard Inwood, Bishop of Bedford, had previously signed a letter urging Jeffrey John not to accept the post of Bishop of Reading in 2003. Under normal protocol for dean appointments, Bishop Inwood was not consulted but learned of the decision just days before it was made public—presented with a fait accompli. In his statement, he said: “The appointment of Canon Jeffrey John as the Dean of St. Albans means we shall have a gifted preacher and teacher in this key position. He also brings a commitment to mission, both within the Cathedral community and beyond, which I welcome warmly. Jeffrey John has made certain undertakings to the Diocesan Bishop regarding the Bishops’ statement Issues in Human Sexuality. This assures me that none of the issues that caused concern last summer—to so many people, including myself—will arise.” However, during a PM radio program, interviewer questions revealed that Christopher Herbert, the Diocesan Bishop, clarified: “The undertakings were exactly those made by Jeffrey John before… nothing has changed.” When pressed to specify, Herbert explained: “He is the first person to say, ‘Yes, I am homosexual,’ and secondly, ‘I have a celibate lifestyle.’ For me, that stays within the boundaries of what the House of Bishops Statement is about for clergy. I don’t see the problem—it seems a perfectly honourable situation, achieved perhaps at great personal cost.” Thus, Jeffrey John’s only “undertaking” is his continued assertion of celibacy—something he claimed the previous year. Yet he and his partner, another Anglican clergyman, have acknowledged past homosexual activity, which contravenes House of Bishops policy. No disciplinary action was taken, and there is no indication of repentance. This appointment effectively endorses their past behavior and undermines official church teaching. Moreover, Jeffrey John has consistently taught against the Issues in Human Sexuality statement—both before and after his non-appointment to Reading. Therefore, claiming he “abides by” the statement is misleading at best. David Phillips is General Secretary of Church Society General Synod and Representative for the St. Albans Diocese. END

By David W. Virtue ATLANTA, GA—The Rt. Rev. Frank Lyons, Bishop of Bolivia, baptized, confirmed, received, and reaffirmed over 330 people during two services at Holy Cross Anglican Church in Loganville, Georgia. This marked the first time an overseas bishop from the Southern Cone has conducted ecclesiastical functions on U.S. soil—a sign of the growing fragmentation within The Episcopal Church. “They were received into the church as Founding Members,” said the Rev. Dr. Foley Beach, the church’s new rector and a recent departure from The Episcopal Church (ECUSA). More than 450 people attended Easter Sunday worship at Holy Cross. When the church launched, it officially had only one member—a young girl baptized several weeks earlier, according to Beach. Holy Cross Anglican Church began on February 8 after Beach left the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta and was received into the Anglican Diocese of Bolivia and the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone under Bishop Lyons. Bishop Lyons explained that due to the current state of The Episcopal Church, USA, he was offering temporary, emergency pastoral and episcopal oversight to Fr. Beach and the congregation of Holy Cross. “The National Episcopal Church’s departure from Biblical Christianity on theology and morality was the basis for my leaving the Diocese of Atlanta and receiving spiritual refuge and oversight from the Province of the Southern Cone and Diocese of Bolivia,” Beach told Virtuosity. “On this, our 11th Sunday holding worship services, Bishop Lyons baptized 6 people, confirmed 38 who publicly proclaimed their allegiance to Jesus Christ, received 44 into the Anglican Communion, and accepted over 250 from other Anglican or Episcopal churches via Letter of Transfer.” Bishop Lyons preached from the Book of Revelation, urging congregants not to lose their “first love”—defined as one’s personal relationship with Jesus and the joy experienced upon entering that relationship. Commenting on the enthusiasm surrounding Holy Cross, Fr. Beach said: “We have a politically correct, compromised, and unbiblical gospel that has entered the Church in North America. God will not honor or bless a church that proclaims sin in His name. Holy Cross proclaims the Gospel as taught by the apostles of Jesus Christ in the New Testament and affirmed by the historical councils of the early Church. We make no apologies for standing on the time-tested, truth-proclaiming, and Spirit-nurturing Word of God.” One parishioner remarked after the service, “It’s great to be under a bishop who promotes Jesus instead of promoting sodomy.” Beach noted the congregation is growing rapidly and expects it to double within the next 18 months. After holding two capacity-filled services in a rented middle school cafeteria, the congregation celebrated on the grounds of a ten-acre site recently deeded to the church free and clear. An 18,000-square-foot Phase One building—including 14 classrooms and a temporary auditorium—is soon to be constructed. END

By Matthew Davies and Maureen Shea Episcopalians joined more than one million people—representing 100 religious and religiously affiliated organizations and congregations—in a march on Washington, D.C., on April 25 to support women’s reproductive rights both domestically and internationally. The event drew the largest crowd ever recorded for a women’s rights demonstration in the nation’s capital. The “March for Women’s Lives” was co-sponsored by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), an alliance comprising national organizations from major faith traditions, local affiliates, the national Clergy for Choice Network, Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom, and the Black Church Initiative. According to its mission statement, RCRC supports the constitutional right to abortion and advocates for solutions to issues such as the spread of HIV/AIDS, inadequate health care and insurance coverage, and the severe reduction in reproductive health services. Both The Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Women’s Caucus are members of RCRC. RCRC’s president, the Rev. Katherine Ragsdale—an Episcopal priest—welcomed participants with assurances of religious community support. “You can’t sustain a movement on outrage,” she said. “We are here to support the providers, politicians, women, and activists, and let them know that we respect them for their work and their commitment.” Ragsdale also noted that a punk rock concert held in Washington on April 24 aimed to engage young people in the movement. Marching under The Episcopal Church banner were the Rev. Margaret Rose, director of the Episcopal Church Office of Women’s Ministries; Executive Council members Louie Crew and John Vanderstar; longtime women’s rights activist and General Convention deputy Marge Christie; and Maureen Shea, director of the Government Relations Office. Prior to the march, RCRC hosted a “Prayerfully Pro-Choice Interfaith Worship Service.” CALL FOR JUSTICE In 1994, the 71st General Convention of The Episcopal Church reaffirmed that all human life is sacred from inception to death and acknowledged that abortion carries a tragic dimension. The resolution stated: “While we acknowledge that in this country it is the legal right of every woman to have a medically safe abortion, as Christians we believe strongly that if this right is exercised, it should be used only in extreme situations. We emphatically oppose abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection, or any reason of mere convenience.” “The General Convention resolutions have expressed unequivocal opposition to any legislation that would abridge a woman’s right to make an informed decision about the termination of pregnancy, as well as recognizing the pain and possible support needed for those making difficult life decisions,” Rose said, adding that participation in the march demonstrates that supporting women’s rights is “essential to our call for justice.” Mary Getz, director of the Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN), explained, “By publicizing this march and other events through our network, we are able to enlist and inform Episcopalians about important events. This is one of the ways we continue to build our grassroots advocacy network.” The march drew criticism from the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), which issued a press release calling it a “scandal” and suggesting that “a majority of church members…would be disgusted if they knew that their denominations have joined…in backing this kind of cause.” IRD president Diane Knippers, herself an Episcopalian, stated, “The church’s proper role in this issue is to offer godly counsel and ministry to persons involved in crisis pregnancies. But in this case, some…are adopting the strident arguments of the secular culture.” Other Episcopalians participating included delegations from California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Virginia. —Matthew Davies is a staff writer for Episcopal News Service. Maureen Shea is director of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations.

Commentary By David W. Virtue COLORADO SPRINGS—That the Episcopal Church is in spiritual free fall, theologically compromised, in moral disarray, perhaps beyond redemption, is not new news. But what to do about it is another matter altogether. It is exercising the best minds across the Episcopal Church and around the Anglican Communion. The CAPA Primates and bishops met in Nairobi recently and issued a sharp warning to the Episcopal Church and Frank Griswold to repent, and put on notice to the whole communion that they would lower the boom, perhaps before the EAMES commission has even finished its work. Every day the American Anglican Council grows stronger and the will of its president David Anderson grows more determined that he will no longer accept the leadership of Frank Griswold and the House of Bishops, and the decisions they make about ECUSA's future. Canon Anderson has drawn the last line in the sand and he will tolerate no further innovations. He has, along with other orthodox leaders, been openly and highly critical of the recent House of Bishops statement on Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight. The recently formed Network (NACDP) is ratcheting up the pain on ECUSA's liberal apparatik as well. They too, have made it clear, through their spokesman Bishop Robert Duncan (Pittsburgh) that a realignment of the ECUSA is under way and it will no longer be business as usual. On the other side of the bank V. Gene Robinson, the new bishop of New Hampshire has said that perhaps it is time for the orthodox to go if they can't remain in the theologically and morally evolving ECUSA. And Frank Griswold, ECUSA's Presiding Bishop expresses surprise that the consecration of an openly homoerotic bishop is causing so much consternation among the faithful, arguing that the church survived women's ordination, a new Prayer Book and will certainly survive this. He has also said that conservative groups have been around ECUSA for as long as he can remember but that won't change the course upon which the ECUSA is set. He just doesn't get it. Money is drying up in nearly all the dioceses; dozens of orthodox priests are weighing their options for the future, and faithful Episcopalians are leaving the Episcopal Church in droves, concerned that the acceptance of pansexual behavior will compromise their children - the ECUSA being no longer a safe place. Many are fleeing to the Anglican Mission in America (AMIA) while a few parishes are now asking for primatial covering either from Africa or more recently from Southern Cone bishops. Almost weekly there are new twists and turns as orthodox parishes take different stances on how they will deal with ECUSA's apostasy. A parish in St Louis is prepared to go to the wall and will fight in the courts for their property as are three parishes in the Diocese of Pennsylvania. Some six parishes in Eastern Michigan are weighing their options and their futures, with two rectors having already resigned. If they should all go, it would wipe out some 12 percent of that diocese. At least one congregation has lost 50 percent of its membership. In the Diocese of Central Florida Bishop John W. Howe has taken a more irenic approach to one departing parish, showing a different model of how a parish and its bishop could amicably split without too much pain. Revisionist bishops, on the other hand, are showing their colors by coming down hard on fleeing orthodox priests invoking one canon or another, inhibiting and deposing fleeing rectors, in their efforts to maintain control of their dioceses. But one group, the Anglican Communion Institute - ECUSA's unofficial orthodox think tank, met recently in Colorado Springs and came up with what could be the ultimate solution. Meeting under the banner, Anglicanism, History and Hope: The Future of Anglicanism in North America, they declared that the only honest thing to do is for Frank Griswold and some 62 revisionist bishops who have departed from the faith, order and discipline of the church to separate themselves from ECUSA and form their own autonomous, independent national church. The idea has been germinating for some time by this group of brilliant orthodox theologians and churchmen, and came to a head with the blessing of the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord George Carey. Their argument is simply this. By insisting on going through with the Robinson consecration, the majority of ECUSA's bishops showed their lack of respect for the Communion's integrity and common mind, therefore they should do the honorable thing, and with the courage of their convictions willingly disengage themselves from the Communion and from the structures of ecclesial life tied to the Communion that the Episcopal Church has enshrined in its Constitution. The framers acknowledge that while no one has heeded this call, they maintain it is the only honest course of action, and that further talk of "conversation" and "dialogue" — the much beloved theobabble of revisionists end, and a parting of the ways takes place. All talk of engaging one another in holy conversation with such words as honesty, charity, clarity and harmony within the American church and within the larger Communion, be recognized for what it is; a total fiction. It has yielded nothing. Said the leaders of ACI, "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." They rightly observe that the House of Bishops plan for dealing with "disagreement" in the Episcopal Church, avoids any mention of the Communion's real concerns, and demeans and reduces disagreement by the minority to the category of "dissent" as being divisive. So faithful, orthodox Episcopalians are now being called "ideologically motivated" by Griswold who accuses small "groups within ECUSA of single-handedly perverting the consciousness of bishops around the world" by fabricating their opposition to his own unilaterally-promoted agenda, and thereby derailing the "spreading of the Gospel and the living of the Good News of Jesus Christ". According to Frank Griswold certain unnamed INTERNET journalists are also guilty of spreading malicious gossip and fomenting dissent, compounding ECUSA's problems even more. They and he get mad when they are exposed. Dr. George Sumner, the Canadian theological principal observed in his lecture, that "we are one of the few places you can move to the right just be standing still". "This is how I feel: standing still, and watching the church tumble to the side irretrievably," said the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, theologian and an Episcopal rector in the Diocese of Colorado. "The silence from Griswold and the ECUSA establishment is absolutely deafening in the face of each new theological talk or Communion-related statement or provincial decision from abroad regarding the plummeting demise of ECUSA's place in world Christianity and the Anglican Communion," he said. "ACI conferences are but one element studiously avoided by ECUSA's strange Doukhobor desires. Are they not listening? If they are not, they are woefully derelict in their responsibilities. If they are, and simply refuse to take what is said seriously, they are deluded. If they take it seriously, but refuse to do anything constructive in response, they are willful destroyers of the church. I fear that it is the last; even more distressing, it may be that a mixture of all these reasons, are at work here." As things now stand, it is the blind leading the blind in The Episcopal Church. And if in this kingdom the one-eyed man is King, Frank Tracy Griswold is fast losing what little sight he has left as the darkness descends over the ECUSA with each passing day. END ECUSA SINKS LOWER...GAY BISHOP MARRIES...SCANDAL AMONG THE CLERGY "Wait till the end and you will see the outcome of events. Don't fuss, don't worry yet awhile. Imagine someone who is not of the trade watching a blacksmith start melting down gold and mixing in ashes and straw. If he does not wait till the end, he will think that the poor piece of gold is going to be destroyed. Now, if the farmer waits all the winter, so much the more ought you to await the final outcome of events, remembering who it is that ploughs the soil of our souls. And when I speak of the final outcome, I am not referring to the end of this present life, but to the future life -- God's plan for us aims at our salvation and glory." St. John Chrysostom, On Providence 9. 1 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Orthodox believers are being refined in the crucible of the Episcopal Church. The fire is raging all around us. We are all being sorted and sifted. We are being tested to the very limits. Yet St. John Chrysostom tells us to wait. It was another horrible week in the life of the Episcopal Church. ECUSA's first openly homoerotic bishop Otis Charles, now 78, married a 62-year old man who had been married four times before to women. The ceremony lasted two hours and 45 minutes. When it concluded, Charles, the world's first openly gay Christian bishop, also became the world's first bishop to wed his same-sex partner in church. The retired bishop turned up with his grandson to the "wedding". That alone is enough to have mothers running for cover with their children in hand. When I asked a lady in Colorado Springs, why more and more women were signing on to Virtuosity, becoming more open in their support of this ministry, declaring themselves out of communion with ECUSA, and willing to write for VIRTUOSITY, she had this to say. "Pansexuality threatens our children. When you move sexuality away from God ordained limits our children can become victims of sexual predators, because no one knows where the boundaries are any more." She is right of course. ECUSA is, sexually speaking, without boundaries. Old sodomites marry younger ones; a transgendered man is ordained a deacon, he goes from being Paul to Paula, a pregnant lesbian priest runs the youth ministries for a diocese, a sodomite is consecrated to the Episcopacy, the age of consensual sex is getting lower…and on and on it goes. Parents see their moral authority challenged and they run for cover and take their children with them. "We will leave the Episcopal Church before we allow our sexually vulnerable children hear things approved of that God says a resounding no to," said the woman. And that may well be ECUSA's undoing. Women, mothers with young impressionable teenage children; the rot will stop with the women. IN OTHER DEVELOPMENTS, BETHLEHEM BISHOP Paul Marshall, author of a book on lesbian love, comes out swinging, putting his handful of orthodox priests on the defensive? You can read that story today. Or why a self-professed lesbian priest in the DIOCESE OF COLORADO may face disciplinary charges because she is accused of luring the lonely widow of a deceased priest in the Diocese into a sordid lesbian affair, and then making up a liturgy to marry her at the church altar to sanctify her misconduct. You can also read that story. BUT THE NEWS IS NOT ALL BAD. The recent Anglican Communion Institute conference in Colorado Springs was a win win. The conference emboldened church leadership around the country. "The sense of urgency that everyday delayed hundreds leave the church is finally dawning on many of us. Clearly the financial situation is far worse than predicted. Parishes are all in a bind, payrolls hard to meet as people are failing to show up, not return after breaks for skiing and spring break, and collections are plummeting. Diocesan assessments are simply going to be the first thing to go--just to keep the lights on and the salaries paid," writes the Rev. Don Armstrong an ACI leader and parish priest who is prepared to stand up to his revisionist bishop Rob O'Neill. The numbers being shared by the clergy around the church are far worse than was first predicted. Members are leaving this tension filled church that lacks leadership and a gospel in droves. The Episcopal Church is disintegrating before our very eyes. In three years the Diocese of Colorado--if things go really well will close 40 congregations--in seven years there may be only a couple dozen Episcopal congregations still viable and the diocese will be bankrupt---all so a practicing homosexual can be a bishop in New Hampshire, and because we lack the integrity and love to tell gays to straighten up and instead take the easy way out by saying they are just fine--when they are not. The Rev. Kevin Martin president of Plano-based VITAL MINISTRIES and an expert on congregational development for more than 15 years says in his recent newsletter that in the 40-year steady decline ECUSA is experiencing that we are losing our percentage of the U.S. population faster than the actual numbers. He writes: First is 1930 when we began a long period of steady growth. Second is 1965 when ECUSA was at its largest. Third is 2000, the last year that we have full numbers. It clearly shows the rise and decline of the Church. Several points stand out. Among these I would list: The decline of congregations. The dramatic decline of children in Church schools. Today, the average church school has 37 children. The increase in clergy fueled by the larger number of non-parish and retired clergy. The relative stability of the burial number. The back door remains consistent. The decline in adult baptisms, receptions and confirmations. The fact that we baptize less than one adult per congregation. It is beyond any reasonable comprehension that our leaders can know these numbers and claim that ECUSA is doing well. "I can only attribute this to either denial or political spin," he says. You can read his full report today. THE AMERICAN ANGLICAN COUNCIL BOARD met this week in Atlanta, Georgia and celebrated the realignment of Anglicanism, noting a strong grass roots movement of individuals and churches that are forming coalitions and planning program initiatives, networking, assisting with missionary endeavors and planting churches. A full report is in today's digest. AND FROM THE DIOCESE OF ALABAMA comes this. "I am a member of the Church of the Ascension in Montgomery Alabama. Our Bishop, Henry Parsley, voted against the consecration of [V. Gene Robinson] but since then he has spent most of his energy threatening the few Alabama Priests brave enough to attend Plano (including our own) saying we need to "move on". When Parsley discovered that Ascension was bringing in an orthodox speaker to discuss the Network, he insisted on being on the agenda as well, and at a well attended and feisty forum pledged to block any effort by the church to join the Network. When asked why Integrity is given free use of the Diocesan facilities, he pointed out that he had no more control over what they did in such facilities than other groups, such as "The Daughters of the King". The comparison did not go over well." AND IN THE DIOCESE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE conservatives in that diocese led by the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop have left to form a breakaway parish. About 40 parishioners of the new Anglican Church of the Resurrection are using facilities of the Durham Evangelical Church, spokesman Richard Ellwood said. The new parish does not consider itself part of Robinson's diocese. It has joined the national Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes, formed by conservatives who remain within the Episcopal Church but oppose Robinson's election. Two other New Hampshire parishes have taken steps to affiliate with the conservative network but have not quit the diocese. Said Ellwood, "the issue is far greater than Robinson," calling his election an example of the way the "Episcopal Church has split away from Scripture." CONCERNED EPISCOPALIANS OF RHODE ISLAND has been formed by parishioners in that state who oppose Robinson's election. The group, which expects to become a chapter of the conservative network, drew representatives from more than two dozen of the state's 64 parishes to a meeting last weekend. IN VIRGINIA, the Robinson election spilled into another denomination. The Baptist General Association of Virginia withheld $350,000 from Averett University in Danville over a professor's pro-Robinson article. The Baptists have now agreed to fund a new independent clergy training program, but not Averett's religion department. IN ATLANTA a new Anglican parish was aborned with Bolivia Bishop Frank Lyons present to kick it off with 330 confirmations! The Rev. Dr. Foley Beach an ex-ECUSAN priest couldn't be happier. You can read that story today. IN CANADA Bill C250 has passed into law. Within a month or so it will be a criminal offence under the Criminal Code of Canada to speak out against the gay and lesbian lifestyle, against same sex marriage, gender reassignment, and everything connected with that way of life. The Bible will be deemed hate literature, and clergy who stand up and say "thus saith the Lord" will go to jail. I will test that when I cross the Canadian border some time in the future. Virtuosity's website has already been declared homophobic. Writes Brian McGregor-Foxcroft of Canada and a Virtuosity reader, "This issue, and same sex marriage, should have been put to the vote, so that all Canadians could have a say. But the government knew that a vote would have defeated both proposals. But this should not surprise anyone. Even the current prime minister has subverted the democratic process by parachuting his own candidates into various ridings and shutting out the due process whereby riding members elect their own candidates. We see several political parties doing this. All they care about is getting and holding power. This is not democracy. AND IN DETROIT the Rev. Richard W. Ingalls, Rector of Mariners Church of Detroit, will be consecrated Bishop today by chief consecrator the Rt. Rev. Melvin Pickering, Bishop Ordinary of the Anglican Diocese of the Good Shepherd (ADGS). You may remember that the ECUSA bishop of the area tried unsuccessfully to take over Mariners after a lengthy battle, and failed. There are a few success stories, but not many. Mariners is one, as is St. Michael's in Broken Arrow, OK. THE EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY CHURCH continues to grow reports its presiding bishop and former Episcopal priest the Rt. Rev'd William Millsaps. From his Monteagle headquarters in Tennessee he says he has a new parish with its own building in Benton, Kentucky; planting a new church in Chattanooga in Eastertide. A parish in Oregon has quadrupled and St. Andrew's in Gainesville, Florida has grown fivefold over the past few years. "Most of our parishes and missions have had their best Lent since our founding," he writes. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND is facing the growing possibility of disintegration as opposition to Canon Jeffrey John's appointment as Dean of St Albans gained momentum this week. Leading evangelicals warned that the appointment would change the relationship of their churches with bishops across the country, raising the possibility of impaired communion across the Church. St Albans clergy met this week to discuss action that they would be taking in protest at Dr John's promotion at a time when the Eames Commission had called for calm and restraint. Many of the churches will be deciding whether to cut payments to the dioceses, and to stop the Bishop of St Albans. They said that the Southwark canon's promotion had "changed everything". The split in the St Albans diocese is expected to widen at the national level, according to one evangelical leader. The Rev John Coles, leader of the New Wine network, which represents the leaders of 600 Anglican churches, said that Dr John was "publicly committed to undermining the historic Christian position." New Wine is now working in connection with the other traditionalist streams in opposing the appointment. The gay dean hit back accusing those who opposed his ministry as being akin to 19th century supporters of slavery. Coles fired back: "The appointment was inflammatory, and his comments are very inflammatory. The house is on fire and we are going to put it out." WELCOME TO VIRTUOSITY. If you are a first time reader please go to the website www.virtuosityonline.org where all past digests are stored, stories are posted daily on the front page, multiple chat rooms can be found and much more. Check out some of the three seminaries for online education possibilities and if you feel so constrained to support VIRTUOSITY with your tax deductible dollar you may do so by hitting the PAYPAL link. If you would prefer to support this ministry by snail mail you may do so by sending your check to VIRTUOSITY, 1236 Waterford Road, West Chester, PA 19380 GOOGLE ADS: Google displays ads based upon key words that it finds in the text of each page on our site. As such, we have no direct control over Google's ad placement. Also, the ads rotate and change on a regular basis which makes editing a blacklist a very time consuming task. Google's acceptable use policy ensure that there are no ads that advertise overt sexuality, violence or other objectionable material. Please consider ads for sites that are liberal in their theology as an opportunity to understand what others are saying in the debate. Their presence on our site does not indicate an endorsement of their views. All blessings, David W. Virtue DD

Commentary By David W. Virtue COLORADO SPRINGS—That the Episcopal Church is in spiritual free fall, theologically compromised, in moral disarray, perhaps beyond redemption, is not new news. But what to do about it is another matter altogether. It is exercising the best minds across the Episcopal Church and around the Anglican Communion. The CAPA Primates and bishops met in Nairobi recently and issued a sharp warning to the Episcopal Church and Frank Griswold to repent, and put on notice to the whole communion that they would lower the boom, perhaps before the EAMES commission has even finished its work. Every day the American Anglican Council grows stronger and the will of its president David Anderson grows more determined that he will no longer accept the leadership of Frank Griswold and the House of Bishops, and the decisions they make about ECUSA's future. Canon Anderson has drawn the last line in the sand and he will tolerate no further innovations. He has, along with other orthodox leaders, been openly and highly critical of the recent House of Bishops statement on Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight. The recently formed Network (NACDP) is ratcheting up the pain on ECUSA's liberal apparatik as well. They too, have made it clear, through their spokesman Bishop Robert Duncan (Pittsburgh) that a realignment of the ECUSA is under way and it will no longer be business as usual. On the other side of the bank V. Gene Robinson, the new bishop of New Hampshire has said that perhaps it is time for the orthodox to go if they can't remain in the theologically and morally evolving ECUSA. And Frank Griswold, ECUSA's Presiding Bishop expresses surprise that the consecration of an openly homoerotic bishop is causing so much consternation among the faithful, arguing that the church survived women's ordination, a new Prayer Book and will certainly survive this. He has also said that conservative groups have been around ECUSA for as long as he can remember but that won't change the course upon which the ECUSA is set. He just doesn't get it. Money is drying up in nearly all the dioceses; dozens of orthodox priests are weighing their options for the future, and faithful Episcopalians are leaving the Episcopal Church in droves, concerned that the acceptance of pansexual behavior will compromise their children - the ECUSA being no longer a safe place. Many are fleeing to the Anglican Mission in America (AMIA) while a few parishes are now asking for primatial covering either from Africa or more recently from Southern Cone bishops. Almost weekly there are new twists and turns as orthodox parishes take different stances on how they will deal with ECUSA's apostasy. A parish in St Louis is prepared to go to the wall and will fight in the courts for their property as are three parishes in the Diocese of Pennsylvania. Some six parishes in Eastern Michigan are weighing their options and their futures, with two rectors having already resigned. If they should all go, it would wipe out some 12 percent of that diocese. At least one congregation has lost 50 percent of its membership. In the Diocese of Central Florida Bishop John W. Howe has taken a more irenic approach to one departing parish, showing a different model of how a parish and its bishop could amicably split without too much pain. Revisionist bishops, on the other hand, are showing their colors by coming down hard on fleeing orthodox priests invoking one canon or another, inhibiting and deposing fleeing rectors, in their efforts to maintain control of their dioceses. But one group, the Anglican Communion Institute - ECUSA's unofficial orthodox think tank, met recently in Colorado Springs and came up with what could be the ultimate solution. Meeting under the banner, Anglicanism, History and Hope: The Future of Anglicanism in North America, they declared that the only honest thing to do is for Frank Griswold and some 62 revisionist bishops who have departed from the faith, order and discipline of the church to separate themselves from ECUSA and form their own autonomous, independent national church. The idea has been germinating for some time by this group of brilliant orthodox theologians and churchmen, and came to a head with the blessing of the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord George Carey. Their argument is simply this. By insisting on going through with the Robinson consecration, the majority of ECUSA's bishops showed their lack of respect for the Communion's integrity and common mind, therefore they should do the honorable thing, and with the courage of their convictions willingly disengage themselves from the Communion and from the structures of ecclesial life tied to the Communion that the Episcopal Church has enshrined in its Constitution. The framers acknowledge that while no one has heeded this call, they maintain it is the only honest course of action, and that further talk of "conversation" and "dialogue" — the much beloved theobabble of revisionists end, and a parting of the ways takes place. All talk of engaging one another in holy conversation with such words as honesty, charity, clarity and harmony within the American church and within the larger Communion, be recognized for what it is; a total fiction. It has yielded nothing. Said the leaders of ACI, "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." They rightly observe that the House of Bishops plan for dealing with "disagreement" in the Episcopal Church, avoids any mention of the Communion's real concerns, and demeans and reduces disagreement by the minority to the category of "dissent" as being divisive. So faithful, orthodox Episcopalians are now being called "ideologically motivated" by Griswold who accuses small "groups within ECUSA of single-handedly perverting the consciousness of bishops around the world" by fabricating their opposition to his own unilaterally-promoted agenda, and thereby derailing the "spreading of the Gospel and the living of the Good News of Jesus Christ". According to Frank Griswold certain unnamed INTERNET journalists are also guilty of spreading malicious gossip and fomenting dissent, compounding ECUSA's problems even more. They and he get mad when they are exposed. Dr. George Sumner, the Canadian theological principal observed in his lecture, that "we are one of the few places you can move to the right just be standing still". "This is how I feel: standing still, and watching the church tumble to the side irretrievably," said the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, theologian and an Episcopal rector in the Diocese of Colorado. "The silence from Griswold and the ECUSA establishment is absolutely deafening in the face of each new theological talk or Communion-related statement or provincial decision from abroad regarding the plummeting demise of ECUSA's place in world Christianity and the Anglican Communion," he said. "ACI conferences are but one element studiously avoided by ECUSA's strange Doukhobor desires. Are they not listening? If they are not, they are woefully derelict in their responsibilities. If they are, and simply refuse to take what is said seriously, they are deluded. If they take it seriously, but refuse to do anything constructive in response, they are willful destroyers of the church. I fear that it is the last; even more distressing, it may be that a mixture of all these reasons, are at work here." As things now stand, it is the blind leading the blind in The Episcopal Church. And if in this kingdom the one-eyed man is King, Frank Tracy Griswold is fast losing what little sight he has left as the darkness descends over the ECUSA with each passing day. END