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By Paul Cocke News Editor Anacortes American   Members of a new Anglican church in Anacortes say that they didn’t  leave the Episcopal Church — the church left them.   The Trinity Community Church of Anacortes, part of the Anglican Province of America, has been meeting at the Anacortes Public Library since August. The congregation consists of 50 to 60 people, many of whom previously attended Episcopal churches in the valley. Our people believe that they really have not become disaffected, but rather they have adhered to the faith and tradition that’s always been there. They’re continuing that and their feeling is that the church they once knew and attended has left them, said Bishop John Hamers, who is leading worshipers at the new church.   Episcopal Church policy for some time has created a rift among its members, highlighted by the controversy sparked by the recent consecration of an openly gay man as bishop of New Hampshire.   Bob LaRue said he and his wife Jean had been regular members of Christ Episcopal Church in Anacortes, but that some of the things that have been happening both locally and nationally had kind of caused us to drift away.   LaRue said they attended an Anglican church in Shoreline, which led to discussions about starting a new church here.   We mentioned once or twice that it would be nice if we could have an Anglican church up here in the valley, someplace that we could attend, LaRue said.   That led to Bob and Jean LaRue and another couple, Randy and Sandra Walley from Mount Vernon, meeting with Hamers and the new local church was born. But Hamers said the rift in the church stretches back decades.   The Episcopal Church is part of the Anglican Communion, which encompasses churches around the world descended from the Church of England. Anglicanism is rooted in the Protestant Reformation in England, with the archbishop of Canterbury as its spiritual leader.   Many of the early colonists in this country were members of the Church of England, but when America declared its independence from England, it became important to them to have an indigenous church.   As far back as the 1960s, Hamers said that more conservative-minded Episcopalians became disenchanted with some of the directions the Episcopal Church was taking. They felt that the Episcopal Church hierarchy was moving toward sort of watering down theology and not adhering to traditional interpretations of Holy Scripture.   So they began to break off and said, ‘if you’re going off in that direction, we can’t follow you. We’re going to stick with what we have known, the heritage of our faith,’ said Hamers, adding that movement has been intensifying during the last 10 to 15 years.   Hamers said that many of those people did not accept the idea that the Scriptures and the teaching of the church were subject to modification to suit the culture, but rather were God’s word and applicable to the condition of mankind in all ages.   And as a result of that, in some locations, entire parishes just walked away from their church buildings and left the Episcopal Church, Hamers said.   In other areas, portions of congregations left the Episcopal Church, in some cases forming their own parishes.   They thought they were in isolation and it took a number of years for them to become aware of each other and as they became aware of each other they started growing back together, Hamers said, adding there’s still some of that going on.   Hamers estimated there are a couple of hundred parishes across the United States of traditionalist Anglicans, some of them going under different names.   What we’re seeing here in Anacortes and Skagit County right at the moment is people who have more recently made the decision we can no longer go along with the directions that it appears to us the Episcopal Church is taking. They’ve said, ‘no, we want to stick with the Bible as God’s word and be more conservative,’ if that’s a good term, Hamers said. There are some stay-at-homes who are now coming back to church because a more conservative church is available to them.   We’re saddened over the fact that the church that we did know has gone off in those other directions, but we feel we are bound to stick to those basic fundamentals that we believe in ... Hamers said.   We fill a niche of people who want traditional worship and believe that the Bible is the enlightened word of God. It’s pretty simple, really, said Bob Hyde, senior warden for the new church.   Recently, overseas bishops who said they represented 50 million of the world’s 77 million Anglicans jointly announced they were in a state of impaired communion with the Episcopal Church — a step short of declaring a full schism, according to the Seattle Times.   And the Times also reported that conservatives within the U.S. church have asked the archbishop of Canterbury to authorize a separate Anglican province for them in North America.   The Rev. Peter Strimer, communications director for the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, which covers Western Washington, said that the church’s ordination of women as priests in 1976 also provoked similar sentiments from more conservative members of the church.   Strimer said the Episcopal Church has always welcomed and included people with widely divergent views, from the more conservative to the more liberal. Instead of leaving the church, Strimer said he wished people would stay and share their views.   We are very sad that anyone feels the need to leave at this time, especially because we feel one of the main characteristics of the Episcopal Church is inclusiveness, Strimer said. The decisions regarding Gene Robinson becoming the bishop of New Hampshire is best seen as a symbol of that inclusiveness. Those people who have chosen to leave as well as everyone in all our communities will always be welcomed back with open arms.   But Hamers and other leaders of the new church say its formation was not a direct result of the elevation of Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. LaRue noted their new church held its first service, after weeks of planning, the weekend the new bishop was consecrated.   The gay bishop issue is not the big issue. That’s a symptom only of the fact that the Episcopal Church no longer professes, so far as we can determine, that the Holy Scriptures are relevant to today’s society. And that has brought about this symptom, Hamers said.   I’m sure that the whole thing that came out of convention has probably been kind of the last straw for some of the folks who joined our congregation as we’ve gone along, said LaRue, adding that the bishop calls it the alarm clock going off.   We are not a church against something. We’re a church that’s for something. And our thrust for the present and future is really an emphasis on building a family church where families are welcome and there is Christian education for children as well as continuing Christian education for adults, and ministering to one another in a church parish and family in a positive way, Hamers said. We want to make it very clear our objective is not to sit around and criticize other people or what they’re doing.   Locally, there have been other issues as well, including the fact that the three Episcopal churches in Skagit County share priests who rotate among them. Members of the new church said they want a priest who has the time to minister to their spiritual needs, as well as providing pastoral support for families.   However, Strimer said such regional clusters of priests working with more than one church is not unique to Skagit Valley and is indeed often found in areas where smaller congregations cannot support a full-time priest.   Many members of the new church live in Anacortes, although some come from Guemes Island, Oak Harbor, Mount Vernon and beyond, said Hamers, who came out of retirement to lead the new church.   Hamers said the intent is for the church to offer worship to Anacortes residents and to those living beyond Fidalgo Island as well, since it is the only such Anglican Church in Skagit Valley.   Church members are looking for more permanent quarters than the library, but said they work hard to make sure the library meeting room really has the appearance of a church on Sundays. The Trinity Community Church of Anacortes holds services at 10 a.m. Sundays in the front meeting room at the library. Adult Bible study and Sunday School starts at 9 a.m. For more information about the church, call Bishop Hamers at 360-428-7709.   END

Associated Press   COLUMBUS, Miss. - The Rev. Sandra DePriest has become the first Mississippi Episcopal priest to step down to protest the  ordination of the church’s first openly gay bishop. DePriest told The Commercial Dispatch newspaper in Columbus that she could no longer actively serve as a priest until the gay bishop issue is resolved.   DePriest finished up with the Church of the Good Shepherd in Columbus and St. Johns Episcopal Church in Aberdeen on Christmas Day.   DePriest told the newspaper she was not resigning her vows for the time being, but could no longer actively serve as a priest until the gay bishop issue was resolved.   Earlier this year, Bishop V. Gene Robinson became the first openly gay man elevated to that rank in any major Christian body.   Robinson was ordained after an August vote at the Episcopal Church USA General Convention in Minneapolis.   Many Episcopalians who believe in a traditional interpretation of the Bible want Robinson removed as bishop and have won the support of several American bishops.   DePriest said she is one of those opposed to Robinson’s ordination and her stance on the issue meant she could not continue leading worship.   I believe that my vows have been placed in conflict, DePriest said. I took vows to uphold Scripture when I was ordained ... and at the same time I took vows to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Episcopal Church of the United States. And I cannot teach those doctrines and disciplines.   DePriest joined the priesthood after a 17-year career as a lawyer. She joined the seminary in 1996 and was ordained in 1999. After spending two years as the priest of Christ Episcopal Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala., DePriest took her position with the two churches in Columbus and Aberdeen.   DePriest said the appointment of Robinson to a senior position within the church was a deal breaker for Episcopalians who believe in a traditional interpretation of the Bible. DePriest said these Episcopalians consider homosexuality a sin that must be repented a belief completely at odds with Robinson’s openly gay lifestyle.   DePriest said for the moment, she is not willing to leave the church completely while there is hope that the rift can be repaired.   DePriest said the Episcopal Church USA was willing to provide alternative pastoral care for priests and congregations who were opposed to Robinson’s ordination. This arrangement, she said, is supposed to keep disgruntled members of the faith under the Episcopalian banner by allowing them to shift their churches under the authority of another bishop.   DePriest said this is unacceptable to members of the faith who are thinking about splitting from the church because they no longer support its leaders. DePriest said under present arrangements, those Episcopalians would have to abandon their churches and sever financial links with the church .   Bishop Duncan Gray of the Mississippi Diocese said the Anglican faith that Episcopalians practice - founded in England over 400 years ago - was based upon diversity of belief and tolerance. We were founded in theological conflict, Gray said.   Gray said the church had the ability to broker a compromise with in its DNA. He claimed a number of the 13 bishops who had been identified as working against the church’s leadership had since clarified and even retracted earlier statements.   Gray said a great deal of work is going on behind the scenes to broker a compromise.   This is certainly something that will be ongoing, but I’m very pleased with the efforts (of the church) to respect individual conscience, Gray said.   END

By Dr. Chris Seitz   As President of the Anglican Communion Institute I am pleased to announce the appearance of a new document drawn up for the orthodox Anglican presence within the United States and Canada. It is titled The Theological Charter for Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes of ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada. It follows in the same line as other ACI documents, including Claiming Our Anglican Identity and Steps of Discipline but is meant to serve as the theological mission statement for Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes in North America. It has been adopted as such by the Bishops who form the leadership for this network, whose Moderator is the Rt. Revd Robert Duncan.   The Theological Charter will be a topic of discussion at the ACI January Conference in Charleston, SC on The Future of the Anglican Communion (St Philip’s Church, 8-9 January). The Archbishop of the West Indies, The Most Reverend Drexel Wellington Gomez, will be the keynote speaker at that event. Please join us for a lively discussion of important issues now facing Anglicans in the United States and in the wider Communion.   This site has on it the Theological Charter for our times. Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes is the umbrella organization in communion with the wider Anglican Communion, with oversight by an international coalition of Primates, Bishops, Clergy and Laity, and exists for all those in their various situations who want the Episcopal Church to more than a mere reflection of the culture, but to be again a real witness to the joy a lives dedicated to obedience and discipleship.   Here is offered a place where Dioceses, individual parishes or congregation, Bishops, Priests, Deacons and Laity can register their opposition to the current leadership and error of the national church, but more importantly express their hope and plans for the future, for rebuilding the Anglican presence in the United States.   The central document the undergirds the work of this coalition is available at VIRTUOSITY’S website www.virtuosityonline.org . For more details see anglicancommunioninstitute.org , or contact The Revd Donald Armstrong at GraceRector@aol.com . http://www.AnglicanCommunionDioceses.org/   END

By David Bedein FrontPageMagazine.com December 26, 2003   This is the first Christmas since the Palestinian Authority adopted an official constitution based on Koranic Sharia Law, which means that all Christians who live under the PA are now subject to Islamic Law. Over the past three years, while attention has focused on Israeli and Palestinian casualties of the current war, at least one hundred Christians who live in areas ruled by the Palestinian Authority have been arrested and imprisoned for holding church services or conducting public Christian practices without authorization.   Some of these Christians were set free when the Israeli army liberated the jails in the Palestinian Authority at the time of the Israeli army incursion into Palestinian cities in April, 2002.   Those freed Christian prisoners from the Palestinian jails now take refuge by hiding throughout Israel, as they surreptitiously work to try to get their families out of Palestinian cities to join them and emigrate to any safe haven they can find in the West I have met with a few of these Christian Palestinians. One of them, whom I shall call Joseph to protect the confidentiality of his identity, described the ordeal that he has experienced. He and his brother live in hiding while badgering the US consulate for help to try to get US visas for their families, and have done so ever since their liberation by Israel more than 18 months ago. Joseph described to me how his family cannot openly practice Christian holidays in Bethlehem under the watchful eyes of the PLO’s Islamic police force. After all, the only place in the West Bank where the PLO army currently operates is in the Bethlehem area. Joseph also described how the US-funded Palestinian public school system has become Islamicized, and how his late nephew was literally tortured to death at age 12 by his schoolmates because he expressed love and respect for his uncle as a practicing Christian.   Last Spring, the Vatican Ambassador to the Holy Land, Archbishop Msgr. Pietro Sambi, known as the Papal Nuncio, warned a US Congressional delegation that the new Palestinian Authority’s approved state constitution, funded by US AID, provided no juridical status whatsoever for any religion other than Islam in the emerging Palestinian Arab entity. The Papal Nuncio also expressed his concern to visiting US lawmakers that the PA had adopted Sharia Islamic Law, based on the model of the Sharia from Koranic edicts as practiced in Iran or in Saudi Arabia.   Article (5) of the official Palestinian State Constitution reads as follows: Arabic and Islam are the official Palestinian language and religion. Christianity and all other monotheistic religions shall be equally revered and respected.   In other words, As Archbishop Sambi noted, other religions such as Christianity, let alone Judaism, are only to be respected, while being denied any juridical status under the new Palestinian State Constitution.   The status of Islam as the official religion of any future Palestinian Arab entity is also expressed in Article (7) of the official Palestinian State Constitution which states that The principles of Islamic Sharia are a major source for legislation. Civil and religious matters of the followers of monotheistic religions shall be organized in accordance with their religious teachings and denominations within the framework of law, while preserving the unity and independence of the Palestinian people.   The constitution’s translation can be accessed on the home page of the website www.israelbehindthenews.com .   Islamic nations which have adopted the Sharia law, have mandated the absolute supremacy of Muslims over non-Muslims as matter of law, more than of simply of attitude.   What worried the Archbishop was that all Christian churches and all Christian schools will be placed under the arbitrary authority of Islamic Fundamental Law, which allows nothing more than tolerance of other religions at best.   For the past seven months, the US embassy has been asked to comment on the US-funded Palestinian State Constitution. No response has been forthcoming from anyone in the US government, except for denials that it exists. Yet the author of the PA State Constitution, Mr. Nabil Shaath, affirms the existence of the PA State Constitution, as presented by the Vatican’s ambassador.   The PA state constitution’s imposition of Sharia Islamic Law is most certainly in effect. Calls to the US embassy and US consulate to determine whether the US government is looking into the situation of Christians under the rule of the Palestinian National Authority have not been answered.   After all, it was US AID which financed the creation of the PA State Constitution, which meant the imposition of the Islamic Law throughout the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.   Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran which have adopted Sharia Islamic Law, have made life quite difficult for Christians. Under Sharia Islamic Law, Christians are considered dhimmis, second class citizens.   A research study released last Christmas by the Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs entitled The Beleaguered Christians, notes that in Egypt, Muslim, but not Christian, schools receive state funding....It is nearly impossible to restore or build new churches....Christians are frequently ostracized or insulted in public, and laws prohibit Muslim conversions to Christianity.   That same study notes that Saudi Arabia is one of the most oppressive countries for Christians. There are no churches in the whole country.   Foreign workers make up one-third of the population, many of whom are Christians. For their entire stay, which may be years, they are forbidden to display any Christian symbols or Bibles, or even meet together publicly to worship and pray. Some have watched their personal   Bibles put through a shredder when they entered the country. In Iran, the printing of Christian literature is illegal, converts from Islam are liable to be killed, and most evangelical churches must function underground.   Bethlehem is understood by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus. When Israel retook control of Bethlehem in 1967, the majority of Bethlehem’s residents practiced various denominations of the Christian faith. However, with Israel’s withdrawal due to the Oslo Accords and after less than ten years of Palestinian Authority rule the Middle East   has witnessed a dramatic exodus of Christians from the city. This Christmas, less than 5% in the city of Jesus’ birthplace is Christian.   The mainstream media have hesitated to report that fact. President George W. Bush’s administration has envisioned a democratic Palestinian entity that is devoid of terror. Instead, officials of US AID have fostered a constitution which envisions creation of the Islamic totalitarian state of Palestine, completely devoid of religious freedom and human rights.   This Christmas, an Islamic army occupies Bethlehem. This Christmas, no Church can operate in Bethlehem without Islamic approval.   And Christians in the Palestinian Authority are not seeing a Merry Christmas as a result.   This is the legacy of what the US AID has facilitated, with or without the knowledge of the White House.   David Bedein is the bureau chief of the Israel Resource News Agency, located at the Beit Agron International Press Center in Jerusalem.

By Ai Lin Choo, Vancouver Sun Friday, December 26, 2003   ABBOTSFORD Surrounded by Christmas wrappings, presents and excited children, about 20 members of Abbotsford’s newly terminated Church of the Holy Cross gathered in their priest’s living room for Christmas service Thursday.   While the gathering was mostly upbeat and included the usual Christmas songs and nativity stories, the reasons behind the domestic gathering were still on the minds of many.   We as a church community will continue as we always have. It’s unfortunate that the diocese has felt the need to close down the mission, said Dave Chapman, who has been a member of the church since it opened in 2001.   Thursday was the first time parishioners had met for a service since hearing that Bishop Michael Ingham had decided to terminate their mission. The small church has been battling Ingham ever since he decided to sanction same-sex marriages in the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster.   Reverend James Wagner said the service renewed his commitment to his congregation, adding, we will continue to worship, even though we’re apparently not recognized formally.   The makeshift church looked like any other Christmas-morning household. Children ran around excitedly displaying and playing with their new toys. But for the parishioners, the atmosphere reiterated a sense of loss -- of not feeling like they belong to a larger community.   We hear a lot about tolerance and diversity and that diverse views should be respected. It seems to me a strange way to resolve conflict, said Chapman.   He said he has been feeling frustrated and disappointed since hearing that the church has been cut off from the New Westminster diocese. He finds it ironic that a church is closing down a mission when, in his view, churches are supposed to be about opening new missions.   There’s just something strangely ironic and surreal about all this. And although the mission church is only three years old, member Rachel Weiland said she is very hurt by the closure.   We follow the minority these days and we stick to the word of God and the diocese doesn’t, so they just cut us off, she said.   While the New Westminster diocese does not place an obligation on priests to perform same-sex marriages, Wagner says the issue is only part of the fight with the diocese. Members of the mission church say they differ from their diocese in their belief that gays and lesbians can be cured of their sexual orientation.   Wagner says the controversy is now being looked at by a task force at the Canadian House of Bishops for dissenting parishes and hopes the decision to terminate the church will be overturned. Beyond that, he says, he has no plans for what he will do next. I haven’t thought that far yet.   Because the New Westminster diocese withdrew funding to the church in October, Wagner doubts the congregation will be able to continue to meet in the location where it has been holding services lately – a seniors’ room at the Matsqui Recreational Centre.   But Jeremy Smyth, who described the mood Thursday as quiet and reflective, said that doesn’t mean it lacked joy. In a strange way, I am joyful because as a Christian I find it’s a joy to be persecuted for Jesus’ sake -- especially at Christmas time when we’re caught up in the stress and activities of preparing for it, he said.   END

Michael Higgins National Post December 23, 2003   An Anglican church defying its bishop by refusing to support same-sex unions has been terminated only days before Christmas.   The decision by Bishop Michael Ingham to close Holy Cross in Abbotsford, B.C., is the latest action in a dispute that is threatening to split the Anglican church worldwide. Despite the closure, the priest at Holy Cross, the Rev. James Wagner, vowed yesterday to celebrate mass on Christmas Day with parishioners.   As far as the diocese is concerned we do not exist. We are a non-entity, Mr. Wagner said yesterday. But I will not abandon these people. I will continue to pastor and pray for them in the midst of this crisis.   He said the decision to close the church was a surprise because it’s so close to Christmas.   Ronald Harrison, executive archdeacon of the Diocese of New Westminster, said Holy Cross 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.   The decision by Bishop Ingham to sanction same-sex unions and the broader issue of homosexuality are dividing Anglicans. In October, church leaders met at a crisis conference in London called in part because of Bishop Ingham’s approval of same-sex unions. The Canadian House of Bishops has also set up a task force to look at parishes opposed to Bishop Ingham’s decision. Holy Cross, a mission church that relies on its funding from the diocese, is part of a group of breakaway churches in New Westminster that was seeking episcopal oversight by Bishop Terry Buckle of the Yukon.   In October, the Diocesan Council of New Westminster voted to close Holy Cross but needed Bishop Ingham’s approval. However, funding was withdrawn from the church.   In a letter dated Dec. 18, Bishop Ingham informed Mr. Wagner that he had decided to close the church.   Mr. Wagner said he told parishioners the news on Sunday. They were shocked and surprised that it would come at this time. When they got the news it was four days before Christmas.   None of the other churches in the breakaway group has been closed. Because they are incorporated individually, and don’t rely on funding from the diocese, they have been able to carry on.   Mr. Wagner said his church was being ostracized within the diocese though it is aligned with Anglican thinking worldwide.   Substantially we are right in step with Anglicans throughout the world and that has great consolation for them [the parishioners] because they very much want to be Anglicans. They are not doing things rebelliously and very much want to be a part of the family of Anglicans throughout the world, Mr. Wagner said.   The termination of the church meant they were like sheep without a shepherd, he said.   He said although they would celebrate Mass on Christmas Day, they would not be recognized as Anglicans. It’s not just that the Diocese of New Westminster will not recognize us as Anglicans, the really sad thing is that, unofficially, there are many Anglicans who want to recognize us, but, officially, there is no one that will recognize us as such.   Mr. Wagner had already had his pay cut off by the diocese and said he now needed to consult with his lawyer to see what his position is.   I don’t regret what I am doing or the circumstances I find myself in. I think that Jesus often talked about his disciples having to count the cost and having to take up their cross, he said.   He called on the Canadian House of Bishops and primates internationally for clear leadership.   Mr. Wagner said the parish had already been in discussion with the House of Bishops’ task force. The task force was set up to establish adequate provision for Episcopal oversight of dissenting minorities.   It followed a call from Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, who warned the Anglican Church was in danger of splintering over the issue of homosexuality.   After the task force was set up, Bishop Ingham wrote to Holy Cross offering to restore its funding if it accepted his authority.   Mr. Harrison said the bishop had never had a satisfactory reply except from Mr. Wagner, who said he was consulting his lawyer.   We support and fund all kinds of things, including mission initiatives, but if they have openly declared their hostility to the diocese and the diocesan bishop and will not rescind that even when the bishop has stepped back from the plate, the question is: Why would we fund that?   The decision was made months ago and the bishop withheld his decision while he waited for the parish to respond favourably. They didn’t correspond with him. It has nothing to do with Christmas. We have been waiting for their response for some time.

By Luke Pelser   JUICY ECUMENISM June 10, 2025   Episcopal Church officials are emphasizing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) advocacy even as the Federal government and some corporations dial back their public embrace of Pride Month following the “Bud Light”  backlash  of 2023 and increasingly visible public skepticism of transgenderism. The denomination’s Manhattan headquarters hosted a special June 1 communion service to bless and commission Episcopalians participating in Pride Month celebrations. Led by Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe, the service featured a sermon delivered by transgender Episcopal Priest and activist the Rev. Cameron Partridge. The service took place at the Chapel of Christ the Lord at the Episcopal Church Center in New York. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe celebrated the Eucharist while Partridge preached remotely from San Francisco’s St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in the livestreamed event. Partridge, as was touched on briefly in the sermon, transitioned from a female to male identity in 2001 and went on to be ordained in the Episcopal Diocese in Massachusetts. In 2011, Partridge served at Boston University as its first transgender chaplain. In 2014, Partridge became the first transgender priest to  preach  at the Episcopal Church’s Washington National Cathedral. Among the most influential conversations Partridge had, then identifying as gay but not as transgender, when questioning whether or not to pursue ordination was with a Philadelphia gay clergyman named John, who, when asked by Partridge about being gay in relationship with his ministry, said “My life is defined by love, and being gay is how I love.” This largely focuses on the concept upheld by the Episcopal Church, which stands out in Partridge’s sermon, that the church should recognize the unique embodiments of every individual as a signpost of the divine image and that people ought to be glorified as such. This interprets and utilizes the idea from  Genesis 1:27  indicating that people are made in the  imago dei  (image of God). The sermon message drew from passages in the Gospel of John and the First Epistle of John emphasizing a connection and identity of those who follow Jesus Christ as being first and foremost children of God. “Both God and the community were not and would not be seen for who and what they were,” Partridge preached. Partridge cited  1 John 3:1  in support of this idea that reads, “The world does not recognize us for the world has not recognized God.” According to Partridge, Jesus Christ offers for the people of God a community defined by a shared love that illuminates the glory of unique individuals made in the image of God. The San Francisco Rector described that God’s glory shines through those who are truly recognized by him. The community of God is held together and becomes one through a shared radical love that rejects no person. The recognition of the light and glory of God in unique persons of the LGBTQ community is realized, not in spite of what they are but because of what they are, Partridge insists. Partridge described the love of God in action as the church and its members seeking out the light and uniqueness of every individual and to celebrate, recognize, and to allow that light to radiate even brighter through what Partridge describes as the “transformative love” of God. This is the exhortation that the preacher concluded with in sending out the Episcopal Church into the activities and events in the month of June. “As this month unfolds, as we celebrate Pride around and beyond our church, let us seek out and celebrate that light in one another. Let us actively seek to perceive one another, refusing the distortions and dehumanizing political rhetoric all too often uttered in the name of Christian theology. Let us behold and uphold one another in recognition of the divine beauty in which we stand, queer, trans and allied beloved,” the Episcopal priest concluded. Episcopalians have a long history of LGBTQ affirmation. In 1976, deputies to Episcopal General Convention adopted resolutions stating that “homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church” ( 1976-A069 ), and that they “are entitled to equal protection of the laws with all other citizens” ( 1976-A071 ).  What began as toleration shifted to required affirmation. In 2012 General Convention  authorized  canonical changes prohibiting discrimination in the ordination process on the basis of gender identity and or expression. In  2015 , immediately following the Supreme Court decision in  Obergefell v. Hodges , canon law was further changed for gender-neutral marriage rites between any two persons. The denomination’s  Book of Common Prayer  remains unchanged, but most parts of the Episcopal Church today hold that homosexual practice, transgenderism, and other configurations of gender identity and expression are not sinful and requiring of repentance. Instead, they are viewed as immutable characteristics central to a person’s identity and therefore merit special protection and privilege, as displayed in the recent Pride Eucharist. It can be tempting for Christians outside of the Episcopal Church who uphold a biblical sexual ethic and oppose same-sex and transgender practices on scriptural, theological, or moral grounds to quickly disregard these views as mistaken without first engaging their line of reasoning. The June 1 service and Pride Month in general raises important questions and ideas for Christians who oppose this view to wrestle with, including asking what it means to show radical love to our LGBTQ neighbors without condoning or unconditionally affirming practices that the Episcopal and other progressive mainline Protestant churches accept and promote. More from IRD: National Cathedral ‘Comes Out’ With Transgender Preacher

Three-year spending plan marks 36% jump over last period Proposals come after four years of growth in churchgoing Clergy stipends to rise by 10.7% under plans   By Muvija M REUTERS June 9, 2025   LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - The Church of England will spend a record 1.6 billion pounds ($2.17 billion) over the next three years to boost clergy stipends and help cash-strapped parishes, it said on Monday, hoping to build on signs of a churchgoing revival among Britons.   The 2026-2028 spending plan is 36% higher than the previous period and will help revitalise local churches and outreach after four years of growth in church attendance, the mother church of 85 million Anglicans worldwide said.   A YouGov/Bible Society report this year found that a growing number of young men are attending church in Britain compared with before the COVID pandemic, upending an established trend of generational decline in Christianity across Western nations.   The number of regular worshippers across 16,000 Anglican churches in Britain grew 1.2% to 1.02 million in 2024. The country's overall population is roughly 68 million.   "Parishes and clergy are at the heart of everything we do in the Church ... It is also vital that we prioritise support for churches serving communities in the greatest need," the Church's interim leader, Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, said in the statement.   The plans to increase stipends - payments made to clergy to cover their cost of living - by 10.7% next year will be financed by the Church Commissioners, who manage the institution's 11.1 billion endowment fund. That fund grew by 10.3% in 2024.   The Church, under pressure over failures to handle child abuse complaints, said it would spend 30 million pounds on safeguarding work and confirmed 150 million pounds would be allocated to a redress scheme.   A separate Church Commissioners’ report estimated their reputational risk to be at an elevated level and warned of far-reaching impacts, as safeguarding failures undermine public confidence in the Church. ($1 = 0.7375 pounds)

By Chuck Collins June 9, 2025   England’s Act of Uniformity of 1549 was the first time in the Church of England that liturgical uniformity was ordered for all. It aimed to convert the hearts and minds of the English people for the transformation of society.   The 1549 Book of Common Prayer was a theological and liturgical tsunami: a night-and-day change from the Medieval Roman Catholic worship and theology. Gregory Dix commented, “With an inexcusable suddenness, between a Saturday night and a Monday morning at Pentecost 1549, the English liturgical tradition of nearly a thousand years was altogether overturned.”   The new Prayer Book was mandated for use in every church in England starting Pentecost Sunday, June 9, 1549. This Book was the work of the Archbishop of Canterbury, but also that of a committee of six bishops and six other learned men under the presidency of Thomas Cranmer. They reportedly began with Cranmer’s working draft, and had as few as three weeks of actual in-person discussions.   The Book was never intended to be but an interim step toward the unashamed Protestantism of the Edwardian Church of England. Cranmer “began planning a second edition as soon as the first was off the presses” (G.J. Cuming). The first Book was not printed in a people’s edition or pocket size as a permanent book would indicate, but only in “altar size” for the clergy. The more Protestant 1552 revision became (verbatim, with a few minor changes) the 1559 and the 1662 editions of the Book of Common Prayer - the standard for all future Prayer Book revisions in the Church of England.   In the words of the 2008 Jerusalem Declaration: “We rejoice in our Anglican sacramental and liturgical heritage as an expression of the gospel, and we uphold the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer, to be translated and locally adapted for each culture.”   Cranmer’s Prayer Book was in English, not Latin, which represented a gigantic move to make worship the work of the people and not just a priest doing his magic at a high altar.   It removed all suggestions of Eucharistic sacrifice, transubstantiation, the invocation of saints, and purgatory. Stone altars, which suggested that Jesus is re-sacrificed in every mass, were replaced by wooden communion tables placed in the midst of the congregation.   The Word of God (God’s promises proclaimed) replaced the priest as the instrument by which grace is offered in the sacrament. Other sacerdotal priestly actions were summarily removed: the lifting-up (elevation) and adoration of the sacrament, sanctus bells, and the prayer invoking the Holy Spirit (the “epiclesis”).   Whereas in the Middle Ages the wine of Holy Communion was considered too holy for non-clergy, the new Prayer Book ordered that everyone, lay and clergy alike, were to receive both the bread and wine. Private confession to a priest was offered as a pastoral option for some who would find it helpful, but it was no longer a requirement for receiving Holy Communion.   What was Cranmer trying to do? To teach the grace and mercy of God for sinners. “Thomas Cranmer devoted the full powers of his position as Primate of All England to inculcating the Protestant faith into every fibre of English life and law” (Ashley Null). Week-after-week Anglican worship takes the congregation from guilt to grace to gratitude (from the Commandments to the Creed to the Prayer of Thanksgiving after communion).   Each Sunday Anglicans rehearse the saving actions of Jesus Christ for sinners. “What he [Cranmer] wants us to see is that Prayer Book worship is, first to last, justification by faith set forth in liturgy so that it might be re-apprehended and re-experienced in regular acts of devotion" (J. I. Packer).   Cranmer’s Prayer Book is “the only effective attempt ever made to give liturgical expression to the doctrine of ‘justification by faith alone’” (Gregory Dix).  Zac Hicks says it best: “What overwhelmed Cranmer was God’s love for him in Christ, and once that love seized him, the Archbishop became fiercely committed to the clear proclamation of that good news. In other words, Cranmer’s vision for liturgical renewal was intensely fixated on the gospel. His evangelical convictions drove his liturgical decisions.”   The Rev. Canon Chuck Collins is a reform theologian who regularly writes on Anglican issues. He resides in Texas.

Students in front of Hamu Mukasa Library, built, in part, with USAID monies   By the Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll June 9, 2025 Modern Uganda was largely related to the United Kingdom in the 20th century – first as a “protectorate” and later as a member of the British Commonwealth. Similarly Anglican missions in Uganda were sponsored by the Church Mission Society in England, which fortunately was led by the philosophy that “the evangelisation of Africa must come from the Africans.” For this reason, African church leaders took over the bulk of educational work, including training clergy at Bishop Tucker Theological College (1913-1996). When the Anglican Church of Uganda determined to “enhance” Bishop Tucker College to the university level, its leaders turned to America, and I became UCU’s first Vice Chancellor (President). This statement is overly simplistic. My wife, Peggy, and I received an unexpected call from God in 1999. At the time, we frankly could not understand why the Lord would choose two people who had never sought mission work and who had never even been to Africa.  But He did. Looking back, I count my experience as an orthodox Anglican and an American citizen as one reason for the University’s remarkable progress during my 10 years. Let me list some ways: UCU (Mukono campus) residence halls, including Nsibambi Dormitory (right corner) that was constructed, in part, with USAID funding   Global Anglicans  – In the late 1990s, I had become increasingly involved with Anglicans from the Global South, capped off by my presence at the 1998 Lambeth Conference. During my ten years at UCU, I traveled around the world twice and contacted numerous church leaders and mission societies. In return, we hosted visitors and missionaries on campus from many countries, including a cohort of American college students each semester who lived with and studied with their African counterparts. U.S. Embassy  – I was fortunate to have two supportive U.S. Ambassadors during my time. Ambassador Jimmy Kolker (2002-2005) in particular was a model of cooperation, endorsing our application for a University Charter, helping our staff to get travel visas to the USA, and even speaking to the student body immediately after the Afghanistan invasion in 2003. His successor, Steven Browning (2006-2009), supported us in obtaining the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) grants described below.  Books . When I first visited UCU in January 2000, I discovered that it had a good theological library but almost no books in other subjects. By God’s grace, I found out about and applied for a USAID grant to receive (new) textbooks; in July of the same year, a container van with 16,000 books arrived on the campus. We received two subsequent shipments over the next 10 years in the same program. Grants for Capital Projects . I became aware of USAID’s “American Schools and Hospitals Abroad” (ASHA) program in 2001 when President George Bush announced his “Faith-Based and Community Initiative,” which was extended to overseas partnerships. UCU Partners, the non-profit organization I had helped found, provided the home base for a series of four grants under ASHA, totaling $2.1 million toward the building of a residence hall and the beautiful Ham Mukasa Library. The University more than equaled the USA contribution from its own capital funds. Fulbright Scholars . Fulbright Grants are offered to U.S. scholars to have a study period overseas. When I first arrived, Fulbright scholars were restricted to Uganda Government universities, but after UCU was chartered, we began to receive an increasing number of research scholars to the campus. Most notably, the first Fulbright grantee, Dr. Karen Drake from Bethel University in Minnesota, helped found the Nursing Program at UCU, which is recognized as the best in the country.  The Hamu Mukasa Library and Nsibambi Dormitory were partially paid with USAID money,  The cooperation UCU received from the United States in the university’s formative years was critical to its growth and reputation. Over the past quarter century, it has graduated more than 30,000 students and has a current enrollment of 14,000 spread over six campuses The University now offers a full menu of degrees, including engineering, law and medicine; and it is considered one of the top universities in East Africa. Uganda Christian University has always been self-sufficient, reliant on tuition and fees paid by Ugandan students and their families. However, as outlined above, support from the US government has provided strategic investment to UCU, increasing its quality and ability to equip Ugandans to make a difference in their country and communities. The Rev. Dr. Stephen Noll, was UCU’s first Vice Chancellor (2000-2010) and is a Board Member for UCU Partners, based in Pennsylvania, USA.

COMMENTARY   By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org June 9, 2025   Some 15 Episcopalians met recently in the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island to have a respectful conversation on same-sex marriage, with a view, presumably, to bridge the gulf between opposing views.   For the Rev. Scott Gunn, one answer is to bring together a group of people who “disagree about things that are important to each individual” and engage in thoughtful discourse “in a loving and respectful way.”   “Jesus told us to love our neighbors,” Gunn told TLC, “And we don’t always agree with our neighbors. I think the conversations that we’re having are important, not only because they’re about same-sex marriage, but they’re helping us practice the skill of having difficult conversations with people that we are called to love.”  But nowhere does Jesus in his plea to love our enemies meaning "loving our neighbors" does it imply abdicating the basic tenets of the faith which Gunn is advocating.   Episcopal Bishop Larry Provenzano of Long Island emphasized the need to continue the work of reconciliation throughout the church by acknowledging and listening to diverse viewpoints on same-sex marriage. Without compromising core theological principles, the Church must “prioritize understanding” as if there is no absolute across difference to maintain unity.   Well just how much have homosexuals in the Episcopal Church loved those who disagree with them? They haven’t. There has been no compromise. They have been told by people like the late Louie Crew, the late Jack Spong and (the Rev.) Susan Russell, a fierce lesbian, that if you don’t conform then get the hell out of TEC.   Look what happened to Bishop Bill Love of Albany, or the bishop wannabe of Florida, Charlie Holt.  He was told not once but twice he was unacceptable as bishop even though he was prepared to compromise his personal belief on the altar of same-sex marriage for the “higher good” of the diocese. He was toast after lesbian priestess Susan Russell weighed in.   And then there is the case of David Duggan, frequent contributor of devotional essays to these pages, who opposed the ordination of a practicing homosexual (supposedly married to a man, with an adopted daughter to boot). The "ordinand" used Duggan's opposition to secure a "No Stalking Order of Protection" against Duggan while lying under oath, which cost him two-years worth of income to vacate. Duggan's efforts to get recompense for this violation of canons and normal principles of law have so far been unfruitful. But faith persists.   These gatherings do nothing; the die has been cast. TEC will never reverse itself on B012 and they will never tolerate disagreement. There is not a chance in hell that a person with orthodox views on sexuality would ever be elected a bishop in the Episcopal Church again. Never. The small highly vocal gay and lesbian bishops would never give consents.   These gatherings are a veneer of religiosity. It is one ‘white-washed tomb’ talking to another ‘white-washed tomb’ in the hope that the corpse doesn’t have to hear what the other really thinks. “On the outside you appear to people as righteous but, on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness,” said Jesus. (Mt. 23:27-28)   These gatherings are designed to relieve the consciences of those who know that TEC will never change its mind or retreat from its new position. And they don’t care if the church goes under in the next decade or so as boomers die off, the check books dry up, and there is no replacement. If columbaria were traded on the Nasdaq, it would be a buy.   SEX IS THEIR IDENTITY NOT CHRIST   Future historians will marvel that western Christianity was divided, not over the two natures of Christ or the atonement or the bodily resurrection of Jesus, but about who should be permitted to have sex with whom.   It bears repeating that God created ‘male and female’ (Gen 1:27 and 5:2) and He closed the sexual matrix never to reopen it. Jesus affirmed that God created humans as male and female, and that marriage is between one man and one woman. (Mark 10:6-9) He had no need to reinvent the sexual wheel to affirm homosexual unions.   ‘COMMUNION ACROSS DIFFERENCE’   Communion across difference ran the headline in The Living Church. What communion? The communion’s fabric has been torn and will never be repaired. GAFCON and GSFA bishops will no longer sit down with TEC or the Anglican Church of Canada, and now the Church of England. The “difference” is deep and wide and will never be bridged. It is wider than the River Thames, and with a winter storm it would wash them all away.   A Thoughtful Dialogue on Same-Sex Marriage. Really!   The church is as divided as Russia is from the Ukraine; as Gaza is from the rest of Israel, and the notion that we can all get along over tea and crumpets, but not bullets, is pure fiction. TEC has split, it is forever divided. The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a witness to that divide and they are not going away. They are vigorously doing evangelism and discipleship to reach the next generation for Christ.   TEC has no message for generations X, Y and Z. None. They have tried twice passing resolutions at General Convention to double the church and it has fallen flat. If they think that woke issues will draw people, they are wrong, dead wrong. You can get all that from the New York Times and left-wing social media. Waving gay flags from atop church steeples or from pulpits changes nothing. It is all virtue-signaling.   The local Methodist church near where I live is down to 10 people. They now wave a gay flag and loudly proclaim their allegiance to homosexuals. None attend. The local Two Queers coffee shop ignore the church. In a year the Methodist church bishop will claim the property, sell it off, and someone will throw the gay flag in the garbage bin. Sic transit gloria mundi.   The Rev. Dr. Matthew S.C. Olver, executive director and publisher of THE LIVING CHURCH, a convener of the group, wryly noted that looking at the context of the U.S. church, it might seem that the progressive side won the debate on marriage for same-sex persons. On that point he is absolutely right. TEC won, and for their sin the church will wither away in a generation; the judgment of God for all to see.   END

Reputation risk ‘at an elevated level’ in wake of John Smyth case and historical safeguarding failures, says report Fiona Parker THE TELEGRAPH 09 June 2025   John Smyth, who ran Christian youth camps, carried out psychological, sexual and physical abuse over five decades Credit: CH4 NEWS/UNPIXS The organisation that manages a large part of the Church of England’s assets is bracing itself for a recruitment crisis in the wake of its latest abuse scandal, a report suggests. The Church Commissioners of England has described its reputational risk as “at an elevated level” after the Anglican Church apologised for more historic safeguarding failures and a review into one prolific abuser prompted the  Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation . It comes as the body that manages the Church’s endowment fund – its largest source of revenue – announced a 10.3 per cent return last year, taking the value of the fund to £11.1 billion at the end of last year. In November, the extent of abuse carried out by  barrister John Smyth , who abused up to 130 boys and young men over several decades, was revealed in a damning report. Smyth, who died aged 77 in 2018, used his role at Christian summer camps to meet victims, yet his crimes were not reported until 2013, decades after many were carried out. The  2024 Makin review , found that the “abhorrent abuse” by Smyth could have been  exposed four years earlier  if Justin Welby, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, had contacted the authorities and done more to follow up on reports. Mr Welby announced his resignation days after the report, and formally ended his tenure earlier this year. A replacement for the highest position in the Church of England is yet to be decided, with the selection process not set to conclude until later this year.   The Makin review found that Justin Welby had been given a detailed account of John Smyth’s abuse in 2013. A section of the 2024 Church Commissioners for England annual report suggested there were concerns about the effects on its own recruitment. The report said: “Reputation is important for any charity, and the Church Commissioners considers its reputational risk currently to be at an elevated level. “Members of the public, whether they consider themselves part of the Church of England or not, can quickly form opinions about the Church as an institution based on what they see/hear/read in various forms of media, which understandably impacts their perception and view of the Church Commissioners.” Referring to the Smyth case and Mr Welby’s resignation, the authors wrote: “This case and other safeguarding failures undermine public confidence in the assertions made by the Church, including the Church Commissioners, about the importance of, and priority given to, safeguarding. “The potential reputational impacts could be far reaching; for example they may in turn make it more difficult for us to attract and retain staff.” Slavery reparations The same part of the report also referred to controversial slavery reparations, which were set to total £100 million over a nine-year period. It named the Fund for Healing Repair and Justice, an investment fund that will aim to raise £1 billion for members of communities affected by slavery, following criticism that the £100 million sum was not enough. Acknowledging the reparations issue, the report read: “The highly significant and contested nature of the Church Commissioners’ work researching and responding to historical links with African chattel enslavement also attracted significant attention, comment and, in some cases, criticism. “Further reaction (including negative comment) to this programme of work is expected when the intended new Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice is launched, making investments and issuing grants.” Meanwhile, it was revealed that clergy would receive a pay rise of nearly 11 per cent next year as their stipends continue to catch up with salaries. The two key measures for clergy pay, the National Minimum Stipend and the National Stipend Benchmark, will both rise by 10.7 per cent next year, to £33,350 and £34,950 respectively. END