The Bishop of Olympia, the Rt. Rev. Gregory H. Rickel believes he has come up with the perfect solution to same-sex marriage. He says his idea is not exactly new, but it is based on the notion of fidelity. "Fidelity is the value in most all our sacraments and also in our life as Christians," he opined in a statement at his diocesan website.

"It seems to me we have held our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in a 'catch-22'. We say they cannot live up to our value because they cannot be married, or even blessed in their union. While many of them have begged for this, it is still not possible. What they ask of us, the church and the government, is to put boundaries around their relationship, to hold them in the same regard and with the same respect, which would also mean that we expect the same from them. They are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for equal treatment. They are asking to be accountable, as a couple, in community. To me, this is a conservative proposal. I am for it, and I hope we will finally make way for this to happen, not only in our society, but also in our church."

There you have it – a clear unalloyed statement of support for gay couples as long, of course, that they are faithful and monogamous and don't misbehave like heterosexuals do from time to time.

It is expected that Washington state legislators will soon deliberate two bills, HB2516 & SB6239, which would make same sex marriage law in that state. "Our Episcopal Church, after a long discussion about this over the years is poised to do roughly the same this summer at our General Convention," noted the bishop.

VOL believes there are multiple reasons why the bishop and the passage of this proposed legislation is wrong.

Here are a few reasons:

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Today the Supreme Court of Texas noted probable jurisdiction over the direct appeal filed by Bishop Jack L. Iker and his diocesan corporation from the summary judgment granted in favor of ECUSA and the rump diocese of Fort Worth a year ago. (The Texas Supreme Court accepts very few direct appeals from the judgments of trial courts, and there are strict standards which such requests must satisfy. The Court's acknowledgment that there is "probable jurisdiction" means that, at this stage of the case, it appears that all of the jurisdictional requirements for a direct appeal are satisfied. By doing so, the Court signals that it will postpone any final decision on whether it in fact does have jurisdiction under the applicable standards to its eventual disposition of the case. Meanwhile, it will hold oral arguments and deliberate on the case as though it had been an appeal accepted from one of the Courts of Appeal.)

No definite date for oral argument appears to have been set yet. The arguments in the San Angelo case (Church of the Good Shepherd), currently set for February 29, 2012, are the last dates for arguments which the Court currently has scheduled. Its calendar of arguments for March and April should be published shortly.

Of course, this is huge news for Bishop Iker and his Diocese. First, the Texas Supreme Court accepts the petition for review in the Good Shepherd case, in which it notes that the issues to be decided are as follows:

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 In recent years, a number of Episcopal congregations across the country have been at odds with church hierarchy over Christian teachings.

Episcopal dioceses that have relationships with the Episcopal Church of Sudan have begun to respond to a letter recently released by Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, in which he rescinded an invitation to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to visit with his church.

Bishop Jeff Lee of the Diocese of Chicago said in a letter to the diocese:

"The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and the Episcopal Diocese of Renk in the Church of Sudan have enjoyed a highly collaborative and deeply enriching mission relationship for ten years. We have visited frequently with them, and they with us. More than two dozen of our congregations work directly in partnership with parishes in Renk to build and support schools, churches and hospitals that provide essential services to people whose country was torn by war for decades and is now newly independent and fragile. Here in Chicago, we have been blessed beyond imagining by the steadfast faith and courage of our sisters and brothers in Renk.

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The American Episcopal Church’s support for gay bishops and blessings has led the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS) to ban Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori from visiting the church. The dis-invitation to Bishop Jefferts Schori follows a vote by the ECS House of Bishops last month to swap its recognition of the Episcopal Church for the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) as the legitimate expression of Anglicanism in the United States.

In a letter dated 15 December 2011, Archbishop Daniel Deng, writing on behalf of the House of Bishops stated that while the ECS acknowledged Bishop Jefferts Schori’s “personal efforts” to support the ECS, “it remains difficult for us to invite you when elements of your church continue to flagrantly disregard biblical teaching on human sexuality.”

At the 14-16 November 2011 meeting of the ECS General Synod, the church’s House of Bishops adopted a statement reaffirming the stance taken at the 2008 Lambeth Conference which rejected “homosexual practice as contrary to Biblical teaching and can accept no place for it within ECS.”

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Two Episcopal dioceses that have relationships with the Episcopal Church of Sudan have responded to a letter, recently released by Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, in which he rescinded an invitation to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to visit with his church. He blasted Katharine Jefferts Schori for "flagrantly disregarding biblical teaching on human sexuality."

"It is with a heavy heart that I write you informing you of our decision as a House of Bishops to withdraw your invitation to the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS). We acknowledge your personal efforts to spearhead prayer and support campaigns on behalf of the ECS and remain very grateful for this attention you and your church have paid to Sudan and South Sudan. However, it remains difficult for us to invite you when elements of your church continue to flagrantly disregard biblical teaching on human sexuality."

Bishop Jeffrey Lee of the Diocese of Chicago said in a letter to his diocese, "The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and the Episcopal Diocese of Renk in the Church of Sudan have enjoyed a highly collaborative and deeply enriching mission relationship for ten years. We have visited frequently with them, and they with us. More than two dozen of our congregations work directly in partnership with parishes in Renk to build and support schools, churches and hospitals that provide essential services to people whose country was torn by war for decades and is now newly independent and fragile. Here in Chicago, we have been blessed beyond imagining by the steadfast faith and courage of our sisters and brothers in Renk.

"The political seasons of the Anglican Communion come and go, and tensions sometimes boil over. That appears to have happened last week when Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul chose to withdraw an invitation to visit that he had previously made to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. This was regrettable, but disagreements among primates who are often playing to audiences we are not aware of should not disrupt relationships among Anglicans working together in mission.
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In Jeffert Schori's recent book, The Heartbeat of God, she cleverly weaves together her vision of the future Episcopal Church-interfaith communities partnered with a huge United States government. She writes, it is all about, "Mission, mission, mission", (91) and describes many different projects that parishes can start in tandem with the government and other secular groups. Jefferts Schori's underlying terror in this book is clear: create more projects at the parishes or the Episcopal Church is going to disappear. Get to work, peons. Our ship is sinking.

She tells us what to do about any problem in glib and superficial terms that include disparate advice such as to eat our protein, wash our dishes by hand, celebrate layoffs in the Episcopal Church, support the Obama health care bill, call ourselves beloved, criticize the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, make the United States government limit capitalistic profits, declare unity in the Episcopal Church, and plant gardens on the church lawns.

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Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) officials have withdrawn an invitation for a visit by the head of the U.S.-based Episcopal Church (TEC) because of TEC’s liberal stances on sexual issues. It is a stinging rebuke of the official American branch of the global Anglican Communion. Equally striking, the Sudanese have recognized the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), the Episcopal Church’s conservative American rival.

With about 4.5 million members, the growing church in Sudan outnumbers the declining U.S. based denomination, which has fewer than 2 million. Overwhelmingly poor and besieged for years by war and persecution, mostly from the Islamist regime in Khartoum, ECS is strongly theologically conservative, like most African churches. Many Anglican churches in Africa and elsewhere in the Global South have distanced themselves from TEC even as they remain in the global Anglican Communion of about 80 million believers.

The statement of recognition is a significant move for the Sudanese bishops, who, unlike other Anglican provinces in Africa, had been reluctant to distance themselves from TEC, even as they openly criticized TEC moves. Sudanese Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul Yak briefly visited the Episcopal Church’s 2009 General Convention in Anaheim, California.

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The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan, the Most Rev. Daniel Deng Bul has written a letter to Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, disinviting her to the Sudan because elements in The Episcopal Church "flagrantly disregard biblical teaching on human sexuality.

"It is with a heavy heart that I write you informing you of our decision as a House of Bishops to withdraw your invitation to the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS). We acknowledge your personal efforts to spearhead prayer and support campaigns on behalf of the ECS and remain very grateful for this attention you and your church have paid to Sudan and South Sudan. However, it remains difficult for us to invite you when elements of your church continue to flagrantly disregard biblical teaching on human sexuality."

The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan met in Juba from 14-16 November 2011. In the context of General Synod, they reaffirmed the statement of the Sudanese Bishops at the Lambeth Conference in 2008.

"We reject homosexual practice as contrary to Biblical teaching and can accept no place for it within ECS. We strongly oppose developments within the Anglican Church in USA and Canada in consecrating a practicing homosexual as bishop and in approving a rite for the blessing of same-sex relationships.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

During the last several weeks, the American Anglican Council staff and I have read the letters from the Primate of Rwanda, other Rwandan bishops, AMiA Chairman Bishop Chuck Murphy, AMiA members in Washington DC, and other assorted news postings. We have refrained from commenting until more of the story emerged, and even now there is the sense that there is still more to be put on the table.

From our perspective this is so very sad, and with personal friends in AMiA, and a long time acquaintanceship with Bishop Murphy and retired Archbishops Kolini and Yong Ping Chung, the pain that so many are feeling is real and has faces that I recognize.

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Anglican Mission in the Americas will go it alone until new overseas oversight is formed
Three overseas archbishops stand with AMIA

 The Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA), the first group of Episcopalians to leave The Episcopal Church over a crisis of faith and leadership more than a decade ago, has withdrawn from the Anglican Province of Rwanda following a breakdown in talks between Rwanda and the Anglican Mission, which was exploring the possibility of reorganizing as a Missionary Society and no longer simply as a Personal Prelature.

The chairman of the Anglican Mission, the Rt. Rev. Charles H. Murphy, III announced yesterday that he and seven of his fellow Anglican Mission bishops, along with retired Bishop John Rodgers, have resigned from the Anglican Province of Rwanda due to a strong difference in opinion about the future structure and identity of the Anglican Mission. You can read the letter of resignation here.

Bishop Murphy had been seated as a Primatial vicar in the Rwandan House of Bishops on an equal footing with Rwanda's House of Bishops.

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The liberal hierarchy of TEC's attempts to oust Bishop Mark Lawrence are not over yet.  This is a letter from Bishop Clifton Daniel:

Dear Mark,

I write to you following the regular annual meeting of the bishops of Province 4, gathered this year in Memphis, Tennessee. We missed you and understood your need to stay at home and close to your diocese.

The meeting covered a variety of topics: the Denominational Health Plan; the beginning of a search process for a new dean of the School of Theology at Sewanee; the upcoming Provincial Synod in June and the General Convention in July; ministry to retired clergy and their families; Daughters of the King; a prison ministry network in our province; ongoing concerns about the sin of racism in our world and church; and immigration, among other topics.

We also considered, with some concern, recent publicly reported actions regarding quitclaim deeds given to parishes in the Diocese of South Carolina. Since we have had no direct communication from you regarding these reported actions, we determined that it is our duty as bishops of this province to address these concerns in direct communication with you, as Jesus exhorts his followers in Matthew's Gospel (18:15-20), and in accord with our ordination vows regarding the unity and governance of the church. What we seek in the coming weeks is a face-to-face meeting with you and and a representative group of your fellow Bishops Diocesan of Province 4 in order to have a clarifying conversation and to address the concerns raised among us:

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus,

This last week has seen some interesting developments in the Anglican/Episcopal world. The Episcopal Church's (TEC) Disciplinary Board for Bishops, chaired by retired Bishop Dorsey Henderson, has issued its findings on the charges filed by the "TEC loyalists" in the Diocese of South Carolina against their orthodox bishop, Mark Lawrence.

With TEC Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori's backing and support, the SC loyalists certainly had the time and advice to get the charges right against Bishop Lawrence, but since there isn't actually any hard evidence of his abandoning or intending to abandon the communion of TEC, their combined zeal for a hanging apparently caused them to level charges based on their hopes and fears.

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The Episcopal Church's Disciplinary Board for Bishops concluded this week that South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence has not abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church and dropped all charges against him.

It was a revelatory moment that most orthodox Episcopalians, including this writer, thought would never happen.

The Rt. Rev. Dorsey Henderson, President of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops, said the eighteen-person Board could not muster a majority to charge the Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence of South Carolina with "abandonment of the Communion of this Church." Under Title IV, Canon 16, a bishop is deemed to have abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church by an open renunciation of the doctrine, discipline or worship of the church; by formal admission into any religious body not in communion with the church; or by exercising episcopal acts in and for a religious body other than the church or another church in communion with the church.

"Applied strictly to the information under study, none of these three provisions was deemed applicable by a majority of the board," Henderson said in his statement.

Canon Law Attorney A.S. Haley called it a clumsy attempt to take seriously the allegations of "abandonment" lodged by dissidents from Bishop Lawrence's own Diocese, who tried to turn his steadfast insistence on the central importance of Holy Scripture to the life of the Church into a case for his abandonment of it. Haley called the charges "childish."

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I write to you in this season of Advent when we await with eagerness the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in great glory to judge both the living and the dead, even while we prepare to celebrate his birth among us so long ago in that unlikely place and with an unimaginable wonder and unspeakable grace—the Word made flesh. In this season of hope we also rejoice in his daily visitation. To that end it is with such hope that I report to you that late yesterday afternoon I received a phone call from Bishop Dorsey Henderson, President of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops, regarding their ruling on my case which has been before them for several months. In a conference of the board members on November 22nd the Disciplinary Board was unable to certify that I had abandoned the Episcopal Church. While the statement leaves many questions unanswered—frankly, to my mind it appears to read like a complex statement of a complex decision in a complex time within a complex church. Nevertheless, I believe it is best to take it at face value (even while noting that this diocese has not recognized the constitutionality of the new disciplinary canon). For now given no more allegations from anonymous sources within the diocese it is my hope we can all get back to focusing our full attention on proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and to Glory of God the Father that the Church here in the Diocese of South Carolina may add daily to its number those who are being saved.

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Read also:  Disciplinary Board clears charges against Bishop Lawrence by Allan S Haley

The consecration of Mariann Budde in the Washington National Cathedral was a bizarre excursion into New Age darkness only paralleled by her first sermon the following day.

In the consecration sermon, Rev. Linda Kaufman repeatedly referred to a New Age David Whyte poem, even as she found new lows in bad language and questionable cultural symbols. Kaufman declared that the movie Brokeback Mountain (that glorified a homosexual relationship) gave images of shepherds to parishioners. That was after Kaufman's reference to a "kickass sermon" whose violent metaphorical imagery of attacking other people seems out of place for a people dedicated to the Prince of Peace. But Budde's self-revelatory New Age sermon equaled her accident-prone consecration.

In just the beginning moments of the November 13, 2011 sermon, Budde once again quoted her New Age master, David Whyte. (You can watch this sermon online but looking at it requires real fortitude because you will once again see the bright orange vestments.) In one sentence towards the beginning, Budde talks of "Jesus and all of the great spiritual masters before and after him." Jesus Christ becomes one of many spiritual masters and for Budde, one not to the level of her chosen master, David Whyte, whose words she used throughout the sermon.

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The Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson Jr., president of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops, writes: “Applied strictly to the information under study, none of these three provisions was deemed applicable by a majority of the Board.”

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Read also:  Disciplinary Board dismisses abandonment complaint against South Carolina bishop from ENS

Let me say at the outset that I began this blog in 2008 because I believed that there were things going on in my Church — the Episcopal Church (USA), of which I had been a faithful member from baptism — which required broader attention from those potentially most affected. Specifically, I believed that events ever since 2003 needed attention from those lay people in the Church who might not be able to interpret the legal niceties being urged in the various court and disciplinary proceedings which had been brought in the Church's name up to that time, but who could, as traditional Episcopalians, appreciate that not all of the legal positions being taken by their Church were, shall we say, "kosher".

Ever since my first post, I have focused on the constitutional and canonical violations by those at the head of the Church — generally the steps they took to remove from the Church's ministry those with whom the leadership disagreed on matters such as same-sex marriage, and to alienate the Church from the vast majority of the Anglican Communion. If you are an Episcopalian, I ask that you put all of the hype which you may have read about the Episcopal Church (USA, that is) being "in the forefront" of the movement to recognize same-sex "marriages" into the context of what I shall now relate.

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