Anglican Mainstream

By Sarah Frances Ives, Virtueonline

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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By Jeff Walton, IRD

Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) officials have withdrawn an invitation for a visit by the head of the U.S.-based Episcopal Church (TEC) because of TEC’s liberal stances on sexual issues.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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by David Virtue, VOL

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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From AAC

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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by David Virtue, VOL

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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Hat Tip: Kendall Harmon

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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From AAC

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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By David Virtue, VOL

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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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

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

'Thank God for Mercy' – Living Church editorial

By Sarah Frances Ives, Virtueonline

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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From The Living Church

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

by A S Haley

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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By Jeff Walton, American Spectator

From AAC

[...]  Diocese of South Carolina

There was an interesting development in the Diocese of South Carolina this week. A Quit Claim Deed to the parish property was mailed to every parish in the diocese from Chancellor Wade Logan on Wednesday (the fact that it was coming I understand was announced to the clergy present at the clergy conference on Tuesday night). In Mr. Logan's letter, the following explanation was given:

Why would Bishop Lawrence and the diocesan leadership take such a step? I believe it was out of a desire to preserve the legacy of the gospel in the parishes, as well as to keep the parishes together with the diocese as the means by which the good news of Jesus could be proclaimed. (The fact is that without such deeds some individual parishioners and particular churches would not feel protected from potential threats).

You and I both know that both the diocese and the bishop are under growing pressure from the national church leadership. We also know that exactly those leaders will countenance all sorts of ruinous teaching of Christian doctrine and life, but suddenly when it comes to questions of property they insist that their new line (which is out of step with Episcopal polity and history) be toed.

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From Christian Post

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., announced Tuesday that a church body will be created to incorporate several disaffected Episcopal clergy.

Over half of the 67 Episcopal clergy who have recently applied for membership with the Catholic Church have been approved by the Holy See.

In addition to the clergy, two Episcopal congregations that split from the Anglican Communion will also join the Catholic Church in an agreement that lets them retain their Anglican traditions.

Robert Lundy, communications officer for the American Anglican Council, told The Christian Post that the clergy who left did so because of the Episcopal Church’s “unbiblical actions.”

“We wish them well and understand that their decision was a matter of conscience,” said Lundy, who agreed with their decision to “swim the Tiber," which is a slang term used among some Episcopalians to mean when someone Anglican becomes Catholic.

Jeff Walton, an Anglican staff for the Institute on Religion and Democracy, said the clergy are leaving in order to embrace a more “historic Christianity.”

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By A S Haley

From AAC

In the United States there have recently been a number of issues centering around sexual harassment or misconduct involving people in high places, in one manner or another.

In one case, a presidential aspirant has had old allegations of sexual harassment resurface with unknown damage to his presidential campaign. Yet to be determined is the credibility of the accusations, since many insurance companies will settle financially if the settlement is less than the cost of defending the suit. Having sat for a number of years as the Presiding Judge of the Ecclesiastical Court of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles before I retired, I know that every accusation, even when signed and public, needs to be investigated for factual evidence, and that is what trials are for.

In another case, the long and seemingly hallowed career of a major college football coach has come to an unceremonious and abrupt end because he didn't take reports of a staff member's sexual misconduct seriously enough to fully report it, which includes reporting it to the police. As a result, potentially many more young men may have been sexually victimized. Had he reported it properly and followed through, a predator could have been kept off of the streets.

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By George Conger, CEN

A Louisiana appeals court has opened the legal door for Episcopal churches in the state to quit the national Church and keep their properties.

On 14 September 2011 the First Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge upheld a lower court decision allowing a Presbyterian congregation to leave its presbytery and keep its property – even though the Presbyterian Church’s constitutional documents claimed an interest in the property.

Relying upon the US Supreme Court’s decision in Jones v Wolfe, the appeals court in the case of Carrollton Presbyterian Church v the Presbytery of Southern Louisiana rejected the argument put forward by the presbytery that the addition of a trust clause in a denomination’s constitution was sufficient to create a valid and enforceable trust on property.

While the ruling addressed the Presbyterian Church’s property disputes, the legal principle articulated by the court also applies to the Episcopal Church’s Dennis Canon – which purports to create a trust interest in the property of all Episcopal congregations in favour of the Diocese and the national Church. The ruling is in line with a South Carolina Supreme Court decision, but is at odds with rulings made in California, New York and Pennsylvania.

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From Anglican TV

Take a deep breath – that is what Kevin and George did before they beganthis week's Episode 17 of Anglican Unscripted. This week your hosts bring you their years of acumen to teach you the four rules of journalism… at least the four most importantrules. After a Full Disclosure statement the show continues with a discusion of AMIA's response to Episode 16 and Journalism rule #2 and the very inconvenient 'Washington Statement'.

Special guest Jeff Walton of the IRD discusses with Kevin the falling church attendance numbers that continue to plague most mainline denominations and Allan Haley is impressed with a new legal tactic in the property battles with the EpiscopalChurch revealed in their discussion about St Pauls, Darien.