AAC Director of Finance and Development Doug Mussey as well as AAC Director of Human Resources Mary Orr were also present to help cover the event for the Council.
In his remarks, Anderson congratulated Minns on this new phase of his ministry and assured that the AAC's prayers and full support are with him. Minns, an AAC Board of Trustees member, has been very active with the ministry of the AAC in addition to serving as rector of Truro Church in Fairfax, Va., for 16 years.
Read moreThis talk of 'polity', when serious ethical and theological principles are clearly at stake, might at first seem evasive or even frivolous; but this is not so. The Americans are not wrong to take matters of 'polity' seriously. There are fundamental issues at stake; and they are, overwhelmingly American issues, reflecting in the ecclesial sphere disputes which have repeatedly affected the political life of the United States.
Read moreCritics of the bill cite the obvious. HR 1592 is a threat to free speech. The only reason why speech needs protection to begin with is that someone else will find it "hateful" and want it suppressed. As the Founders recognized, dissent of any kind will always be "hateful" to despots. A free society is founded on the faith that good and evil can be distinguished by fair-minded people, and that in the natural commerce of ideas the chaff will be sifted out from the wheat.
Read moreThis weekend's ceremony will provide false comfort to those who seek certainty in an uncertain world. But in truth, it will serve only to inflame the differences we have been struggling with. When there is so much that brings us together as brothers and sisters in Christ, in a Church that has always celebrated and respected a wide variety of opinions, it is painful to see our shared ministry and faith overshadowed by our differences.
Read moreHe observes that churches are growing in numbers in some areas of the world at a staggering pace. In other parts of the world, ideas are being articulated and debates are taking place with a dizzying energy. We all know that relations - within Anglican churches and among them - are charged, confusing and re-ordering themselves everyday with unexpected direction and even ferocity.
Read moreIt turns out that the Episcopal Church, in the spirit of ecumenism, is secretly working with the Presbyterians, who have been at this a little longer than the Episcopal Church has. In fact, a small group of Presbyterian leaders and attorneys worked out a detailed strategy on how to defeat any local Presbyterian church that tried to leave with its property. The secret Presbyterian plan made the leaked Via Media USA "Day After" plan, penned by Joan Gundersen in 2005, sound like child's play.
Read moreSince genuine intimidation and violence is already covered by the existing legal code, the ultimate purpose of such a bill can only be to intimidate those who speak out against the endorsement of homosexual practice and transsexualism.
Read moreReviewing recent Anglican history, she noted: "None of [the] instruments of union or their pronouncements had any legally binding legislative or juridical force." The Windsor report was nevertheless "written in a tone of presumptive legitimacy", and set forth "a new authoritarian polity for the Anglican Communion.
Read moreMost people, I think, look at churches as having always been there. They are part of the landscape, like rocks. They show up on street corners, on key urban lots. They sit in the midst of buildings that have been torn down and replaced, seeming permanent, like St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.
Read more"Taking a position" on such a divisive issue has always seemed so painfully un-Anglican to me. The Anglican way is to listen and embrace multiple positions. The Anglican way prefers compromise to confrontation. The Anglican way strives for the middle ground. Thus, whenever possible, particularly among people I do not know very well, I tend to suppress my own view of the issues and to project neutrality in public.
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