Heart and mind. The first characteristic of heart-worship is that it is rational; the mind is fully involved in it. For the 'heart' in Scripture is not simply equivalent to the emotions, as it usually is in common parlance today. In biblical thought the 'heart' is the centre of the human personality and is often so used that the intellect is more emphasized than the emotions. Thus, the exhortation in Proverbs 23:26, 'My son, give me your heart,' has often been interpreted as an entreaty for our love and devotion. It has served as a convenient text for many sermons on whole-hearted discipleship. But in reality it is a command to listen, to pay attention, to sit up and take notice, an appeal more for concentration than for consecration. --- From "Christ the Controversialist"

Scripture and sacrament. God speaks to his people through his Word both as it is read and expounded from Scripture and as it is dramatized in the two gospel sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper. Perhaps 'word and sacrament' is not the best or most accurate coupling, common though it is. For strictly speaking the sacrament itself is a word, a 'visible word' according to Augustine. What builds up the church more than anything else is the ministry of God's Word as it comes to us through Scripture and Sacrament (that is the right coupling), audibly and visibly, in declaration and drama. --- From "The Message of Acts" John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
May 30, 2009

It's unofficial, but the numbers are in and VOL is calling it that The Rev. Thew Forrester will not be the next Bishop of Northern Michigan. My associate Mary Ann Mueller has been bird- dogging this story for several months. This week the number of bishops who said they would not vote for him totaled 50 and 52 Standing Committees who gave him thumbs down as well.

A majority of The House of Bishops have turned its collective back on The Rev. Thew Forrester. While some 25 bishops have yet to declare their hand, he would need more than that to turn it around.

Mrs. Jefferts Schori is on record as saying she planned to attend his consecration, so now we will have to wait and see if she makes good on the promise, or whether she abides by the HOB votes.

*****

There is a new dark, totalitarian side to the lawsuits now coming before the courts.

At one time, the bishop would merely sue the parish and depose the priest for the properties, but now the tactic is to go after the vestry and laity of the church for money as well. So far, these legal tactics have not been successful. The courts have thrown out lawsuits brought against non-paid laity, most recently in the Diocese of Los Angeles. It is a scare tactic they employ, hoping no doubt, to scare priests who might challenge their authority and want the property. But there's more. Now they want all the trust funds and endowments of those churches, much of which has been spent defending the lawsuits brought by the diocese.

In the DICOESE OF COLORADO, Bishop Rob O'Neill has gone after The Rev. Don Armstrong and managed to persuade prosecutors to bring a 20-count indictment against him. His is a little more complicated because of allegations that he used funds to educate his children.

Armstrong wrote to VOL this week to say that he has a strong. He told VOL that it is an old, very disturbed senior warden who is saying he didn't approve scholarships, when at the same time, he signed checks for them...everyone else says it was always just fine...so in the end it will all work...but it is hell, he writes.

A sidebar to this story is that Armstrong missed a court date, thanks to a miscommunication. For about 48 hours, The Rev. Donald Armstrong was a wanted man. A judge issued a bench warrant for Armstrong on Wednesday after he failed to show for an initial court appearance. However the warrant was quashed Friday after Armstrong's lawyer, Dennis Hartley, explained to the court that it was a communications mix-up between his office and the court clerk.

"It would have been an easy thing to have him appear," Hartley told "The Gazette" on Friday. "Don never knew he needed to appear. We told him he didn't have to appear."

Another not dissimilar case is in the DIOCESE OF CENTRAL NEW YORK where The Rev. Matt Kennedy, rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd, found himself facing a financial probe by a judge's decision that a regional diocese investigate whether he mishandled money after it withdrew from the Episcopal denomination. Kennedy waxed "surprised and baffled".

"The judge's statement is absolutely not true. We have nothing to hide. I want to answer their questions." A Supreme Court Judge Ferris D. Lebous, earlier this year ruled the central New York diocese was entitled to Good Shepherd's property, and further said that diocesan allegations the parish misused an endowment should be investigated. Lebous said the diocese has "every right" to investigate and directed Kennedy and the church's treasurer to appear for deposition. You can read the full story in today's digest.

And in the DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA where Vestry Members at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, PA find themselves embroiled in a lawsuit between the diocesan Standing Committee and the parish over the property. The diocese has alleged the vestry has not performed their duties and thus are not outside immunity. The diocese alleges the Vestry members have violated the Church and are in effect trespassing on the property.

All this indicates a depth of ecclesiastical anger and 'we'll get you' mentality that we have not seen before. Can revisionist dioceses and The Episcopal Church sink much lower in their animosity and hatred for orthodoxy? Apparently so.

The DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH began its legal tussle with The Episcopal Church this week with opening court arguments. You can read them in today's digest.

*****

Just when you thought you had heard it all, along comes the story of Fr. Alberto Cutie, an internationally known Catholic priest who admitted having a romantic affair and breaking his vow of celibacy. He joined the Episcopal Church to be with the woman he loves. The case of Cutie caught the attention of Southeast Florida Episcopal Bishop Leo Frade who, feeling the sexual pain of Fr. Cutie, promptly invited him into the warm embrace of TEC as a priest, after a year of study (not too hard, one thinks). Cutie (pronounced koo-tee-AY) was received into the Episcopal Church at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Miami, Florida. Cutie was caught on film carousing with his divorced lady friend on a beach. Suddenly, he saw the light and swam across the harbor to join TEC.

He comes with the full support of Resolution D039, passed at the 73rd General Convention (2000), which says sexual relationships should be characterized by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication, and holy love reflecting the image of God, and that such relationships exist throughout the church. This was full blown acceptance of BOTH homosexual and heterosexual fornication, outside of marriage.

Cutie qualifies. We are an inclusive church after all...no morals, minimal faith and anything goes. If you have a zipper problem, we will accommodate you, no matter what. Florida's 'Father Oprah,' as he is known, now joins the Episcopal Church along with other notorious sexual offenders like the former Governor of New Jersey James. E. McGreevey. "Father Cutie's actions have caused grave scandal within the Catholic Church, harmed the Archdiocese of Miami -- especially our priests -- and led to division within the ecumenical community and the community at large," said the Roman Catholic Archbishop, but. never mind. Cutie is safely in the arms of his beloved and TEC, so all is well.

Oh yes, Cutie syndicates a Spanish-language columnist and is author of the book "Real Life, Real Love: 7 Paths to a Strong, Lasting Relationship." He will now model it for us.

As one wag observed, "Bishop Leo Frade's loving embrace of Fr. Cutie is an icon of God's dream for the Episcopal Church men living secret lives of expansive love have always served faithfully at every level in the church but they have had to live a lie. Now, with the heroic the example of true civil rights champions like Bishop Frade ringing in our ears, it is time for other bishops to act--if the shepherds of the church do not stand for justice, who will?" Indeed.

To the north, it was a reverse situation when the Standing Committee of the DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA told the godly evangelical Bishop of Bolivia, The Rt. Rev. Frank Lyons that he could not preach or perform Eucharist functions at the 2000-member evangelical Church of the Good Samaritan because he was, well, orthodox and the diocese doesn't like orthodox bishops like Lyons. They prefer to have revisionists like Charles E. Bennison who, after 10 years betrayed them so badly, they fired a presentment against him. He's gone, but the diocese still maintains its hatred of orthodoxy. So, Bishop Lyons was not permitted to preach. VOL wrote a letter to the Standing Committee asking for an explanation, but has never heard back. You can read the full story in today's digest.

*****

The case of the purloined e-mails won't go away. Central Florida Bishop John W. Howe took issue with Louie Crew blasting him over charges that he was "schismatic". In a letter he sent to the Bishops' and Deputies' list in response to a post by Louie Crew regarding the purloined emails of the Anglican Communion Institute (ACI), Howe wrote, "I am saddened by this rant. It was clearly private correspondence between a number of bishops, the ACI lawyer, and the theologians who are part of the Anglican Communion Institute, and in some cases some of the clergy who are part of the Communion Partners Association. We had been working for some time on the 'Bishops' Statement on Church Polity.' It had been written prior to the release of the third draft of the proposed Anglican Covenant. We were attempting to determine whether it needed to be modified in any way - or even if we wanted to release it - in the light of the Ridley draft. I am offended by your calling us schismatics." You can read the bishop's full letter in today's digest.

*****

A group of EVANGELICAL EPISCOPALIANS met at Virginia Theological seminary this past week. Your scribe was invited to listen in. This group, quite small now, plan to pray and stay in TEC as a witness to the faith while recognizing they don't have a prayer of changing anything. They made a case for their staying in TEC and you can read that in today's digest.

*****

Dioceses continue in financial free fall. You can read how the DIOCESE OF WASHINGTON is suffering (but not for our Lord). They have a $400,000 short fall with one good side effect; they don't have any money to sue parishes that might want to liberate themselves from the yoke of revisionism. A small silver lining, but worth noting.

*****

The California State Supreme Court upheld PROPOSITION 8 which upholds marriage as being between a man and a woman, further solidifying the deep theological and spiritual divide between the two groups. It was a great victory for marriage. Naturally, The Episcopal Church's pansexualists were not the least bit happy by the ruling. TEC's unofficial gay and lesbian lobby organization, Integrity, ripped the decision. (The Rev.) Susan Russell said the court "abdicated its responsibility to offer equal protection to all California citizens...it sets a terrible precedent that a simple majority of voters can relegate millions of citizens to second class status. Until 'liberty and justice for all' really means 'all' we are not yet the nation we are called to be and today was a sad step backward on that arc of history that generations of equality leaders have told us bends toward justice. It is a decision that should not and will not stand." In the meantime, there will be no more queer marriages to ruin the moral landscape. For now, the California Court has upheld the Rule of Law. Of the fourteen active churches signing a letter bemoaning the California Supreme Court's judgment sustaining Prop 8, seven were Episcopal. You can read Mike McManus's fine review of the court's decision in today's digest.

*****

The ANGLICAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA will hold its inaugural assembly in Bedford, Texas, June 22-25. This meeting will officially bring together more than 700 congregations into an emerging North American province in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Coming to this event will be a number of ecumenical and international Christian leaders from around the world including a number of Anglican Communion archbishops as well as Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, and Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in North America. Bishop Robert Duncan, a key leader of Anglicans in North America and Bishop of Pittsburgh, will be recognized and installed as the archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America on June 24. VOL will be on hand to record this event. The Most Rev. Mark Haverland, Acting Primate, Anglican Catholic Church declined an invitation to be an observer on the grounds that ACNA will ordain women and that's a no-no for him. You can read his letter in today's digest. For more information: http://www.united-anglicans.org/stream/2009/05/registration-now-open-anglican-church-north-americ.html

*****

The Episcopal Church might not like it, but ACNA, the new North American Anglican Province in America in the making, is on the move. On June 23, eight men and women will be ordained to the transitional and vocational diaconate by Bishop Robert Duncan at Trinity Cathedral on Saturday. Those to be ordained to the transitional diaconate (in preparation for priesting) include:
Christine Curley, of St. Christopher's, Cranberry Township
Pamela Meeks, of Church of the Ascension, Oakland
Ann Tefft, of Fox Chapel Episcopal Church,
Deborah Leighton, of Church of the Ascension, Oakland
Mike McGhee, of St. Christopher's, Cranberry Township
Andrew DeFusco, of St. Christopher's, Cranberry Township
Matthew Mahan, of Grace Anglican Fellowship, Slippery Rock
Jeffrey Smead, of Holy Innocents, Leechburg, will be ordained to the vocational (permanent) diaconate.

*****

The KIRK OF SCOTLAND is employing TEC tactics. A move to prevent further ordinations of gay pastors, following a near full blown schism over a gay pastor already in a church, has caused the Kirk to hold off further ordinations for two years. These devious delay tactics are right out of the handbook of The Episcopal Church. Delay for two years while wearing down the other side, then bring it back for another vote and pass it.

*****

A Catholic aide has said gay men commit most pedophilia, igniting a fresh controversy this week over child sex abuse and the Catholic Church. Fr. John Owen, communications officer for the archdiocese of Cardiff and a Catholic chaplain at Cardiff University, made his comment on BBC1's The Big Questions. "Let me tell you, of course, before you go too far, most of the offences are being committed by homosexuals."

His remarks concerned a recent publication of the Ryan Inquiry, a 2,565-page report detailing the abuse and rape of children in Ireland's Catholic institutions, and came days after the newly-appointed archbishop of Westminster, The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, angered charities by saying it took courage for religious orders and clergy to confront the past.

Asked by the show's presenter, Nicky Campbell, whether the church cared more about its own reputation than the welfare of children, Owen replied: "These matters are so ghastly that people don't want to look at them, they can't believe these things are taking place within the orbit of a Christian church, perversion of Christianity."

*****

The ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA parishes in the Diocese of Huron will soon be able to hold services to celebrate the relationships of gay parishioners, but they won't be blessing same-sex marriages for at least another year -- if ever. More than 500 delegates at the annual synod (governance meeting) for the diocese heard The Rt. Rev. Robert Bennett, say he will take a cautious but pastoral approach to the issue.

"I'm asking the Doctrine and Worship Committee to develop appropriate protocols, guidelines and evaluative tools to enable us to move forward with appropriate liturgies to celebrate the love, mutual fidelity and support that gay and lesbian Anglicans model every day for the church and wider community," Bennett said in a press release.

Of course, this is in complete defiance of the Windsor Report, but we all know where this is going. ACofC is following TEC which is telling Canterbury that there will be no change in direction for North American Anglicanism. No surprise really. A number of Canadian dioceses already allow same-sex blessings.

*****

The DIOCESE OF STOCKHOLM in the Lutheran Church of Sweden elected a new bishop in the person of Eva Brunne (55), "mother" of a three-year old boy and a self described lesbian. This has profound implications for the Church of England and other Anglican Church bodies through the Porvoo agreement. You can find out more here: http://pastorbastard.blogspot.com/ A source told VOL that she also denies the Virgin Birth. Brunne lives in a registered partnership with another woman.

*****

WRITING FICTION. The outgoing Bishop of Virginia, Peter James Lee writing in "Strengthening the Church We Love" about the upcoming General Convention says his diocese will publish "Center Aisle" and distribute it free of charge to all at the convention. This is the centrist approach to raging church concerns. Lee wrote that Katharine Jefferts Schori has discouraged any attempt to reach any conclusive action on the Anglican Covenant at this General Convention since the actual wording of the covenant has not yet been adopted by the Anglican Consultative Council, which met in Jamaica in May. The Presiding Bishop wants widespread discussion in the Church before definitive action is taken. So definitive action is not likely to occur before the General Convention of 2012.

Lee, in his eulogy about The Episcopal Church's general conventions, couldn't help taking a swing at how other Anglican provinces do business. He wrote, "Unlike some of the churches of the Anglican Communion where the bishops or archbishops have unlimited power, power in the Episcopal Church is dispersed among lay people, bishops and the General Convention is a sign of that dispersed authority." Really. Those other provinces are united around the gospel and there is not the power struggle TEC goes through with each passing convention. No Global South province will argue over sodomy or same sex rites, they won't diminish and mock orthodox believers, and they are not busy spending millions of dollars suing parishes for their properties. Bishop Lee failed to mention any of these issues in his letter.

*****

As a sign of the continued growth of orthodoxy in North America, The Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns of CANA ordained several new clergy members at The Falls Church in Falls Church, VA. On Saturday. Bishop Minns ordained four new priests and a deacon, including his son, Jonathan Minns, who is pursuing the priesthood. According to Bishop Minns, "CANA will continue to focus on starting new churches and raising up new leaders who will take an unwavering stand for biblical truth." All of the ordinands have ties to Northern Virginia churches that are also members of the Anglican District of Virginia.

*****

A trial is underway in Vancouver, BC Canada between the DIOCESE OF NEW WESTMINSTER and four parishes over church property ownership. You can read the day-by-day accounts in today's digest.

If you want to know what the fight is really about Anglican Essentials Canada has a copy of the American Anglican Council's document entitled "The Episcopal Church: Tearing the fabric of the Communion to shreds". It's available as an 820kb PDF file here: http://www.americananglican.org/assets/Publications/Primates-Report-Final.pdf

*****

A gag order has been issued by an ecclesiastical court prohibiting Charles E. Bennison, Jr., Bishop of Pennsylvania, from making public more than 200 letters that he claims would exonerate him of charges that he failed to report sexual misconduct committed by his brother, John, according to The Living Church.

An Episcopal Church Attorney told Bishop Bennison not to release letters Bennison said would exonerate him. In April, John Bennison turned over more than 200 letters the victim wrote to him over the course of several years after the misconduct first began. The letters purportedly reveal that the teenage victim conspired with John Bennison to conceal their sexual relationship from Bishop Bennison.

However, evidence at the trial revealed that Bennison, at one point, walked in on his brother engaging in sexual acts with the girl. John Bennison admitted to sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl who was a member of the church youth group. He was deposed from the ordained ministry of The Episcopal Church in 2006. Bishop Bennison maintains that he did not know about his brother's misconduct until many years later. An ecclesiastical court in 2008 found Bishop Bennison guilty of conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy and recommended that he be deposed. He remains under inhibition, pending appeal.

*****

In LOUISIANA, a man accused of killing an Episcopal priest when he was a teenager must be tried in the adult courts, and not in the juvenile system, as his attorney had requested, the Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled. Defense attorney Lynden Burton argued that Derrick Odomes, now 31, should be tried as a juvenile because he was 14 in 1992, when he allegedly killed Hunter Horgan, pastor at St. John's Episcopal Church in Thibodaux. Had Odomes been apprehended at that time, the case would have been solely a juvenile matter. But Odomes was arrested Sept. 17, 2007, more than 15 years after Horgan was bludgeoned to death inside the church rectory on Jackson Street near West 9th.

*****

It might be significant that Stinking Bishop was recently voted Britain's smelliest cheese in the first ever smell championship. The pungent cheese, made by Charles Martell of Martell and Son in Gloucestershire, was described as smelling like a rugby club changing room at Britain's Smelliest Cheese Championships, held at The Royal Bath and West Show in Shepton Mallet, Somerset.

It took top spot ahead of Driftwood by Whitelake Cheeses, with St Oswald by Gorsehill Abbey in third. Tim Rowcliffe, Chair of the judging panel, of Antony Rowcliffe speciality cheeses, said: "The cheeses were all fantastically smelly but Stinking Bishop absolutely knocked us out." Perhaps, there is some deep symbolism here.

*****

In the next few days, some of you will receive an appeal in the mail seeking donations to keep the ministry of VOL alive and well. As you know, we do not send out monthly appeals telling you that without your funds we will go out of business. What we are saying is that in order to cover all the major events that you read about here...Primates in Egypt, conferences in London, a new Anglican province forming in Texas, a General Convention in Anaheim, California..., funds are needed.

VOL travels light and cheap. Always coach class in airlines, under $100 a night hotels or hostels (which are even cheaper) and public transportation where possible in major cities. A staff of four makes all this possible (three are part time). We waste nothing and we are very careful how money is spent. We are audited annually. Please consider a donation at this time.

You may send a tax deductible check to support this ministry to:

VIRTUEONLINE
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Thank you for your support.

All Blessings,

David