But now the situation has been since Dromantine, put by orthodox Primates of the Global South, that the decision is up to the Episcopal Church General Convention and the Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada whether these two provinces will choose to walk with us or choose to walk apart. The onus is on them, not on the orthodox who just wish to remain faithful to the church's received teaching.

By putting it on this footing and inviting these two provinces to leave "voluntarily" if they cannot abide by the theology of the rest of the communion, it raises the question, will they in fact leave if they are not forcibly removed? Saying it is "voluntary withdrawal" means that they can stay if THEY choose to stay, and for the moment that is what both provinces are doing in the name of "diversity," "inclusivity," and what is euphemistically called the "bonds of affection." But can this situation continue? What if they decide to stay permanently because they are not told officially to leave? Will this be acceptable to the likes of Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, or Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda, or Archbishop Bernard Malango of Central Africa?

Will these archbishops continue to allow two of the Anglican Communion's constituent members to practice Frank Griswold's pluriform relative truths versus a hermeneutic principle of absolute truth and will they say decisively and definitively that unless the two churches conform they are out, gone until they repent? Someone, somewhere is going to have to step up to the plate and say in clear terms, "You have defied the teachings of Scripture, go."

FOR THE NINETEEN BISHOPS who met in California this past week to decide whether there will be a future Episcopal Church, the meeting was decidedly low-keyed with everybody keeping mum on what was REALLY said. They issued a press release that said, "Discussions were frank, respectful and focused on a variety of issues that have caused pain and dissension within the Episcopal Church and have threatened to continue fracturing relationships within the Anglican Communion. The hope of these bishops is that such conversation will continue and, in some ways, will eventually have a positive impact on the House of Bishops, the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion." A truly enlightening statement. Of the nineteen bishops, eight are orthodox and included Duncan (Pittsburgh); Herzog (Albany); Iker (Ft. Worth); Lipscomb (Southwest Florida); Little (Northern Indiana); MacPherson (Western Louisiana); Adams of Western Kansas, and Salmon (S.C.).

Some of the other bishops might call themselves moderates, but V. Gene Robinson, New Hampshire's openly homoerotic bishop, was there, so you know that any future the ECUSA has in or out of the communion will be tinged with whatever pain he feels at possible exclusion.

IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS about what revisionist bishops are REALLY like, where they are going, and what they are doing, then you can read more stories in today's digest on what Connecticut Bishop Andrew Smith is doing to one single priest. It's a horror story that has the whole communion in an uproar.

One American bishop has declared the see of Connecticut vacant, while others are protesting with upside-down Episcopal flags on their cars and much more.

The latest news is that Bishop Smith says he will not need nor consult with the Panel of Reference on his recent inhibition and removal of the Rev. Mark Hansen from the Diocese of Connecticut. He doesn't plan to consult the panel, he wrote in a response to a question put to him. However, this does not mean that the parish and Fr. Hansen cannot proceed to ask the panel to rule on this situation and then come up with a plan of action on his behalf. He can proceed without the bishop's blessings. The bishop's consent is not required.

Requests for the services of the panel should be sent in the first instance to:

Mr. Christopher Smith
Chief of Staff
Lambeth Palace
London
United Kingdom SE1 7JU

The 13 members of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Panel of Reference have been pledged to secrecy, my source tells me, largely because of previous leaks on other Anglican commissions.

As you all know, when the bishop took over the parish in a lightning raid complete with guards and henchman and broke into the parish's computer and more, one of the things they did was to shut down the parish's Web site. Well, good news. The parish now has a new Web site. It is called St. John's in Exile, and the link can be found here. http://stjohnsinexile.org/ Furthermore, if you want to keep up with what is going on with the Connecticut Six, they too have a blog worth visiting, though most of the information is found on VirtueOnline. This blog can be reached at: http://www.ctsix.org/

There is also a presentment in the wind against Smith, and one attorney has said he will file civil charges if Smith doesn't withdraw his actions against the Rev. Mark Hansen.

A PRESENTMENT LOOKS LIKE THIS: Title IV, Section 1 (h) lists "any act which involves a violation of ordination vows" by a bishop, priest, or deacon as being liable to presentment. Those who may charge a bishop of such an offense (and others listed) are "ten or more Priests, Deacons, or adult communicants of this Church in good standing, of whom at least two shall be Priests - one Priest and not less than six Lay Persons shall be of the Diocese of which the Respondent [charge bishop] is canonically resident" (IV.3.23 [a]).

THE DIOCESE OF FT. WORTH appealed to the Archbishop of Canterbury's Panel of Reference this week for assistance in its dispute with the Episcopal Church in the U.S. over the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate. The bishop and standing committee of the diocese made the appeal on July 11, 2005, in objection to the actions of the 1997 General Convention that made the ordination of women priests mandatory in every diocese, while the Anglican Communion seeks to maintain an "open process of reception" on this issue.

IN THE WACKY WORLD of Frank Griswold, the presiding bishop visited Armenia recently. He said he was there at the invitation of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, "to experience the contemporary reality of the Armenian Church in the post-Soviet era, and to explore new areas of potential partnership in the Gospel for the 21st century."

The question that comes to mind is, just how desperate is Griswold for public recognition by someone, anyone, at this time? The ACC has hamstrung ECUSA for a while, the Network is in his face in his own backyard, the Russian Orthodox Church is in broken communion with him over the Robinson consecration, and ditto for The Roman Catholic Church who say ARCIC talks are dead over l'affair Robinson, and half the Global South archbishops don't want him to come calling. So Frank trots off to Armenia. ARMENIA! Yep that's the country squeezed by Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Does this country have its own airline? So the question that begs to be asked is will Frank's next stop be Outer Mongolia? Perhaps he can find a monastic order that's never heard of sodomite ECUSA bishops and to whom he can explain ECUSA's "contemporary reality."

IN NEW YORK this past week Bishop Mark Sisk and Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, held a news conference on the front steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, to present objections to a recent action by the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) that welcomed a consideration of divestment of investments from the State of Israel. Sisk said it was a time "to invest, not divest" and Rabbi Potasnik declared his support for Bishop Sisk's actions.

When I heard the ACC presentation at Nottingham, there was a decidedly pro-Palestinian bias in all the talks with Bishop Riah Abu al-Assal of Jerusalem leading the charge for divestment. At the end it was a pretty lame statement, brokered in by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

But this is New York City, not Nottingham, England, or Palookersville, Ky., where you can count the number of Jews on one hand. NYC is not a city where you want to offend the largest Jewish population in America, so Sisk blinked and went against current ECUSA thinking and General Convention resolutions and bowed deeply before the rabbis of New York City. Ah, diversity. One wonders whether Sisk would change his thinking about sodomy if he were standing in front of 50,000 members of the American Family Association or Dr. James Dobson!

The bishop of Jerusalem, the Rt. Rev. Riah Abu al-Assal, who spoke on behalf of Palestinian Christians at Nottingham, asked that the "Anglican Communion take action on behalf of peace and justice for co-living, not just co-existence."

He said the root cause of all the pain and suffering in the Middle East was the continued illegal occupation of the occupied territories, of East Jerusalem. In Nottingham he told delegates that he advocated a two-state solution, saying demography favored the Palestinians.

"While this resolution doesn't use the word 'divestment'," said Sisk, "it does applaud the actions taken by our national church to study the use of economic leverage in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In New York, many of our Jewish friends believe that those actions place the Episcopal Church on a steep and slippery slope toward divestment. I agree."

Bishop Sisk's support for Israel echoes recent statements by the bishops of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Northern Indiana. The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw III, SSJE, Bishop of Massachusetts, stated recently that he did not "support proposals for divestment in Israel," because as the economies of Israel and Palestine "are so closely intertwined, divestment is actually counterproductive for the Palestinian people."

FROM SEWANEE, UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH, comes word that Barbara Brown Taylor is the front runner for chaplain. Sewanee is thoroughly feminized with female students outnumbering male, and both the provost and academic dean are women, but neither are alumnae, a source told VirtueOnline. "What has happened to the church will happen to Sewanee," the source said.

THE National Episcopal Scouters Association invites you to visit the 2005 National Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, July 25 to August 2. Over 40,000 youth and adult leaders from all over the U.S. and the world have gathered for eight days of fun and Scoutcraft. The National Episcopal Scouters Association will share a booth with the Episcopal Church in the Relationships Exhibits area. The mission of the National Episcopal Scouters Association is to encourage parishes to sponsor Boy Scout Troops and to encourage youth to earn the Episcopal "God & Country" Award. For information about the National Episcopal Scouters Association, please visit the Web site at: http://www.episcopal-scouting.org/.

Membership in the Association is open to Episcopalians, "continuing" and "orthodox" Anglicans, and anyone else who supports Scouting. This movement should not to be confused with the Boy Scouts of America, which has definitely not got the approval of the ECUSA hierarchy for its lack of inclusion. A press release said that membership is not limited to Boy Scout volunteers; adult volunteers in Girl Scouts, Campfire, 4-H and other youth-serving organizations are invited to join, as well as adults who are not members of youth-serving organizations but who nonetheless support Scouting. Contact can be made with Fred Goodwin, Diocese of West Texas.

NOTE: This organization should not be confused with the Boy Scouts of America which has received the wrathful attention of the ECUSA and who at its 73rd General Convention recommended that homosexuals should be allowed membership to youth and adult leaders "irrespective of their sexual orientation."

THE SIMPSONS, that show much loved by no less a person than the archbishop of Canterbury, had an episode recently wherein Springfield decided to get tourists to come by allowing same-sex marriage. However, the Reverend Lovejoy refusedto perform the ceremonies, citing the Bible. Homer then decided to cash in on this opportunity. He went online to the Episcopal Church Web site and was ordained immediately. He then proceeded to perform the ceremonies. Perhaps the archbishop of Canterbury will reconsider his support of this TV program. Whatever you might think about the archbishop and The Simpsons, it does show how ECUSA is now being perceived in the public imagination.

WHEN THE Anglican Mission in America meets at its annual winter conference it will have 10 primates, a source told VirtueOnline. Last year it had five, and in its first year it had two. This year's turnout represents more than a quarter of the entire body of primates! This puts the AMIA squarely in the middle of things. Can the archbishop of Canterbury really ignore this kind of spiritual firepower?

NO SEX PLEASE, WE'RE BRITISH. The Church of England found itself in an embarrassing position by telling its gay clergy that if they entered civil partnerships under new government legislation they would have to pledge to remain celibate. Clergy who apply to register their relationships with same-sex partners will have to explain themselves. So here is how it goes: The C of E says it is okay to be in a homoerotic relationship if you don't actually do it (see Jeffrey John). The Episcopal Church says you can be in one and you can do it (see V. Gene Robinson). The rest of the Anglican Communion says no sodomite priests, hence no anal sex. If only Malcolm Muggeridge were alive he could send all this up in one edition of PUNCH magazine. Perhaps National Lampoon or Monty Python could have some fun with this.

The C of E is in free fall over the possibility of women bishops while the ECUSA is in free fall for all manner of reasons and just lost another 200 dues-paying Episcopalians in the Diocese of Connecticut last week.

IN THE STRIFE TORN Diocese of Recife, the Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavilcanti ordained two new deacons recently at the pro-cathedral in Jao Pessoa City, Paraiba State, Brazil this past week. This is a brave act, bearing in mind that the revisionist archbishop of Province wants to take over his diocese, cast out the orthodox bishop, and much more. Cavilcanti has appealed twice to the archbishop of Canterbury for help. One hopes the Panel of Reference will come to his rescue.

A brilliant review of the situation in Recife is provided in today's digest by the Rev. Dr. Peter Moore, who journeyed there recently.

CANADA. In a unanimous decision, the membership of Christ The Redeemer, Pender Harbour, British Columbia, one of the founding ACiC (Anglican Communion in Canada) congregations, voted recently to purchase a one-acre property in Madeira Park, BC, on which it hopes to build its future sanctuary and ministry center. This small congregation of 120 was evicted from its buildings six weeks ago by the Diocese of New Westminster and hase taken up temporary Sunday residence in a Pender Harbour performance facility. Its senior pastor, the Rev. Barclay Mayo, reports that almost half of the cost of the property has already been pledged, as well as monthly amounts in excess of tithes that are sufficient to cover the remaining mortgage. Another donor has provided interest-free monies to cover the mortgage. "It is clear that God has his hand in this," said Mayo. "Even before we had handed over the keys to the other buildings, God had begun to stir people's hearts to look to the future." This is further proof that God never lets us down, and He will always be faithful to those who are faithful.

Canada legalized gay marriage last week, becoming the world's fourth nation to grant full legal rights to same-sex couples. The bill grants same-sex couples legal rights equal to those in traditional unions between a man and a woman, something already legal in eight of Canada's 10 provinces and in two of its three territories. The Anglican Church of Canada's Primate Andrew Hutchison says the church must follow the culture and has argued strongly for such inclusion to be made possible in his church. Naturally there is much anger by the orthodox at this proposal. If it happens it will only isolate the church from the Anglican Communion. The Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain are the only other nations that allow gay marriage nationwide.

A group of orthodox Episcopalians is looking to plant a church in Chicago that will come under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, Province of St. Peter, and the leadership of Archbishop Dr. Russell McClanahan. This group believes that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and it adheres to the 39 Articles of the Faith of the Anglican tradition. If you are in or near Chicago, and are interested in participating in the discussion, contact Deacon Gene at genek@alumni.uchicago.edu.

Among today's stories is a brilliant reflection on Griswold's "pluriform truths versus absolute truth" by the Rev. Dr. George Naff Gray, Jr., from the Diocese of Upper South Carolina. He rips "To Set Our Hope in Christ," presented at Nottingham recently by Griswold, showing its theological bankruptcy. The article brilliantly exposes the emptiness of ECUSA's theological leadership. A must read.

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