The God of the gaps. The God of the biblical Christian has sometimes been termed the 'God of the gaps' because it is supposed that we resort to him only when we cannot fill the *lacunae* in our knowledge. Now that scientific discovery is steadily reducing the number of these gaps, the argument runs, God is being squeezed out. One day there will be no gaps left, and we shall then be able to dispense with him altogether. Long before the current fashion of the 'death of God' theology had been thought of, this notion had been expressed. In a manifesto adopted by the Secularist League at Liege in 1865 it was said: 'science has made God unnecessary.' What is utterly bogus about this confident claim to have closed the gaps and dispensed with God is that at least two gaps are as wide as ever and will never be filled by human ingenuity. The first is the gulf between God and man caused by man's sin and God's judgment upon it, and the second is the gulf between man as he is and man as God meant him to be. Technology cannot span these gaps, nor can secular education teach us to build our own bridges. Only God can cross this great divide. And he has taken the initiative in Christ to do so. --- From "Our Guilty Science" John R.W. Stott

An old man said to a brother: Do not measure your heart against your brother, saying that you are more serious or more continent or more understanding than he. But be obedient to the grace of God, in the spirit of poverty, and in charity unfeigned. The efforts of a man swollen with vanity are futile. It is written, "Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he falls." In your spirit be seasoned with salt. --- and so be dependent upon Christ.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
May 7, 2010

Like a recurring nightmare Pennsylvania Bishop Charles E. Bennison once again has emerged (albeit briefly) onto the Episcopal stage to replay the sordid events of his miserable episcopacy. Once again a crowd of mostly enemies heard how he failed to report his seedy brother's sexual assault of a minor three decades ago in a southern California Episcopal parish.

Three hours of testimony in front of witnesses in a packed church in Wilmington, Delaware, told us nothing new. It was just Bennison appealing his sentence of deposition. Now a jury of his peers will decide his fate once and for all. Perhaps then the nightmare will end.

What a contrast with Singapore. In Singapore, there was life and hope and joy with 130 Anglican leaders proclaiming a gospel of love and redemption ready to do battle with the spiritual forces of darkness the cross held high.

In the basement of Trinity Church, a 100 or so aging spiritually lifeless clergy and laity, looking for all the world like tombstones in search of bodies, listened while lawyers wailed over a vindictive, nasty spiritually bankrupt bishop, who should never have been a bishop in the first place, trying to salvage or bury his worthless episcopacy under a pile of legal documents. All the while, this is costing the diocese and national church hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees on both sides of the aisle as well as Bennison's full salary and benefits for doing absolutely nothing except to fight his own cause.

A canon lawyer and former TEC bishop told VOL this is the end of the road for Bennison, he has run out of appeals. "Of course, he CAN appeal to the HoB, but the General Canon (IV. 12) makes no provision for it. Canon IV.13 does allow for the HoB to remit or modify a sentence, but in no event is this provision to be construed as a repeal or alteration of the provisions of IV. 12. My guess is that he may file for a remission or modification (which does not remove the "guilty" verdict), but the HoB will not grant it, and may not even consider it," he wrote VOL.

*****

My story on St. Dunstan's Anglican Church in Largo, Florida, http://tinyurl.com/233vegb brought a surprising response from the bishop and his PR boys in the Diocese of Southwest Florida. They ran a couple of articles on the diocesan website saying that some 30 people turned up to the first service last (and first) Sunday after the split. Not true, cried a long time parishioner who went there to see for himself. "The Episcopal Church had no more than 10 people in attendance along with the bishop and his crowd. St. Dunstan's Anglican had 175 at our two services. I don't know how pleased they were with their first day on their own, but we were delighted with the way our morning went." Based on past experience, they were mostly ringers brought in for the occasion to puff the numbers, a tactic that works for the first week when the bishop shows up and then empties out in later weeks. It's a bit like royalty showing up at the cathedral in Victoria, BC and the church fills up. The next week it is back to normal.

The independent school has been the subject of a takeover by Bishop Dabney Smith. But he is mindful that anything he does to upset the parents could backfire on him. According to layman Bill Martin, they are going to move the school as soon as a place can be found.

"Right now it owns itself. We made it an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) with board members of the Anglican Church as directors. In June the Wardens of the diocese changed the signature cards and took $70,000 out of the savings account for this school, and put it in the Episcopal fund. They then locked the doors. Three members of the Episcopal diocese demanded the records and employee records, but an administrator said they needed to check with the Anglican priest first. We are working to move it immediately. We had to loan it money to meet payroll. That $70k was several years of savings. Two independent audits showed no irregularities. We are not going to let this school down."

*****

The body count is not all going one way. True The Episcopal church has lost four bishops to Rome, several dioceses to the Anglican Church of North America and some 700 parishes and 100,000 plus parishioners, but this past week, a former Episcopal Bishop who had left TEC for Rome came back home. The Rt. Rev. Daniel Herzog asked to return to TEC and the Diocese of Albany to work under Bishop William Love. Love, an Evangelical Catholic quickly embraced him and they trotted down to 815 Second Avenue to get Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori's consent. She undoubtedly saw this as a great PR opportunity and quickly approved his return.

Not so fast, said canon lawyer and attorney A. S. Haley. He wrote a scathing article titled, "Making It up as She Goes" accusing Jefferts Schori of ignoring the canons or using them as she pleases. Haley argues that the problem is that there is no provision in the Canons for doing what the Presiding Bishop and her Advisory Council have claimed the power to do. Canon III.12.7 provides for a bishop to renounce his orders in the Church; it does not provide a means for him to be reinstated upon his "rescinding" his earlier renunciation.

"The problem here again is that Bishop Herzog was not under any "Sentence" imposed upon him; he had simply voluntarily given up his orders. So there was no "Sentence" to remit or terminate. But the Presiding Bishop required him to subscribe to a new Oath of Conformity -- exactly as is required in remitting a sentence of deposition under Canon IV.13.2:

"No one, as I say, quarrels with the restoration of Bishop Herzog to the episcopacy; he is beloved by all in the Church, and proved his dedication to it by service over thirty-five years. What troubles me here is the lack of respect for the canons by the Presiding Bishop, and her inventing procedures -- borrowing from this Canon and that one as she sees fit -- to suit her purposes."

You can read Haley's take here or in today's digest: http://tinyurl.com/2fslshy

*****

The Anglican Diocese of the South has formed and elected The Rev. Dr. Foley Beach to be their first bishop. Bishop-elect Beach's name will go to the Anglican Church in North America (AC-NA) College of Bishops for consideration at the June meeting in Amesbury, MA. At that same time, the Provincial Council will vote on accepting the Anglican Diocese of the South into the AC-NA as a full member. The new diocese will have churches in Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina all roughly within a 3.5 hour drive time from central Atlanta. The next meeting of the AC-NA will vote not only on this diocese, but also on one forming in the Great Lakes area, the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes. Clearly the AC-NA is growing and building infrastructure to meet the goals of planting 1000 new congregations.

*****

Will Church of England churchgoers cross over to Rome with bishops? Churchgoers in almost 300 parishes that disapprove of women priests may take advantage of Pope Benedict XVI's offer to change denomination if their "flying bishops" lead the way. However, the Church of England is expected to make a last-ditch attempt to stop the disillusioned groups leaving, by offering them concessions over the introduction of female bishops.

As The Sunday Telegraph disclosed, the bishops of Fulham, Richborough and Ebbsfleet held a secret meeting with papal advisers last week to discuss plans for Anglicans to convert to the Roman Catholic Church en masse.

At least one key member of the English Catholic church's commission on the Anglican Ordinariate - the Pope's move to allow Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Holy See while retaining some of their spiritual heritage - was in Rome at the same time. The Church of England clergy who held talks with members of the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are "flying bishops", who provide "episcopal oversight" to parishes that cannot accept women priests.

If they cross the Tiber and the move is seen as successful, their parishioners are expected to follow suit eventually as it is not clear that the "flying bishops" would be replaced. There are 268 parishes under the care of the three bishops, with an average 50 lay members in each as well as hundreds of priests....

However not all of the traditionalists in the Church of England will cross over, as some will feel unable to accept the more rigid structure of the Catholic church or the power of the Pope. In addition, many may be persuaded to stay in July when the General Synod, the Church of England's governing body, holds a critical meeting to decide how to make the historic step of ordaining women bishops.

*****

The resignation of Bishop Tom Wright from the Diocese of Durham in England came as something of a surprise, but not to a number of academics who know him and his writings. New Testament scholar Gerald Bray had this to say of Dr. Wright: "If anything is clear from Bishop Wright's book (writings), it is that it is impossible to serve two masters at the same time. Either one is a diocesan bishop or one is a serious scholar having a day job in Auckland Castle and pottering around with scholarship in one's spare time is not a viable option in today's world. Bishop Wright pleads lack of time for what even he recognises is the inadequacy of his responses. There is no shame in giving up scholarship, or in resigning a bishopric, when the pressures become too great, but doing a half-baked job in one is bound to lead to the suspicion that one is doing an equally half-baked job in the other, and that the longsuffering recipients of such treatment are ending up with the worst of both worlds."

Perhaps the Archbishop of Canterbury might be weighing his own choices in light of his leadership of the Anglican Communion, which, by any score is going badly. He has a number of Anglo-Catholics ready to flee to Rome. He has Church of England evangelicals who no longer respect him. He has the entire Global South Evangelical and Anglo-Catholic wings of the communion against him for not disciplining The American Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada over homosexuality. One wonders what possible reason he has to stay. Is their Regius Professor of Divinity opening at Oxford or Cambridge for Rowan perhaps?

*****

Bishop Gene Robinson was back in the news this past week. (Is the publicity seeker ever far from it?) This time he was offering advice to the pope about homosexuals in the priesthood. The gall of the man. This could not be passed up. I wrote a piece called "The Audacity of Gene Robinson" which can be read here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/28ovaar

*****

The continued sexual trajectory upon which The Episcopal Church is engaged hit a new low this week. In the Diocese of Massachusetts Bishops Tom Shaw and Roy ("Bud") Cederholm sent letters to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo pressing them to pass the state's Transgender Civil Rights bill. The bishops' letter follows unprecedented coverage of the bill by Boston area newspapers, after Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker announced that he would veto the legislation if it crossed his desk. His team handed out fliers referring to the legislation as "the bathroom bill."

The bishops' letter expresses strong support for an act to add gender expression and identity to the Commonwealth's antidiscrimination and hate crimes laws. "As bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, our eyes are open to the realities of transgender people and their families. Many of them serve faithfully in the congregations and ministries of our diocese, as lay people, as deacons and as priests. They are dedicated and loving parents, children, siblings, friends and community leaders. Again and again, we hear how they have struggled against incredible odds and pressures to be true to their identity as beloved children of God, made in the image of God."

Not to be outdone, a Danvers church in Massachusetts is offering worship services for dogs. I kid you not. This month Calvary Episcopal Church is scheduled to launch its first "Perfect Paws Pet Ministry" aimed at giving area pooches and their owners improved odds at getting canines into heaven.

The Danvers church plans to hold the service on the third Sunday of every month complete with communion for the humans and special blessings for pets. Dogs will get special treats. Church officials say well-mannered, leashed dogs are invited. People can submit a paper prayer if their pets are sick, not good around other dogs or deceased. Prayers can also be offered for other types of pets.

The Rev. Thea Keith-Lucas told The Salem News dogs would have a say during service because barking won't be banned. Apparently General Convention is opting for a funeral service for pets in the Book of Occasional Services.

VOL thinks this must be the new Episcopal evangelism method aimed at doubling church membership by 20/20.

As one wag observed, "Judging by the near-complete lack of children in Episcopal Church pews these days, a service catered to dogs (and their owners) would seem the logical conclusion."

*****

The Primates Council of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) has commended the visionary and sacrificial leadership of its founding chairman and the retired Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Archbishop Peter J. Akinola.

It also lauded Akinola's courageous stance for the faith, for the souls he delivered to the saints, and his leadership, both of the Church of Nigeria and also within the wider Anglican Communion.

The Council, which condemned the election of the Reverend Mary Glasspool, a "partnered" lesbian, as a Bishop in Los Angeles in The Episcopal Church (TEC), urged all orthodox biblical Anglicans, both in the USA and around the world, not to participate in the unbiblical practice of TEC.

"We acknowledge that the issues that divide our beloved Communion are far from settled and that the election of the Reverend Mary Glasspool, a "partnered" lesbian, as a Bishop in Los Angeles in The Episcopal Church (TEC), makes it clear to all that the American Episcopal Church leadership has formally committed itself to a pattern of life that is contrary to Scripture.

"This action also makes clear that any pretence that there has been a season of gracious restraint in the Communion has come to an end. Now is the time for all orthodox biblical Anglicans, both in the USA and around the world, to take a clear stance for the historic faith and refuse to participate in the unbiblical practice of TEC."

*****

Anglican Diocese of Montreal Bishop Barry Clarke has announced his support for the wearing of Burkas by Islamic women in Quebec. A Canadian Muslim, Tarek Fatah, agrees with the banning of burkas in Quebec government offices, schools, and other publicly funded institutions. He cites numerous reasons; this is among them: "I have no reservation in stating categorically that the burka is not just a piece of clothing, but is a symbol of Islamofacism and a rejection of the West as well as our cherished value of gender equality. The cruel reality is the burka castigates women as a source of evil (A'wra), condemning them to a life of isolation away from the gaze of men. Once veiled, they are marginalized, denied equality and made subservient to men. This leads to economic dependency, intimidation, violence and emotional abuse. Under the veil, the woman has no civic or secular identity. Her rights to make civic and political decisions are controlled and usurped by men, and by extension the hierarchy of the organized groups."

None of this deterred the Anglican bishop, who, after plumbing the depths of his Islamic savoir-faire, announced support for the burka, said that the bill erodes freedom of religion guaranteed under the Quebec and Canadian human-rights charters. The local church body added that Bill 94 also unfairly targets women, since there are no men who wear the niqab, a veil with slits for the eyes worn by a small minority of Muslim women in Quebec. "Obliging women to choose between the free exercise of their Charter right to freedom of religion, and the exercise of their rights to participate in society is odious," the diocese said.

*****

Democracy is fast becoming a distant memory in the House of Bishops. The Fall 2010 HOB meeting will meet in Phoenix despite recent events in Arizona surrounding immigration issues. Canon Robertson wrote to say that in consultation with Bishop Kirk Smith, Bishop of Arizona, who has spoken out boldly about the immigration law, it appears to be the wisest course of action not to pull out, but rather to go to Phoenix, encourage as many bishops as possible to join in the optional pre-meeting visit to the border, follow through with the HOB Planning Committee's arrangements during the meeting to hear firsthand from speakers who will facilitate discussions on immigration and justice issues, and make a statement as a House regarding these issues. The Presiding Bishop sees this as an opportunity for a show of solidarity, by a multinational church composed of citizens of many countries as well as immigrants and expatriates, both here in the US and in other nations, to stand with all who suffer injustice.

*****

From Zimbabwe comes news from Bishop Chad Gandiya of the Diocese of Harare saying the police repression of Anglicans in and around Zimbabwe's national capitol city has intensified. He said mediation talks are going nowhere and over the last two weeks persecution seems to have intensified. "Police are openly telling our people to attend Dr. Kunonga's services only and continue to prohibit them from worshipping in their churches."

Kunonga, an avid Mugabe supporter who was officially excommunicated by the Church of the Province of Central Africa in May 2008, still claims ownership of the diocese's Anglican churches despite court rulings ordering his faction to share the buildings with Gandiya and the country's loyal Anglicans.

Gandiya was elected in May 2009 and followed Bishop Sebastian Bakare, who served as the diocese's interim bishop since December 2007, when Kunonga was deposed after illegally separating from the Province of Central Africa and installing himself as archbishop of Zimbabwe. Kunonga has supported the intimidation of Anglicans in Zimbabwe for opposing his and Mugabe's leadership.

"Whereas in the past some of our congregations used to hold their services outside of their church buildings, the police are driving them away telling them that they cannot meet outside anywhere near the church buildings," Gandiya said. "We are completely baffled by the behavior of the Zimbabwe Republic Police in this matter."

The bishop said the diocese's questions about the police's behavior have gone unanswered.

*****

Looking for a great Summer School program? Then consider attending Regent College at the University of British Columbia in beautiful Vancouver overlooking English Bay. This college also features an Anglican Studies program. Click below: http://www.regent-college.edu/alumni/seat_sale.html#promo?utm_campaign=[Mosaic%20eNews]%20May%202010%2C%20Vol.2&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_term=Text%20Version%20-%20Link%202

*****

Also in British Columbia this month, the Anglican Coalition in Canada welcomes Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda) and Yong Ping Chung (Southeast Asia) for an Interdenominational Celebration Service on May 23rd Sunday 7pm. The location is Fraserview MB Church, 11295 Mellis Drive, Richmond BC. All are welcome.

Your scribe was in Singapore recently and met up with both archbishops. They are in fine form and at the top of their game. Archbishop Chung is retired and Archbishop Kolini will soon step down at the mandatory age of 65 in Rwanda but both men are fit and healthy and as strong spiritually as ever. They are both worth listening too for their years of service, wisdom and preaching.

*****

IN ENGLAND events are going from bad to worse. Angry homosexuals and Muslims are hauling street evangelists into court over what they allege is hatred towards them when in fact that is not the case.

British columnist Melanie Phillips has written a piece aptly titled, The British boot stamping on the face of Christian belief in which she says the attempt to stamp out Christianity in Britain appears to be gathering pace. He called it "terrifying."

She writes: "Dale McAlpine was preaching to shoppers in Workington, Cumbria, that homosexuality is a sin when he found himself carted off by the police, locked up in a cell for seven hours and charged with using abusive or insulting words or behaviour. It appears that two police community support officers - at least one of who was homosexual - claimed he had caused distress to themselves and members of the public.

"Under our anti-discrimination laws, such distress is not to be permitted. And so we have the oppressive and sinister situation where a gentle, unaggressive Christian is arrested and charged simply for preaching Christian principles.

"It would appear that Christianity, the normative faith of this country on which its morality, values and civilisation are based, is effectively being turned into a crime."

Among Christians the heat has been turned up on an annual event called Greenbelt where such speakers as Tony Campolo have been featured to preach to tens of thousands of counter culture kids. This year an invitation has gone out to homosexual rights campaigner Peter Tatchell to come and speak. Dr. Lisa Nolland of Anglican Mainstream has called for a boycott of Greenbelt. She wrote an open letter to the festival organizers complaining about "the further homosexualification of Greenbelt," following the invitation of the homosexual rights campaigner, which she saw as compounding damage done by inviting the Bishop of New Hampshire, the Rt. Rev Gene Robinson, to speak last year.

Dr. Nolland wrote: "We are very concerned and alarmed...we believe this is damaging to both Christian witness and the health of the nation. "Both Gene Robinson and Peter Tatchell are bad news for the church and for Greenbelt. Greenbelt does much that is good and even excellent. Why spoil it with such as this? "In the light of the above, I would very much appreciate an explanation of your invitation to Peter Tatchell for 2010, given your invitation to Gene Robinson in 2009."

Dr. Nolland told The Church of England Newspaper that the absence of a speaker who could present "the orthodox Biblical position on sexual ethics." She also suspected that the liberal campaigners were denying the voice of less palatable sexualities that might taint their case.

"If Greenbelt actually wanted to have a really open honest discussion about all this, I'd have a far easier time with it. But instead - they talk about how they include and accept all and all are welcomed etc - that's rubbish. There are all sorts of orientations out there who say 'look, LGBT people are doing to us what straight people did to them for centuries'."

Once the campaigners are accepted, they will then start leading Christians further astray, Dr Nolland fears. Illustrating how far this could go, she pointed to an interview Mr. Tatchell conducted with a 14- year-old boy, 'Lee', who was sexually active with older men from the age of 12 and suggests that we should rethink our attitudes towards pedophilia.

Dr Nolland said that attending the festival would leave children more vulnerable to sexual abuse, because of Mr. Tatchell's erosion of boundaries, "particularly if they are told we need to question - explore, try this, try that, try 200 things later on, explore your sexuality - that's actually a really bad idea".

*****

Things are looking grim for The Rt. Rev. Michael Hough of Ballarat. A no confidence motion will be tabled at Ballarat's synod against the bishop saying that that there was "widespread belief" that the bishop's leadership has failed. "He should just put us out of our misery and go," wrote one detractor.

Supporters and opponents of the Bishop of Ballarat have taken to South Australia's newspapers to press their case in advance of the June 19 diocesan synod.

The Adelaide Courier reported on April 30 that opponents of Bishop Michael Hough would bring a petition to next month's synod seeking his dismissal.

An Episcopal Standards Commission was convened last year to investigate complaints of misconduct lodged by diocesan clergy against the bishop. At the 2009 Synod, Michael Shand QC, chancellor of the Dioceses of Ballarat and Melbourne reported that 13 priests, along with a number of lay leaders and retired clergy had requested the investigation.

The rural Australian diocese northwest of Melbourne is one of Australia's smallest, with 22 congregations and 2000 active members.

*****

St. Paul's Anglican Church is a 6 year old independent Anglican mission located in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. They are a traditional 1928 BCP parish in desperate need of copies of the 1940 Hymnal (especially the smaller pocket size editions) writes the Rev. James Johnson. If you can help out his contact information is:

The Rev'd. James V. Johnson Jr.
1825 Center Street Apt D205
Bethlehem, PA 18017
484-892-0807 Or you can mail to: thevicarofwhitehall@gmail.com

*****

Forward in Christ, run by the Rev. Michael Heidt, has a new website. You can access it here http://www.forwardinchrist.org/ You can read one of Fr. Heist's pieces on the abortion crisis in The Episcopal Church in today's digest.

*****

Summer is around the corner and it is traditionally a difficult time for organizations, especially not-for-profits to raise funds. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to keep VOL going and to bring you all the Anglican news that's fit to print.

You can send a check to:

VIRTUEONLINE
1236 Waterford Rd.,
West Chester, PA 19380

If you would like to make a PAYPAL donation you may go to VOL's website: www.virtueonline.org and click on the PAYPAL button. Thank you for your support. VOL's website is available in 34 languages. Our Global Anglican Theological Institute is available in 40 languages. We boldly go where others will not go. So please consider a donation at this time.

In Christ,

David