The Anglican Consultative Council-14 conference meeting in Jamaica ended not with love, joy, unity, peace and good will among men (and women), but with chaos, turmoil, uncertainty and the realization that the Anglican Communion is in deep trouble, even dying, with little hope of its resurrection from the spiritual dead.

Devious attempts to keep out the fourth moratorium on the "cessation of litigation", (aimed at the Episcopal Church) succeeded with everything being sent to a working party set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury which will report back to the ACC and thence to the provinces for a final, worked over and rewritten Covenant.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, said that bishops had a moral and fiduciary responsibility to protect church assets and that the future of many of their clergy and congregations is threatened by it. She was supported by the Archbishop of Wales, Dr. Barry Morgan.

I have written a concluding analysis of the 10-day long conference where the greatest deficit was truth itself. For the moment, there will be no Covenant and the future of the Anglican Communion is bleaker now than ever. Global South bishops and archbishops were livid at the manipulations by the liberals and said so. What they will take back to the archbishops, one can only imagine.

We also learned that the Listening Process on human sexuality will continue in an enhanced form, funded by the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, initially until the end of 2011. I have critiqued this at length in today's digest. This process is designed to keep pansexualists at the table and to dilute the influence of the orthodox. It won't work. No one can broker sexual sin into the church without the cancer cells of sexual promiscuity infecting the whole body. God is not mocked., TEC, and in time, the Anglican Communion will reap what it is sowing.

A changing of the guard saw the leadership of the ACC move from ultra-liberal Auckland Bishop John Paterson to the evangelical Bishop of Southern Malawi, The Rt. Rev. James Tengatenga. The Church of England's lay representative, Elizabeth Paver, was elected vice-chair.

The ACC elected to its Standing Committee The Rev. Ian Douglas, clerical representative of the Episcopal Church; (liberal) Anthony Fitchett, lay representative of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia; (liberal) Dato Stanley Isaacs, lay representative of the Province of South East Asia; (conservative) Bishop Azad Marshall, episcopal representative of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. (conservative). They were chosen from a field of 11 candidates.

The primatial members of the Joint Standing Committee are Phillip Aspinall of the Anglican Church of Australia, (liberal); Mouneer Anis of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, (conservative); Henry Orombi of the Province of Uganda, (conservative);, Barry Morgan of the Church in Wales, (liberal); and Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church (liberal). Those members could not vote in the election. The primatial members are allowed to vote on most other ACC matters.

According to a list of provincial contributions asked and received, the Episcopal Church is the second-largest giver to the ACC after the Church of England. Together the two churches paid the ACC 768,903 pounds ($1,167,126) of the nearly 1.2 million it received. The total requested was 1,568,300 pounds sterling.

The Anglican Consultative Council also reaffirmed its two-state solution for Israel and , Palestine.

UK Homosexual leader Colin Coward of Changing Attitude again repeated (as he did the first time in Alexandria) that he knew of several Primates in the Anglican Communion who are homosexual, but when pressed to name them, refused to do so. So why have they not outed themselves and spared the communion much pain, anguish and doubt?

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THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH is gearing up for General Convention. VOL's in-house scribe, Mary Ann Mueller has done an excellent background piece on what the church expects. Of course, no mention has been made of the multiple resolutions on same-sex rites. Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori did say at a pre-GC2009 webcast on what you can expect this summer in Anaheim, California, and in response to a question from AP reporter Rachel Zoll about the likelihood of "repealing B033", that her hope is that we not attempt to repeal past legislation at General Convention. "It's a bad practice ... a bad legislative practice. I would far more prefer us to say where we are today in 2009 ... to make a positive statement about our desire to include all people fully in this church and that we be clear about who we are as the Episcopal Church." Jefferts Schori said B033 would be debated, but that she opposes its repeal.

"What happens at General Convention will affect you," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in response to a question emailed by a viewer. "It governs how your diocese is served by church-wide staff and how your diocese uses church-wide resources." You can read the full story in today's digest.

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It's not looking good for The Rev. Thew Forrester wanna-be bishop of NORTHERN MICHIGAN. The voting so far is 43 Stand Committees and bishops NO, 16 bishops and Stand Committees YES. Only eight more "no" bishops and Forrester is history. It seems almost impossible that the lay Buddhist, Quran quoting priest has an Episcopal prayer of getting the job. Even if he doesn't get the job, don't look for anyone remotely orthodox getting it. They will vote for a moderate, which in Episcopal terms means anything Mrs. Jefferts Schori wants, she gets.

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INCLUSIVITY, the new doctrine of The Episcopal Church, took a beating this past week, when the ANGLICAN BISHOP OF BOLIVIA, The Rt. Rev. Frank Lyons was denied the right to preach and perform sacramentally at the Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, PA. The Diocesan Standing Committee told the priest in charge, The Rev. Todd Cederberg, that Lyons would not be permitted to preach et al. So he delivered a brief statement on the work going on in his diocese. When I wrote to The Rev. Glen Matis, President of the Standing Committee to ask why he was denied, I got no reply. When I wrote and asked him (again) if Good Samaritan could have The Most Rev. Drexel Gomez (West Indies) come and preach and administer the sacraments, I was told Archbishop Gomez would have to write a letter to Bishop Rodney Michel, the interim bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. Of course, if Cederberg had wanted to have Spong come for a pastoral visit, the green light would have been given without any question at all. But a godly bishop from a recognized diocese in the Anglican Communion to an evangelical parish in an ultra-liberal (and dying) diocese is denied. Ah inclusivity.

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The Episcopal Church filed yet another lawsuit this past week against Bishop Robert Duncan and the people of the DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH in an effort to force the clergy and people out of their churches. The Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church is supporting a lawsuit brought by Calvary Episcopal Church to take back the properties after the diocese voted to leave TEC and affiliate with the Anglican province of the Southern Cone. You can read the full story here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/ot7mnv

A hearing is scheduled for May 27 when the other side presents its case for the diocese and Bishop Duncan.

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An effort by the BISHOP OF LOS ANGELES, The Rt. Rev. Jon Bruno (seen promoting the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in his backyard of Anaheim) to personally sue the leadership of St. James Church in Newport Beach in order to recover his own litigation fees for the lawsuits he (Bruno) initiated, has failed. On Friday, Orange County Superior Court Judge Thierry P. Colaw denied a motion by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles that would have forced St. James Church and its volunteer board of directors to pay the Diocese's attorneys' fees in this ongoing property dispute. Score one for the righteous. Still and all, it will be to the Supreme Court where property issues will be settled once and for all. The lawsuits in Virginia are certainly heading in that direction. All of this is interesting in light of the recent debacle in Jamaica. Even if the fourth Moratoria had passed, nothing would have changed for the TEC. Sue, sue and sue again...and no working party from the ABC or anyone else can or will stop the lawsuits. David Booth Beers and Jefferts Schori show no signs of rapprochement with orthodox Episcopalians.

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LAYOFFS. Church Publishing Inc. (CPI), which produces books and religious items that include Episcopal Church prayer books and hymnals, has announced it will lay off nine staff members. They say this will "strengthen its position as a denominational publisher of excellence in these times of economic travail." The publisher noted a "steep market decline in trade-book publishing." It will suspend publication of books for a general audience. The publishing operation is an affiliate company of the pension group, which manages the Episcopal Church's pension fund, among other operations.

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BURNOUT. The Rev. Dr. Paul Zahl, 58, unexpectedly resigned from All Saints', Chevy Chase, MD this past week having started there Oct. 2007, barely 19 months ago, a victim of burnout. The former dean of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry announced his intention to resign effective June 15.

Sources close to Zahl say he never fully recovered from the punishment he took at TSM over staffing problems, and his growing belief that he can no longer deal with the Episcopal Church's culture wars. He recently wrote a book on Grace, bypassing any talk of the pansexual wars raging in TEC.

He told his supporters that he plans to retire to Florida where his wife has a home. He will concentrate on teaching, preaching and reaching the unchurched.

Prior to teaching at TSM, Zahl was dean of the Cathedral of the Advent, Birmingham, Ala., from 1995 to 2004, and has served at several other prominent parishes. The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr., Bishop of South Carolina from 1990 to 2007, will serve as a short-term interim at All Saints' following an arrangement reached with The Rt. Rev. John B. Chane, Bishop of Washington, that Bishop Salmon would provide alternate episcopal oversight to All Saints' parish.

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The Episcopal Church's official LGBTQ advocacy group, INTEGRITY faces a budget deficit so serious that its board of directors recently approved a budget which will deplete most of its reserves by the end of the year. The board convened electronically in order to reduce travel costs and carbon emissions, according to minutes of the meeting published on one of the organization's websites. The approved budget assumes income of $270,000, primarily from member dues, and total expenses of approximately $313,000. Previously, the organization has said that it its plans for its presence at this summer's General Convention will be its largest ever. It might also be its swansong. Is TEC running out of paying sodomites? "Integrity believes that [The Episcopal Church] is on the tipping-point of becoming unequivocally welcoming and affirming of LGBT people. General Convention 2009 is a decisive opportunity for TEC to move beyond its de facto moratorium on additional LGBT bishops and forward on the blessing of same-gender relationships," the group said in an appeal for donations sent in January.

The Rev. Susan Russell, priest associate at All Saints, Pasadena, Calif., and president of Integrity, denied that the organization is losing members or is in financial difficulty. "We are a membership-driven organization, not an endowed one," she said. "A few years ago, we received a substantial gift and we are simply applying our resources to further ministry. Integrity is not dying on the vine. "These changes are part of our normal evolution as an organization. We have been trying to find new ways of organizing and in some cases chapters are being decertified in favor of status as a network or circle."

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Anglicans in The DIOCESE OF NEW WESTMINSTER are heading to trial. After one and a half days of mediation with Chief Justice Donald Brenner acting as the mediator, the Diocese of New Westminster and four Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) parishes - St. John's (Shaughnessy), St. Matthias and St. Luke, and Church of the Good Shepherd in Vancouver, and St. Matthews in Abbotsford - failed to reach an agreement. The dispute over church properties will now proceed to trial in the BC Supreme Court commencing May 25.

On January 6, 2009, the parties appeared before Chief Justice Brenner requesting an expedited trial process. Permission was granted. To reduce the time for trial and pre-trial procedures, they agreed to exchange most of their evidence by affidavits and cross-examine a number of witnesses before the trial. The trial begins May 25 and is set for three weeks.

Earlier this year, the ANiC parishes served a "Notice to Mediate" on the Diocese of New Westminster. The mediation was scheduled for two full days (May 14 and 15), but by noon today, an impasse was reached.

"We are very disappointed a settlement could not be reached", said Cheryl Chang, Chancellor of ANiC. "We were really hoping we could achieve a peaceful, mutually beneficial resolution of the matters in dispute."

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IN other Canadian news, questions of Human Sexuality from the Council of General Synod of the ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA determined that this is not the time to ask General Synod to amend the marriage canon to allow for the marriage of same-sex couples. In light of 'The Galilee Report' of the Primate's Theological Commission, which reflects the diversity of opinion and lack of consensus in the Anglican Church of Canada about whether 'the blessing of same-sex unions is a faithful, Spirit-led development of Christian doctrine', the Council believes that further work needs to be done on outstanding questions. INTERPRETATION. "We don't want to follow TEC so closely as to become the other pariah province in the Anglican Communion." One step forward, two steps back. The Canadian Anglican province plans to kick it over to the Listening Process where, presumably, it will hole up till needed and dragged out.

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A controversial Muslim program-maker has been appointed as the BBC's new head of religious broadcasting. Aaqil Ahmed will move to the corporation from Channel Four, where he upset Roman Catholic priests by commissioning documentaries that appeared to contain a pro-Islam bias. His appointment will also raise fears at the top levels of the Church of England, which has expressed its concerns over the BBC's treatment of religion and warned that it must not ignore its Christian audience. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, met with Mark Thompson, the BBC's director-general, in March to challenge him over the corporation's religious broadcasting. Senior bishops have also written to Thompson to question its commitment to Britain's Christian audience. Leading church figures suspect that the BBC is giving preferential treatment to minority faiths, with a Muslim now in charge of its programming on television and a Sikh producing Songs of Praise, its flagship Christian show.

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The board of directors of Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation (EGR) 14 announced this week that The Rev. Devon Anderson has been named executive director, replacing The Rev. Michael Kinman. EGR is a grassroots organization that uses the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to organize Episcopalians to eradicate world poverty. Anderson is the daughter of House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson. Mother and daughter have collaborated on various aspects of church work since youth ministry in the 1970s. They are currently working together on the public narrative project, Devon Anderson said.

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NOTRE DAME University alumni are furious at an invitation extended to US President Barack Obama to speak and be awarded an honorary doctorate because of his views on abortion. To date, the university has seen a drop of $14 million in donations to the university. The following is the official text of Obama's honorary doctorate given by Notre Dame obtained by Christian Newswire:

"At the 164th Commencement The University of Notre Dame Confers the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on the 44th president of the United States, whose historic election opened a new era of hope in a country long divided by its history of slavery and racism. A community organizer who honed his advocacy for the poor, the marginalized and the worker in the streets of Chicago, he now organizes a larger community, bringing to the world stage a renewed American dedication to diplomacy and dialogue with all nations and religions committed to human rights and the global common good. Through his willingness to engage with those who disagree with him and encourage people of faith to bring their beliefs to the public debate, he is inspiring this nation to heal its divisions of religion, culture, race and politics in the audacious hope for a brighter tomorrow."

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VOL urges its readers to view the following video: Christless Christianity by Dr. Michael Horton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ReJr_Z1GQY&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christlesschristianity.org%2F&feature=player_embedded His book comes highly recommended by the former Bishop of South Carolina, the The Rt. Rev. Dr. C. FitzSimons Allison http://www.christlesschristianity.org

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For a very fine rendition of Bach's Organ cantata click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTVraVgzC9U

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