Jesus the Great? To relegate Christianity to one chapter in a book of the world's religions is to Christian people intolerable. Jesus Christ to us is not one of many spiritual leaders in the history of the world.He is not one of Hinduism's 330 million gods. He is not one of the forty prophets recognized in the Qur'an. He is not even, to quote Carnegie Simpson, 'Jesus, the Great', as you might say Napoleon the Great or Alexander the Great ... To us, he is the only. He is simply Jesus. Nothing could be added to that. He is unique. --F rom "The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ" John R. W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
10/26/2007

THE story of the week goes to The Rev. Donald Armstrong, rector of Grace Church & St. Stephen's in Colorado Springs who was accused this year of financial misconduct by the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado. A recent audit found no theft or tax fraud was committed by the evangelical former Episcopal priest, now an Anglican priest with CANA under Bishop Martyn Minns.

VOL stood by Armstrong as he was charged by Bishop Rob O'Neill of pocketing church funds. This week he was found not guilty of stealing nearly $400,000 by an independent forensic auditor.

"I am grateful for this report, for its clarity and completeness in addressing the false accusations against me and our vestry by the Diocese of Colorado, its Bishop, and their representatives," Armstrong said in a statement.

The audit was done by Robert D. Johnson, a Colorado Springs certified public accountant, who found that six counts against Armstrong had reasonable explanations for financial transactions, including loans and educational scholarship disbursements, which were all approved by clergy members or authorized staff.

"The vestry is delighted to see the good name of our rector and priest of twenty years cleared of the allegations of fraud and theft," said Grace's senior warden, Jon Wroblewski.

The investigation of Armstrong continues as the Diocese of Colorado is skeptical of Johnson's audit. In 2006 the diocese commissioned a Denver accountant who found financial irregularities. It is standing by its audit, spokeswoman Beckett Stokes said Tuesday, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Grace Church & St. Stephen's overwhelmingly voted in May to leave The Episcopal Church and join the conservative breakaway group CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America). The congregation broke from the U.S. denomination to "remain true" to the wider Anglican Communion, which claims 77 million members worldwide.

Armstrong has denied any wrongdoing and has said the charges are an act of revenge by the diocese. Colorado Bishop O'Neil is expected to pronounce a final sentence in the coming weeks even though Armstrong has left the diocese.

In August, an ecclesiastical court found Fr. Armstrong guilty of financial misconduct, including failing to maintain proper church financial records and diverting church endowment money to himself and his family. You can read the full story here or in today's digest: http://tinyurl.com/yowxd3

In a commentary piece by Sherry Shinogle, View From The Pew http://tinyurl.com/yw2p58 she rightly asks, was it worth it Bishop O'Neill? The fight for the property continues, but round one goes to Armstrong. One could hardly blame him if he turns around and sues the bishop for what he has and is being put through. More news will flow from this diocese. As Armstrong's assistant the Rev. Eric Zolner observed, "O'Neill does investigations the way he does theology, he decides on an outcome and then creates a fantasy to support it."

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Archbishop Rowan Williams has supported the actions of DIOCESE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA Bishop John W. Howe.Some nine parishes are in conflict with the bishop over plans to exit the diocese and TEC. In a letter http://tinyurl.com/yo3s4d to the evangelical bishop Williams wrote, "Your Rectors need to recognize that this process is currently in train and that a separatist decision from them at this point would be irresponsible and potentially confusing. However, without forestalling what the Primates might say, I would repeat what I've said several times before - that any Diocese compliant with Windsor remains clearly in communion with Canterbury and the mainstream of the Communion, whatever may be the longer-term result for others in The Episcopal Church. The organ of union with the wider Church is the Bishop and the Diocese rather than the Provincial structure as such."

Williams' words raised a huge ruckus among liberals who saw in them a total betrayal of The Episcopal Church. Wrote one liberal priest from the Diocese of Olympia, "Any respect I have been able to maintain for the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, and any hope for the survival of the Anglican Communion as we currently know it, died. The letter was staggering in its misunderstanding of the polity of the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church and shockingly naive in its understanding of where most Episcopalians stand with regard to any interference in our own affairs by foreign Prelates. It is now clear that Williams is willing to abandon any individual and even whole Provinces of the Anglican Communion in the cause of 'unity'."

Williams' letter apparently didn't sway any of the rectors planning to leave the diocese and TEC either. "We remain committed to disaffiliation from The Episcopal Church and continue in discussion with Bishop Howe over that process," said the Rev. Don Curran, rector of Grace Church, Ocala, and president of the standing committee. "We want to handle this as expeditiously as possible, but there is no established deadline."

Fr. Curran said he and the other clergy were shown Archbishop Williams' letter by Bishop Howe during a meeting Oct. 18 at the diocesan headquarters in Orlando. The meeting was scheduled after Fr. Curran approached Bishop Howe on behalf of the group. Under terms agreed to during the meeting, each parish will submit a proposal for consideration by the bishop.

The rector of one of the parishes, the Rev. Lorne Coyle of Trinity, Vero Beach, is a candidate for election to the standing committee this year. Fr. Curran said both he and Fr. Coyle remain ready to serve in whatever leadership capacity beyond their parish that they are asked, until they are received into another province.

The bishop of the DIOCESE OF FT. WORTH felt differently about Williams' letter. The Rt. Rev. Jack Iker welcomed the archbishop's view on dioceses and in a statement said, "We welcome the comments from the Archbishop of Canterbury, contained in a recent letter to the Bishop of Central Florida, where he reminds us that 'the organ of union with the wider Church is the Bishop and the Diocese rather than the Provincial structure as such,' calling this a 'basic conviction of catholic theology.' He goes on to say:

"I should feel a great deal happier, I must say, if those who are most eloquent for a traditionalist view in the United States showed a fuller understanding of the need to regard the Bishop and the Diocese as the primary locus of ecclesial identity rather than the abstract reality of the 'national church'."

Given the current atmosphere and controversies in the life of the Anglican Communion, it is helpful to be reminded that dioceses, not provincial structures, are the basic unit of the catholic church. As is stated in the clarifying note issued by Lambeth Palace on Oct. 23, "The diocese is more than a 'local branch' of a national organization." Clearly, provincial alignments are intended for the benefit of the dioceses, and not the reverse.

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In the DIOCESE OF MASSACHUSETTS a majority of the members of a third congregation have decided to leave the Episcopal Church and affiliate with an Anglican province in Africa. The departing members of Holy Trinity Church in Marlborough will celebrate their last Eucharist in Holy Trinity's building on October 28 and then process to the nearby First United Methodist Church where it will re-form as Holy Trinity Anglican Church. That congregation will be part of the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA). The AMiA is "a missionary outreach of the Province of the Episcopal Church of Rwanda." You can read the full story here or in today's digest: http://tinyurl.com/2g3f23

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LAMBETH CONFERENCE EXPENSES. A source has told VOL that the Archbishop of Canterbury has an ace up his sleeve. The Church Commissioners have enough money to pay the expenses of EVERY Bishop in the Communion to come to Lambeth next year. They have never paid for spouses, however, and do not have the funds to do so. These facts set into a new context the recent appeal by the Anglican Consultative Council's staff for bursaries. Episcopal Church dioceses and congregations can send money, but it will be the ACC offering to pay for bishops' spouses in the poorer Provinces. "I fear that many of these bishops will think it's okay to take the ACC's money to go to Lambeth, and to take the ACC's money to pay for their spouses." Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, Kenyan Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi and Ugandan Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi have all said that their Provinces won't pay.

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If you had any illusions about the Anglican covenant resolving all the Anglican Communion's problems, then let SOUTHERN AFRICA Archbishop Ndungane disabuse you of that notion. Speaking to the Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of California held at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, he said that the covenant was "wholly contrary" to the nature of God. "I remain to be convinced that a relationship founded on grace can be regulated this way," adding that unity was a gift, given by Jesus Christ. He condemned the Anglican covenant as "a mechanism for exclusion."

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CHARISMATIC EPISCOPAL CHURCH SPLITS. More news. In my last VIEWPOINTS I said the schism in the CEC had resulted in many leaving and going to Rome. A priest who is leaving the CEC himself wrote to say that many of those who have left and who continue to leave have gone to Western Rite Orthodoxy, but the most common destination has been for AMiA, CANA and the Anglican Province of America (APA)."Individuals have indeed gone to Rome, but parishes cannot do so. Thus, considering parishes are moving toward Anglican jurisdictions. It is much more accurate to describe the movement as toward Anglicans, including myself. Many former CEC priests have chosen to affiliate with AMiA and are busy planting parishes. Not a few parishes have also chosen to affiliate with AMiA. Lately, others have begun to affiliate with CANA. Eventually, however, it seems likely that a large number of former CEC clergy and parishes are in conversation with APA-REC. In the end, this may result in the largest single quorum of all." The source told VOL that the total number of parishes being planted by former CEC priests added to the parishes that have/are joining with Anglican bodies could total well over 30 Anglican parishes, when all the dust settles.

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If you think things are bad in TEC, consider what is happening in the Presbyterian Church USA. From Louisville comes word that Presbyterians are withholding tithes by more than twice as much per capita in 2007, compared with previous years, according to the Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick. He conceded that his office has faced reduced expenditures of "roughly three-fourths of a million dollars," an approximate five percent reduction that necessitated cutting seven people from his staff. Even though Kirkpatrick had famously predicted last February that his troubled denomination "is in a potential tipping point of renewed growth and vitality," his report to COGA acknowledged that the denomination "will likely experience a spike in [membership losses] in 2008."

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In the DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA we have learned that the infamous, vast-waste-of-money Camp Wapiti project, which has run up more than $7 million in losses to date, was a fun place for the kids. Here's what they learned at the camp this summer: According to a report VOL received, the kids had fun with every hour of every day full of song, cheer, smiles and laughter. The staff facilitated fun through planned daily programs such as: Scavaganza, Capture the Counselor, Square Dancing, Game Show Marathon, Movie Night, Beach Party Luau, and every evening concluded with a campfire where campers did things like calling in the Ishkateí (Great Indian Spirit of the Elk) who lights their fire, brings them their Spirit Stick for the week and teaches them the Rain Call. Apparently Jesus and his message was not much on the radar screen. But then this is the Diocese of Pennsylvania where Bishop Charles E. Bennison would not affirm basic doctrines of the Christian Faith when asked to by Fr. David L. Moyer.

On a better note Fr. David Ousley who was ousted from his parish St. James the Less by Bennison has voted to join the ACA/TAC family reports Fr. Moyer. His parish, St. Michael's voted unanimously to link with the worldwide Anglican group. The Traditional Anglican Communion recently announced that it is seeking union with the Roman Catholic Church.

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In the DIOCESE OF OHIO, VirtueOnline has been told that there will be no moratorium on calling partnered lesbians. Bishop Mark Hollingsworth helped Trinity Church in Toledo call the Rev. Elizabeth M. Hoster (Liddy) and her partner Barbara Clarke. Hoster comes from St. John's in Charleston, West Virginia. Trinity Toledo had a gay man and his partner as extended long term interim. It seems the philosophy of the Interim Network worked....put a gay or lesbian in every pulpit, at least as an interim, so the parish will see it's okay and that they are nice people. Trinity recently was gutted and remodeled as a theater in the round style church. It is nice for the symphony and theater in the round productions. www.trinitytoledo.org.

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The DIOCESE OF CALIFORNIA will okay same gender blessing rites and it will be done by an overwhelming margin, VOL was told. "RESOLVED, that this 158th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of California commend to the Bishop of California the lectionary, rubric entitled 'Concerning the Service,' and three rites endorsed by the Commission on Marriage and Blessing, and urge the Bishop to approve the trial use of these forms as resources in the Diocese of California for formalizing the blessing of same-gender unions."

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The AMERICAN ANGLICAN COUNCIL has launched a California Wildfire Relief Fund. These fires have forced nearly one million people from their homes and continue to rage throughout Southern California. Estimates put the damage into the billions of dollars as thousands have lost their homes. Relief efforts are underway, and the AAC has joined those efforts through the creation of a "California Wildfire Relief" fund. AAC chapters will coordinate with Common Cause Partners to distribute funds on the local level in the Southern California region. Contributions can be sent to:
The American Anglican Council
2296 Henderson Mill Road, NE, Suite 406
Atlanta, GA 30345

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In the DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT Calvary Episcopal Church is being sold. Town officials have agreed on a price tag of under $700,000 for a Bridge Street church building that the town plans to turn into a new home for the senior center. The church merged with St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Enfield, and the building is now vacant. Wrote a VOL observer in the area, perhaps the Diocese of CT might consider selling Trinity Church Bristol to its congregation for a similar amount and spare itself the legal fees of trying to throw them out. Indeed.

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The ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY is off to the Middle East to meet with Palestinian leaders. Israeli politicians are apparently not on his visit list, according to a report VOL received from Am Haaretz, a news agency in Jerusalem. Dr. Rowan Williams is expected to meet with the chief rabbis, however. Williams objects strongly to the war in Iraq. Three weeks ago in Syria, he said that talk of a military strike against Iran or Syria was "criminal, ignorant and potentially murderous folly."

On a visit to Bethlehem last year, Williams said the separation barrier was "a sign of all that is wrong in the human heart." On another occasion, he attacked Israel for not ensuring the safety of the Christian communities in the Holy Land. More recently, Williams sent a greeting to Islamic communities for the coming festival of Eid, marking the end of Ramadhan. The Archbishop included in his greeting the hope that the year to come would mark "love of neighbour" amongst Christian and Muslim communities, both in the UK and the Middle East. On a visit to Singapore, Williams will join with Christian and Muslim scholars to study the Quran and the Bible together so that "we and others might better understand how our holy scriptures speak to us in the present day, uniting us in a desire to know God and to show love to our neighbour of whichever faith or none."

While Williams makes clear, black and white, pronouncements on political matters-like his condemnation of Israel and the Iraq war, he appears incapable of making similar clear, black and white, pronouncements in matters of faith and morals-the very area that he is supposed to instruct the faithful of the Anglican Communion. For example: is or is not homosexual sexual activity contrary to the Word of God?

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ONE IN ten Christians worldwide are subject to severe restrictions or hostilities, according to a new edition of the German yearbook Martyrs 2007. The survey claims that at least 200 million Christians are either suffering persecution or discrimination, and for many of those the situation has deteriorated over the last year. The Middle East, India and Pakistan are listed as some of the flashpoints, with three out of every four Iraqi Christians fleeing their homeland fearing harassment, assassination or kidnap.

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The DIOCESE OF QUINCY recently decided to continue its relationship with the Episcopal Church when they gathered for their annual synod October 20-21, at least for the immediate future. In September 2006, the diocese sought alternative pastoral oversight (APO) with a primate other than Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, citing disapproval of the blessing of same-gender unions in the Diocese of Nevada and of her 2003 consent to the election of Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire.

"We didn't make any formal changes in our relationship with the [U.S.] Episcopal Church this weekend," said the Rev. John Spencer, a diocesan spokesman.

However Ft. Worth Bishop Jack Iker told Forward in Faith UK's National Assembly in London last Saturday that conversations about affiliating the three Forward in Faith (North America) dioceses - Fort Worth, Quincy, and San Joaquin - with an overseas province were "very far along. Our plan is not only to disassociate . . . from the Episcopal Church, but to officially constitutionally reaffiliate with an existing orthodox province of the Communion that does not ordain women to the priesthood. "These conversations are very far along, but cannot be announced until the province that is considering our appeal has made the final decision," the Bishop said.

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FAIRFAX, VA: Truro Church will install its new rector Oct. 28. He is the Rev. Dr. Tory Baucum. The Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) which is part of the Convocation of Anglicans in North American (CANA) welcomed the new rector. "The faith, guidance, and leadership of Dr. Baucum will no doubt add to the strength of Truro's impact on the future of ADV within the international Anglican Communion," said CANA Suffragan Bishop David Bena. Baucum served as a Missioner of Alpha International and an adjunct professor of mission at Asbury Theological Seminary. He received a PhD in Intercultural Theology with expertise in the catechumenate, Christian revitalization movements and the history of preaching. He works closely with Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostals, and Evangelicals to recover an authentic expression of Anglican's Via Media. Virginia Bishop Peter James Lee has targeted this parish along with many others in a lawsuit to retain the properties for the diocese.

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ACA PRIEST CONSECRATED BISHOP. A new Bishop, Fr. Stephen Strawn, Rector of St. John's Anglican Church, Quincy IL was consecrated for the Diocese of the Missouri Valley in the Anglican Church in America (ACA). Hands were laid on him by The Most Rev. Louis W. Falk, Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of the Missouri Valley; The Rt. Rev. George Langberg, Bishop Ordinary of the Northeast and President of the House of Bishops; The Rt. Rev. Wellborn Hudson, retired Bishop of the Armed Forces; The Rt. Rev. Daren Williams, Bishop of the Diocese of the West; and The Rt. Rev. Michael Gill, Bishop of South Africa –Traditional Rite. Several visiting clergy from other jurisdictions were also in attendance including the Very Rev. Bernard Panczuk, the Ecumenical Officer of the Eparchy of Stamford in the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Fr. Panczuk brought with him greetings from the Most Rev. Paul Chomnitsky, OSBM, D.D., Eparch of the Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Stamford and The Most Rev. Basil Losten, Bishop Emeritus of the same diocese.

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ANGLICANS IN AUSTRALIA propose adding adulterers to Sex Offenders List. A proposal for its national church database of child abusers includes ministers accused of extra-marital affairs. The proposed register is part of the Australian Anglican Church's attempt to keep churches safe by taking a firm stance against sexual misconduct, including child abuse. Critics say marital infidelity should not be included alongside child abusers in the register, according to The Associated Press. But Philip Gerber, the professional standards director of the Sydney diocese, said potential ministers and church workers should be held to a higher moral code than other members of the community.

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CANADA NEWS. Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, paid a traditional call on Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams recently. It is a tradition for new Anglican leaders of provinces to visit the archbishop, the titular head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, at his home in Lambeth Palace. Archbishop Williams appeared receptive to recent Canadian church actions to approve the blessings of same sex unions. "He described our approach to handling the whole matter as 'coherent,'" said Archbishop Hiltz. "It's always nice to hear someone like the Archbishop of Canterbury or from the Anglican Communion Office say you're handling this coherently, cautiously, judiciously, and you've got some things I would hold up as a model for others to consider as they grapple with the issue," said Archbishop Hiltz. The Episcopal Church would surely agree. Not so Global South Primates who see things very differently.

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CHRIST CHURCH, SAVANNAH, which is embroiled in a legal fight over property issues, has a wonderful history of evangelism. From their website comes this:

"From Politics to Mission. World class evangelists have preached at this church. George Whitefield is one of the most famous evangelists of all time. He preached 18,000 sermons during his life, to tens of thousands at a time. A priest in the Church of England, he was instrumental in both the First Great Awakening in America and in the founding of Methodism. Whitefield got his start at Christ Church in Savannah, Georgia. Established in 1733 as the Mother Church of the colony of Georgia, Christ Church had previously been pastored by another famous Anglican priest, John Wesley.

Whitefield died on September 30, 1770. It would be 13 years before The Episcopal Church came together in the wake of the American Revolution; it would be 53 before Christ Church, Savannah joined with two other parishes to organize the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia."

Fast-forward 237 years from Whitefield's death, to September 30, 2007. By now The Episcopal Church has federated with the Church of England's other colonial and missionary descendents to form the Anglican Communion, the third-largest branch of Christianity. Recently The Episcopal Church has strained this Communion to the breaking point with its attempts to remain culturally relevant at the expense of its Christian identity. September 30, 2007, was the final deadline set by the leaders of the global Communion for The Episcopal Church to give an answer: Is it part of the Christian family or not? The sad answer was a clear "No." In consequence, The Episcopal Church has now forced hundreds of parishes to choose between loyalty to itself and loyalty to Christ.

For Christ Church, at least, such a choice was simple. On September 30,2007, the parish's vestry unanimously voted to temporarily associate itself with the Anglican Province of Uganda until a new church structure is formed in North America. Christ Church is now under the oversight of Bishop John Guernsey, and a part of the Network's International Conference. The congregation as a whole affirmed this decision by an 87% majority.

While the choice for Christ Church was straightforward, it has not been easy. Christ Church co-created the Diocese of Georgia, and it helped found The Episcopal Church itself. To now watch those institutions depart from global Christianity is painful indeed.

Even with a storied past and a painful present, Christ Church is looking ahead. Days after the vestry announced their decision, the Network's Evangelism Initiative arrived in town for a previously-scheduled Sharing Our Faith conference. Network Evangelism coordinator Jenny Noyes tells the story of how another British evangelist (this time, the Rev. Dr. Michael Green) took the pulpit of Christ Church, Savannah, to preach the Gospel. Once again, this historic parish is playing a lead role in a revival that, if the Lord wills, will far outlast the politics of the moment.

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AMONG today's stories you can read: Realignment, Defiance Mark Anglican Communion's Progress. The Anglican Communion is roiling from crisis to crisis as one Episcopal diocese after another faces fleeing parishes, break-ups, endorsements of same-sex rites, and confusion at the very highest levels of the church over what it means to be Anglican. You can also read my story on who owns Episcopal Church properties.

You can read these and many fine stories and columns in today's digest including The God Delusion and Alister E. McGrath, one of the finest and most brilliant orthodox Anglican theologians in the communion. As the realignment continues you can read that CANA has ordained 10 new deacons and that in Ireland some 300 Anglicans, including the wife of an Irish Anglican bishop, have recently defected to Rome.

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David W. Virtue DD