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Communion in Turbulence...Sydney acts...Eames under fire...ECUSA news...more

"I believe that our identity and mission as orthodox American Anglicans lies in this historic alliance. Our institutional arrangements with the Episcopal Church will take whatever shape they may. The process will be painful. But let's not get bogged down in that mess. It's a choice between morass or mission. We need to make the mental shift now, and lean into our future. And our future lies in this mission-partnership with the American evangelical mainstream and the Anglican Churches of the Global South." Leslie P. Fairfield, Church historian, Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry

VIEWPOINTS

By David W. Virtue
http://www.virtueonline.org

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It was another turbulent week in the life of the Anglican Communion.

The DIOCESE OF SYDNEY, Australia, took a leaf out of the Province of Nigeria's constitutional handbook and declared it was prepared to change its church's constitution to enable a split from the Church of England if its attitude to the ordination of gay clergy and same-sex unions remains unresolved. A motion at an upcoming diocesan annual synod "may make it desirable" to modify the Australian church's constitution to make the traditional link optional.

In another radical move, Archbishop Peter Jensen said Sydney Anglicans are prepared to take independent ethnic churches that have been forced to start churches outside their denomination because of their evangelical convictions under his wing. The diocese has agreed that a loose network rather than any formal structure is the best way to meet the pleas of independent evangelical churches for assistance. In recent years, the Sydney Diocese had been approached to help ease the administrative and financial burden falling on independent ethnic churches.

Jensen, the archbishop of Sydney, is the most outspoken evangelical leader in the southern hemisphere and the brightest. He is pure alpha male, strong, driven, ecumenical in the best sense of the word, and were he the archbishop of Canterbury the Anglican Communion would not be in the mess it is in today. We have not heard from liberal Australian Archbishop Phillip Aspinall about Jensen's actions, but you can be sure he is none too happy. But we do know how a fellow liberal in Irish Archbishop Robin Eames felt about Nigeria's actions in doing the same thing. He blasted Nigeria and its Primate Peter Akinola in several lectures he gave in the United States recently. http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3086

And this week Akinola fired right back at Eames. In an open letter he accused the Irish leader of a one-sided attack through the media, saying that he was redefining the faith they once had in common. Then Akinola really took off the gloves and said, "Our primary commitment is not to an institution or structure, no matter how beloved or historic, but rather to the living Word of our living God." One wonders if Eames is "listening," that much-beloved and overworked word of liberals and revisionists.

But Eames also took a few more hits from the orthodox in his own province. REFORM IRELAND, a group of mainstream orthodox Irish priests and laity, took the side of Akinola and said that Akinola and the Nigerians were setting the standard for all faithful Anglicans in a new realignment of the Communion. They wrote: "The recent statement of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, defining itself and its relationship with other Anglican churches, on the basis of a common faith and doctrine, is not only to be heartily welcomed, but should be the standard for all faithful Anglican churches and ministers in a new realignment within the Anglican Communion." That was another one-two punch at Eames. One wonders if the bloody nose he is getting from newly awakened orthodox Anglicans around the globe is also registering at Lambeth Palace!

IN YET another move signaling further polarization in the communion, some 26 bishops and archbishops in Central and Latin America announced the establishment of a Global Center to honor what they called "Anglicanism's middle way." that is, the via media between the Episcopal Church and the Global South orthodox bishops. This action further polarized the Global South bishops and primates from the Latin bishops. The statement was signed by the primates of Brazil, Mexico, and Central America, six other Brazilian bishops, the majority of the bishops of Central America, all the bishops of Mexico, plus Western Ecuador, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Those who did not sign it included the primate of the Southern Cone, the Most Rev. Gregory Venables, and the bishops of Bolivia, Chile, Northern Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Cuba and Uruguay.

You can read what an evangelical priest, the Rev. Miguel Uchoa from the Diocese of Recife, Brazil, had to say about this new Latin American alliance in today's digest.

Clearly what we are seeing is a partitioning of the Anglican Communion, or realignment that goes along with such new organizations as CAPA (Africa); CAPAC (West Indies); CANA (Nigeria-USA); ACN (USA); AAC (USA); Anglicans United (USA); Ekklesia (USA); and the AMIA (USA) with many smaller divisions like the newly formed North Florida Anglican Alliance.

What all this says is that with the free flow of information, now mostly done over the Internet, liberals and revisionists will no longer be able to hide or spin their actions to the Anglican Communion, and they can build all the Internet portals they like to make that happen. The David of VirtueOnline will continue to confront and fight the Goliath of liberal Anglicanism head on whenever and wherever it is to be found.

IN ENGLAND recent General Synod elections served up disappointment to liberals, according to Church of England newspaper reports. Evangelical scholar Oliver O'Donovan defeated the leading liberal theologian Marilyn McCord Adams in the defining contest of the General Synod elections. Despite a campaign by the liberal grouping "Inclusive Church" to gain seats on Synod, the next quinquennium is likely to be mainly conservative, at least in the House of Laity on moral issues. It is likely that legislation to ordain women as bishops will gain the necessary two-thirds majority in each house, but only a minority will support a single-clause measure, which would deprive traditionalists of any protection for their consciences.

ALSO IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, traditionalists are seeking legal protection from employment tribunals if they are fired for not accepting women bishops. The possibility of such a scenario will emerge at the annual national assembly in London of Forward in Faith later this month as delegates consider a proposal from the Anglo-Catholic body's governing council. Council members, headed by the bishop of Fulham, the Rt. Rev. John Broadhurst, want legal opinion to be sought on the employment status in law of both beneficed and unbeneficed clergy. They are particularly eager to be advised by counsel on whether any claims for constructive dismissal might be successful "in the event that women are consecrated as bishops and no adequate provision is made for those who dissent." This is an oblique reference to Forward in Faith's demand for the creating within the Church of England of a third or "free" province, separate from the provinces of Canterbury and York, which would be free of women bishops and priests.

THE DIOCESE OF RECIFE, Brazil, held its Third Anglican Latin America Creciendo Juntos, or Growing Together Conference, and the clergy and people from the diocese and the dioceses of Chile and Argentina from the province of the Southern Cone met in the Church of The Holy Spirit in Recife. "Anglicanism in Latin America has a high potential for growth, and we are committed to seek it together," said Alfredo Cooper, rector of Trinity Church in Santiago. The Diocese of Recife showed its diversity and commitment with growth through different ministries and programs, and the whole mission of the church was clear in the different ministries. "During those days we found out how we need to be together in order to grow together," said the Rev. Miguel Uchoa, rector of the Church of The Holy Spirit, a nine-year-old church that became the largest Anglican congregation in all Latin America, with more the 1,000 members, four mission churches, and more than 40 programs.

Recife Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti said, "This is the sign (of) the geographical barriers put down by globalization, and the communion is under realignment." Different ministries were brought to the delegates, including cell church, purpose-driven vision, revival, mission in a time of crises, renewal, mission, and growth in a context of poverty and the future of orthodoxy in the Anglican Communion.

IN ANOTHER move of support for the diocese, the South American Mission Society (Great Britain) (SAMS GB) urged the Province of the Episcopal Church of Brazil to:

* Reconsider its actions in respect of the Diocese of Recife and to seek external evaluation and mediation on internal conflicts related to the difference of theological interpretation on human sexuality.

* Allow for freedom of conscience in maintaining biblical orthodoxy to be an expression of their spiritual maturity.

* Reinstate the 32 deposed church leaders who wish to remain within the biblically orthodox expression of Anglicanism to which they were legitimately ordained in the Diocese of Recife.

"Until the due process of legal appeals and the work of the Panel of Reference are completed and find otherwise, SAMS GB requests the Archbishop of Canterbury and his fellow primates urgently to use their good offices to provide for appropriate ecclesiastical recognition of Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti and the deposed clergy. They asked the Archbishop to continue to recognize Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti as a Bishop of the Church of God, and the 'deposed' clergy as legitimate ministers of word and sacrament in the Church of God, and do all in its power to support and enable their ministry." SAMS GB has been in South America for over 30 years.

Perhaps the first thing Rowan Williams could do is ask the Anglican Communion Office Web site to remove the illegal and illegitimate "bishop" of Recife, the Rt. Rev. Filadelfo Oliviera Neto, from its provincial pages and restore the Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavalcanti to his rightful place.

And to complete the week of news in this diocese, the ARCHBISHOP OF SOUTHEAST ASIA, Yong Ping Chung, wrote a letter to Cavalcanti saying, "I am so pleased that you have come under the spiritual protection of the Southern Cone. I know you are safe at the moment. Please be assured that you will continue to be in our prayers. We are looking forward to seeing you in Egypt at the end of this month. We follow the events and plots the false brothers and sisters have manufactured to attack you and your diocese. But praise the Lord that none of these threads could deter and frighten you. You and your people become even stronger for the Lord. What an example for all of us." Indeed.

And from the WEST INDIES comes this word from Archbishop Drexel Gomez: "As a province, we have to determine our future relationship with ECUSA and the province of Canada," he told a packed congregation at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Nassau. You can read the full story in today's digest.

IN THE ECUSA THIS WEEK the beat continued.

The DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH settled a lawsuit filed with its most liberal parish, Calvary Episcopal Church of Shadyside, and its priest, Harold T. Lewis, which was filed following the controversial election of V. Gene Robinson, by agreeing to guidelines governing how church property would be handled should a parish seek to break away. Both sides claimed victory.

The settlement affirms the Episcopal Church's law in the Dennis Canon that church property belongs to the diocese rather than the local parish and that the bishop decides how to divide the property if a church seeks to split from it.

The agreement between the diocese and Calvary Episcopal Church of Shadyside, which sued the diocese in October 2003, calls for the diocese and a parish to "discuss in good faith" how property should be handled and for mediation to settle disputes. The settlement was approved by Allegheny County Common Pleas President Judge Joseph James.

You can read a press report from the local media and a response by Louisiana attorney and Episcopalian Brad Drell in today's digest.

But the real question from this settlement is whether this is a good or bad precedent for orthodox parishes that wish to leave a revisionist diocese. Duncan's victory might be good news for him, but not necessarily for evangelical and Anglo-Catholic priests getting beaten up by the likes of Smith, Howard, Bennison, et al. We shall know more ere long.

In the DIOCESE OF KENTUCKY BettyLee Payne, president of the AAC-KY chapter, took a strip off of Irish Archbishop Robin Eames' hide. In a Dear Faithful Anglicans of Kentucky letter she wrote, "The battle for the soul of the church in the Anglican Communion and beyond continues. While the Episcopal Church remains unrepentant for its schismatic actions at General Convention 2003, the agonizing after-effects continue, both within ECUSA and around the Anglican Communion.

"We should all be thankful for Archbishop Eames' visit to the USA this past week, because he clearly revealed his solidly revisionist bias and gave us a hint of what could happen at General Convention 2006--i.e., ECUSA making some kind of statements similar to what they already have said at Salt Lake City and Camp Allen, Texas, and Eames responding as he did this week (with nothing concrete to substantiate his claims and plenty of concrete evidence to the contrary) that they [ECUSA] are 'in compliance' with the requests of The Windsor Report. Are we to believe that if Archbishop Robin Eames says ECUSA is 'in compliance,' that will be all that is required to make that a fact? Does he speak for Canterbury in all of this? Has some sort of agreement been 'pre-arranged' with ECUSA's leaders? Many questions need to be answered, and let us pray that there will be answers forthcoming." Don't hold your breath. The Episcopal Church is on a course to hell, and the only question is the time it takes to get there.

CANON LAW CONTINUES TO BE TRAMPLED IN CONNECTICUT, screamed an e-mail to VirtueOnline this week.

The priest interloper, Susan McCone, now ensconced at St. John's, Bristol, by fiat of the bishop, Andrew Smith ,is now attempting to disband the vestry -- a power she does not hold. In a certified letter to the vestry members, McCone claimed that the vestry had not attended meetings she had called. As she has no power to call meetings and is not recognized in any sense by the vestry of St. John's, this is clearly illegitimate if not illegal, said the source.

The writer told VirtueOnline that the vestry has continued to hold all of its regularly scheduled meetings, and then some, as duly called by the wardens. "They also continue to demand that the keys of the building they rightfully are in charge of be returned to them, (they were confiscated by the bishop) and they will return there only when such occurs," the source said. Adding to the list of blatant disregarding of canon law and the by-laws of the parish, McCone is also now attempting to call a parish meeting this Sunday -- another power she does not have -- for the purpose of "electing a new vestry," as the vestry and a majority of the voting members are "in exile." What a farce. I suppose this could be viewed as a new twist on "replacement theory," except it is not Israel but a Connecticut parish we are talking about.

The lesson here is that as soon as the bishop doesn't like what you do, you can be replaced! Think about it. ...The Rev. Mark Hansen has resigned -- he is no longer a threat to the bishop at this parish -- so why is the diocese not giving the keys to the vestry? Clearly, Smith sees them as a threat.

In another note, the remnant think they are there to "preserve the parish" or are part of "saving the building," but they are doing neither; it will either be a different parish of revisionists or die off, and the diocese won't pay the $3,300-a-month mortgage forever. When all this dies down they will surely sell it off to recoup the huge amounts spent already on this sorry episode. Whether they mean to or not, the main thing those still there are doing is agreeing with the bishop's theology that has contempt for the authority of Scripture and encouragement for the pro-gay agenda. It doesn't matter what they actually believe -- their presence says exactly that.

IN ANOTHER MOVE, Fr. Mark Hansen sent a letter to Bishop Andrew Smith telling him that he would not meet with him. "I have reviewed Canon 10 and see no requirement of a meeting following your receipt of my denial of the charge. Canon 10 requires you to withdraw the notice of inhibition upon receipt of my good faith denial. The good faith nature of the denial is self-evident from my sworn statements made therein. I completely reject the proposition that Title IV, Canon 10 is applicable to our theological disagreement." That's telling him.

Recently Bishop Smith told his diocese that nobody would be allowed to operate or participate in any rituals involving same-sex blessings to include civil unions. Smith has said the ban applies to priests and bishops serving in the diocese, whether canonically resident or by the privilege of a license. "I am deeply aware of the inequality and anguish this policy brings to the lives and consciences of many faithful members of this diocese, lay and clergy, gay and straight," he wrote. "At the same time, the Episcopal Church has not spoken by resolution through its General Convention on the questions of same-sex blessings or civil unions. We ourselves are not of one mind as a diocese, and we haven't engaged the issues in a way that brings light rather than division."

INTERPRETATION: When GC2006 passes such legislation it will be full steam ahead for pro gay and gay diocesan clergy to go ahead and perform such ceremonies. This is nothing more than a delay tactic. Bleeding hearts can bleed a little longer for inclusion. Their day will come.

While we were going to press, we received news out of the DIOCESE OF FLORIDA that the Rev. Neil G. Lebhar, of Redeemer, Tallahassee, was off to a key meeting with Bishop John Howard. The bishop had called for a special informal meeting with both the diocesan council and the diocesan standing committee to respond to the departure of most of St. John's Church, Tallahassee, and to review his options concerning Redeemer and five other congregations.

"My hope is that Bishop Howard will graciously negotiate with us for alternative oversight by another bishop," Lebhar said. "While I respect Bishop Howard's role as bishop, we are asking for another bishop who is not at the communion table with Bishop Robinson of New Hampshire. We believe that Bishop Robinson's ministry as someone living in a sexual relationship outside of marriage contradicts both the Scripture and the explicit requests of most Anglicans around the world."

History has shown that bishops like Howard are driven by power, money, and property possession under the guise of the church's canons and constitution. One doubts he will cut these five parishes much slack. One thing he cannot do after he has deposed all these clergy is stop fleeing Episcopalians. VirtueOnline's bet is that when all the dust has settled, nearly half of his diocese will have fled, along with his top dozen orthodox fired clergy.

In the DIOCESE OF MICHIGAN, the Huron Valley Deanery is proposing a resolution for the next diocesan convention that is nothing short of an abuse of power, with staggering consequences for any parish that doesn't anti up.

Here it is: "Each congregation is expected to pay its full share. ... if a congregation fails, said parish will be suspended, with restoration only by a two thirds vote of convention. If full payment is not made in two years the Parish will revert to the status of a Mission and all its real and personal property transferred to the Diocese."

There you have it. If you are orthodox and don't like the revisionism of Bishop Wendell N. Gibbs Jr. and decide to withhold your check, he has a solution; he will take your property away from you, and then, in all likelihood, inhibit and depose you and cast you into outer darkness from whence you will discover, not weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, but the glorious liberty of the children of God, and then you can start all over again and grow a new church by preaching a timeless gospel message. As the diocese is going to hell in a handbasket why would you want to stay anyway?

Mandatory giving is becoming the shackle of choice in a number of dioceses. Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison is trying to promote a 12 percent mandatory giving for the top-end parishes (mostly evangelical) down to zero percent for the bottom-end (mostly liberal) parishes. The idea is that his "mission" of inclusivity should be funded by people who believe in transformation, while the inclusivists wither and die. This resolution might yet be sunk at the next diocesan convention but it does tell you a lot about how revisionist bishops operate. Pay to play has taken on a whole new meaning.

The former BISHOP OF IOWA, Walter Righter, took racism to a new level this past week. Writing on the House of Bishops/Deputies listserv, Righter had this to say about "A Call to our Primates" by the orthodox-driven Anglican Communion Institute (ACI): "The use of the words A Call to Primates reminds me of the Tarzan movies when I was a child. Tarzan swinging from tree to tree on vines letting out this ear piercing yell to gather his ape friends, especially in time of danger."

In a note to the Rev. Don Armstrong, ACI board member and priest in the Diocese of Colorado, Righter wrote: "The splintering and shattering will continue as little power players like Mr. Akinola seek advantage in some imagined realm of power. The only people obsessed with sex in the WWAC [worldwide Anglican Communion] are the so called 'orthodox.'"

Righter blasted Armstrong: "The real shame in this is that you and others set yourselves up as judges, when no one has given you any such authority to do so. It would be nice if you read all the scripture you claim to embrace so enthusiastically, but especially Romans 14. And so you discredit the very authority you claim to embrace. Examine yourselves and leave others to do the same, God is the only judge. Btw, if repentance is your demand, I suggest you not hold your breath." Ah, diversity. Ah, incluvisity.

IN CANADA censure goes hand in hand with revisionism. Joe Stalin would certainly have approved of this one. A recent headline ran: "Brandon Bishop bans Anglican Planet." The story said, "Bishop Jim Njegovan does not wish to see copies of 'The Anglican Planet' distributed in or through our parishes." Although he never names the publication, he wrote in Brandon's diocesan paper that some Anglicans in Canada are "dissatisfied with what they considered biased reporting in the Anglican Journal ...(so) they have now launched their own 'national' paper to share 'the truth,' and have seen fit to distribute it within dioceses and parishes." Anglican Planet, though, is not the only object of censure. One source in the diocese said that the bishop now "requires all parishes to send him copies of their parish Sunday bulletins, so that he can monitor what parishes are publishing and promoting." Ah yes, reign them, stop dissent and keep the "idiots" from knowing the truth. ECUSA tried that but then along came the Internet.

A VERY DEAR FRIEND and servant of the Lord passed into His presence this past week. The Rev. Grover Willcox, a 12-year American missionary with the Anglican Church in Uganda, died suddenly while on furlough in the United States. His ashes will return to the soil of his beloved Mukono for burial, accompanied by Helena, his wife of 60 years; his son, Grover; daughter-in-law, Marianne; and Ugandan "granddaughter," Gladys; who had accompanied them on the trip to the United States.

Peggy Noll, wife of Dr. Stephen Noll, vice chancellor of Uganda Christian University, wrote of Willcox, "Grover could not stop for death. 'I am 83 years young,' he often said. He and Helena ministered frequently at the condemned section of Luzira Prison, and later he would go on a mission trips to preach to prisoners in Rwandese jails. He also journeyed to Sudan and preached to military officers. Willcox spent 45 years growing Calvary Gospel Church an independent church in Newark, New Jersey, and then at age 70 he and Helena felt called to Africa. They spent the next 12 years leading 100,000 to Christ, and he died with his shoes on telling the story in the U.S. It is that victory which Grover preached whether he was speaking to University students in Mukono, or soldiers in southern Sudan, or genocide prisoners in Rwanda."

I knew Grover and Helena when I was going through a troubled period of my own life, and they were there for me. My wife and I attended his funeral in Newark on Tuesday. It was a joyful occasion, but I cried anyway. A prince of the church had fallen.

A LETTER From Canon David H. Roseberry, priest of the largest-attended ECUSA parish in America, Christ Church, Plano, Texas, reflects thusly: "We are still linked to a denominational system that has made decisions and taken actions that go against our mission and our Anglican heritage, and, more importantly, that ignore the truth of the Holy Scripture. It is been a heartbreaking thing for me to see. Many of you follow the saga from month to month. Through the Windsor Report, the Anglican Communion has put the Episcopal Church on notice: Either change direction or we will 'walk apart,' with the Episcopal Church leaving the Anglican Communion. So far, the leadership of the Episcopal Church has not been willing to accept the recommendations of the broader communion or to express its regret over their actions. The mission of Christ Church remains strong and clear. We are committed to the Anglican Way and will not lead this church where ECUSA seems destined to go. We will also not let ECUSA's actions impair our ability to carry out God's plans for this congregation."

TODAY'S STORIES include yet another look at Frank Griswold's call for greater inclusivity in the church, a hard look at what reconciliation really means when it is being spun by the President and Dean of Episcopal Divinity School, and much more.

This past week I was privileged to attend a one day seminar on spirituality and health: science, faith and healing, and I have written a story about that. Two therapists and a cancer surgeon reflect deeply on these issues and I would urge you, in addition to reading the story to follow this link to a book, "The Clinical Christ." http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3098

More and more priests and clergy are needing help in this area. There are a lot of New Age alternatives being offered, along with Gnostic and Monistic understandings of Christ and the self. These men and women are thoroughly grounded in Christ and the faith while being able to touch the person as well.

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All blessings,

David W. Virtue, DD

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