If you had any doubt about that, the actions of Bishop Andrew Smith in the Diocese of Connecticut confirmed it this past week. He, like his fellow revisionist bishops Smith is worse than a canonical fundamentalist. He twists the canons for his own purposes. These bishops care nothing for the 'faith once delivered to the saints,' only in their ecclesiastical power governed by General Convention resolutions, not Holy Scripture.

The fork in the road is now clear. Hundreds of parishes who have fled the Episcopal Church over the past few years will only escalate in number, and this past week, in the face of overwhelming opprobrium, the Bishop of Connecticut descended in a Gestapo like raid on one parish - a godly parish that was thriving under the leadership of its rector the Rev. Mark Hansen - and in one brief moment of time the parishioners found themselves cut off from their true spiritual head and set adrift at the whim of a bishop who recognizes neither the authority of (divine) Holy Scripture or even the less than the authoritative (human) Windsor Report.

A Statement on the actions of Bishop Smith by Anglican Communion Moderator Bishop Robert Duncan stated it with remarkable clarity. He said the Bishop's actions make it clear that our concerns were justified. "It would appear now that Bishop Smith has no intention of showing restraint or acting pastorally toward those parishes in his diocese who believe they have no other option but to stand against his move away from mainstream Christian orthodoxy as well as his patent unwillingness to fulfill the clear mandates of the Windsor Report. I have no choice but to work with other communion leaders directly to challenge this action."

Duncan called Smith's action "unlawful and punitive" and he called on the Archbishop of Canterbury's Panel of Reference to intervene and fulfill its charge from the Primates. (You can read Bishop Duncan's full statement in today's digest or at this link. http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2754)

Duncan went on to blast Bishop Smith's action against Fr. Hansen for using Title IV, Canon 10 for an alleged "Abandonment of Communion" as a patent misuse of that canon.

Then he ripped Smith saying it was he who had stepped outside the normative teachings of the Anglican Communion by participating in the consecration of the Bishop of New Hampshire, his ordination of active same-sex partnered clergy and his teachings consistent with these actions. It is Bishop Smith, not Fr. Hansen, who has aided and abetted these theological innovations that threaten our Episcopal Church's very claim to be Anglican.

WHEN I first broke the story, I got a call from a priest in London asking if I would pass along phone numbers for Fr. Hansen to get in touch with Lambeth Palace, clearly this had touched a nerve ending with the Archbishop of Canterbury and his staff.

One wonders how long Dr. Williams can carry on playing theological footsie with the likes of Frank Griswold, Andrew Hutchison et al. Can he not see that so called liberal "tolerance" and fake inclusivity ends in fascist intolerance by ECUSA's revisionista?

If this is not a test case for the Panel of Reference for pastoral oversight by an outside bishop or archbishop then what is its worth? If the Panel does not act in a way that can save Fr. Hansen and his parish then it will be seen as ineffective and just another tool of the liberals to bash conservatives. We hope and pray it is not the case.

ANOTHER NEWSWORTHY ITEM JUST UNCOVERED in all this mess is that the woman priest Bishop Smith is dumping on the parish, one Ms Susan McCone, is only going to be PART TIME. VirtueOnline did a Google search and discovered that McCone is on the staff of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie NY with a home in Manhattan! How can she possibly say she will minister full time and meet the pastoral needs of the good people of St. John's Bristol, Ct. when she is only going to be there three days a week and doesn't even live in the state!

So I wrote her and asked the following questions:

Dear Ms. McCone:

A. You don't live in the state of Ct.
B. You are resident in Manhattan, NY.
C. You can be at best only part time.
D. The church already has two assistants Fr. Clay Knapp, Tom Beck and Mark Hansen; the rector has done a wedding, 2 funerals and led several Vestry meetings in the last two months alone!

Bishop Smith said the church needs a full time person because he deemed that Fr. Hansen was not doing his duties when clearly he was. "I am concerned for the life and ministry of St. John's," said Bishop Smith. "In the past few months Fr. Hansen has made decisions that left the parish without sustained clergy leadership."

So tell me Ms. McCone, how can you fulfill your duties working three days a week?

I await your answers.

David W. Virtue DD
www.virtueonline.org

I never heard from her.

Obviously, Bishop Smith's worry about pastoral care is another one of his lies.

Another interesting aspect of the bishop's invasion of Fr. Hansen's office is his "hacking" into the parish computer. According to Hansen there are private files about some of his parishioners on that computer. Has priest/penitent confidentiality been violated by the bishop's actions? Inquiring minds want to know. A lawyer in England wrote to say that in the UK to break into someone's computer and to access their data in this way could easily bring a five year prison sentence! Also has Smith and the others violated the criminal laws of Connecticut by breaking and entering/trespass and unlawful entry. Also has he broken church law by breaking into a computer and getting confidential information about what parishioners have done?

You can read other blasts at the bishop by Bishop Suffragan David Bena of Albany; Dr. Ephraim Radner ECUSA theologian in Colorado and a vestry person from the parish. VirtueOnline will run more as they come in.

Dr. Robert Munday, president of Nashotah House wrote: "This is not the middle ages where the Lord Bishop can impose his will on a parish and still expect the faithful to come to Mass, because "without the sacrament there is no salvation." 21st century Americans are going to vote with their feet and worship elsewhere.

A LEGAL DEFENSE FUND has been set up for the "Connecticut 6" and is being administered by the American Anglican Council. All contributions to the fund should be sent to the AAC with specific instructions to apply them to the CT6 Legal Defense Fund. The address of the AAC is: 2296 Henderson Mill Road Suite 406, Atlanta, GA 30345.

KEEP THE CONNECTICUT SIX IN YOUR PRAYERS and write and tell Bishop Smith what you think. Here is his personal e-mail: adsmith@ctdiocese.org

IN LONDON, it was announced last week that the Panel of Reference is now in session and ready to do business. The Panel established by Archbishop Rowan Williams is in response to the request of the Primates and Moderators of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion in their Communiqué issued from Dromantine, Northern Ireland, in February 2005. They met in London from Tuesday, 12th - Thursday, 14th where the first plenary meeting was devoted to the preparation of the work of the Panel, and setting up the rules of procedure which the Panel decided to adopt.

Their first order of business should be the Diocese of Recife in Brazil and St. John's parish in Bristol, Connecticut.

In the DIOCESE OF FLORIDA, Bishop John Howard has refused to allow the 2,000-member orthodox parish of St. John's Tallahassee to obtain a loan to finance organ renovations because they did not pay the 10% of their budget the bishop was hoping for. They pledged about $120,000, with another $100,000 going to diocesan programs or schools, but this did not apparently satisfy the bishop. The parish has had a long established financial agreement with Capital City Bank.

On Thursday, June 30, the Canon to the Ordinary faxed a letter to the bank, with copies to the Rector, advising the bank that a "Notice Limiting Future Advances" signed by Bishop Howard had been filed in the public records of Leon County."

A truly spiteful act, but not one out of character with what we are finding out about Bishop Howard.

In the DIOCESE OF EAU CLAIRE, The Fifth Bishop of Eau Claire, the Rt. Rev. Keith Whitmore, installed the diocese's first woman priest-in-charge of the priest-in-charge of St. John's, Sparta. The Rev. Leigh Farley Waggoner became the first woman priest in charge of a congregation in the Diocese of Eau Claire. [Editor's note: Women were first ordained "irregularly" in the Episcopal Church in 1974, and officially in 1976. Today, women are ordained in 97 of the church's 100 domestic dioceses, and in its 10 overseas dioceses and comparable mission regions. The three dioceses in which women are not currently ordained to the priesthood are Fort Worth (Texas), Quincy (Illinois), and San Joaquin (California).]

REC CONSECRATION. Over 400 people were present Saturday afternoon (July 16th) at St. Paul's Church (REC) Oreland, PA, for the consecration of The Rev. Canon David L. Hicks as Bishop Co-Adjutor for the Diocese of the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic of the Reformed Episcopal Church. The Most Rev. Leonard W. Riches, who is also the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic, was Hicks' chief consecrator. Other bishops joining in the consecration were The Rt. Rev. Royal U. Grote, Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of Mid-America (REC); The Most Rev. Walter Grundorf, Presiding Bishop of Anglican Province of America; The Rt. Rev. James West, Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of the Southeast (REC); and, The Rt. Rev. Ray Sutton, Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of Mid-America.

AND FROM AUSTRALIA comes this. Fr David Chislett who was recently deposed by Archbishop Philip Aspinall and tossed out of his parish by the newly anointed Primate of Australia wrote a withering letter to the church. Here is what in part he said: "But I hereby put Dr. Aspinall on notice that if he fails to keep his word about respecting the distinctiveness of All Saints, if he does not allow the appointment -- soon -- of a new Rector who is an Evangelical Catholic and who supports the Forward in Faith Communion Statement, then I will be forced to begin a new ACCA parish right under his nose in the heart of this city [Brisbane], for as a priest and a bishop I am not prepared to stand by and see people I love die spiritually at the hands of determined liberals."

That's telling him.

The DIOCESE OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS has a new bishop, but that's not the real news. One of the co-consecrators was Orris Walker the hate-fill Bishop of Long Island who will neither confirm nor deny that he has AIDS. So guess what - no other bishop in the region showed up for the consecration, they all said they were in "impaired Communion" with the Episcopal Church. The Diocese of the Virgin Islands is part of Province II and gets a chunk of its money from The Episcopal Church USA.

A VERY FINE article on Nigerian Anglicanism in Christianity Today, July 2005 titled "Out of Africa" written by a friend and colleague Doug LeBlanc can be seen at the following link. The leader of nearly 18 million Nigerian Anglicans challenges the West's theology and control, writes LeBlanc. There is also an interview with Archbishop Akinola. Read the full story here. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/007/27.40.html

SOLID ROCK LUTHERANS held a news conference in Chicago in front of the ELCA headquarters building last week to announce its opposition to ELCA proposals to allow the ordination of some non-celibate homosexuals and lesbians as pastors and to allow the blessing of same-sex unions. Bishop Paul Spring, chairman of SRL, and Pastor Jaynan Clark England, a board member, represented Solid Rock Lutherans. The ELCA is in concordat with the Episcopal Church. Both churches are now in a race towards self immolation.

CORRECTION: In a recent posting about the results of the election of Archbishop Aspinall to be the next primate of Australia I was given some wrong information. I wish to put the record straight. The votes in the House of Bishops were 11 Aspinall and 9 Jensen (not 9 to 7 as I had posted). While Dr. Jensen did well in the House of Bishops in all the ballots, he was significantly defeated in the Houses of Clergy and Laity. Lay: Aspinall 9 Jensen 3. Clergy: Aspinall 11 Jensen 1.

In a story I wrote "A Wolfe in Sheep's Clothing" I said The General Theological Seminary requires less than six hours of Scripture. I was informed that 12 hours of study in Scripture for the M.Div. degree is required. Most clergy must take this degree, not M.A. degrees half the size of the M.Div. wrote a student.

PLEASE FORWARD THESE STORIES or the entire digest to your friends. No one should stay in the dark. It comes to you free of charge and you can pass it along to anybody who needs to know the truth about what is going on the ECUSA and the worldwide Anglican Church.

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All blessings,

David