A mysterious exchange. If we come to Christ and put our trust in him, a marvelous but mysterious exchange takes place. He takes away our sins, and clothes us with his righteousness instead. In consequence, we stand before God 'not trusting in our own righteousness, but in God's manifold and great mercies', not in tattered rags of our own morality but in the spotless robe of the righteousness of Christ. And God accepts us not because we are righteous, but because the righteous Christ died for our sins and was raised from death. --- From "Your Confirmation"

But "orthodox" is a special case, because it suggests a sharp boundary between those who properly belong and those who are properly excluded, the way that "patriotic" can suggest a boundary between loyal citizens and something verging on traitors. Religious leaders have a hard enough time wrestling with such matters. Journalists should not get in their way. --- Peter Steinfels, New York Times Sept. 13, 2008

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

At precisely 3:15pm on Thursday Sept. 18, the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan suffered a bloodless execution and his body was dumped out of The Episcopal Church. The House of Bishops meeting in Salt Lake City gave the Evangelical catholic bishop the heave-ho by a vote of 87 to 36 with four abstentions.

The canons required the 148 bishops vote in favor of deposition. Bishop Robert Duncan became a martyr for the cause of Christ and the historic Christian Faith.

There was no trial. He had already been declared guilty by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and all she wanted was a ratification of her verdict. She got it. Debate ran strongly in her favor, as expected, and the few voices raised in opposition were politely heard but blown off. This also was no surprise. She has been gunning for his ouster for over two years.

But Jefferts Schori will not get off that lightly. Her actions will seal the deal that there is no future for orthodox Episcopalians in The Episcopal Church. There is the real possibility of civil litigation against her and the House of Bishops. This game has just begun.

You can read my analysis of this event in the lead story of today's digest: http://tinyurl.com/4wocub

Canon Gary L'Hommedieu's brilliant analysis, "The 'Just War' Against Robert Duncan" is must reading: http://tinyurl.com/3lffl6

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If the Archbishop of Canterbury thought that, post Lambeth, a time of "gracious restraint" would prevail, he was seriously mislead or failed to read the ecclesiastical tea leaves correctly. Two parishes, one in the U.S. and a group in Canada, are taking their cases to the SUPREME COURT of their respective countries even as more orthodox parishes fight with liberal and revisionist bishops for their properties across both countries.

An attorney for All Saints Anglican Church in upstate New York, in a town called Irondequoit, this week urged New York's Court of Appeals to set aside a previous decision from a lower court that essentially allowed the removal of the congregation from its longtime church building at 759 Winona Blvd. It's a case that might not be settled until it gets to the U.S. Supreme Court. During court proceedings, Eugene Van Voorhis argued that secular state law - and not ecclesiastical canon - should govern the transfer of property in New York.

In Vancouver BC, seventeen individuals in three diocesan parishes have gone before the B.C. SUPREME COURT to try to keep former diocesan clergy, who have left the Anglican Church of Canada, from working within their parish buildings. Five of the people bringing the action are former diocesan clergy or parish officials at St. John's Shaughnessy, Vancouver - although to date the diocese has taken no action against that parish.

The other 12 individuals are former clergy or former parish officials of St. Matthew's, Abbotsford, and of St. Matthias and St. Luke, Vancouver. The diocese invoked Canon 15 on August 25 at these two parishes. Canon 15 was not invoked at St. John's.

Bishops like Gladstone B. Adams III (Central NY) and Michael Ingham (Vancouver) have no interest in settling anything in a gracious Christian manner. They would sooner have empty properties they can't sell than to allow a financial deal to be worked out with these godly Anglicans. Mrs. Jefferts Schori's "no negotiation" policy has liberals desperately afraid of her, which is why, at the end of the day, it is better that a whole diocese leaves at one time.

The Presiding Bishop is on record as saying she would sooner sell a former Episcopal parish to a saloon operator (VA trial) than to another Anglican jurisdiction, which speaks volumes about what she REALLY things about the Global South. Odd, isn't it, that this never came up at Lambeth Conference?

The truth is, all this property grabbing is about power and money. It has nothing whatever to do with the gospel or making souls for the Kingdom. It is Mrs. Jefferts Schori's fantasy that she can win if she litigates, litigates and litigates, again and again. Even if she does win parishes and dioceses, she has lost tens of thousands of Episcopalians forever, and the churches her liberal and revisionist diocesan bishops "win" lie fallow for years or are sold off to "saloons". I urge you to read Canon Gary L'Hommedieu's excellent article in today's digest, "The Historical Fiction of The Episcopal Church." http://tinyurl.com/463srd

*****

The Bishop of New Hampshire, V. GENE ROBINSON has broken with tradition and endorsed a candidate for political office. In a letter published on "LGBT for Obama," a website that states it serves as the "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community's online campaign to educate voters on John McCain's anti-gay policies", Bishop Gene Robinson called on all LGBT voters to "put our differences and disappointments aside, and get behind the one candidate who has our interests at heart."

On Sept. 4 Bishop Robinson wrote that LGBT voters are "faced with the most stark choice in recent memory, with ramifications for our community like no other. If nothing else convinces you to vote for Barack Obama, surely the likelihood of the next president appointing one, two, or possibly even three Supreme Court justices should do it."

While endorsing specific issues and or programs is not uncommon, lending the support of the episcopal office to a single candidate is uncommon and perhaps even illegal. It also skirts US tax laws, as clergy or church endorsements are prohibited by a 1954 amendment to the Internal Revenue Code. Nonprofit, tax-exempt entities may not "participate in, or intervene in . . . any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office."

Not so long ago, All Saints' Church Pasadena, home to lesbian Integrity leader Susan Russell almost got its non-profit license pulled for opposing the policies of George Bush. The IRS failed in their campaign, (and should have), but it would seem that Robinson has stepped way over the line by openly endorsing a candidate for the White House!

*****

CHARLES DARWIN will receive an apology from the Church of England for rejecting evolution. This Church of England apology will concede in a statement that it was over-defensive and over-emotional in dismissing Darwin's ideas. It will call "anti-evolutionary fervour" an "indictment" on the Church". The bold move is certain to dismay sections of the Church that believe in creationism and regard Darwin's views as directly opposed to traditional Christian teaching. The apology, which has been written by the Rev. Dr. Malcolm Brown, the Church's director of mission and public affairs, says that Christians, in their response to Darwin's theory of natural selection, repeated the mistakes they made in doubting Galileo's astronomy in the 17th century. "The statement will read: "Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still. We try to practise the old virtues of 'faith seeking understanding' and hope that makes some amends."

The Vatican however, said the theory of evolution is compatible with the Bible, and plans no posthumous apology to Charles Darwin for the cold reception it gave him 150 years ago. Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican's culture minister, was speaking at the announcement of a Rome conference of scientists, theologians and philosophers to be held next March marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's "The Origin of Species".

Christian churches have long been hostile to Darwin because his theory conflicts with the literal biblical account of creation. Pope Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans in 1950, which Pope John Paul reiterated in 1996. Ravasi stated that the Vatican has no intention of apologizing for earlier negative views. PS. Charles Robert Darwin is buried in Westminster Abby

*****

At its recent meeting, the Council of CHURCH SOCIETY endorsed the fourteen point Jerusalem Declaration produced at the Global Anglican Futures Conference (GAFCON) in June. The Council welcomed the attempt by GAFCON to respond to the false teaching that has engulfed parts of the Anglican Communion. They were also pleased that the Declaration upholds the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion "as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God's Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today".

"The Articles are a clear statement of Reformed Protestant doctrine and a standard for the teaching of clergy and for discipline. They must be understood in their plain historical sense. As such they affirm, and we affirm, that salvation is only to be found through faith in Christ Jesus, and that the Church has no authority to teach or establish anything that is contrary to Scripture.

The Articles likewise deny unbiblical inventions such as transubstantiation and that Christian ministers are priests who may 'offer Christ' for the living and the dead," said the statement.. "Our hope and our prayer is that with a clear commitment to the doctrinal standard of Anglicanism the partners in GAFCON will help provinces to resist the doctrinal corruption that has infected many western churches and bring fresh impetus to the attempts to reform such churches under the Word of God."

*****

The Archbishop of the Anglican Province of WALES says homosexuality should not be an issue that tears the Anglican Communion apart as there are more pressing problems like poverty, HIV/AIDS and other maladies afflicting the human race. Archbishop Barry Morgan, an advocate of homosexuality, decided however to pull the plug on having Jeffrey John, a homosexual, as the Bishop of Bangor, citing inflammatory consequences.

As one VOL reader wrote, "Morgan is pathetic. While Anglicanism may not be a 'confessing' church, it is decidedly a sacramental one. These leftists refuse to confront the elephant in the sanctuary: you are redefining the sacrament of holy matrimony by advocating on behalf of homosexual unions. Insofar as a 'natural' predilection for homosexual behavior, we are all predisposed to sin. Does that give us license to 'act out' and not expect the Church to rebuke that behavior, rather to 'bless' it? so much for the dying Church in Wales."

*****

In the DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA, St. Mark's, a Philadelphia city parish run by a single Affirming Catholic priest, has "adopted" St. James the Less, a parish that was forced into closure by inhibited Bishop Charles Bennison when he tossed out Fr. David Ousley, an Anglo-Catholic priest who was running it as an enormously successful parish complete with a school (now closed). The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Pennsylvania is allowing the Rev. Sean Mullen to "adopt" the Church and make it into a mission. We'll let you know how this fantasy plays out in due course.

*****

PROVINCE VIII met recently and celebrated with lots of love and kisses their new ministries as they prepare for General Convention. The new Diocese of San Joaquin under Jerry Lamb got a standing ovation for their convention deputies. Lamb claims to have 18 parishes! Bill Gandenberger, Director of Communications for the Anglican Province of San Joaquin, could not say how many the new Episcopal diocese has, but it is not that many. About 75 bishops, clergy and laity elected officers, approved a $560,000 triennial budget and celebrated the establishment of new ministries.

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VIRGINIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY'S new slogan, heralded by its new president Ian Markham, is "Orthodox and Open". Just how open? Well, the seminary has already taken on a Muslim student, probably in exchange for Muslim funding for the seminary. It is how the Muslims took over Markham's former charge, Hartford Seminary. Look for more Muslim involvement and money at VTS going forward. In a blurb at the seminary website, VTS welcomed its first Muslim exchange student, Mr. Salih Sayilgan, as part of its continuing effort to encourage deeper cross-cultural conversations within the VTS Community and equip students to envision new and creative ways to undertake ministry in the world. Sayilgan's arrival marks a new relationship between the Seminary and the Istanbul Foundation for Science and Culture (IFSC), a Muslim organization committed to dialogue and constructive relationships with Christians. No mention of trying to convert Mr. Sayilgan to Christ. Way too uninclusive.

*****

The Church of South India (Anglican) is under attack. The attack on the CSI Christ Church, Kodical, Mangalore, can be seen here. These photos are of the CSI Church that was attacked by the Bajrangdal activists on the 14th of September. A group of 25-30 activists entered the church on Sunday morning and damaged the church. This is a small Tamil congregation that was established a few years back. The church has been damaged very badly with no media, state, central or other leaders bothering to visit the place till now.

These are the same Hindu fundamentalist groups that are carrying out attacks in Orissa. They are reported today to have used guns to attack a police station, killed four policemen, and drove 20 into the jungle. This is said to be in retaliation for police protecting Christians against one of their mobs. View here: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/sandeeptheophil/AttackOnTheCSIChristChurchKodicalMangalore14thOfSept2008ByBajrandalActivist#

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St. Andrew's Church in Easton, MD, announced this week that it has gone into foreclosure. Is this the beginning of a national trend? "You know the economy is in trouble when God's house goes into foreclosure," wrote the Rt. Rev. Joel Marcus Johnson, Rector of St. Andrew's Anglican Church of Easton, and Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of The Chesapeake. St. Andrew's has been taken into foreclosure proceedings because it has defaulted on its mortgage. The Talbot Bank, the church's creditor, will set a date for the sale. The church's debt is $950,000.

The Bishop blames a confluence of issues including the economy, recessionary currents, contributor frustrations over volatile markets, the shrinking dollar, and the soaring cost of fuel and food. As a result, cash flow gets silted-in, and capital campaigns get caught on mud banks.

The parish could not make the $6,000 a month payment. The Rector, Wardens and Vestry have no plan to declare bankruptcy. The Presbyterian Church of Easton has agreed to allow St. Andrew's use of its building.

*****

A traditional ACA Anglican Catholic parish will open its doors in Farmington Valley, CT,. under the auspices of the Rev. John Wesley Westcott, III, on Sunday Sept., 21 - St. Matthew's Day - in Avon, CT. Interested folk can call the good Father at 860-216-1902. Westcott said he ran a few ads and got "a very strong response. "The Church of the Transfiguration will have its first Mass this Sunday," he told VOL.

Apparently the Bishop of Connecticut, Drew Smith was none too pleased to hear the news telling a congregation he was visiting in the area (after seeing the ads) that Westcott is not a priest, that he has failed in trying to start a mission a couple times before, and that he wanted to buy a couple of Smith's empty churches. "Not true," said Westcott.

"The first two statements are untrue. The last is true. The Episcopal Church is too scared to sell a church building to me. They are afraid it will succeed. It will. It tells you something when I have not had my first service and Bishop Smith is already attacking me." Westcott, is a graduate of VTS M. Div and was ordained to the Diaconate in 1979 by Bishop Paul Moore DNY. He was ordained to the Priesthood in 1980 by Thomas Fraser of North Carolina.

*****

On another good news front, ST. GABRIEL'S ANGLICAN CHURCH will open its doors to the people of Westchester County in Hartsdale, NY on Sunday October 5th, 2008 with Mass at 8.30 am. St. Gabriel's is a member parish of the Anglican Church in America/Traditional Anglican Communion. An early morning Solemn High Mass will be celebrated Sunday at 8.30am at 130 North Central Avenue, Hartsdale, starting October 5, 2008, utilizing the property of St. Paul's United Methodist Church. "We are starting early as the Methodists, our hosts, have their service at 10am," said the Rev. Carlton C. Clarke. Some 35 persons have expressed interest in the new parish, he said. Interested persons can call 914 629 1616.

*****

THE Royal Society's director of education, the Rev. Professor Michael Reiss, resigned from his post this week after a row over his view that creationism should be examined in science classes.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Royal Society said that Professor Reiss's remarks had been open to misinterpretation.

"While it was not his intention, this has led to damage to the Society's reputation. As a result, Professor Reiss and the Royal Society have agreed that, in the best interests of the Society, he will step down immediately as director of education - a part-time post he held on secondment. He is to return, full time, to his position as Professor of Science Education at the Institute of Education."

*****

And finally this:
Jesus Christ never built a church
Jesus Christ never dabbled in real estate
Jesus Christ never took out a mortgage
Jesus Christ never wrote canons
Jesus Christ never shopped at Almys or Whippells

*****

For a humorous look at the new TEC creed, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUQcCvX2MKk&feature=related

*****

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