It was another week of contradictions and ecclesiastical mayhem in the life of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Topping the news was the consecration of two former Episcopal priests as bishops in the Anglican Church of Kenya to meet the needs of Anglicans in North America. On August 30, the Anglican Communion Network welcomed the consecrations of the Rt. Rev. Bill Atwood and the Rt. Rev. Bill Murdoch by the Anglican Church of Kenya. It is looking forward to the consecration of Bishop-elect John Guernsey by the Anglican Province of Uganda on Sept. 2.

"The Episcopal Church's intransigence has left thousands of Anglicans in North America in need of pastoral care and the oversight of bishops. We welcome the generous decisions by the Anglican Church of Kenya and the Church of the Province of Uganda to help us in our time of need," said the Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton, the Network's chief operating officer. The consecrations, noted Fenton, were attended by the leadership of 10 Anglican Provinces. All three new bishops are committed to the Anglican Communion and to a Biblical, missionary and united Anglican presence in North America. They will be part of the Common Cause Council of Bishops scheduled for a Sept. 25–28 meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.

They vowed to "serve the international interests of the Anglican Church of Kenya, to serve clergy and congregations in North America under the Kenyan jurisdiction".

Will they be invited to Lambeth 2008? Not likely. The ordinations are valid but "irregular" by Lambeth Palace. They are no more likely to get invited than Bishop Martyn Minns (CANA), Bishop Chuck Murphy (AMiA) and Bishop David L. Moyer (TAC). The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will not yield to pressure from conservatives to invite the two new bishops to next year's Lambeth Conference. Ahead of these two newly consecrated bishops is the Bishop of Recife, the Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavilcanti, who has still not received an invitation.

How does this all shake out? We have approximately 56 Continuing Anglican (Anglo-Catholic) jurisdictions and their bishops in North America. We now have 11 newly created Evangelical offshore bishops in North America created by a number of African provinces. We have approximately 300 active and retired TEC bishops, all meeting the needs of about one million North American Episcopalians/Anglicans. Earlier in Nairobi, Greg Venables, archbishop of the Southern Cone of Americas, said the worldwide Anglican Communion lacked the structures needed to end its current impasse over homosexuality. "There are no official structures to resolve things, so part of the major struggle we are going through is to work out how we actually resolve a conflict of this nature," he told reporters.

That may be true, but this will be Rowan Williams last stand when he comes to New Orleans next month. You can read what First Things writer Jordan Hylden says about this. You can read it here or in today's digest http://tinyurl.com/28nqsn

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AT the other end of the spectrum this week, the DIOCESE OF CHICAGO, in defiance of the GC2006 B033 resolution designed to prevent the election of a gay or lesbian bishop, announced that on the list of candidates to be the next bishop is the Very Rev. Tracey Lind, a lesbian.

The Rev. Susan Russell, President of Integrity saw this as a great leap forward for womankind and lesbiankind saying that the unity of the Anglican Communion was not nearly as important and that LGBT faithful should not be sacrificed for it. "There is no turning back on the full inclusion of the baptized into the Body of Christ -- only moving forward into God's future as an Episcopal Church committed to mission and ministry, to unity in diversity."

Among the demands the Primates have requested, through the Presiding Bishop, is that the House of Bishops make an unequivocal common covenant that the bishops will not authorize any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions in their dioceses or through General Convention, and by confirming the passing of Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention meant that a candidate for Episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consent."

Repeat after me: "They're not listening!"

In 2005 the Primates asked The Episcopal Church to consider specific requests made by the Windsor Report. One of them was to affect a moratorium on the election and consent to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate who is living in a same gender union until some new consensus in the Anglican Communion emerges.

Now before we get too carried away that this is a done deal, the last time there was a homosexual candidate for bishopric was in the Diocese of Newark. The candidate, one Michael Barlowe, never made it beyond the first ballot and quickly sank without trace. The same could happen in Chicago. Given today's climate and the upcoming HOB meeting in New Orleans with Dr. Rowan Williams, this is a bit like throwing sand in his face. It will hardly help the liberal cause and it could certainly give the Network and Windsor bishops ammunition that Mrs. Schori doesn't want them to have. Stay tuned.

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The DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT has commenced legal action against the former rector and former wardens of Trinity Episcopal Church, Bristol, who have refused to turn over possession of Trinity Episcopal Church properties and assets as requested. The complaint is available online here: http://tinyurl.com/2hh9t4
Don't expect any mercy from Connecticut Bishop Andrew Smith. The last time this happened, twelve of his diocesan leaders walked into St. John's Episcopal Church in Bristol waving a letter of inhibition at the Rev. Mark Hansen, hacked into the church's computer, shut down the church's website and took over the building. The senior warden tried in vain to stop him. Ah the joys of diversity.

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In another tantalizing gesture to foster good relations in the Anglican Communion, 29 Provincial Secretaries recently met in Hong Kong. The office of the Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the ANGLICAN CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL, organized the meeting. "The aim is to bring together as many provincial secretaries from around the world as possible to get to know one another, to get to know their respective churches where they work, to talk about differences and the similarities," said the Ven. Michael Pollesel, who was quoted in an article published on the website maintained by the Anglican Church of Canada.

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FIVE BISHOPS wrote a second open letter to the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church this week asking how much money the Episcopal Church has spent on litigation against congregations and individuals who have chosen to depart TEC since 2003? What are the sources of those funds?

They also asked how much compensation the law firm of the Episcopal Church's chancellor, David Beers has received for servicing this litigation?

"To date we have received no reply from you in any form to address our call for financial transparency. And we are now joined by another bishop who is asking the same questions."

"We raise these concerns because of past incidents of questionable financial decisions and financial mismanagement at the top echelons of TEC." You can read the full story in today's digest.

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CROSSING JURSDICTIONAL LINES is now becoming so commonplace that it hardly raises an eyebrow. But eyebrows will certainly be raised when Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola Comes to Wheaton, Illinois, to join the Chicago-area network of AMiA parishes for worship on Sunday, 23 September 2007. It will be held at Wheaton College's Edman Chapel. The joint Eucharist is an annual event, but it is quite significant that the Archbishop will celebrate so close to the 30 September deadline for TEC to respond to the Dar es Salaam communique. He will certainly have some comment about the fact that a lesbian is on the slate to be the next Bishop of Chicago. We'll keep you informed.

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In the DIOCESE OF COLORADO another parish has left the diocese and TEC. The priest, vestry and leaders of the Church of the Holy Comforter in Broomfield, Colorado, have resigned en masse from the church and diocese declaring that the theological innovations of the Episcopal Church make it impossible for them to stay any longer in an apostate denomination. They are also leaving the bishop with a $1.6 million mortgage. The senior warden, John E. Basio, told VOL that the parish faced a 40 percent drop in revenue. "We are on the point of insolvency and we cannot pay our bills especially the interest and principal on a $1.6 million mortgage. No one has left the church; the people are withholding their financial support because of national church issues. We can no longer support the diocese and the national Episcopal Church with our monies." You can read the full story here or in today's digest:. http://tinyurl.com/2q8maa

Another priest under siege in the diocese, the Rev. Don Armstrong at Grace and St Stephens in Colorado Springs, said that this is what the end of the failed [Bishop Rob] O'Neill episcopacy is going to look like...the man's obsession with winning favor within TEC power circles, his commitment to sexual perversions, and his propensity for vindictive revenge are going to drive the Diocese into bankruptcy. Armstrong said that if the diocese is successful in taking his church, the bishop will be stuck with a $2.6 million dollar called note.

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There's news of ANSWERED PRAYERS as priests step out in faith to start new orthodox parishes in revisionist dioceses. The Rev. Lance Guiffrida of All Saints Anglican in Attleboro, Mass., has a new building after being tossed out of their former residence by Episcopal Bishop Tom Shaw. They were praying for pews and the Lord answered in a mighty way. Wrote Guiffrida, "Not only was I praying for pews that would all be suitable for the size of the room, I asked for curved pews. We got them! The Pentecostal church down the road was selling their pews. Just the right number, just the right size, just the perfect price, and they are curved! God is good!" The church will have an Open House on Sept 8th with AMIA Bishop Thad Barnum consecrating the new building.

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THE REALIGNMENT continues even in Canada. In Montreal, Quebec, a new startup church of 100 people met at the Montreal Anglican Coalition in Canada (ACiC) plant. The Venerable Anasthase Kajugiro, an Anglican Archdeacon from Rwanda will be their new priest. Said Anathase, "I am very thankful to the entire community of AMiA and ACiC for your prayers. The devil had tried by all means to disturb our programme but God is great all the time. We have found a nice place of worship just one week before the 26th and that was only by God's intervention. On Sunday morning, I was very excited despite Satan's attack again because we have had a good number of people from Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa."

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In the DIOCESE OF SOUTHERN VIRGINIA, the Executive Board of Southern Virginia approved a new compensation package for their Assisting Bishop John C. Buchanan. A source told VOL that the net result of the new compensation package increased the Assisting Bishop's compensation by an estimated $10,000.00 during the period of September 1 through December 31. This act required the Executive Board to increase the budgeted amount for the Assisting Bishop's compensation passed by the 115th Annual Council in February by almost 10%. This act comes as the Diocese of Southern Virginia considers enacting mandatory parish assessments to increase revenues that have not recovered from a drop in parochial pledges in 2004. One of the primary reasons given for increasing mandatory assessments is to triple the Diocesan pledge to the National Church.

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Could the Anglo-Catholic PROVINCE OF CENTRAL AFRICA go liberal? It's hard to imagine, but distinctly possible. Concerted efforts are being made by the liberal American Episcopal Church to subvert orthodox African bishops. It is happening in consort with Trinity Wall Street Church - the richest church in the world - in an attempt to subvert and undermine orthodox African bishops with thousands of pounds sterling and hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars.

Also implicated in this conspiracy is a Church of England parish led by an ultra-liberal pro-homosexual London-based cleric who is attempting to buy a bishopric in the poor Anglo-Catholic Province of Central Africa.

Heading this conspiracy is the Bishop of Botswana, the Rt. Rev. Trevor Mwamba, and fey pro-homosexual cleric Nickie Henderson who has been angling for the position as the next Bishop of Lake Malawi. These actions led to violent clashes between supporters and opponents of Henderson and the murder of British missionary Canon Rodney Hunter, 73, an opponent of Henderson's. You can read the full story in today's digest.

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A nasty little brouhaha erupted this week when the UK liberal publication "Church Times" accused CANA Bishop Martyn Minns of assisting in the writing of an article that went out under Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola's name. The Nigerian Archbishop blasted back at the Times accusing them of racism. In a blistering letter to the "Church Times", the Venerable AkinTunde Popoola, Director of Communications for the Church of Nigeria, told U.K. editors that an article by Pat Ashworth entitled "Software Suggests Minns Rewrote Akinola's Letter" was very "insulting" and "racist" inferring that the Primate of All Nigeria is being dictated to because he sought help from Minns. "Is this in continuation of the 'jamming' of people opposing the [homosexual] agenda," asks Popoola? You can read the full story in today's digest.

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In the DIOCESE OF LONG ISLAND Gene Rodriques, the former Puerto Rican lover of Archdeacon Howard Williams, committed suicide this past week. On the tenth anniversary of the "Penthouse" story "The Boys from Brazil" scandal, the former partner of the current Archdeacon of Brooklyn jumped from a high rise building in White Plains, Westchester, NY. The police say he left a ten-page letter saying Williams was the cause, a source who lives on Long Island told VOL. "They were partners for ten years until they separated. Not even a month after they split, he moved in a married man who works with Air Jamaica. In his distress, Williams called on Lloyd Andres of "Penthouse" fame for consolation and support. Andres has been accompanying him to White Plains, NY as they make funeral arrangements. Andres is currently a hairdresser in Brooklyn."

"The chronology lays out how Andries and the Rev. Howard Williams, formerly a member of the national Episcopal Church staff, met Pereira during a meeting in Brazil in 1992, how Williams met Barros on a later trip, and how first Barros and later Pereira traveled to the United States. Andries provided housing to both the men and financial assistance to Pereira, while Williams helped arrange assistance for Barros' travel. The Penthouse article makes no allegations that Williams participated in any of the sexual activities. Williams was asked to resign his position after being mentioned in the article."

"Williams had an affair with him while he [Williams] was still with his wife and two children. It was during the "Penthouse" scandal that Williams left his wife. He and Gene purchased their Brooklyn apartment together but Gene was addicted to cocaine. Williams took him to rehab. While Gene was in rehab, Williams told him that the relationship was over. It was at that time that Williams moved in Mark Anthony Schliffer less than a month after Gene moved out. At the time of the suicide, Gene was staying with a sister in White Plains Westchester County NY. Williams is a disgrace and charms everyone with his good looks and sweet talk. He can do nothing wrong for Bishop Orris Walker as he has Walker's secrets."

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CORRECTION AND APOLOGY. An article, "Anglicanism: Protestant and Catholic, August 15, 2007" attributed to Dr. James I. Packer was not by him. "It contains information, which was new to me. Its source is identified as the Protestant Alliance, a body with which I have no links and of which I know nothing. It has apparently been on the Internet for a number of years anonymously and to have my name attached to it with the date, August 15, 2007, is, simply, a mistake. The views expressed do not match my present attitude towards Anglo-Catholics in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada."

Virtueonline deeply regrets running the article and we apologize profusely to Dr. Packer and for any harm the article may have caused him. Dr. Packer is a personal friend and a friend of VOL.

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There are a number of very fine columns in today's digest that I hope you will read along with the news and commentary.

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