The second event was the opening salvo in what looks to be a protracted battle between Bishop John Howard in the DIOCESE OF FLORIDA and seven faithful, orthodox parishes; and the third was the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's vote Friday to reject non-celibate gay clergy from being ordained to the priesthood, demanding that homosexual clergy must remain celibate. This vote is important because the Episcopal Church has a concordat with the ELCA, and its position goes totally against current ECUSA policy, which recently saw a non-celibate homosexual elected a bishop.

The initial ruling that came down in the DIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES was deemed "tentative," but when the judge gave the final ruling Monday, the decision was overwhelming -- St. James, Newport Beach would be permitted to keep its property from the clutches of the Diocese of Los Angeles and its revisionist bishop, J. Jon Bruno.

It is a victory that will reverberate around the Episcopal Church and will undoubtedly cause a major headache to Frank Griswold since V. Gene Robinson ended his marriage and met his future male lover on a beach and lived happily ever after...as a bishop. This will be a tidal wave decision that goes across the country.

VirtueOnline has learned that it has been a well-kept secret till now that that ruling came down about six weeks ago, but Bruno's attorneys kept piling on challenges. The judge eventually dismissed them all.

But lest one gets too excited one should bear in mind that this is a state-by-state fight. "The Canon Law Institute argued the Methodist case in Missouri and still lost," says CLI president, Fr. Charles Nalls.

Bishop Bruno will appeal the decision to the State Court of Appeals. If he loses again he will take it to the State Supreme Court. After that he has an option to take it to the Supreme Court of the U.S., but that road has mines that could blow up in his and ECUSA's face if the Dennis Canon is thrown out. Then it is open season for anyone to leave the ECUSA with their property intact. This is an enormous risk in taking it to the Supreme Court, and one can only imagine what Frank Griswold and his attorney, David Booth Beers, are thinking about in New York City as they weigh their options. Flipping a coin might be just as good, or perhaps reciting a Psalm of Remembrance might be in order.

The other two parishes in this battle are in LA County, while St. James is in Orange County -- hence, the decision on only one parish in Monday's ruling.

The other big news of the week was the response by the bishop of the DIOCESE OF FLORIDA, John Howard, to the request for Alternative Episcopal Oversight by the Florida Seven parishes. It was a resounding NO that took him 18 pages to say. He made a legal case and laid it out for the entire world to see. Wrote one of the rectors of the seven parishes under siege: "We did not know it was coming; we got a tip that it was being posted on the website. He posted it as a public document. We are taking our time to digest and comment on it before responding it. There are obvious inaccuracies. He has put all the stuff out there."

In essence what the bishop said was no to AEO, but he would consider Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO), which means he stays in charge and has the right to visit the parishes, and they must go on paying him money. So DEPO is a farce, as we all know, and it hasn't worked anywhere. Furthermore Bishop Howard also expects parishes to contribute financially to the diocese, and he will deal with the two missions as a separate issue. VirtueOnline is posting a link directly to the Web site rather than posting the full 18 pages.

http://www.diocesefl.org/forms/response%20to%20request%20for%20alternate%20episcopal%20oversight.pdf

One is forced to ask at this point if compromise of any sort is possible with revisionist or even more moderate, so-called liberal, bishops in The Episcopal Church. When push comes to shove it is the canons and constitution of the church, not the faith itself that is to be reckoned with. It would now appear that Howard will emulate Bishop Andrew Smith of Connecticut in how he deals with the orthodox in his diocese. Clearly tolerance for divergent points of view is a farce and only works for the liberals. A "tolerant" church like the Episcopal Church is only tolerant to fellow liberal travelers, but to those so intolerant of their viewpoint they themselves would abolish tolerance.

THE news last week that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the country's largest and most liberal Lutheran denomination, would keep in place a ban on active homosexual clergy at its annual convention and that homosexual clergy must remain celibate must have come as a shock to Frank Griswold, who must have hoped for otherwise. When I inquired of the media folk in NYC, I was told there was no official statement from the Pluriform One as he was on holiday.

For the record, the Episcopal Church and the ELCA entered into a relationship of full communion through an agreement titled "Called to Common Mission." The Episcopal Church adopted the plan at its General Convention in Denver in July 2000. The 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Denver also voted for full communion between the ELCA and the Episcopal Church.

A VIRTUEONLINE reader wrote to say that the DIOCESE OF CHICAGO is stacking the ordination committees with homosexuals. Thus, if a candidate for ordination presents himself and does not accept the radical gay agenda, he is deemed unfit for the priesthood!

This same orthodox person (who is now a priest in another jurisdiction) said that his own sense of calling was questioned by a Chicago ECUSA priest who told him, "I'm not sensing a call here." The source said, "This is after five years of lay ministry service! When I told the pastor that three bishops had confirmed my call, he went insane, literally, and began screaming at me, 'Find another church!' Sometimes witness means planting your own church and standing for values where there are none."

MY article on "Peace and Justice, but for whom?" got a response from Dennis Hale, Director, Episcopal-Jewish Alliance for Israel. He wrote: "Thanks for running the article on the Anglican 'peace and justice' foolishness. We are effectively banished from the mainstream Episcopal press (I'm trying at the moment to see if we can place ads); we have few ways of letting people know of our work." The Judeo-Christian Alliance is trying to link opponents in the other mainline churches. The petition can be found at: http://www.judeo-christianalliance.org/. There is some Episcopal opposition to divestment, Hale said, citing Bishops Sisk, Little, and Wolf who had signed the alliance's petition. To learn more you can reach Mr. Hale at: epjafi@yahoo.com. The alliance's Web site can be reached at: http://www.episcopaljewishalliance.org

CANON MICHAEL GREEN is coming to America. One of England's most vibrant evangelical preachers, author of some 50 books and senior research Fellow at Wycliffe College, Oxford, he will be coming to Holy Trinity Church in Raleigh, N.C., a new parish plant with some 200 Anglican Christians, "who have come together out of distress at the current confusion in the Episcopal Church." It is a new chapter in the life of Holy Trinity, which begins this fall under the leadership of David Drake. The church invited Canon Green, lately adviser in evangelism to the archbishops of Canterbury and York, together with David Drake, an experienced Christian leader due to be ordained this fall, to be co-Rectors of Holy Trinity.

"I am excited by this new venture," said Canon Green, who holds an earned doctor of Divinity degree. The church meets in St. David's School Chapel in Raleigh. "There is tremendous opportunity for growth in this area, and I can't wait to get started. There has hitherto been no resident clergy leadership, but the Eucharist has been administered by the School Chaplain, Don Robers, and other visiting preachers which have been contributing to the growth and stability of the church."

Canon Green has periodically visited the United States over the years and is no stranger to these shores or the Episcopal Church. The new start-up originally consisted of a couple of large Bible studies, but it has been operating as a church since September 2004. First services begin on Sept.11, when both David Drake and Michael Green will be introduced and speak. The church is not part of the Diocese of North Carolina, but it is part of the Anglican Communion Network, of which Bishop Bob Duncan is the moderator. The parish office is located at 2511 Fairview Road, Raleigh, NC 27608, and inquirers can call the church at 919-833-4202.

BIBLE Thumping, NBC-style: NBC has plans for a show called "The Book of Daniel." Before you start thinking that the network has stumbled upon the Good Book, let me tell you that the main character is a pill-popping Episcopal priest. This man of the collar regularly talks with a youthful, hip version of Jesus Christ. Also featured on the show is a gay Republican character in the form of the priest's son. Aidan Quinn plays the Rev. Daniel Webster, whose family has its share of Hollywood-type drama-laden problems. Wife Judith chugs martinis. Daughter Grace deals drugs. And son Peter is a Log Cabin Republican. The Vicodin-addicted priest routinely tangles with his female bishop, played by Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn. The writer for the show, Jack Kenny, is himself openly gay. "I pull from my own life, but I don't have a gay agenda. Peter is not me, to use an example," Kenny told the New Jersey Star Ledger.

If you were wondering who is calling the evangelistic shots these days, then you might want to know that the primate of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, has invited the deans of the Anglican Communion Network and SOMA USA to Nigeria to teach American evangelical Episcopalians how the church plans to double its numbers from 17 million to 34 million members.

"The purpose of this mission trip is to bring the Anglican Communion Network Deans and other visionary leaders to Nigeria for a time of observation, interaction and participatory learning around the strategy, experience and issues of church planting through missionary dioceses and missionary bishops," said a press release. The team, limited to approximately 40 members, will not go to preach or teach, but humbly to learn from the leaders of a dynamic, creative and rapidly growing church, which is on fire to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. "It is our hope that by enabling clergy and lay leaders of the Anglican Communion Network to experience the Church of Nigeria, the spiritual DNA of the new alignment of Anglicanism in America will be set to give priority to evangelism, missions and church planting," said the release. The meeting will be held in November 2006, soon after GC2006, which might say something if the ECUSA is no longer hanging together as a unified force.

INTERNET WEB SITES and Blogs can be a source of truly interesting information. At a Web site called Little Green Footballs, there is an item mentioning former President George H.W. Bush.

The URL is http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/? entry=15987_The_Clown_Eucharist #95

Here is what one man wrote: "I like an old fashioned looking church, especially a big Cathedral. My boss, raised strict Arkansas Presbyterian is now an Episcopalian, mainly for his little boy's sake. His parish, St. Martin of Tours (same saint as my childhood Catholic Church) is supposedly the wealthiest Episcopal parish in the US, being that it is nestled between Tanglewood and River Oaks, where the big money in Houston live. Former President Bush is a parishioner. They just finished their mega-big and expensive church, and it looks like a grand old cathedral. My boss tells me the local Houston Episcopal Diocese is not at all happy with the direction of the US Episcopal Church, and their pastor has sent out a letter saying they will seek to stay in the US church, but are considering all options." One wonders what Bush senior really thinks about the direction the ECUSA is taking.

CORRECTION: In a previous digest I referred to Walter Pannenberg. That was incorrect, it is Wolfhart. The other name trapped in my brain was Walter Brueggeman!

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