Two opposing views on whether the consecration of some eleven offshore bishops (to date) by African primates for American congregations is a good or bad thing, is now firmly on the table.

The first view, espoused by Dr. Peter Toon, argues that schism is in the very nature and ethos of American Christianity and is apparently incurable. Anglicans are not exempt from this virus and disease.

"It seems that the Bible of American Anglicanism has, like the Bible of Marcion been edited with a penknife, in order to remove all calls to unity, and unity in truth, of the people of God from it! Rather, the spirit of capitalism and competition seem to have been written into the Bible! On the ground, the number of CEO's (Bishops) increases rapidly in order to rule over the increasing number of administrative units, even as the total number of Anglicans/Episcopalians in the USA actually decreases (in 1965 it was twice what it is now, and then the population of the USA was much smaller)."

In a bi-lined article for VOL: BISHOPS-"too thick on the ground and causing a big mess", Toon states that he believes TEC will effectively continue to rule the roost, while all its enemies will continue to fight amongst themselves, as they major on minors and preserve their small empires to the last ditch, professing their belief in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church! You can read the full article here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/2slsn4

A contrary opinion offered by Maurice "Ben" Benitez Bishop of Texas, (ret.) holds that what we are seeing are different people glorifying God in different ways. "Just rejoice that our Global South Primates have come to appreciate the depth of the mess that TEC is now in, and that so many of them have stepped in to offer pastoral care to both their own ethnic folks living here in the U.S., and to the formerly TEC congregations, who have bailed out, and who want to be tied to Anglican Provinces."

He writes: "With the arrogant attitude of the leadership of TEC in offering Alternate Pastoral Oversight, I think it is great that the Global South Primates have consecrated several of our talented and orthodox priests to provide Episcopal Ministry to these congregations, that they from 4,000 miles away, have difficulty providing. They have just provided a different way of going than have Kolini and Tay and AMiA! Besides those Global South Primates already have their hands full building up the Kingdom in their own backyard."

Then he says: "Yes, it would be desirable, and will be desirable in the future for their to be more coming together in some kind of unity, and the avoidance of a competitive spirit among these different ways that different folks have chosen to propagate the Gospel and provide ministry in this land. Let us pray that the Lord God leads us all to that blessed Unity in Christ. In any case what we are now seeing is far better than the abysmal job that TEC has done in recent years, which only seems to get worse and worse! And maybe a good beginning of obtaining that unity, which we want, was begun by Bishop Bob Duncan (Pittsburgh), the Network and the establishment of COMMON CAUSE, a fine way to bring diverse groups together."

In conclusion he states: "Don't bother knocking some one else who has moved in the right direction, even if he has not chosen your way, and not marching on your schedule. Praise the Lord anyway!"

*****

A LEADER in the Episcopal Church may have inadvertently given away the Episcopal Church's strategy in dealing with fleeing dioceses and parishes.

Bonnie Anderson President of TEC's House of Deputies spoke on June 30 to a gathering at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. With her was her chancellor, Sally Johnson. Her message to the assembled was clear, "keep calm."

Addressing more than 275 people from 21 of the 60 congregations in the diocese she urged her hearers to "hang in there with us". A month previous the diocese asked for alternative pastoral care for many of its parishes wanting to leave The Episcopal Church.

Trying to reassure TEC supporters, (read liberals in a fundamentally orthodox diocese) she inadvertently gave away the Episcopal Church's strategy. Anderson assured her audience, "The leadership of The Episcopal Church will never leave you alone, remember that."

Them's fightin' words.

Should congregants decide to leave, Chancellor Johnson said that the local parishes must be ready to take the initiative to file lawsuits and not expect The Episcopal Church leadership to do so.

It is interesting to note that she said these words in the Diocese of the Rio Grande an orthodox diocese led by the Rt. Rev. Jeffrey Steenson. She would never have uttered those words in, say, the Diocese of Newark, a revisionist diocese wherein you could count the number of orthodox parishes on a squid with five tentacles.

In May, the Diocese of Rio Grande passed two resolutions asking Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, TEC Primate, for alternative oversight for congregations that feel "deeply alienated from the actions of The Episcopal Church especially since 2003." Bishop Steenson also opposes TEC's actions.

Ms. Anderson's words confirm what many of us have believed - that revisionists like her and Mrs. Schori are now putting into place a scorched earth policy with regard to orthodox priests and bishops. No amount of money will be spared in making sure that all properties and dioceses remain in the Episcopal Church until long after the Second Coming when, presumably, liberal Episcopal parishes will still be operating as though nothing had happened.

A case in point occurred this week when the DIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES sued St. Luke's of the Mountains and won another round in the legal battle over who owns the property no more than a week after an appeals court panel in Orange County ruled in favor of the six-county Los Angeles Diocese in a similar property dispute with three other parishes.

The decision by Judge John Shepard Wiley Jr. concluded that he could not ignore the higher court's extensive June 25 ruling on comparable issues, but said he expected an appeal in the St. Luke's dispute as well. "This case is far from over, but it's over in this court," he said. You can read the full story here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/285bb5

An orthodox bishop of an orthodox diocese who said he was not going to take parishes that want to leave his diocese to Civil Court, got a response from David Booth Beers, Mrs. Schori's attorney, who made it clear that if he did not go after the parishes "Katharine will".

That prompted this writer to conclude that The Episcopal Church will literally bankrupt orthodox parishes that oppose them and that they will spend literally millions of dollars to keep parishes in their embrace. A case in point is the DIOCESE OF MASSACHUSETTS, which spent $2 million in legal fees to keep St. Paul's Brockton Episcopal Church in its embrace! The end result: a church that has gone from 800 members to twelve. That is a huge price tag for keeping even a dead parish in its grip for non-existent future generations of Episcopalians as yet unborn. You can read my piece on "How to Destroy an Episcopal Parish" here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/3cynx3

The strategy of Episcopal Church leaders, lead by Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori and her attorney David Booth Beers is clear: to go after orthodox dioceses and churches and litigate them into bankruptcy rather than allowing them to leave the Episcopal Church with their properties, says the president and CEO of the American Anglican Council (AAC). You can read that story here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/22mqh5

*****

The number of congregations voting to leave The Episcopal Church and join conservative Anglican groups set up in the United States by Anglican bishops from overseas continues to grow. The Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) - an offshoot of the Church of Nigeria - had 34 congregations in May and now claims 40 churches. The Episcopal Church with some 7500 congregations has not opened one new church.

*****

In the DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA, Barbara Alton, Bishop Charles Bennison's assistant, is still trying to cover Bennison's tracks. At the online encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA, Alton has been editing Bennison's Wikipedia entry to remove references to the Bishop's sex abuse cover-up, which has a very exhaustive section on the scandal. This is notable because, when people search "Charles Bennison" on google.com, this is the first thing to come up. Apparently the Bishop's office has taken notice. Alton claims that she is removing the comments "by order of the Presiding Bishop!" Check it out for yourself: Featurenew!

The following URL:
http://www.skdiocese.com/home/2007/7/3/theologian-house-of-b
ishops-statement-contradicts-doctrine-o.html

has a length of 104 characters and resulted in the following TinyURL which has a length of 25 characters:

http://tinyurl.com/3yy7m8

* 22:19, 5 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Charles Bennison (→Handling of Brother's Earlier Sexual Misconduct)

* 17:27, 21 May 2007 (hist) (diff) m Charles Bennison (→Later Career - Exec Asst to Bishop Bennison again deleted inflammatory and libelous text.)

* 17:26, 21 May 2007 (hist) (diff) m Charles Bennison (→External Links - The links about scandals must be deleted per order of the Presiding Bishop in her address to ECCP in New York available on podcast. She requires us to focus on the mission of the)

* 17:24, 21 May 2007 (hist) (diff) m Charles Bennison (→References - this must be deleted per Executive Assistant to Bishop Bennison)

* 17:22, 21 May 2007 (hist) (diff) m Charles Bennison (→Bishop of Pennsylvania - Executive Assistant deleted incorrect, inflammatory, and libelous entries. Please respect this.)

* 17:18, 21 May 2007 (hist) (diff) Charles Bennison (deleted the entire section Child Sexual Abuse Scandal)

* 16:44, 21 May 2007 (hist) (diff) Charles Bennison (deleted the entire section)

*****

In the DIOCESE OF RHODE ISLAND Bishop Geralyn Wolfe has inhibited Seattle-based Rev. Dr. Ann Holmes Redding, an Episcopal priest who recently professed her faith in Islam. Bishop Wolfe has asked the RI resident to reflect on the doctrines of the Christian faith, her vocation as a priest, and what I see as the conflicts inherent in professing both Christianity and Islam. The bishop sent her inhibition to all the Clergy, Members of Diocesan Council and Standing Committee.

*****

CONTINUERS CONTINUE. Bishops of the Anglican Province of Christ the King (APCK) have elected the Most Reverend James Eugene Provence as the 2nd Archbishop in the Pro-Cathedral of St. Peter, Oakland, California, June 29, to succeed Archbishop Robert Morse. The new Archbishop will continue to administer the Diocese of the Western States. Archbishop Robert Morse will continue to direct St. Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Theological College in Berkeley, California.

In a sign of growing unity, the Rt. Rev. Louis Campese, Bishop Ordinary for the Diocese of the Eastern U.S for the Anglican Church in America (ACA/TAC,) Orlando, Florida, wrote to his flock saying this: "As the Ecumenical Officer for the ACA, I and others have over the years been doing our best to break down barriers with the other orthodox Anglican groups here in the USA. For the last few years we have had a very warm and friendly dialogue with most of the Bishops of the Anglican Province of Christ the King (APCK), and it seems that our relationship with them is really heading to a new level of unity. I have attached a 'pastoral letter' from Bishop Rocco Florenza, Diocese of the Eastern States (APCK) which is self explanatory - no doubt as things progress, I will keep you all informed. Please continue to mediate on John 17: a prayer that some day we can all be 'ONE'. " Bishop Florenza's letter can be read here: http://tinyurl.com/3xgvz6

A parallel statement also came from Archbishop John Hepworth, Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion: "The Primate of the TAC welcomes the overtures recently made by one of the dioceses of the Anglican Province of Christ the King as a further deepening of the unity of the Continuum in the United States. This is not a sudden process, but one that has come from a deepening of prayer, friendship and conversations across the old divisions of the US Continuum. Unity always comes at a price. Jesus prayed unconditionally for the unity of His followers on the night before He died, and the price was paid the next day on the Cross.

"Coming at the close of the truly extraordinary and heroic ministry of Archbishop Morse, the timing of this announcement is both poignant and prophetic - poignant, because he is the last of the first four bishops of the Continuum who chose to walk apart from one another to leave episcopal office, and prophetic, because his successors are now making the moves, sacrificial of their own interests, that are now uniting this generation of those who stand apart from the Anglican churches that still abandon Gospel Truth and Catholic order."

When asked to explain what shape Bishop Florenza's "genuine unity" and the ACA bishops' "working together" would take, Bishop Langberg referred to the "form follows function" principle of architecture and engineering, saying, "We first need to focus on getting everyone on both sides thoroughly committed to following our Lord's clearly-expressed will for His Church. Once we all thus agree on what we are determined to do, we can address the issue of how to make it happen, in full confidence that if we trust in the Lord, He will direct our paths."

Just before going to cyber press, VOL received a statement from Archbishop John-Charles, F.O.D.C. who believes it is time for the Continuers to come together. He says the reason they haven't is because of "Sin". It is the key to the present state of our disunity, he says. You can read the full story here http://tinyurl.com/3bmsvb

*****

A meeting of the NETWORK DEANS recently took place in St. Louis. Present for the occasion, along with the deans, were three orthodox bishops: the Rt. Rev. Ed Salmon, (SC), the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman (Quincy) and the Rt. Rev. Peter Beckwith (Springfield). According to sources, the Windsor Report was discussed. Apparently one of the bishops, a spokesman for the Windsor Bishops, made a proposal to Dr. Rowan Williams that he not invite ANY of The Episcopal Church's bishops to Lambeth next year including themselves. "They would be willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of unity! The other argument is that it would defuse Global South anger at Williams for inviting those who consecrated V. Gene Robinson," said the source. It'll be interesting to see if this offer is taken up by the HOB and how Mrs. Schori will react.

The Dean from the Diocese of San Joaquin said that when the second reading of their constitution comes up in October it is almost certain that it will overwhelmingly pass. Should that happen, the diocese will remove itself from the Episcopal Church.

When that comes to pass, it is almost guaranteed that consents will fail for the Rev. Mark Lawrence to be the next Bishop of South Carolina.

The timeline is important. The DIOCESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA has set August 4 as the date to re-elect the Very Rev. Mark L. Lawrence, currently rector of St. Paul's, Bakersfield, Calif., as Bishop of South Carolina. The Standing Committees of the dioceses must send in notarized consents within the 120-day period to decide if he should get the nod. By October/November it will be known if the diocese (from which Lawrence hails) will leave. You can be sure, said an orthodox TEC bishop, that Lawrence hasn't got a prayer of getting consents for the job if the diocese moves to secede from The Episcopal Church.

So the BIG question is this: will the diocese go ahead and consecrate him anyway. What is likely, said a source, is that a number of retired orthodox bishops and a number of traditionalist bishops will go ahead and do it. No word on whether Salmon, Bishop of SC, would join them.

If the Diocese of Pittsburgh tries to withdraw from TEC, Bishop Bob Duncan will most certainly be defrocked this fall by the HOB, according to a trusted and in-the-know source of VOL. "There's big money behind this action (the Hillman family - billionaires from the very liberal Calvary Church, E. Pittsburgh) and The Episcopal Church is prepared to make an example of Bishop Duncan."

*****

In New Haven, the DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT elected a liberal woman priest as the next Suffragan Bishop. No surprise there. The Rev. Laura J. Ahrens, who as a child told her mother that she wanted to be an Episcopal priest, was ordained as a bishop in the Episcopal Church, becoming the church's 14th female bishop and the first in Connecticut. Mrs. Schori, the head of the Episcopal Church was chief consecrator at the service.

Across town in another part of the diocese, it was quite a different story. The Rev. Donald Lee Helmandollar, a godly priest, was deposed and defrocked by Bishop Andrew Smith who him that he and his people must vacate their building by July 8.

The pastor and people of the Bristol parish voted to leave the Episcopal Church in May and join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, (CANA) under their new bishop Martyn Minns.

Bishop Smith said the Rev. Helmandollar "renounced his orders" and was deposed. Not true. Helmandollar never renounced his orders. He only left the Episcopal Church over the Robinson election which is not the same thing. The parish has hired lawyers and will fight Smith and the diocese all the way to the State Supreme Court.

*****

From the DIOCESE OF NORTHWEST TEXAS comes this word from a source: A member of Christ Church Anglican in Midland says that Holy Trinity Midland's rector, Fr. Mark Canaday who is basically orthodox, is having a difficult time deciding to leave TEC. His congregation is scheduled to vote in September on leaving TEC. "I think that they have stalled and stalled about making a decision, and they are not going to have many folks left when they finally decide. These numbers would lead you to believe that the diocese will have a loss of $192,000 if Holy Trinity doesn't pay their apportionment, and the diocese will probably will be short about $50,000 from Good Shepherd in San Angelo that also has come under Uganda. Holy Trinity also looks like they will run a deficit of about $72,000 for the year."

*****

A REPORT that the Archbishop of Canterbury holding out an olive branch to V. Gene Robinson to attend Lambeth is not true despite news reports in the London Times and assorted gay newspapers. A statement from Lambeth Palace said this: "In relation to the Times report of 29th June that 'Gene Robinson is to be invited to the Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Church next summer', it should be noted that there is no change to the Archbishop of Canterbury's decision not to invite the Bishop of New Hampshire to the conference as a participating bishop. It is still being explored whether Bishop Robinson might attend in another status but no invitation has been issued." He'll probably hang out with the liberal media and spin his "pain" of exclusion to all and sundry.

*****

Latest word from the DIOCESE OF COLORADO is that Bishop Rob O'Neil has spent almost one million dollars on attorneys to get rid of the Rev. Donald Armstrong from his parish in Colorado Springs. The breakaway parish of Grace and St. Stephens now has its own website to keep people informed. It can be accessed here: http://graceandststephens.org/. http://graceconcerns.blogspot.com/ http://graceepiscopalcolosprings.org/index.html

Said Armstrong to VOL, "O'Neill will quickly be over a million dollars coming after me starting long before the we left for CANA--these are not in any way Christian people, and like terrorists, they don't care what their collateral damage is."

*****

AS OF THE END OF JUNE, there are now eleven Bishops for Orthodox Anglicans in the USA. The announcement of the election of the Rev William Murdoch brings to eleven the number of American Bishops from other jurisdictions giving oversight to faithful Anglicans in the United States. They are Bishops Murphy, Rodgers, Barnum, Greene, and Johnston (AMiA- Rwanda); Bishops Minns and Bena (CANA - Nigeria); Bishops-elect Atwood and Murdoch (Kenya); and Bishop-elect Guernsey and Bishop Fairfield (Uganda). The Province of Wales has six bishops; the Scottish Episcopal Church has seven bishops.

*****

From the ANGLICAN PROVINCE OF KENYA comes the official word that a Massachusetts priest will be consecrated as Suffragan Bishop. The Anglican Church of Kenya's Provincial Synod unanimously approved the consecration of the Rev. Bill Murdoch as Suffragan Bishop of All Saints Cathedral Diocese "to assist with providing ... oversight and Episcopal care ... for the congregations and clergy in the USA under Kenyan jurisdiction." Murdoch, rector of All Saints' Church in West Newbury, Massachusetts, will join former Episcopalian Bill Atwood from Carrollton, Texas, who will also be consecrated as a Suffragan Bishop of All Saints Cathedral Diocese on August 30. Kenyan Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi has said the consecration will "support the international interests of the Anglican Church of Kenya, including support of Kenyan clergy and congregations in North America." The Diocese of Massachusetts had no comment or public statement.

*****

CENSORING THE CHURCH AND SILENCING CHRISTIANS... see the following link: http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=DV07E01

*****

NEWS FROM CANADA. If you want to know how liberal and revisionist Canadian bishops plan to skirt the failed same-sex resolution at their recent General Synod, check out a "Theological Response to the Canadian House of Bishops' Statement to General Synod" concerning the "celebration" of Same sex unions with instructions on how to perform these liturgies. This comes after the failure of the measure allowing 'blessings'. The article can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/3yy7m8

*****

ELTON JOHN, a member of rock 'n' roll royalty, does not take kindly to being outranked not even by Princes William and Harry. When his chauffeur-driven people carrier was stopped because of royal security around the Concert for Diana, the veteran singer flew into one of his renowned rages.

"Get out of my ****ing way," he screamed at a policeman. "Don't you know who I am? I've been working all ****ing day and I need to get to my ****ing dressing room."

This is the same man who managed to rent St. John the Divine Cathedral on New York's Upper West side for his 60th birthday. It was Elton John who said "religion promotes 'Hatred and Spite' Against Gays. Organized religion fuels anti-gay discrimination and other forms of bias." Really. Elton should become an honorary Episcopalian where he can use his considerable money and talent to rip and tear at remnant gospel-driven Episcopal priests who have a gospel he needs, if he plans not to go to hell.

*****

The Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) announced that two recipients have received the John and Blanche Rodgers Scholarship. AT the end of June, the Anglican Mission Board of Directors and Council of Bishops approved grants for the Rev. Keith Allen and Mr. Benjamin. The funds will be distributed at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters for the 2007-2008 academic year. "We are delighted to award Rodgers Scholarships to these outstanding candidates," said the Rev. Canon Ellis E. Brust, President of the Anglican Mission. "Keith and Benjamin are men of strong faith and character who exemplify the qualities of leadership we value in the Anglican Mission." The John and Blanche Rodgers Endowment Scholarship Fund was established in 2004 to support theological education for prospective clergy in the Anglican Mission. For more information on the Rodgers Scholarship, contact the Anglican Mission's Office of Clergy Credentialing at 843-237-0318 or credentialing@theamia.org.

*****

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Can you be a Christian and a Muslim, asked a retired Episcopal bishop? The answer, of course, is no. But you can be a Muslim and an Episcopalian.

*****

ON THE BEST ECUMENICAL SIDE...Calvary Anglican Church (formerly Calvary Episcopal) is now sharing space with San Pablo Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. This may be the first time a Baptist church and an Anglican church have co-existed in the same building, a source told VOL. The first service for Calvary was July 1st. It went well.

*****

FESTIVAL OF FAITH REMINDER. The Most Rev. Drexel Wellington Gomez, Archbishop of the West Indies, will lead the Festival to be held at St. Luke's Parish, Bladensburg, Maryland on Saturday, July 28, 2007. In addition to having Archbishop Gomez, The Rt. Rev. Donald J. Parsons, Former Dean of Nashotah House and retired Bishop of Quincy will discuss the Anglican Covenant and the future of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Bishop will also celebrate the Eucharist. The registration for this event is $20.00 and includes refreshments and lunch. If you plan to attend please respond to St. Luke's Parish, 4002 53rd Street, Bladensburg, Maryland 20710.

*****

IN TODAY'S DIGEST you can read two interviews that Ruth Gledhill of the London Times had with Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola. During one interview, the Evangelical Primate made it very clear that unless The Episcopal Church reverses course his 122-130 bishops and archbishops would not be attending Lambeth next year. I have written at length about this and you can read that also in today's digest.

It is clear that Dr. Rowan Williams is being boxed in by new offshore bishops coming onto his radar screen by an unrepentant Episcopal Church, and orthodox Primates who now have the numbers and are willing to pull the plug on Lambeth next year. This is getting very serious. We await with baited breath to see what the Archbishop of Canterbury will do if some 300 of 800 bishops refuse to appear in Canterbury and perhaps have their own alternative Lambeth in London or Lagos.

Today's digest contains a wide variety of stories. View them at the website: www.virtueonline.org.

WELCOME TO VIRTUEONLINE. We hope you will take a few moments to scan the list of stories today and check the website for even more stories that did not make the cut in today's digest. They can be viewed at: www.virtueonline.org Stories are added every few hours to the website.

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