"Every evangelical leader I know-Rick Warren, Jim Dobson, Bill Hybels, Jim Wallis, and Ron Sider-all of us, right and left, in our own ways, are battling for traditional values. We're defending life, pursuing justice, and caring for the poor. Yes, we're beginning to be more involved in environmental issues, thanks to younger evangelicals reminding us that God commanded us to care for his creation. But we do all of this in God's name-which is what sets the secular media's teeth on edge." --- By Charles Colson, as quoted in Christianity Today

The liberalization of moral standards, initiated by some Protestant and Anglican communities several decades ago and developing with ever-increasing speed, has now brought us to a situation where we can no longer preach one and the same code of moral conduct. We can no longer speak about Christian morality, because moral standards promoted by 'traditional' and 'liberal' Christians are markedly different, and the abyss between these two wings of contemporary Christianity is rapidly growing.--- Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, Russian Orthodox Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
3/7/2008

The Anglican Communion is groping its way forward, looking for common ground for all Anglicans to walk on side-by-side, but the ground it seems, lies on a fault line. The bottom line for the proposed covenant is that Western Anglicans want more autonomy while, Global South Anglicans want doctrinal conformity...the two, it seems, will never meet.

Recently, The Joint Standing Committee of the Primates/Anglican Consultative Council met privately at the London-based Anglican Communion Office to explore further the Windsor Process. Joining them was the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop, Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, who was elected to the Primates Standing Committee in February 2007. They concluded that there are a whole lot of language parsing words like "conversation," "process" and "context" all the linguistic flim flummery of liberal minds bent on not really looking for truth or even hoping to find it, but keeping the Communion together at whatever cost.

The cost is The Episcopal Church's check book that keeps the Anglican Communion Office in reams of copy paper and lattes. I have written extensively on this as well as the first draft of the Covenant that is slowly coming back to the Anglican Communion Office. The draft indicates that liberal provinces care more about autonomy while orthodox provinces care more about theological and doctrinal conformity. One gets the sense that the Anglican Communion is not going to be saved by the Windsor Report or an endlessly written and re-written Covenant or by the Lambeth Conference in July. You can read the full story in today's digest or here http://tinyurl.com/yp5d74

Concerning the Lambeth Conference, Lisa Severine Nolland writes, insightfully, that GLBT advocates want the orthodox present because they can do a number on them. She wrote, "I believe it will be almost impossible for the conservative voice to speak up or be heard, let alone be taken seriously. As the CoE's 'Gay Wednesday' synod debate clearly demonstrated, the 'Hear My Pain' line - which is powerful, no doubt of it! - works its magic and shuts the potential opposition up efficiently and effectively. The conservative position is continually back-footed and on the defensive, reminiscent of those posed with the question of whether they had stopped beating their wife (or husband) yet. And in relation to this Lambeth, of course, we all realize that Rowan Williams fully supports and actively endorses partnered lesbian/gay clergy in the CoE (think 29 November 2007). At some point in the very near future, the penny will drop and people across the theological spectrum on this fair isle will realize that in fact, significant parts of the CoE mirror and echo TEC perfectly - but lack the courage and honesty to admit it in public." You can read her full account "Lambeth 2008: To Go or Not To Go" here or in today's digest http://tinyurl.com/2ws988

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The saga of BISHOP PAUL MOORE, THE LATE BISHOP OF NEW YORK'S life, continues to bring memories and stories out of the closet from all kinds of VOL readers. One priest, the Rev. Dr. Rob Smith, wrote about Paul Moore and a clergy retreat he attended, "There are three things that stand out in my memory of the first Clergy Retreat I attended in the early seventies as a young priest. The first was this: the day time events of the retreat were held at a wealthy estate in the Diocese of Massachusetts. The host had graciously provided an open bar for the clergy for their refreshment. I was stunned to see several clergy obviously drunk very early in the day.

"Bishop Paul Moore came down from New York to lead us in several "retreat" sessions. I remember, with startling clarity, that he told us that "premarital sex"' was perfectly all right. According to his daughter Honor Moore, in a recent New Yorker interview, his sense of shame and embarrassment over his own bisexual behavior made him look with compassion on others in similar situations."

Another person, who was deeply involved in church affairs at that time, questions some of Honor Moore's reflections and remembrances of her father's life. For the ultimate spin on it all, homoerotic Bishop Otis Charles wrote a letter blasting Bishop Mark Sisk, the current Bishop of New York, saying that his letter denouncing Moore's sexual misbehavior should have focused on the real reason Moore's life was not transparent, and that the great sin is SECRECY in the church. Here is a line from his letter. "It is with sadness that I feel you could not find it in your heart to say, "Thank God, we have been freed, freed from a secret that has bound us and caused us to limp. Now, now we can stand tall in the fullness of our humanity as that six foot five man, Paul Moore, our bishop, was never able to stand." The spin never ends.

Another good read comes from former Episcopal journalist David Sumner who wrote an historical work, "The Episcopal Church's History 1945-1985". He wrote to Moore saying, "I am writing to express my strong disapproval of your ordination of an admitted woman homosexual to the Episcopal ministry. At a time when we are blessed with people desiring to enter the ministry and having to turn many away, I see no reason to accept those with lifestyles that will provide questionable, moral leadership in the church. Particularly, I refer to Romans 14:21 where St. Paul says no Christian should do anything that will offend or provide a stumbling block to another Christian. I believe that this should be especially true of those entering ordained ministry...."

In an unexpected response dated April 5, 1977, Bishop Moore wrote back and said, "Ellen Barrett is put together differently than you are in her psyche and sexual orientation, but if you knew her you would realize what an extremely fine human being she is--head and shoulders above many of the clergy presently in the church. Morality doesn't begin and end with sexuality." I guess he knows.

Another excerpted note about her father from Honor Moore, buried deeply in her memoir, is this: "I don't remember if the book of photographs was already open, or if I opened it, but the image I saw was unlike anything I'd ever associated with my father [Paul Moore]. The photograph, in black and white, was of a young man, naked, standing on a stony beach. The texture was almost grainy, and the youth was beautiful, dreamy, and slightly sullen. I remember that he stood, three-quarters turned from me, facing out to the sea so that his genitals were obscured. I understood that if I turned the page there would be another photograph like this one, that this was a book of such photographs, but I did not want to see another photograph like this one, nor did I want to be caught looking at the book."

In my story about Bishop Moore, which you can read in today's digest, I wrote, "Bishop Horace W. B. Donegan, the Episcopal Bishop of New York from 1950 until 1972, used to cruise New York's gay bars. West took care of him whenever he got beat up, said a priest to VOL. He died at the age of 91." A VOL reader wrote back and wondered aloud if Donegan and Roman Catholic Cardinal Spellman ever ran into each other buggering and barhopping through Manhattan's night life. For those who may not remember, the politically connected Francis Cardinal Spellman, known as "Franny" to assorted Broadway chorus boys and others, who was New York's cardinal from 1939 until his death in 1967, was the epitome of the self-loathing, closeted, evil queen, working with his good friend, the closeted gay McCarthy henchman Roy Cohn.

All this says that The Episcopal Church is slowly being destroyed by unrepentant sexual sin that is eating at the core of its faith and life. Now you know why Global South Anglicans will no longer do business with the Episcopal Church, and why should they? There is no future doing business with a church, however rich it is, if it has no redeeming message to proclaim.

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In the DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA, VOL asks, is there a cover up of the cover up defense of the inhibited Charles E. Bennison? No one will produce the answers/responses to the presentment charges filed against Bennison for conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy. The trial of the inhibited bishop is set to begin June 9 in Philadelphia. It will be open to the public. The location has yet to be decided. The two counts of the presentment center on accusations that Bennison, when he was rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Upland, California, did not respond properly after learning that sometime in 1973 his brother, John, who worked as a lay youth minister in the parish, was having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old member of the youth group. John Bennison was married at the time, according to the presentment. The bishop is accused of not taking any steps to end the relationship, not providing proper pastoral care to the girl, not investigating whether she needed medical care, taking three years to notify the girl's parents, not reporting his brother to anyone, not investigating whether his brother was sexually involved with any other parishioners or other children, and seeking no advice on how to proceed. The presentment says Charles Bennison reacted "passively and self-protectively."

The second count of the presentment accuses Charles Bennison of continuing to fail in his duties until the fall of 2006. John Bennison was ordained during this period. The bishop is accused of not preventing his brother's ordination, or his ultimately successful application to be reinstated as a priest after having renounced his orders in 1977, or his desire to transfer from the Diocese of Los Angeles to the Diocese of California. John Bennison was forced in 2006 to renounce his orders, once again, when news of his abuse became public. The bishop faces a civil court trial following his ecclesiastical court appearance. If Charles ever gets around to writing his memoirs, he could do a reverse Frank Sinatra...it was not a very good year for bishop's who lie through their teeth and laugh in your face, as they are kicked out the door.

*****

A THIRD EPISCOPAL seminary announced this week that it was in financial trouble and was merging with another institution to stave off its own demise. The Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass, announced that it was entering a university partnership with Lesley University, a 12,000-student, multi-site university, which will buy seven buildings from EDS for $33.5 million. EDS will retain ownership of 13 buildings on its eight- acre campus. The deal will do "at least two major things," EDS President and Dean Steven Charleston told ENS. "First, it will help to anchor EDS into a financial foundation that will secure the financial future of the school for many years to come. And the second thing it will do is open EDS up to continue its innovative work in theological education for the church." EDS' news, rumored for some time, comes within days of announcements of major changes at Bexley Hall and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, two other Episcopal Church-affiliated seminaries. "We're seeing a lot of ferment and change in our seminaries, and we're likely to see a great deal more" Charleston told ENS. Indeed we will. At the heart of the problem is an aging work force of second career priests, mostly middle-aged, angry, divorced white females, lesbians and homosexuals who succeed only in emptying churches once they obtain them. Only Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge and Nashotah House in Wisconsin hold the orthodox line. They are showing no signs of sinking or merging.

*****

When the HOUSE OF BISHOPS meets in Camp Allen, Texas March 7 -– 12, they will hear that Bishop John-David Schofield has resigned from the TEC/HOB and joined with the Province of the Southern Cone. According to official ENS reports, the agenda will focus on the upcoming July 16-August 3 Lambeth Conference. The HOB will also engage in faith-based reconciliation training with the Rev. Canon Brian Cox, rector of Christ the King Church in Santa Barbara, California, and a founder of reconcilers.net. He will lead the bishops in a reconciliation retreat.

"We hope to stimulate a conversation in the House of Bishops about the place of reconciliation in the culture of the Episcopal Church," said Cox, who has engaged faith-based reconciliation training and seminars in the Middle East, the Sudan, Kashmir, Burundi and Korea.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has named Cox as an interim pastoral presence in the Stockton-based Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin. However, his presence in that diocese was met with a stern rebuke from Bishop John-David Schofield, who told him, in no uncertain language to stay out of the diocese. The Presiding Bishop will declare the see vacant and appoint a provisional bishop. Schofield will be formally deposed. Nothing will change.

*****

The Presiding Bishop paid a visit to the DICOESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA where she hoped to persuade them of the Episcopal Church's New Religion, but it didn't go down well at all. The Episcopal News Service tried to put its best face on the situation, but the spin didn't impress their new Bishop Mark Lawrence. He wrote a letter and posted to his diocesan website which said this: "I have read the recent article from the ENS regarding the Presiding Bishop's visit to the Diocese of South Carolina. It was a gracious and accurate description of much of our time together. What the article failed to convey, however, is the depth of the theological chasm that lies between many of us in South Carolina (and others within the church for that matter) and the trajectory of so much of the leadership of The Episcopal Church. To explore these cavernous depths is indeed the great work that lies before anyone in leadership today." One wonders how the long the honeymoon will last for Bishop Lawrence in this diocese between him and the national church.

*****

Sometimes you really have to wonder. Consider the following statement made by the BISHOP OF SAN DIEGO, the Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes. Writing to his flock, he made this incredible statement, "The House of Bishops meeting will be an important time for our church...As you may know, we will be dealing with some regrettable matters of discipline regarding a few of our bishops. Some may attempt to cast these disciplinary matters in a theological context. My perspective is that they are a matter of ordination vows. The Episcopal Church bestows on those ordained a trust to work within and in support of the ministry of the Episcopal Church. Failure to live out those vows has consequences and is a matter for the community of bishops to engage."

So what the bishop is saying is that Ordination vows are not tied to theology! Wrote a parishioner from that diocese: "To think that my bishop thinks of ordination vows as having no theological import, but rather that they are just rules and controls limited to TEC rather than the Church catholic!" The truth is these liberal and revisionist bishops have no theology that binds them together, just the Canons and Constitutions of the church. This is why, of course, at the end of the day, the Episcopal Church will not survive. Without "'sound teaching"' nothing can hold it together, if the church reflects the values of the world and not the Kingdom of God.

*****

According to a guest column article in The Living Church (March 9), there are flaws in the Misconduct CANONS IN TEC that are likely to continue a concentration of authority in the primate, at the expense of diocesan authority. Under a new proposal, put forth by the "Title IV Task force II", complaints against clergy, previously handled by dioceses, could see this changed. Under a new proposal, appellate courts from the church's nine regional provinces would have greater authority to overrule diocesan decisions. The biggest flaw, in both the current and revised disciplinary code, is its vulnerability to making decisions based on majority will rather than the rule of law, said the article. Are we surprised? Not really. As the church comes apart at the seams, power always becomes more centralized. The Soviets understood this. Of course, in the end they lost; so, in the end will the Episcopal Church.

*****

What exactly is going on in the DIOCESE OF OREGON? According to a number of blogs, the outgoing Bishop Johncy Itty, who recently resigned as bishop of the diocese, a civil war is breaking out in the diocese. A Coup d'Etat is in the making. Bishop Itty will not go gently into that dark night. The Standing Committee says the bishop is reneging on his agreement to leave the Diocese on Easter Day, March 23, 2008, with his Ecclesiastical Authority to be transferred to them. Now, Itty says, in a letter to the diocese, that a proposal for an Easter transition "is not wise or in the best interest of this diocese". His letter refuted the Standing Committee's proposal. In the Open Letter from the SC, Bishop Itty does, in fact, agree to the SC's proposal and offer. The date of the acceptance of the proposal is January 24th of this year. The agreed upon date for his departure is March 23rd, 2008.

One blogger wrote to say that many in the diocese feel that +Itty is more interested in accumulating personal accolades and serving on international committees and commissions (he is presently President of Church World Services and VP of the National Council of Churches), not to mention extensive travel outside of Oregon. Itty's desire to stay on is more about making a final grand farewell tour of the diocese than the "best interest of the diocese."

A VOL reader wrote to say that Itty moved his family to the Diocese of Long Island in late December 2007 where his real intention is to take over as bishop when Orris Walker retires. Naturally the diocese did not return calls to VOL. I was told the bishop was out of town.

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The DIOCESE OF FT. WORTH has set out Guidelines for Amendment to Canon 32, approved by their recent Diocesan Convention. The Guidelines set out a procedure to be followed if a parish wishes to initiate a separation from the diocese. They were prepared after consideration was given to specific concerns raised at deanery convocations and at the Convention. "The leadership of this diocese has watched with sadness as issues and attitudes have caused deepening differences at all levels in the Anglican Communion. Adding to this rupture of the bonds of affection are the growing numbers of lawsuits being filed by those who once were unified in faithful witness and ministry. Disagreement and division may be inevitable," commented Dean Ryan Reed, President of the Standing Committee, "but Christian charity must not be sacrificed in the process." The purpose of the Canon and the Guidelines is to provide for a charitable parting, if parting is necessary. You can read the full story here: http://www.fwepiscopal.org/news/c32guidelines.html

*****

A landmark study, by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, shows that members of The United Methodist Church and other mainline Protestant denominations are increasingly moving to other faith traditions or choosing not to affiliate with any religious group at all. Mirroring most other mainline U.S. denominations, United Methodists are generally older, whiter and wealthier in a nation that is increasingly populated with young adults, people of color and families with modest incomes. "There is no future for The United Methodist Church in the United States unless we can reach more people, younger people and more diverse people," commented the Rev. Lovett Weems, a researcher and professor of church leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, regarding the study's findings. Exactly the same thing could be said of The Episcopal Church. Latest figures show an even greater and faster decline in TEC than any other mainline denomination.

*****

Hot intelligence from the DIOCESE OF NEW WESTMINSTER. A friend of mine, from one of the few remaining large and better-off parishes in the Diocese, told me that $1,000 per week is taken from their church's collection plate and passed to Bishop Michael Ingham and the diocese as part of their monthly assessment. He complains that as of now about 13 parishes have either pulled out of the diocese or have been shut down. He says that while the bishop makes a big noise about the 80 odd parishes remaining, most of those are so small they can't support the diocese and in fact depend on diocesan funds to stay alive. This man is an accountant and knows finances. He says to forget the spin laid on by the diocese. The numbers indicate that this can't keep going as is ... it will eventfully collapse. The numbers just aren't there.

Also from the rumor mill comes this. A couple of more conservative parishes which have made no disturbing noises to leave or upset the bishop, are now having serious behind closed door discussions about the "crisis of faith" being caused for them by the bishop's intractable stand. The outrageous language being used publicly in print, things like "Mother God" and references to the Holy Spirit as "She", is creating some pangs of guilt among those Evangelicals who have so far remained. It seems the worm might be turning a little more.

*****

From the DIOCESE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA comes this. A breakaway Anglican parish can still use Metchosin church. Richard Watts, writing for the Times Colonist, said that members of an Anglican parish in Metchosin, near Victoria, determined to quit the church over gay marriages, can continue to use the premises of St. Mary of the Incarnation. Under an agreement reached this week, the two ministers of St. Mary of the Incarnation have resigned. Sharon Hayton is no longer rector and Andrew Hewlett is no longer assistant priest. Also under the agreement, the Diocese of British Columbia has agreed to allow the breakaway parishioners to continue to meet at the church at 4125 Metchosin Rd., at least temporarily. Last month, 86 per cent of the 200-odd parishioners in Metchosin, upset over what they view as a general liberalization of church doctrine, voted to opt out of the diocese and the Anglican Church of Canada. They want to join the Anglican Network, which is affiliated with the Province of the Southern Cone. Hayton said the disaffection is really a disagreement over scripture, with the issue of gay marriages the most notable flashpoint.

*****

A new Bishop for Coventry in the Church of England was announced this week. The Queen approved the nomination of the Rev. Canon Dr. Christopher John Cocksworth, Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge, as Bishop of Coventry in succession to the Rt. Rev. Colin James Bennetts, who resigned on the 31st January 2008. A source told VOL that he is a Charismatic evangelical. His father- in-law is Bishop David Pytches who founded New Wine and is well known as a speaker at AMiA Conferences. For more details, see: http://www.coventrydiocese.org/home/bishopswelcome/

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Many of you have asked for a copy of the Buckley/Muggeridge video. Here is a copy in written form http://www.malcolmmuggeridge.org/pr/faith.pdf

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All Blessings

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