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www.virtueonline.org
May 3, 2007

SEVEN moderate to orthodox bishops in The Episcopal Church wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury this past week assuring him of their continued "strong support" of the Windsor Report and the Windsor process. In their April 26 letter to the ABC they wrote: "We want to reassure you that we are committed to the Camp Allen principles and realize that for us, they are the way by which we intend to remain united as we move forward in these challenging days. We also realize that the covenant process is critical to these discussions, and indeed is the focal point of the work now underway to define our life together. For us, neither of these commitments has wavered in light of the recent decisions by the House of Bishops." See the full story here: http://tinyurl.com/3bkubh

The sad truth is they are very much a minority within a minority of the House of Bishops(HoB), (the Network has ten bishops). The reality is that the HOB has spoken clearly and decisively on the future direction of the denomination. It has said clearly that there will be no change in direction and no going back. Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, with her junk theology and equally junk morality, cannot continue to blindside the Anglican Communion with the notion that .07 on the dollar, the MDG program to save humanity, will do anything more than offer a mild palliative to millions of Africans caught in economic despair, unless African dictators are first removed from power and whole new economic systems are put in place.

This now puts the ball squarely back in Dr. Rowan Williams' court when he comes to New Orleans, Sept. 20-25, where his struggle to keep opposing sides together will come to a head. It seems some decision will have to be made by him and his advisors about how he will proceed with an intransigent Episcopal Church. How long can he go on pressing "listening" and "covenants" and fence sitting in the light of the very clear statements Mrs. Schori has made and is making about the direction of the Episcopal Church? It is a sheer marvel of obfuscation.

Mrs. Schori also revealed details about the fall House of Bishops' meeting in New Orleans. She said it was still uncertain how many members of the primates' standing committee would be accompanying Archbishop Williams. The bishops are scheduled to participate in a mission recovery work project Sept. 22. On Sept. 23 a number of bishops have agreed to attend services with congregations in the Diocese of Louisiana.

Furthermore, tensions will be heightened by the appearance this week on U.S. soil of Nigerian Primate Peter Akinola. The most powerful African Archbishop and his retinue will be in Virginia to formalize his church's presence in North America by consecrating a bishop against the express wishes of the American Episcopal Church!

We are clearly heading towards some sort of volcanic ecclesiastical explosion. We are all waiting to see which way the ecclesiastical lava flows and who it hits.

The "Windsor Bishops" have met twice at Camp Allen, Texas. They have not garnered the wide support they had hoped in moving forward in resolving the issues for The Episcopal Church to remain in the Anglican Communion. They are scheduled to meet again on June 18-19 and Aug. 9-10.

IN the DIOCESE OF FLORIDA, the Redeemer Anglican Church in Jacksonville lost its court battle with the bishop and the diocese. They will worship in a facility shared with Beth Israel congregation. "We expect our first services there to be on Pentecost Sunday, May 27," wrote the Rev. Neil Lebhar. On a brighter note, the Diocese of Florida cannot charge the congregation for their attorneys' fees. A small silver lining. The parish walked away from four million dollars worth of property. Wrote Lebhar: "In the midst of it all, we have a profound choice. We can either choose to trust the Lord for our future or believe that we know better about how things should have turned out." Remember Paul's words: "... we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

In the DIOCESE OF COLORADO, The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that the bishop has formed a new vestry for Grace Episcopal and St. Stephen's Parish after a group of church members voted to secede and align with a Nigerian bishop.

The secession group included most vestry members, which meant that the only vestry member loyal to Grace, St. Stephen's and the diocese - Robert McJimsey - had to appoint the new members.

The Rev. Don Armstrong led many Grace members to split with the Episcopal Church last month when the vestry supportive of him voted March 26 to align with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America - an outgrowth of a Nigerian Anglican province. He has set a May 20 date for a member vote on whether to support the vestry's decision to split with the diocese. The diocese says the vote is meaningless.

I have written a Commentary piece on the situation between Bishop O'Neill and Don Armstrong which you can read here or in today's digest: http://tinyurl.com/2r9qws

In the DIOCESE OF SOUTHERN OHIO they elected the ninth bishop, The Rt. Rev. Thomas E. Breidenthal this past week. In a lavish ceremony he pledged compassion to all, as he became Ohio's newest leader in the Episcopal Church. Some 2,000 people from throughout the state welcomed their new bishop. The diocese includes 25,000 members in 40 counties of central and southern Ohio. But don't look to Breidenthal to be sympathetic to orthodoxy. Here is what he said: "The Episcopal House of Bishops last month restated their support of gays despite the argument from conservative dioceses. I believe a faithful same-sex union, like any covenanted relation, is a way of following Jesus." Really. A conservative Bishop Herbert Thompson who came within three votes of defeating Frank Griswold for PB once ran this diocese. Now the national church and this diocese are heading down hill.

In the DIOCESE OF OLYMPIA where a line up of liberal candidates stand ready to be the next Diocesan Bishop, one stands out with a mind of her own. The Rev. Angela F. Shepherd said, in answer to a question about what to do with people who disagree with her: "At some point, there must be a relinquishment that leads to peace. If we cannot stay under the same umbrella, we must lift up another one that will allow others to continue without getting wet. Sometimes amicable separation is the only way to freedom. This is not my first choice. It is the last."

The Rt. Rev. Wallis Ohl, Bishop of the DIOCESE OF NORTHWEST TEXAS, has announced he is retiring, prompting a VOL reader to write saying he is leaving a financially sinking diocese, for someone else to try and refloat. The diocese has lost its top three evangelical parishes with most of their members who formed the backbone of the diocese. One wonders who will want the job unless it is to write the diocese's obituary.

If you had any doubts about the direction of the clergy in the DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT then you will be interested to learn that The Rev. Mary Ann Osborn, Associate Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fairfield, CT, is proud of being a lesbian. She and her "partner," the Rev. Joanne Neel-Richards, who is not an Episcopalian, recently joined other Connecticut clergy who demonstrated at the State Capitol in Hartford in favor of gay marriage. Their picture appeared in the CONNECTICUT POST on April 20, 2007. And you wonder why the Ct. Six - orthodox parishes - as they are called -- want to have nothing to do with Bishop Drew Smith and his ultra-liberal clergy.

It's official. The DIOCESE OF WESTERN MICHIGAN'S Cathedral has been sold. The Cathedral Church of Christ the Kalamazoo Valley Family Church, an independent, non-denominational church, bought the King in Portage, Mich., for just under $1.3 million. Bishop Robert Gepert of Western Michigan made the announcement in a pastoral letter at his website. Pastor Jones said the cathedral building will be used to launch several new ministries initially, including a three-year program designed to train members in ministry. Long-term plans include the construction of a new 80,000-square-foot building to be located on the 28 acres adjacent to the cathedral, "hopefully in the fall of 2008." The Joneses founded their congregation in 1991. The diocese will retain the part of the property which houses Resurrection Gardens, a columbarium site with the remains of clergy and parishioners.

This is not the only cathedral in trouble. In the DIOCESE OF OLYMPIA, St. Mark's cathedral recently announced staff layoffs, while increasing the gay rector's salary to $175,000. In the DIOCESE OF NEW YORK, The Cathedral Church of the Divine in Manhattan allowed Elton John to hold a 60th birthday bash with a large dollop of money going into the rent-a-cathedral pot.

In the DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA, the former Episcopal Church in Broomall, was sold by Charles E. Bennison for $800,000 and is now thriving as an independent evangelical Church. St. James the Less, which Bennison spent $300,000 in legal fees to capture and then threw out the existing faithful congregation and rector, still stands empty, waiting for a buyer. Charles is clearly following his father's legacy. The real irony is that Charles himself is one of the prime movers in the strategy of The Episcopal Church designed to save buildings, property and endowments rather than its congregations.

In the DIOCESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, a report from Episcopal News Service says that a South Carolina state judge had ruled that the minority of the members of the parish of All Saints, Waccamaw in Pawley's Island, South Carolina who remained loyal to the Episcopal Church do, in fact, constitute All Saints' Episcopal congregation.

The story is not entirely accurate. Daniel W. Stacy, Jr. an attorney and Rector's Warden for All Saints parish, which is now affiliated with the Anglican Mission in America, says the ENS article is not clear about ejectment. "The last page of the order, says the majority of Anglicans are "ejected" from all property which is NOT trust property. That has nothing to do with the facilities we use on the 50 acre 1745 trust property. The ruling was mixed. Nothing has changed since last year.

The judge ruled that neither the diocese nor the national church had any ownership in the real estate and the so-called Pawley Trust owned the real estate and the whole matter should be referred to the probate court for the appointment of successor trustees. The judge did rule that the corporation of All Saints, Waccamaw was a component part of the diocese and we the Anglican group did not have the authority to take it with us. The judge also ruled that any personal property that belonged to that corporation would belong to the diocese and to the loyal Episcopalian group."

Stacy said the latest ruling from the bench changes nothing. "To make an appeal you have to file a motion for reconsideration which both parties did last year. Judge Thomas W. Cooper a life long Presbyterian is just now issuing his final order in response to all the parties' motion for re-consideration." Stacy said both the parish and diocese are going to appeal the latest ruling. "They will appeal on the issue of the property, and the parish will appeal on the issue of the lost corporate charter." You can view the full judge's ruling here: http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/content/allsaints_court_April07.pdf Note: This file is very large (2 Mb) and will take some time to download from the server.

In OKLAHOMA CITY--The Anglican Diocese of Argentina, operating as a missionary outreach of Province of the Southern Cone, conducted its first ordination service within the United States on Saturday, April 28. The Rt. Rev. William J. Cox served as ordaining bishop and celebrant for the Eucharist that followed the ordination.

Three ministerial candidates were ordained to the Diaconate. The new deacons will now serve Anglican congregations in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and in the Dallas area whose members recently left a schismatic U.S. Episcopal Church in order to restore full ties with the Worldwide Anglican Communion. During the last three years, the Episcopal Church has consistently signaled that it would rather abandon its place in the Communion than submit to the consensus of the World Primates on matters pertaining to biblical authority and morality.

The newly ordained include Jason Miller from Church of the Holy Spirit Anglican in Tulsa, Vivian Gardner from St James Anglican in Oklahoma City, and Roger Frye from Faith Church Anglican in Allen, Texas.

The Rev. Dr. Cliff Horvath read to the congregation of more than 150 a letter of greetings from Archbishop Gregory Venables, Primate of the Southern Cone who, because of a prior commitment, was unable to attend the service. For an absolutely marvelous photo click here: http://chstulsa.com/page_New.html And to think this Godly octogenarian bishop faced presentment charges from two ultra-liberal TEC bishops. It's enough to make you weep. When you see this photo however, it will make you smile. God wins.

In Fairfax, Virginia, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) ordained three new priests and one candidate to the Diaconate this past week. "These ordinations represent a wonderful picture of the upward growth CANA and its member parishes are experiencing," said CANA Missionary Bishop Martyn Minns. In an ordination ceremony held Saturday evening at The Falls Church, David Martin Hanke, Eric Hornbuckle, and Patrick A. Ware were ordained to the Sacred Priesthood. Dean Hudson Miller was ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons. CANA is a growing group of Anglican parishes throughout the United States. Founded in the spring of 2005, CANA is Christ-centered and outwardly focused, mission driven with an emphasis on evangelism and discipleship, church planting, and a passion for reaching and serving the least, the last and the lost. The Nigerians added fuel to such suspicions by announcing that they will name more CANA bishops in September. Two other bishops are already assisting CANA -- retired Albany, N.Y. Suffragan Bishop David Bena and Nigerian Bishop Ben Kwashi of the Diocese of Jos who serves as CANA's coordinating bishop. Bishop Minns says CANA has 30 to 35 bishops.

In the DIOCESE OF ALABAMA one independent Anglican parish is on the move. According to Mark Wilkerson, Sr. Warden of Christchurch, Montgomery, their budget is now 1.6 million! Wrote Curtis Nordan, an activist layman, "Christchurch is moving along with deliberate speed. We should make a decision by the end of May 2007 to purchase the 15 acres along Vaughn Road in East Montgomery. This is the location of the concentrated growth of the city. We had two baptisms this week and more are scheduled next week. We are confident that many more will join the dance floor when they see physical evidence of our progress. (People are reluctant to be the first to dance.) We are dancing."

Nordan, while noting how bishops close parishes and change the locks, observed that Bishop Henry Parsley of Alabama changed the locks at the Church of the Ascension immediately after the congregation left to become Anglicans and establish Christchurch. "Helpful Henry" came in a close second for Presiding Bishop by sending regular invitations to Louie Crew, Susan Russell, et al. The Church of the Ascension recently obtained a permanent rector after two years of temporary assignments. In other news, Parsley has already closed Christ the Redeemer parish because the membership dried up.

The person who disagreed with VOL's assessment of the situation in The Episcopal Church should consider the case of the DIOCESE OF NEWARK. All dioceses are going to experience what has happened in the Diocese of Newark. where they have shuttered twenty or more parishes. Another forty churches are marginal and slated to be closed. Beyond that another forty are likely to move into the marginal category within the next five years or so. This diocese has lost half its membership and is now on its way to shrinking to one-fourth. This is the future of TEC. In Newark they are walking away, but they are also dying off with no new people coming in to replace them. Even if people hold on because it is the parish they grew up in, they are going to die off by the hundreds of thousands in the next ten to twenty years. The average age in TEC is in the 60s and rising.

This from the BISHOP OF NEW YORK, the Rt. Rev. Mark Sisk. He is quoted in the St. Bartholomew's website under "Words of the Bishop" by the Rev. Mark Bozzuti Jones.

While visiting St. Bart's and talking at the forum, the bishop of New York, said this: "The election of our presiding bishop, Katharine J Schori, was an attempt by the conservatives to undermine the Episcopal Church, USA and lead to further problems within the Anglican Communion, but like the experience of Joseph with his brothers, what they intended for evil God has turned into something absolutely marvelous..." What intrigue.

THE BLASPHEMY AWARD FOR THE WEEK clearly goes to the Diocese of New York which is allowing the former governor of New Jersey, James E. McGreevey, into the process to become a priest in his newly adopted church - the Episcopal Church - and hopes to begin a three-year seminary program in the fall at General Theological Seminary.

Here we have a twice-married and divorced, openly homosexual man, living with his lover in Plainfield who is pro-abortion and is suing his second ex-wife for custody of their kid, wanting to be an Episcopal priest! Is there anything left to say? McGreevey, who often described himself as a devout Roman Catholic while in public office, was officially received into the Episcopal Church last Sunday, at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan, and is now part of the church's "discernment" phase that usually precedes any seminary work, said the Rev. Kevin Bean, vicar at St. Bartholomew. If you are wondering why orthodox Episcopalians are fleeing TEC and why the Global South wants nothing more to do with the TEC, this is why.

The bishops of the ANGLICAN CHURCH IN AMERICA (ACA) along with ACA's Executive Council met recently in Texas to welcome two new bishops consecrated since their last meeting: the Rt. Rev. Daren Williams, Bishop of the Diocese of the West, and the Rt. Rev. Brian Marsh, Suffragan Bishop for the Diocese of the Northeast. The Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, the Most Rev. John Hepworth, joined the meetings for two days. Bishop Ray Sutton of the Reformed Episcopal Church was also a guest. Archbishop Hepworth reported that TAC's presence could be found in forty-one countries. The Primate and the bishops discussed the quest for greater unity amongst orthodox Anglican bodies who uphold the teaching of the Church Catholic on Holy Orders, and efforts towards a new relationship with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Executive Committee unanimously accepted the recommendation of the Standing Joint Commission of the General Synod on Education for Holy Orders that postulants for ordination to the priesthood will be sent to the Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Blue Bell, PA.

JOHN STOTT ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT. World-renowned theologian and evangelist, the Rev. Dr. John Stott, has made the decision to retire from public ministry at the age of 86. Stott, who has been called by the Rev. Billy Graham as "the most respected clergyman in the world today," will speak at one last event in July before moving to a retirement community for Anglican clergy, according to an announcement made by Langham Partnership International, the ministry that Stott founded to grow and equip churches around the world. "John Stott would like his many friends around the world to know that, having reached the age of 86 in April, he has taken the decision finally to retire from public ministry after fulfilling one last speaking engagement at the upcoming Keswick Convention in July," Langham announced in a released statement. "He will also be moving from his flat in Bridford Mews, London, where he has lived for more than thirty years, to a retirement community for Anglican clergy in the south of England which will be able to provide more fully for his present and future needs." While Stott's retirement means that he no longer intends to engage in public speaking ministry, Langham reassured supporters that Langham Partnership International - or John Stott Ministries, in the United States - is well prepared to continue its work, even after his retirement. Stott, an Anglican clergyman is noted as a leader of the worldwide evangelical movement. He is famous as one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant - one of the most influential documents in modern evangelical Christianity. He has written fifty books, some of which only appear in Korean or Spanish and was appointed a Chaplain to the Queen in 1959. He received a CBE in the New Year's honors list, 2006. Among his other lifelong passions has been bird watching.

ARCHBISHOP ROBERT SHERWOOD MORSE has made it known that he intends to step down as Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Christ the King on July 1, 2007. There will be a meeting of the APCK House of Bishops in late June to choose his successor. His retirement will complete thirty years of service as the head of the APCK. Back in the late 1970s, Morse, then an Episcopal priest, predicted that the Episcopal Church would descend into apostasy as a result of the 1979 Prayer Book and the ordination of women. He was one of the first to separate and create a Province for orthodox Anglo Catholic parishes as a bulwark for orthodoxy. The history of TEC since 1979 has confirmed the archbishop's worst fears. The leading candidates to succeed him are the Rt. Rev. Rocco Florenza (DOES) and the Rt. Rev. James Provence (DOWS). The Anglican Province of Christ the King currently has 57 parishes and missions across the United States. The archbishop had a heart attack recently that has convinced him it is time to step back.

LAMBETH CONFERENCE PLANS continue to move forward. The conference 'Design Group', appointed by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spent five days from April 16 to 20 working on conference structures, purposes, issues and programs. The Anglican Communion is made up of forty-four member provinces, of which the host province for next year's conference, Canterbury, is one. The Archbishop of Melanesia, Sir Ellison Pogo, chairs this international group.

Why should the ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA examine how it governs itself? A report of the Governance Working Group to Council of General Synod put the Church under the microscope and here are the results:

* There is "a widely-held view that our church is over-governed: our governance structures are too big, too multi-layered and too complicated;"

* There is lack of money "at virtually all levels of our church;"

* The endorsement by General Synod of the New Agape proposal for a self-governing, indigenous "church within a church," which is unfolding, means that "profound changes in our governing structures will take place at national, provincial, diocesan, and even parish levels;"

* The "distinct lack of interest" in running the church among Anglicans under age 40, who generally have "little trust in institutions;"

* The church's legal and operational structures have always been based on geography;

* The Anglican Communion may split along theological lines (following disagreements over same-sex issues) and could "well result in two or more separate or largely separate Anglican entities in Canada."

Is this the unofficial obituary of the Canadian Anglican Church? In a surprise move Canadian Anglican bishops' rejected same-sex marriage blessings this week, leaving the U.S. church alone in a fight that has pushed the international communion to the verge of schism. The surprise move came in the form of a pastoral letter issued by the church on behalf of its bishops.

A "HATE CRIMES BILL" comes up for vote today (VOL will post the results at its website). This is a very grave concern to freedom of religion and freedom of speech proponents. The Rev. Dr. Robert Gagnon exposes this at http://robgagnon.net/ArticlesOnline.htm, entitled "Let a "Sexual Orientation Hate" Crimes Bill Pass and Invite Your Own Oppression." Please take a moment to read it, act on it, and pass this on to others. If you believe as I do, and as Augustine did, namely "Love not in the person his error, but the person; for the person God made, the error the person himself made," then it is important to know that the passage of this bill would ultimately cause your love to be treated legally as hate.

THE BATTLE over church property is an ecumenical attack on the orthodox. Within the Episcopal Church, there is an ongoing story of litigation, most of which is filed by revisionist diocesan bishops and directed against churches wishing to leave the Episcopal Church. Stacy Sauls, bishop of the Diocese of Lexington, chairs a committee concerned with how to deal with property issues in the Episcopal Church, and how to fight against the "horrible" American Anglican Council and Anglican Communion Network.

It turns out that the Episcopal Church, in the spirit of ecumenism, is secretly working with the Presbyterians, who have been at this a little longer than the Episcopal Church has. In fact, a small group of Presbyterian leaders and attorneys worked out a detailed strategy on how to defeat any local Presbyterian church that tried to leave with its property. The secret Presbyterian plan made the leaked Via Media USA "Day After" plan, penned by Joan Gundersen in 2005, sound like child's play. As a part of the ecumenical effort, the Presbyterians have filed a friend of the court brief in California against St. James Anglican Church in Newport Beach. The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is suing St. James, along with All Saints' Church in Long Beach and St. David's Church in North Hollywood, for their property and assets. Now the Presbyterians are piling on as well - it must have been predestined! The advantage to the orthodox might be that if/when St. James and the others win, it will hurt the Presbyterian Church more, at least in California. You can read that story here: http://tinyurl.com/3a88xv

IN TODAY'S DIGEST of stories you can read about who the real bullies are in the Episcopal Church as well as an Exclusive Interview with the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns.

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