VOL learned that the draft went through a couple of readings, and when the ABC announced that Archbishop Peter Akinola (Nigeria) had signed off on it, we knew there would be no minority report.

The Windsor Report became the textus receptus (received text) of responsibility and accountability that The Episcopal Church must respond to.

Akinola said that the Primates had given the U.S. Episcopal Church up until nine months to stop blessing same-sex unions.

"In the spirit of Christian charity, we decided to give them another chance ... and find out if they would stop this practice by September this year. If they agree, there will be a new celebration," he told reporters.

But he said a refusal would indicate a threat to the unity of the Anglican church.

"It is a threat because can two work together if they do no agree? If anyone chooses to ignore the basic elements of our relationship then they will have chosen to walk away," he said.

Within hours the howls of outrage from aggrieved revisionist TEC bishops and homoerotic activists ricocheted around the communion, ready to pronounce homophobia and fundamentalist on narrow-minded African archbishops, willing to fall on the phallic cross of their own desires.

Some even saw on the wording a loophole because the wording specified that the bishops would not "authorize" rites, but nevertheless allow priests to perform them. This is too disingenuous by half. The Global South Primates will see through this and not be fooled by it.

Reaction was mixed from TEC's bishops as they went public on the communiqué. The Living Church compiled the following:

The Rt. Rev. Don Wimberly, Bishop of Texas - "I do not believe that the events of this most recent meeting of the primates heighten the divisions our denomination faces, but rather communicate well the reality of where we are as a global denomination and begin to reveal the path forward. The next step will be the discernment of the house of Bishops regarding a response to the communiqué's explicit request."

The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, president of Episcopal Divinity School - "There is absolutely no reason that gay and lesbian people should be denied the right of a blessing. There is absolutely no reason that a gay or lesbian person cannot be a respected member of the clergy of this church. There is absolutely no reason that we should abandon either of these positions for the sake of political accommodations."

The Rt. Rev. Paul V. Marshall, Bishop of Bethlehem - "We will not even entertain the idea of a fast from observing the baptismal covenant's promises about respecting the worth of all persons. We will not fast from actively seeking peace and justice for all. This baptismal promise is about action, not sentiment."

The Rt. Rev. Jack L. Iker, Bishop of Fort Worth - [The communiqué] " ... points the way forward in these troubled days in the life of our Church. I commend it to you for careful reading and study ... There are many questions that remain unanswered, and there are some serious difficulties that have to be addressed."

The Rt. Rev. James L. Jelinek, Bishop of Minnesota - "I am deeply saddened by the recommendations of the Primates of the Anglican Communion ... some of which would require The Episcopal Church to, in effect, turn back the clock on decades of hard work to provide full inclusion in the Church for all persons."

The Rt. Rev. Larry R. Benfield, Bishop of Arkansas - "One of my disappointments with the communiqué is that the primates gave little attention to issues of hunger and war and poverty, and how the church is called to respond through the eyes of resurrection to a world that suffers from those afflictions."

The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles - "The contents of the communiqué are creating a great deal of angst and speculation about the relationship between The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Be assured your bishops and this diocese remain fully committed to our ministry of Mission, Mercy and Justice."

The Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson, Bishop of Western Louisiana - "I believe it to be the beginning of a process, a mechanism that will enable us to work toward healing and reconciliation."

The Rt. Rev. John Bryson Chane, Bishop of Washington - "I am deeply distressed that the primates spent so much time debating the internal life of The Episcopal Church and devoted so little attention to the woeful state of our global community."

The Rt. Rev. Barry Beisner, Bishop of Northern California –"Having endured the blitz of speculation and punditry that has come in the last 48 hours, it is once again very clear to me that real understanding will take time and patience. Once again, we must seek to find that balance of engagement and detachment that will make it possible for us to pay attention to the guidance of the Holy Spirit."

The Rt. Rev. Mark Sisk, Bishop of New York - "... even a cursory reading of these documents makes it abundantly clear that the primates of our Communion are not happy with The Episcopal Church ... I am not in the least prepared to make any concession that strikes at the heart of my conviction that gay and lesbian people are God's beloved children."

The Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus, Bishop of California - The Episcopal Church should make every effort, including an extraordinary meeting of the two houses, and rebounded efforts to help the other provinces of the Communion understand both our theology relating to marriage and human sexuality and our polity."

The Rt. Rev. Kirk Stevan Smith, Bishop of Arizona - "I know that many who have worked so hard for the full inclusion of gay and lesbian people in the church will see this as another step backward. It is, and my heart breaks because of it. However, I believe that we are at a moment in our history when we must remain together, doing our best to place the needs of the other before our own."

NONETHELESS, The Episcopal Church remains on the hot seat and its bishops in company with Dr. Jefferts Schori will have to decide whether they still want to be a part of the Anglican Communion or not. They have till Sept. 30, 2007 let the world know.

In the meantime Christianity in Africa continues to grow by quantum leaps. Tim Morgan of Christianity Today calls it the Third Wave, following the first two waves - one at the beginning of Anglicanism in the 16th Century and the Second wave terminating at the end of World War II. Now we are embarked on a Third Wave.

In less than 20 years, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, the world's 2.6 billion Christians will be comprised of 623 million Latin Americans, 595 million Africans, 513 million Europeans and 498 million Asians. The growth of Africa has been astonishing, from 10 million Christians in 1900 representing about 10% of the population, to some 360 million in 2000, representing about 50% of the population. In such a world, the concerns and cultural mores of the Upper West Side of Manhattan are marginal at best.

The impact of this shift will shape Christianity in the 21st century, and it will be a muscular Christianity in which the biblical drama of sin, chastisement, repentance, mercy, healing, salvation and liberation will reassert itself. The this worldly social projects of deracinated northern Christians will be cast aside. The old-time religions will emerge from the newest churches.

It is against this backdrop that The Episcopal Church's flirtation and acceptance of pansexual sex will sink it into ecclesiastical oblivion. Bad or no doctrine, open mores and you have a recipe for spiritual death. The Episcopal Church has bound itself to a floating coffin of self destruction.

One orthodox Episcopal missiologist the Rev. Tad de Bordenave who works to unreached peoples with the gospel made the following observation: "100 years ago the West intruded into Africa with military, commercial, and political force with no regard for the value of the African ways, heritage, religion, etc. Today we look back at that with embarrassment over our arrogance and ignorance expressed in those times. So today what is different? Same intrusion. Same patronizing attitude. Same disregard for their spiritual strengths and insights. Same refusal to learn from them. Them?!!! Same ignorance and arrogance." How true, how true.

The African, Asian and Latin provinces will never, never, never compromise with sexual sin; the eternal destinies of people are at stake, why should they risk it and God's wrath against sin. So-called Progressive Christianity is progressing people to Hell and they have no intention of joining them. The procrustean bed of sexual immorality will be the graveyard of The Episcopal Church and most of Western Anglicanism. It is death writ large.

You can read my own take on the Tanzanian Communique of the Primates here http://tinyurl.com/34f6vd and then read Canon Gary L'Hommedieu's fine analysis piece as well. http://tinyurl.com/2jwv2z Both are in today's digest of stories.

I am also posting a number of other stories that came out of the Dar es Salaam meeting including one on the much vaunted Millennium Development Goals of liberals as well as statements from Primates across the theological spectrum.

IN OTHER NEWS, a Jacksonville parish's attempt to suspend a bishop's lawsuit against it was denied this week, clearing the way for the Episcopal Diocese of Florida to proceed with efforts to force the congregation to hand over the property on which it worships. Duval County Circuit Judge Karen Cole rejected the motion by Redeemer Anglican Church for a stay. Her decision means Bishop John Howard's motion for an immediate ruling in the case will be heard as scheduled March 2. Redeemer is part of a movement of conservative Episcopalians who have quit the Episcopal Church since it elected an openly gay bishop in 2003 and approved same-sex blessings.

The Rev. Neil G. Lebhar, rector of Redeemer wrote his flock to say the DIOCESE OF FLORIDA is continuing their lawsuit against Redeemer, in direct opposition to the Archbishops' request. "On Wednesday, the diocese opposed our motion to stay the case (according to the Communiqué they should have supported it), and the judge ruled that the lawsuit may go forward. We may get a final judgment on the case on March 2 at the hearing for a summary judgment." Lebhar said he was encouraged by an e-mail from his bishop, The Rt. Rev. Joel Obetia, who is planning to visit them soon. "No matter what happens, we will preach the gospel and teach the Scriptures. No matter what happens, we will continue to discover what it means to be a people on mission together to a broken and lost world. No matter what happens, we will strive to learn how to love one another more, to heal the brokenhearted, and to be equipped for ministry, to strive for the kind of excellence that brings glory to Christ and not to ourselves. No matter what happens, we will raise up the next generation to know Jesus, live for him and reach the world in his name," wrote Lebhar.

In the DIOCESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA the Standing Committee has sent a letter to other diocesan standing committees asking them to reconsider their decision to withhold their consents to the consecration of the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence as South Carolina's next bishop.

"This is an official request to those who have withheld consent to reconsider their initial action," the letter on the diocesan website says. "We intend this letter to correct some of the misinformation surrounding our Bishop Elect."

Lawrence, 56, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Parish, in Bakersfield, California, in the Diocese of San Joaquin, was elected September 16.

The canons of the Episcopal Church (III.11.4(a) require that a majority of the bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan standing committees respond within 120 days of receiving notice of his or her election, saying whether or not they consent to the Bishop-elect's ordination. In this case, the requests were mailed November 9, making the 120 day period end on March 9.

VOL has learned that George Werner the former President of the House of Deputies and an old-fashioned liberal is also working the phones to get consents for Lawrence. He sees the lack of inclusion of an orthodox bishop and Global South wrath descending on the TEC if the liberal bishops in the TEC do not yield in Lawrence's consent. He thinks inclusion goes both ways.

On concerns about whether the Presiding Bishop would be welcome to participate in Lawrence's consecration, McCormick reports that diocesan bishop Edward Salmon "had negotiated with the Presiding Bishop's office to find a chief consecrator acceptable to the Diocese of SC" before the original scheduling of the election of the next bishop of South Carolina (prior to the House of Bishops' decision in March 2005 to withhold consents to all episcopal elections until the beginning of the 75th General Convention in June 2006).

McCormick reports that a "tentative agreement" to do so was reached.

Both South Carolina and San Joaquin are part of a group of seven dioceses, out of the church's 110 dioceses and one convocation of European congregations, which have requested a relationship with a primate of the Anglican Communion other than the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, citing 2003 and 2006 General Convention actions.

In the DIOCESE OF NORTHWEST TEXAS Bishop Wallis Ohl has notified Good Shepherd San Angelo, TX that he is going to sue them for their property. Evidently, this has all transpired since the Presiding Bishop signed the document in Tanzania, wrote a source to VOL. "As the Vestry cooked pancakes for the church last night, we were informed that the Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of NW Texas had called us to see if we would waive being served the papers for a lawsuit on our property ($50 cost, if we don't waive to have them served). We didn't waive being served, and so expect to receive those papers soon, to be delivered to our Junior Warden Mark Brown. I understand that from the time we receive the papers we will have three weeks to respond."

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