What really happened at Camp Allen, Texas, when the House of Bishops (HOB) met recently? A bishop, who agreed to speak to VOL on the grounds of anonymity, said it was not all that it seemed or was painted to be in the media.

It was agreed by all parties that when they met they would "talk but not act." Everyone had signed on to this, especially and including Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop. The ENS news reports, picked up by the secular media and VOL, all heralded that the HOB would have blessed conversation but no decisions would be made.

This is entirely consistent with how the HOB works. After all, they had more than six months until the September deadline set by the primates so there was no immediate hurry to do much of anything. In Tanzania, Mrs. Schori herself had signed on to a no act policy but had said she would present a "Lenten fasting season" on same sex unions and more while the Episcopal Church (TEC) leadership contemplated an uncertain future.

(Furthermore, over the years, the HOB has never been in a hurry to act. The liberals took a long time to approve Women's Ordination. Louie Crew and crowd have taken more than 30 thirty years to get their pan sexual agenda brokered into TEC.)

So no one expected much to come out of Camp Allen. A news black out ensued and we all waited to see what would unfold.

Behind the scenes, however, much was going on. Louie Crew and the church's Integrity and pansexual crowd were working the phones. Homoerotic New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson, the most outstanding critic of Mrs. Schori's agreed to "fasting" policy, started politicking the HOB big time. The back room politics were fierce.

In England, homosexual critics of Rowan Williams had come came out blasting the ABC for caving into the Africans in Tanzania. Their vitriol and hatred of Williams reached new heights. They felt betrayed and much more by the ABC who, they said, had rolled over to Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola's fundamentalism and homophobia. It was an unbelievable display of hubris and hatred against a sitting archbishop that not even George Carey received when he was ABC. (The rip at Carey was basically his lower Middle Class origins and with it his low evangelicalism). Williams was getting stoned by the church's left. The conservatives remained largely silent, content perhaps to seeing Williams getting hammered by the Left and not having to doing it themselves, or perhaps they were feeling sympathetic for what he was going through and saying just said nothing.

In the U.S., TEC liberals and homosexuals also went after Williams' apparent sacrifice of sodomites to the orthodox. He took it on the chin from them.

All this led to what took place at Camp Allen.

The back room politics paid off. Mrs. Schori got totally blindsided by the TEC's far left. She did not see it coming. Unlike Edmond Browning and Frank Griswold who were control freaks at HOB meetings, Mrs. Schori thought she could use some of her unspent political capital to keep the lid on things at least till until late summer when the HOB would again meet and work up some sort of response to the Primates' Tanzania deadlines.

She never had a prayer. Early the following week, with political back room brawls completed and with blood all over the floor, the HOB revealed its hand ...no deals (or deadlines) with the Primates, no deal with the ABC and to hell with the orthodox in the TEC.

It was a stunning victory for the far left, taking Mrs. Schori and the Windsor bishops by surprise. They never knew what hit them. The Network bishops, most of whom were not present, were not even on the radar screen. In light of what has happened, if they make any moves to leave, they will be pursued with the full force of the national church's legal hounds.

There was little Mrs. Schori could do; she was forced to go along with it all. The token orthodox theologian, the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, a conservative Episcopal theologian appointed to the newly-formed formed Covenant Design Group, told the Episcopal bishops that everything boils down to trust. He presented the Covenant process as a way to create trust again. Sadly he got the thumbs down following his presentation, "Ephraim was terribly mistreated at the HOB meeting," a source told VOL.

Dr. Williams issued a terse two-paragraph statement calling the results "discouraging" and saying further discussion was needed. "Some important questions have still to be addressed. No one is underestimating the challenges ahead," he said.

That was all he said. Clearly he got blind-sided as well. The Far Left had successfully outflanked everybody. They even ganged up on Williams. He is learning the lesson that "betraying" ones left flank will get you publicly hung, drawn and quartered. Hell hath no fury like sodomites scorned. Soon after that he announced a three month sabbatical to ruminate on things. Perhaps he will write the TEC's obituary and announce, upon his return, that they are dead within the Anglican Communion. While conservatives have been wary of Williams and his pro-homosexual sympathies, they have never ripped him as publicly as homosexuals and homosexual sympathizers like Damian Thompson, Stephen Bates, Colin Coward and Peter Tatchell.

ONE OBSERVER noted that in the coming realignment, rather than splitting up, the realignment will be along theological lines rather than the current geographic distinctions. Conservative parishes would increasingly affiliate themselves with like-minded bishops from other countries, while developing-world congregations could partner with liberal bishops from industrial countries if they are uncomfortable with their national churches.

OTHER REFLECTIONS on the HOB meeting believe are that The Episcopal Church's refusal to accept the authority of a pastoral council, as proposed by the Primates, was a 'declaration of war' by a campaign group.

The Rev. Dr. Chris Sugden, executive secretary of the evangelical Anglican Mainstream group, said he was not surprised by the latest development, which has effectively brought the Primates September 30 deadline forward by six months. "This is a declaration of war by the Episcopal Church on the Anglican Communion. They know the Archbishop of Canterbury is not going to force them to leave so it's a direct challenge to the rest of the Communion to live with them in the Anglican Communion or leave themselves. It is likely that the pressure will be for the current muddle to continue." One orthodox TEC bishop told VOL this past week that the announcement that the TEC has 16 sixteen provinces in its back pocket was tantamount to a declaration that it had separated itself from the Anglican Communion. The only question now is when it will formalize that declaration.

BEFORE he left town, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams offered up comment that the churches of the Anglican Communion must be safe places for homosexual and lesbian people. He made these comments as an opener to an interim report on the Anglican Communion's Listening Process, a commitment to listen to the experience of homosexual people. Archbishop Williams warns warned that the challenge to create the safe space for their voices to be heard and for their dignity to be respected is based on a fundamental commitment of the Communion.

All well and good, but in the TEC it is Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals who truly are in need of a safe place, not homosexuals and lesbians. I have written extensively about this and you can read my take on the Archbishop's words here: http://tinyurl.com/3axppl

IF you had have any doubts about the break up of the Episcopal Church, you might want to ruminate on three bishops who have left the TEC in recent weeks. Early in the month, Bishop Dave Bena (suffragan for Albany) announced he was leaving and joining the American branch of the Anglican Church of Nigeria - CANA - under Bishop Martyn Minns. Hard on the heels of his departure, was the diocesan Bishop of Albany, the Rt. Rev. Dan Herzog, who announced he was going back to the Roman Catholic Church. To cap it off, the Rt. Rev. William Cox, Assistant Bishop of Oklahoma, (ret.), announced he had left The Episcopal Church and had been received into the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone.

Herzog is apparently the third bishop in the history of the Episcopal Church to become a Roman Catholic. Levi S. Ives, bishop of North Carolina, left the denomination in 1853 after spending a number of years as both diocesan bishop and a monastic priest. Delaware Bishop Frederick Kinsman became a Roman Catholic in 1919. Meanwhile, after his retirement as bishop of Ft. Worth at the end of 1994, Clarence C. Pope Jr. and his wife, Martha, attended Roman Catholic services but, after a short time, returned to the Episcopal Church. Cox is the first bishop to move to the Southern Cone and Bena is the first bishop ever to join an African province! All this speaks volumes about the state of the TEC.

Two other TEC bishops, The Rt. Rev. Dr. C. FitzSimons Allison, South Carolina (ret.) and Bishop Alex D. Dickson of West Tennessee (ret.) worked closely in the formation of the Anglican Mission in America and attend AMIA's annual conferences where Allison speaks and lectures.

On any scale this is an incredible public relations disaster for Mrs. Schori, TEC's Presiding Bishop. What and who else is waiting out there to announce they are fleeing a church that doesn't know what it believes any more. We now await the Diocese of San Joaquin decision in October and what Bishop John-David Schofield does. Any decision they make will be a further PR disaster for TEC. If they decide to leave en masse it will not only be a PR nightmare but as well as a legal wrangle that will be tied up in the courts for years. The secular media will have a field day. One can see the headlines now: EPISCOPAL DIOCESE FLEES NATIONAL CHURCH....suits and counter suits hit the courts.

AND STILL the hemorrhaging continues. A former Episcopal clergyman and convert to Catholicism, Eric Bergman, was recently ordained a Roman Catholic priest.

Bishop Joseph F. Martino and Mr. Bergman first met in the Chancery Building of the Diocese of Scranton when where Bergman was had been the rector of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in the Green Ridge section of Scranton, having served in that capacity for more than five years. He came to Bishop Martino with a question, "Are you willing to see the Pastoral Provision of Pope John Paul II implemented in the Diocese of Scranton?" The Pastoral Provision permits former Anglicans to retain elements of their patrimony that are consistent with Catholic faith and practice, most particularly in the use of an "Anglican style" Sacred Liturgy, published in the Book of Divine Worship.

Bishop Martino said yes to their petition. He agreed to have the Pastoral Provision implemented in the Diocese of Scranton, creating for Mr. Bergman and his parishioners the St. Thomas More Society of St. Clare Church in Scranton. He made Mr. Bergman the director of the Society and appointed Msgr. William Feldcamp as their pastor. Forty members of the St. Thomas More Society were confirmed and received their First Holy Communion at the Vigil Mass for All Saints' Day, on Oct. 31, 2005. The retention of their traditional Anglican customs of worship is not all that makes this group of Catholics exceptional, however. Once Mr. Bergman is ordained, the St. Thomas More Society will have as its pastor a married father of four young children. Mr. Bergman was ordained to the Diaconate on March 24 and will be ordained to the priesthood on April 21. Both ordinations will take place at St. Clare Church in Scranton.

THE OUTRAGEOUS UTTERANCE award of the week, however, goes to Jeffrey John, Dean of the cathedral in St. Albans, UK. Church of England traditionalists, wearied by the battles over homosexuality in the church and the clergy, a leading "homosexual" cleric attacked the Church's teaching that Christ died to make atonement for the sins of the world and said that being forgiven because of belief in this is 'repulsive as well as nonsensical. He called Christ's crucifixion for the sins of mankind "repulsive," "insane" and makes "God sound like a psychopath."

The Rev. Jeffrey John, who was forced to withdraw before assuming a position as bishop in 2003 after it was learned he was in a long term homosexual relationship, blasted standard Christian teaching on the atonement sending Evangelical bishops and leaders into overdrive. Two bishops screamed "Jeffrey John, you've got it wrong." You can read the story here or in today's digest: http://tinyurl.com/ysmsar

What is interesting about Jeffrey John's rip is that it just a repeat of John Shelby Spong's blast at historic Christianity found in his Twelve Theses. There is nothing new here. What is fascinating though is the absolute silence of Dr. Rowan Williams, Jeffrey John's long time friend and mentor. Why have we heard nothing from the ABC? Perhaps an explanation lies in what one orthodox British theologian wrote VOL. "There are two poles to this. The first is his (Williams') profound agreement with Jeffrey John, about sinners having a victim status. For him this is the focus of the cross. "To Christ, the sinner is a victim more than a criminal." (Open to Judgement p.17). He has written extensively on victim status - and there is obviously a linkup here, with the frequent homosexual claim to victim status. "God is the ultimate victim of all human cruelty, says the gospel: God bleeds for every human wound." (p60). The cross speaks of "God as victim". (p61)." VOL will write at length more on this later. Jeffrey John is also on record saying that homosexual clergy need not be celibate. He recently "married" his partner.

IN THE U.S. the big news is the ongoing battle in the DIOCESE OF COLORADO between the liberal Bishop Rob O'Neil and feisty Evangelical priest Don Armstrong. The Colorado newspapers have been full of the day-by-day blows from the bishop and the priest. Wrote one woman to VOL: "Because of their Episcopal church affiliation, I could never worship at Grace Cathedral before today. I have just returned from Palm Sunday service there this morning. It was a PACKED church at the 9 AM service and I expect the same at the previous and next services. I was seated at an aisle when I saw Don Armstrong enter and process. It was indeed glorious to see this Godly man's smiles as he caught glimpses of old friends as he reverently made his way through the church. There was no sermon at this service, just the complete Liturgy of the Palms, including The Passion. As I greeted Don on my way to the parish hall there were reporters, a photographer, and TONS of hugs ! I told him I was pleased to finally be able to worship at his church - that I was in the first group of Ohio who left the Episcopal Church. PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!" You can read a number of stories about the accusations of financial malfeasance by from the bishop and Armstrong's counter response. Sadly, one group of conservatives seems to have taken sides with the bishop. To read "Dissident pastor rebuts diocese's allegations" click here: http://tinyurl.com/2h53oy Ultimately this will all play out in the courts.

IN AN OPINION piece by Mrs. Jefferts Schori on the need to protect our children, she says we must prevent and respond to all kinds of abuse. The PB explained how she had a remarkable encounter recently with a young woman who still bears the scars from abuse she experienced as a child. She has a deep and abiding faith in God, but not much use for religion. She asked me Mrs. Schori a hard question: "How can your church help to prevent the same thing from happening to other children?"

It's a haunting question, but it is one that many, many Episcopalians and their congregations are engaged in addressing. How do we answer her question, and the same question that is asked on behalf of those who have not yet found their voices? The full story can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/2mmxsa

Well perhaps Mrs. Schori can lead the way by tossing Pennsylvania Bishop Charles E. Bennison out of his bishopric because he covered up his brother's sexual abuse of a 14-year old girl. His brother, who was a priest in the Diocese of California, got the heave-ho. Now Mrs. Schori can demonstrate her deep concern by doing the right thing and tossing Bishop Bennison out. She could give the nod to the Title IV Review Committee who would undoubtedly do her bidding. She would certainly get the support of a lot of liberals in the Diocese of Pennsylvania and a lot of conservatives would applaud her actions as well.

SPOTTED in the Diocese of Los Angeles recently was Ugandan Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi. He was in the diocese officiating at confirmations among the three parishes now under his control. Bishop J. Jon Bruno was not amused. It was Bruno who roared "Stop being Chamberlain and start acting like Churchill" to Rowan Williams. Bruno wants him to take a stronger stand against those he believes are trying to destroy the Episcopal Church.

IN THE WEST INDIES this week, Archbishop Drexel Gomez opined that the looming divide between Anglicans and the United States Episcopal Church may force Bajan and other West Indian priests to choose between the two churches by the end of the year. In short, if the rupture occurs, priests wouldn't be able to move easily from say Barbados to New York and back to the Caribbean island as now happens. He made it clear that if the worldwide Anglican communion, of which Barbados is a part, and the United States Episcopal Church go their separate ways over the United States ordination of openly homosexual bishops and the American church's decision to bless same-sex homosexual marriages, then Bajan and other West Indian priests who accept appointments in the United States would have to leave the Anglican church. "They would have to choose between the two," he said.

IN NIGERIA a same-sex' bill was 'abandoned' reports a British homosexual organization Changing Attitude. Davis Mac-Iyalla who attended the Primates Meeting in Tanzania confirmed that with the closure of the current session of the Nigerian Parliament, the "same-sex bill" in Nigeria has now been "abandoned". The alternative scenario to be avoided would have been for Sharia law, with its fatal penalties, to be enacted.

It is theoretically possible for the next government to reintroduce the bill. This would be unlikely to happen in the first term when they would betrying to satisfy many different expectations. It remains a possibility that the bill could be reintroduced in the next government's second term, said Mac-Iyalla, Director of Changing Attitude Nigeria.

THE LISTENING PROCESS reports from the Provinces are now available online. The Facilitator of the Listening Process, the Rev. Phil Groves has collated relevant research studies, statements, resolutions and other material on human sexuality from the various Provinces. Summaries of the responses are available for study, discussion and reflection across the Communion. This was called for by ACC 13 and commended by the Primates in their communique of their meeting in February 2005. You can find them by clicking here: http://www.aco.org/listening/study/index.cfm

As a sign of how unfriendly it is for orthodox folk; a story appeared in the Seattle Post Intelligencer about the decline in attendance and finances at the cathedral resulting in massive layoffs. When the story appeared, a VOL reader wrote the following: "Before 2003, I had a friend and his young family stop at the cathedral for services on their way back from a weekend outing. At this service, there were a few adult men who passed the peace through open mouth kissing. No more cathedral for my friend's family. His wife, an army colonel, is the daughter of a retired Episcopal priest.

Dean Taylor, openly homosexual with live-in boyfriend, states that some 750 people attend services each weekend. Half of this number attends Sunday sung compline, no preaching, no plate." About 100 fewer families pledged for 2007 than the 630 who gave last year. In addition, the church is still about $50,000 short of its $1.2 million fundraising goal. Oh and they pay the Dean $175,000 even as the church heads down hill.

In the DIOCESE OF WASHINGTON, one of the lone voices of orthodoxy is leaving. The Rev. Al Zadig, Jr., Rector of All Saints' Church in Chevy Chase, MD has announced his acceptance of a call to be the 21st Rector of St. Michael's Church in Charleston, SC. Zadig had been rector for five years. Zadiq brilliantly engineered his Chevy Chase parish to come under the Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Bishop of South Carolina, who will oversee this process within the structure of Supplemental Episcopal Oversight established last year with the Diocese of Washington. He will take over the prestigious Charleston parish of the Rev Richard Belser who is retiring at St. Michael's. Both are friends of VOL.

EL CAMINO REAL: A slate of four nominees has been chosen for the diocese's third bishop. Three out of the four are women, which should tell you about the changing demographics in the TEC. The lone male has a 25% chance of winning, and probably won't get it. The odds are against him. All four are thought to be classic TEC liberals. This diocese has been riddled with liberal bishops and is fast skidding into oblivion. The last bishop, Richard Shimpfky, got the heave ho for being grossly incompetent. After a contentious tenure, Shimpfky agreed to resign as bishop of the diocese which stretches from Silicon Valley to San Luis Obispo. Shimpfky's decision comes after a divisive struggle with the diocese's leadership. What he did was deemed harmful to a lot of people. Anybody who follows him and is even marginally competent will do better. It's a no brainer.

SEWANEE. VOL reported several weeks ago that Sewanee was inviting V. Gene Robinson to its campus. Here is the official word: The Sewanee Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) is sponsoring the following event at which the New Hampshire bishop will give the keynote address.

The event is part of the Southeastern College Summit for Human Equality. Robinson has also been invited to Vanderbilt University on April 13, the day before. Some Sewanee Alumni will not be amused by this and may withhold even more funds from the only Episcopal university.

If you would like to register a protest call: Paige L. Schneider, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of the South (931)598931) 598-1548 pschneid@sewanee.edu

IN other Sewanee news, students celebrated a booze and flesh show recently featuring dancing boys without shirts and with little bowties around their necks - just like male strippers. Donors were not invited or notified. All this while fundraisers claim their money helps to change lives. No kidding. You can see it all here: http://tnflash.tennesseepics.com/Q/Proofs.aspx?GroupID=1842&Key=54D0C1

AS A SIGN of the rising tide of sexual totalitarianism in the UK, a Church of England bishop has been accused of unlawful discrimination because he blocked the appointment of a practicing homosexual to a youth worker post within the Church of England.

The homosexual man, backed by 'homosexual rights' activist group Stonewall, is taking the diocese of Hereford to an employment tribunal for discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.

The Bishop of Hereford, Anthony Priddis, did not consent to the appointment in line with the Church of England's policy of not employing practicing homosexuals within the church. The legal action is being launched under the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 - these are different from the Sexual Orientation Regulations which were recently passed by Parliament and which do not directly affect employment.

Please go to the www.virtueonline.org for more stories posted daily to the website. Please feel free to post stories to your friends and blogs. There is no copyright on truth. Sign up a friend to receive a free weekly digest of the latest news from around the TEC and the Anglican Communion.

CORRECTION. In my last digest I said that the Rev. Martyn Minns would be officially installed a CANA bishop at Truro church. That was inaccurate. He will be officially installed as bishop at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 5, 2007 at the Cecil D. Hylton Memorial Chapel, 14640 Potomac Mills Road, Woodbridge, VA 22192. Link here: http://www.canaconvocation.org/

IN my last digest I offered up a not too flattering observation about the situation in the DIOCESE OF DALLAS from a priest. I got a call from Bishop James Stanton who offered a different perspective on his diocese and I offer it to you here. This was written by his Canon to the Ordinary, The Rev. Canon Dr. Neal O. Michell.

ORIGINAL VOL QUOTE: "From the DIOCESE OF DALLAS...once more with feeling. Following Bishop Stanton's letter to the Diocese, which VOL obtained, comes further clarification by a priest of the diocese. He writes, "This is but the tip of the iceberg. What is not mentioned in Stanton's letter are the numbers, in terms of people and dollars that have left the diocese. They are significant. The standing committee of the diocese is split 50-50, conservative-liberal. When one more conservative member leaves the standing committee will swing liberal."

MICHELL RESPONDS: "I'm not sure what your source means by 'conservative' and 'liberal;' I do think that any of the members of our Standing Committee would be very surprised to be designated as a liberal. I can assure you that in the way that labels are normally applied in the current Episcopal Church conflagration they are all assuredly 'conservative.'

"If the label refers to the persons' view on the ordination of women to the priesthood, then such a moniker might apply. It is fair to say that the members of our Standing Committee are as liberal as our bishop is. Bishop Stanton remains committed to the apostolic faith and has remained steadfastly supportive of the Anglican Communion Network, the Windsor process, and the request of the primates in their most recent Communique.

"Also, it's notable that the 'conservative' block is considerably weaker than it was before the 2006 diocesan convention when Frs. David Roseberry (Christ Church Plano) and Dwight Duncan (St. Matthias Dallas) were still on the standing committee. They have long since departed."

"The current outlook for the diocese departures is:

"Christ Church, Plano, TX - Separated with property
Faith Church, Allen, TX - Separated, leasing existing property - Faith Church has asked to separate from the diocese and the Episcopal Church. They are leasing the property from the diocese until it is determined how to dispose of the property.

"Holy Trinity Episcopal, Garland, TX - Separated without property About half of the congregation has stayed. They are reorganizing and moving forward in ministry.

"Resurrection, Dallas, TX - Status pending - correct
St. Francis, Dallas, TX - In place, APO under Diocese of Ft. Worth - Not quite. They are under the pastoral care of the Bishop of Ft. Worth per agreement between the two bishops under the "Dallas Plan."

"St. Matthias, Dallas, TX - Separated with property - correct
St. Nicholas, Flower Mound, TX - Separated without property. I am currently interim rector of St. Nicholas, Flower Mound. A third of the congregation has left. The congregation is very much alive and moving forward in ministry. They have a particularly gifted interim rector who is shepherding them well and are in a rector search process.

"Trinity Church, Dallas, TX - Request to separate withdrawn pending primate's council decision.

"I understand that the church was in discernment as to their future direction. According to an email from their rector to the clergy, they never requested separation therefore there was no request to withdraw.

"Finally, let me add that we in the Diocese of Dallas remain fully engaged in mission and ministry. About a dozen of our churches have been engaged in an initiative called "Harvest Unlimited" in which church members call people from their surrounding community asking for their prayer requests and inviting them to church and a welcoming and information dinner.

"The responses have been absolutely breathtaking. These churches are so excited at the responses with several hundred people visiting local Episcopal Churches for the first time. We recently had a gathering of rural churches of rural churches where the excitement was absolutely palpable. Further, we have just purchased property for a new church plant, have called a planter, and are in negotiation for more property for another church plant."

Neal Michell
Canon for Strategic Development
Episcopal Diocese of Dallas

VOL has accepted an invitation by Bishop Stanton to see what the diocese is doing first hand. We will report on that later in the year.

VIRTUEONLINE wishes all its readers a very blessed Easter.

David W. Virtue DD
www.virtueonline.org