Anglicans United & Latimer Press

7/23/2006 Steve Waring, The Living Church Four bishops with jurisdiction in the state of California have asked a disciplinary panel to approve an expedited deposition of the Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, Bishop of San Joaquin. In a letter to the organizing chair of the Title IV [Ecclesiastical Discipline] Review Committee, the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Jerry M. Lamb, Bishop of Northern California; the Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes, Bishop of San Diego; and the Rt. Rev. William E. Swing, Bishop of California, are concerned that Bishop Schofield intends to “abandon the communion of this Church.” As one of the primary pieces of their evidence the four cite recent changes that qualify subordination under the diocesan canons to the Constitution and Canons of the General Convention. ....Continue reading, "Complaint Alleges Bishop of San Joaquin Has Abandoned Communion"

At its annual meeting last October, delegates to San Joaquin’s convention approved the second reading of a change to Article II of its constitution to state that it “accedes to” the Canons and Constitution of the General Convention “to the extent that such terms and provisions” are “not inconsistent with the terms and provisions of the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of San Joaquin.” The four believe this fact alone is sufficient to remove Bishop Schofield from office without trial.

If Bishop Schofield and other diocesan leadership were to leave The Episcopal Church and apply that clause of the diocesan constitution to the so-called Dennis Canon, there is concern by the four bishops that the California state courts might rule in San Joaquin’s favor and permit that diocese to retain possession of the property. Title I, canon 7.4 states that “all real and personal property held by or for the benefit of any parish, mission or congregation is held in trust for this Church and the diocese thereof in which such parish, mission or congregation is located,” although it has never been applied to an entire diocese.

In a July 11 interview with The Living Church, Bishop Swing said he and the other three California bishops with jurisdiction at the time the letter was sent are concerned that in several recent church property dispute cases California courts have awarded title to the congregation, applying a “neutral principles of law” rather than deferring to the denomination’s bylaws. Bishop Swing, who was chair of the House of Bishops’ task force on church property disputes until his July 22 retirement, said it was “unfathomable” that someone would try to retain property after having left The Episcopal Church. “It was given to us and we want to pass it on to the next generation,” he said.

This is believed to be the first time that questions of abandonment have been raised about a bishop of The Episcopal Church. In the past five years abandonment rulings have been issued against an increasing number of priests and deacons often after the accused has claimed to have transferred to another province of the Anglican Communion. The abandonment process is much more expeditious than other disciplinary procedures which are adjudicated through an ecclesiastical trial process and under abandonment there is no presumption of innocence.

If the review panel were to “certify by majority vote that the facts are true, Title IV Canon 9.1 states that the Presiding Bishop consults with the three senior bishops having jurisdiction. The Rt. Rev. Leo Frade, Bishop of Southeast Florida, the Rt. Rev. Peter J. Lee, Bishop of Virginia and the Rt. Rev. Don A. Wimberly, Bishop of Texas, have the longest tenure in the House of Bishops. If the three consent unanimously, the matter is taken to the next House of Bishops’ meeting for a decision. This could conceivably be completed before the Nov. 4 investiture of Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold made a number of new appointments to the review committee and the complete roster has not been published, but it will not contain any retired bishops this triennium. The review panel will likely meet and consider the complaint against Bishop Schofield no later than mid-September. On July 21, an announcement from the Diocese of San Joaquin said the chancellor for the diocese had already responded to the review committee by challenging the appropriateness of the specific canon being used.

“In short, these allegations are neither relevant nor justified,” the statement asserted.

Steve Waring

To find more news, feature articles, and commentary about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion not available online, we invite you to subscribe to The Living Church magazine.

Sunday, July 9, 2006 Anglican Communion News Service The Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, challenged the church to exercise "gracious magnanimity" July 8 during his presidential address at the Church of England's General Synod, meeting through July 11 at York University in England. He also suggested that, although the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church clearly demonstrated that it is committed to mission, the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury, its response to the recommendations of the Windsor Report "fell short." ....Continue reading, "Archbishop of York John Sentamu calls for 'gracious magnanimity,' comments on General Convention"

"Gracious magnanimity is the quality of the person who knows that regulations are not the last word and knows when not to apply the letter of the law," he said. "A church meeting may sit with the book of practice and
procedure on the table in front of it and take every one of its decisions in strict accordance with the law of the Church; but there are times when the Christian treatment of some situation demands that the book of practice and
procedure should not be regarded as the last word."

Sentamu, who attended General Convention for its entirety, noted that in spite of the hard work of the Special Committee on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, and numerous hearings, it failed to meet the precise request of the Windsor Report. "It left too much room for doubt," he said, "and didn't stop the rumor and
impression of doing 'our own thing.'"

The Special Committee "took the recommendations of the Windsor Report seriously," he continued. "But the Convention's legislative processes -- modeled on the House of Representatives and the Senate, and acting like them
-- are not fit for the purpose of engendering good conversation ... And in the end they fell short."

Sentamu said he wished that Convention had heeded the words of the Rev. John Danforth, an Episcopal priest and former Senator and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, who was the keynote speaker at the Presiding Bishop's June 15 forum: "Toward a Reconciled World."

During the forum, Danforth implored Convention that sexual orientation not be the centerpiece of the Episcopal Church.

"We have a higher calling, a more central message: that God was in Christ, was in the world, reconciling the world to Himself," Danforth said. "And he has entrusted us to the ministry of reconciliation ... Shift from the divisive issue of sexuality to [the] ministry of reconciliation."

Sentamu acknowledged, however, that Convention demonstrated its commitment to mission. "A Church that takes the Millennium Development Goals seriously," he said. "Poverty, world peace, HIV/AIDS, the living wage, young
people, equality for all, are at the top of the agenda."

Proclaiming his belief that holy communication is part of Holy Communion, Sentamu said, "I am driven to exasperation when Christians don't disagree well and Christianly. The Christian, as St. Paul sees it, is the person who knows that there is something beyond justice.

"As far as justice goes, there isn't one of us who deserves anything other than the condemnation of God, but [St. Paul] goes far beyond justice," he continued. "[He] lays it down that the mark of a Christian in their personal
relationships with their fellow human beings must be that they know when to insist on justice and when to remember that there is something beyond justice."

Toward the end of his address, Sentamu spoke about combating terrorism and offering a vision of wholeness in a "compelling and imaginative way" so that would-be suicide bombers would come to see this as their own vision.

"A vision that would turn them from outsiders, self-excluding and deluded despisers of others, into belongers; a vision which will help them to see that those they seek to destroy are their own brothers and sisters
regardless of their religious affiliations," he said. "The way to do this is by drawing a large enough circle of love which includes them and us."

The full text of Sentamu's address can be found at:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_76563_ENG_HTM.htm.

Out-of-the-mainstream beliefs about gay marriage and supposedly sexist doctrines are gutting old-line faiths. By Charlotte Allen, CHARLOTTE ALLEN is Catholicism editor for Beliefnet and the author of "The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus."July 9, 2006 The accelerating fragmentation of the strife-torn Episcopal Church USA, in which several parishes and even a few dioceses are opting out of the church, isn't simply about gay bishops, the blessing of same-sex unions or the election of a woman as presiding bishop. It also is about the meltdown of liberal Christianity. Embraced by the leadership of all the mainline Protestant denominations, as well as large segments of American Catholicism, liberal Christianity has been hailed by its boosters for 40 years as the future of the Christian church. Instead, as all but a few die-hards now admit, all the mainline churches and movements within churches that have blurred doctrine and softened moral precepts are demographically declining and, in the case of the Episcopal Church, disintegrating. It is not entirely coincidental that at about the same time that Episcopalians, at their general convention in Columbus, Ohio, were thumbing their noses at a directive from the worldwide Anglican Communion that they "repent" of confirming ....Continue reading, "Liberal Christianity is paying for its sins"

the Presbyterian Church USA, at its general assembly in Birmingham, Ala., was turning itself into the laughingstock of the blogosphere by tacitly approving alternative designations for the supposedly sexist Christian Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Among the suggested names were "Mother, Child and Womb" and "Rock, Redeemer and Friend." Moved by the spirit of the Presbyterian revisionists, Beliefnet blogger Rod Dreher held a "Name That Trinity" contest. Entries included "Rock, Scissors and Paper" and "Larry, Curly and Moe."

Following the Episcopalian lead, the Presbyterians also voted to give local congregations the freedom to ordain openly cohabiting gay and lesbian ministers and endorsed the legalization of medical marijuana. (The latter may be a good idea, but it is hard to see how it falls under the theological purview of a Christian denomination.)

The Presbyterian Church USA is famous for its 1993 conference, cosponsored with the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and other mainline churches, in which participants "reimagined" God as "Our Maker Sophia" and held a feminist-inspired "milk and honey" ritual designed to replace traditional bread-and-wine Communion.

As if to one-up the Presbyterians in jettisoning age-old elements of Christian belief, the Episcopalians at Columbus overwhelmingly refused even to consider a resolution affirming that Jesus Christ is Lord. When a Christian church cannot bring itself to endorse a bedrock Christian theological statement repeatedly found in the New Testament, it is not a serious Christian church. It's a Church of What's Happening Now, conferring a feel-good imprimatur on whatever the liberal elements of secular society deem permissible or politically correct.

You want to have gay sex? Be a female bishop? Change God's name to Sophia? Go ahead. The just-elected Episcopal presiding bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, is a one-woman combination of all these things, having voted for Robinson, blessed same-sex couples in her Nevada diocese, prayed to a female Jesus at the Columbus convention and invited former Newark, N.J., bishop John Shelby Spong, famous for denying Christ's divinity, to address her priests.

When a church doesn't take itself seriously, neither do its members. It is hard to believe that as recently as 1960, members of mainline churches — Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans and the like — accounted for 40% of all American Protestants. Today, it's more like 12% (17 million out of 135 million). Some of the precipitous decline is due to lower birthrates among the generally blue-state mainliners, but it also is clear that millions of mainline adherents (and especially their children) have simply walked out of the pews never to return. According to the Hartford Institute for Religious Research, in 1965, there were 3.4 million Episcopalians; now, there are 2.3 million. The number of Presbyterians fell from 4.3 million in 1965 to 2.5 million today. Compare that with 16 million members reported by the Southern Baptists.

When your religion says "whatever" on doctrinal matters, regards Jesus as just another wise teacher, refuses on principle to evangelize and lets you do pretty much what you want, it's a short step to deciding that one of the things you don't want to do is get up on Sunday morning and go to church.

It doesn't help matters that the mainline churches were pioneers in ordaining women to the clergy, to the point that 25% of all Episcopal priests these days are female, as are 29% of all Presbyterian pastors, according to the two churches. A causal connection between a critical mass of female clergy and a mass exodus from the churches, especially among men, would be difficult to establish, but is it entirely a coincidence? Sociologist Rodney Stark ("The Rise of Christianity") and historian Philip Jenkins ("The Next Christendom") contend that the more demands, ethical and doctrinal, that a faith places upon its adherents, the deeper the adherents' commitment to that faith. Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, which preach biblical morality, have no trouble saying that Jesus is Lord, and they generally eschew women's ordination. The churches are growing robustly, both in the United States and around the world.

Despite the fact that median Sunday attendance at Episcopal churches is 80 worshipers, the Episcopal Church, as a whole, is financially equipped to carry on for some time, thanks to its inventory of vintage real estate and huge endowments left over from the days (no more!) when it was the Republican Party at prayer. Furthermore, it has offset some of its demographic losses by attracting disaffected liberal Catholics and gays and lesbians. The less endowed Presbyterian Church USA is in deeper trouble. Just before its general assembly in Birmingham, it announced that it would eliminate 75 jobs to meet a $9.15-million budget cut at its headquarters, the third such round of job cuts in four years.

The Episcopalians have smells, bells, needlework cushions and colorfully garbed, Catholic-looking bishops as draws, but who, under the present circumstances, wants to become a Presbyterian?

Still, it must be galling to Episcopal liberals that many of the parishes and dioceses (including that of San Joaquin, Calif.) that want to pull out of the Episcopal Church USA are growing instead of shrinking, have live people in the pews who pay for the upkeep of their churches and don't have to rely on dead rich people. The 21-year-old Christ Church Episcopal in Plano, Texas, for example, is one of the largest Episcopal churches in the country. Its 2,200 worshipers on any given Sunday are about equal to the number of active Episcopalians in Jefferts Schori's entire Nevada diocese.

It's no surprise that Christ Church, like the other dissident parishes, preaches a very conservative theology. Its break from the national church came after Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Communion, proposed a two-tier membership in which the Episcopal Church USA and other churches that decline to adhere to traditional biblical standards would have "associate" status in the communion. The dissidents hope to retain full communication with Canterbury by establishing oversight by non-U.S. Anglican bishops.

As for the rest of the Episcopalians, the phrase "deck chairs on the Titanic" comes to mind. A number of liberal Episcopal websites are devoted these days to dissing Peter Akinola, outspoken primate of the Anglican diocese of Nigeria, who, like the vast majority of the world's 77 million Anglicans reported by the Anglican Communion, believes that "homosexual practice" is "incompatible with Scripture" (those words are from the communion's 1998 resolution at the Lambeth conference of bishops). Akinola might have the numbers on his side, but he is now the Voldemort — no, make that the Karl Rove — of the U.S. Episcopal world. Other liberals fume over a feeble last-minute resolution in Columbus calling for "restraint" in consecrating bishops whose lifestyle might offend "the wider church" — a resolution immediately ignored when a second openly cohabitating gay man was nominated for bishop of Newark.

So this is the liberal Christianity that was supposed to be the Christianity of the future: disarray, schism, rapidly falling numbers of adherents, a collapse of Christology and national meetings that rival those of the Modern Language Assn. for their potential for cheap laughs. And they keep telling the Catholic Church that it had better get with the liberal program — ordain women, bless gay unions and so forth — or die. Sure.

July 5 [Source: Associated Press] The Standing Committee, Diocese of Dallas is asking the Diocesan Convention to be held in October, to declare its allegiance to the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Convention will request a "direct pastoral relationship" from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Associated Press reported July 5 after a meeting of diocesan clergy the same day. ....Continue reading, "Dallas Standing Committee requests 'direct pastoral relationship'"

The web address for the 77-congregation diocese is http://www.episcopal-dallas.org.

Dallas became the seventh diocese in which a bishop or Standing Committee is seeking "alternative pastoral oversight" citing 2003 and 2006 General Convention actions. The other dioceses are Central Florida (Orlando-based), Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Springfield (Illinois), San Joaquin (California), and South Carolina. The Episcopal Church has a total of 110 dioceses and a convocation of churches based in Europe.

Communique from this site: http://www.anglican-nig.org/communique_episynod_june06.htm EPISCOPAL SYNOD HELD AT ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH WUSE ZONE 5, ABUJA FROM TUESDAY 27- WEDNESDAY 28 JUNE, 2006 COMMUNIQUÉ The Episcopal Synod of the Church of Nigeria met under God at All Saints' church Abuja from 27th - 28th June 2006 with His Grace, The Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola, CON, DD, Archbishop, Primate and Metropolitan of All Nigeria presiding. After sessions of deliberations on issues affecting both the Church and Society, the Synod under the guidance of the Holy Spirit issued this Communiqué. ....Continue reading, "NIGERIA QUESTIONS HOLDING LAMBETH CONFERENCE 2008"

1. CONGRATULATIONS
Synod notes with satisfaction the efforts of the Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), His Grace, The Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola, in giving the Church of Nigeria, (CAPA and Global South a purposeful and effective leadership. It further expresses its approval of his actions and pronouncements against errors of revisionist ideologies. With much delight and enthusiasm, Synod received his citing by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 persons that shaped the World in 2005, and encouraged him not to relent in his efforts in exercising his ministry.

2. THE ANGLICAN COVENANT
Synod is satisfied with the move by the Global South to continue with its veritable project of defending the faith committed to us against present onslaught from ECUSA, Canada, England and their allies. The need therefore, to redefine and/or re-determine those who are truly Anglicans becomes urgent, imperative and compelling. Synod therefore empowers the leadership of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) to give assent to the Anglican Covenant.

3. THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE
The Lambeth Conference which is one of the accepted organs of unity in the Anglican Communion is due for another meeting in 2008. the Synod, after reviewing some recent major events in the Communion, especially the effects of the ‘revisionists’ theology’, which is now making wave in America, Canada and England, observed with dismay the inability of the Church in the aforementioned areas to see reason for repentance from the harm and stress they have caused this communion since 1988 culminating in the consecration of Gene Robinson, a practicing homosexual in 2003 as a bishop in ECUSA. Synod also regrets the inability of the See of Canterbury to prevent further impairment of the unity of the Church. It therefore, believes strongly that the moral justification for the proposed Lambeth Conference of 2008 is questionable in view of the fact that by promoting teachings and practices that are alien and inimical to the historic formularies of the Church, the Bishops of ECUSA, Canada and parts of Britain have abandoned the Biblical faith of our fathers.

4. GLOBAL SOUTH CONFERENCE
Synod underlines the need for maintaining the age-long tradition of a ten-yearly Conference of Bishops in the Anglican Communion for discussing issues affecting the Church. It therefore calls on the leadership of the Global South and Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) to do everything necessary to put in place a Conference of all Anglican Bishops to hold in 2008 should all efforts to get the apostles of ‘revisionist agenda’ to repent and retrace their steps fail.

5. THE SO-CALLED RELIGIOUS RIOTS
Synod is worried that months after the mayhem unleashed on the nation in February 2006 by criminals, murderers and arsonists hiding under the cloak of religion, no one has been brought to book neither any compensation paid for the properties especially churches destroyed and lives lost in the riots. It therefore, calls on the Governments of the land to take urgent steps to prosecute these enemies of mankind and pay necessary compensations in order to restore the confidence that every Nigerian is protected any where in this nation.

6. HIV/AIDS SCOURGE
Synod continues to note with concern the ravaging effects of HJV/AIDS and the threat it is posing to human society. More worrisome is the mismanagement of funds meant for prosecution of the war against this scourge in Nigeria; leading to the de-listing of Nigeria by foreign Donor Agencies. While noting the efforts of Church in the HIV/AIDS Programme, it calls on all Dioceses and Churches to be actively involved in this project with a view to ensuring that this ugly monster does not further endanger the lives for which Christ died.

7. ISLAM AND MINORITY RIGHTS
While noting the spread of Islam in hitherto predominantly Christian cities, especially in Europe and America, and their insistence on minority rights, Synod is worried that this same Muslims have refused to allow people of other faiths into their (Muslim dominated) areas to enjoy such rights. It therefore calls on our Muslim brothers in the spirit of reciprocity to have a change of attitude and put an end to intolerance and hostilities to Christians all over the world.

8. 2007 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA
Synod is happy that the processes leading to the general elections in Nigeria come 2007 are on course. While underscoring the need for emergence of credible, committed and patriotic leaders for the nation, it calls on all Christians to actively participate in all electoral processes to forestall a situation where e lections are used to recycle past leaders. Synod further enjoins the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure a very high degree of transparency in all elections slated for 2007, so as to avoid the ugly consequences of any electoral result that did not truly reflect the wishes and aspirations of the electorate. While calling for a truly independent judiciary, the synod insists that all petitions arising from the forthcoming general elections should be handled with dispatch in the spirit of justice, equity and fair play.

Signed
The Most Revd. Peter J. Akinola, CON, D.D.
Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria

June 6, 2006 [Source: Episcopal Voices, Orlando] A group of mainstream Episcopalians will meet in July to address the Central Florida diocesan Standing Committee's late-June decision to seek alternative oversight from the Archbishop of Canterbury. ....Continue reading, "Central Florida 'mainstream' group opposes standing committee action"

The Standing Committee took action citing disagreement with 2003 and 2006 actions of the Episcopal Church's General Convention. The Standing Committee's "open letter" is online at http://www.cfdiocese.org.

Episcopal Voices of Central Florida, a group of lay people and clergy from all regions of the diocese, which extends to both state coasts, will meet at 10 a.m. on July 29 at St. Richard's Episcopal Church in Winter Park to discuss the standing committee's action and to plan a course for the future.

Although group members are of differing opinions about sexuality issues now creating a rift within the church, they are dedicated to remaining in full support and union with the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, according to Donna Bott, Episcopal Voices moderator.

"We are extremely unhappy about the diocese's hasty decision which indicates an impending break with the Episcopal Church," said Bott. "A handful of people and the bishop have made a knee-jerk decision without thoughtfully consulting the membership of this diocese and seeking a wide consensus. Many people oppose breaking with the Episcopal Church, but our voices have not been considered in this action.

"Further, this action preempts the hope for reconciliation and healing as expressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury's recent statement as well as the Windsor Report," Bott said. "The diocese in no way speaks for me or for members of Episcopal Voices on this matter."

For the last four years, Episcopal Voices has worked to foster unity in the diocese, holding services and meetings to help people find common ground, Bott said.

"There is room in the church for people of all opinions to worship together," said Bott. "We oppose any attempts to further alienate the people of this diocese and to take our local churches, property and congregations from the Episcopal Church."

Bott noted that Episcopalians have weathered other controversies, staying unified in faith as revealed in scripture, tradition and reason.

"The current situation is polarizing the church and diverting attention from important mission and social issues that are confronting the church and people who live in our area," said Bott, who lives in The Villages.
Information about Episcopal Voices is online at http://www.episcopalvoicescf.org.

Similar organizations, some named "Via Media," are active in most of some 10 dioceses whose elected leadership has acted in opposition to 2003 and 2006 General Convention decisions.