While the Episcopal Church has embraced gays and ordained lesbian priests, Moore's secret life came as a shock. Moore - who made the cover of Newsweek in 1972, when he took over the Archdiocese of New York - died in May 2003. His daughter, Honor Moore, the eldest of nine children he had with his first wife, Jenny McKean, writes that six months after his death, "the telephone rang. [The caller] had a confident voice. Andrew Verver (as I'll call him) was the only person in my father's will whose name was unfamiliar." When Honor asked "Verver," who had traveled with Moore to the Greek island of Patmos the summer before, about her father's sexual life, he replied, "I was his sexual life," and, "Of course, there were other men." Then, Honor describes bringing "Verver" on a touching visit to Moore's grave in Connecticut.
Dr. Packer, who received his theological education at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, was ordained a deacon (1952) and priest (1953) in the Church of England. He was Assistant Curate of Harborne Heath in Birmingham 1952-54 and Lecturer at Tyndale Hall, Bristol 1955-61. He was Librarian of Latimer House, Oxford 1961-62 and Principal 1962-69. In 1970 he became Principal of Tyndale Hall, Bristol, and from 1971 until 1979 he was Associate Prinicipal of Trinity College, Bristol. In addition to his published works, he has served as general editor for the English Standard Version of the Bible. He currently serves as the Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia.
He will be 82 in July.
“This is a step forward, albeit a small one,” the Bishop of Central Florida, the Rt Rev John W Howe told his diocese after the plan was announced, that permits freedom of conscience for traditionalists while preserving good order in conformance to the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.
However, conservative critics charge there is nothing in the plan to compel a liberal bishop to permit alternative oversight, while liberals believes the plan cedes to much power to conservatives and violates the American church’s unique polity.
Spokesmen for the dioceses of Pittsburgh and Fort Worth told The Church of England Newspaper they were unable to comment on the merits of the plan as they had not been consulted in its creation and were unaware of the details.
The Primates’ Feb 2007 communiqué from Dar es Salaam pitched a Pastoral Council plan to the US church, offering alternative oversight for embattled conservatives.
The US House of Bishops batted that ball away at their March meeting, but in September Bishop Schori returned to the game offering conservatives an “Episcopal Visitor.”
The Presiding Bishop appointed 12 centrist and conservative bishops as her Episcopal Visitors, granting them the authority to serve as her surrogates in visiting conservative dioceses, while she retained the authority to “take order” for ordaining and consecrating bishops and to oversee the discipline of bishops.
As of mid-February, no diocese had taken up her offer for an Episcopal Visitor. However, Bishop James Stanton of Dallas, working with leaders of the Anglican Communion Institute and the Primate of the West Indies, Archbishop Drexel Gomez, took the Episcopal Visitor programme forward.
Led by Prof Christopher Seitz, the team sought to meld the needs articulated by traditionalists with the structures suggested by the Primates and the Presiding Bishop.
On Jan 31 Dr Williams met with Archbishop Gomez, Bishop Stanton, Prof Seitz and Dr Ephraim Radner and gave his backing to the emerging “Anglican Bishops in Communion” project. He agreed to issue invitations to the primates of the West Indies, Burundi, Tanzania, the Indian Ocean and Jerusalem and the Middle East to offer primatial pastoral oversight to the Episcopal Visitors.
The Presiding Bishop was briefed by Bishops Stanton of Dallas, Smith of North Dakota, Howe of Central Florida, and Bishop Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana on Feb 21, giving her “nihil obstat” to the Communion plan, one participant reported.
While the details of oversight have not been finalized, the plan keeps the authority of naming Episcopal Visitors with the Presiding Bishop. These visitors would be linked pastorally with the five overseas primates.
The plan does not envision the Presiding Bishop relinquishing her authority over the disciplinary process, but would permit visitations on her behalf. The authority to consecrate bishops would be held by the Presiding Bishop, but it is understood that this power could be delegated.
The draft plan seen by The Church of England Newspaper states the Communion plan would “provide a visible link” for traditionalists to the wider Church.
“Many within our dioceses and in congregations in other dioceses seek to be assured of their connection to the Anglican Communion. Traditionally, this has been understood in terms of bishop-to-bishop relationships. Communion Partners fleshes out this connection in a significant and symbolic way,” it said.
The plan would provide a “forum” for “fellowship, support and a forum for mutual concerns between bishops”
and would “provide a partnership to work toward the Anglican Covenant and according to Windsor principles.”
“The Bishops will work together according to the principles outlined in the Windsor Report and seek a comprehensive Anglican Covenant at the Lambeth Conference and beyond,” it said.
There will be no “formal structure” for the programme, but each participating bishop and primate would be “committed to non-boundary-crossing: the relationships will be governed by mutual respect and proceed by invitation and cooperation.”
The relationships established would be governed by transparency, with activities reported to the Presiding Bishop and Dr Williams, while also respecting the “canonical realities, integrities and structures of the Episcopal Church and other Churches,” the document stated.
Prof Seitz noted the plan “is meant to give identity and self-definition to conservatives” within the Episcopal
Church.
It also takes into account the “historical limitations” of the office of the Presiding Bishop while also seeking to “build goodwill in the Communion and with Canterbury.”
In your view is this solely about the Canadian churches stand on homosexuality? Does it go beyond that?
No. This is about two versions of Christianity which are in a strong state of difference. You’ve got the original biblical Christianity which the church, the Christian church throughout the world has held to over the past two thousand years and then you’ve got this new liberal post-modern Christianity which has evolved especially in the western world over the last 100 years or so. It’s like two ships that have gradually pulled apart and can longer really sail together and the trouble is it’s pulling the church apart as it does that.
And how did you personally, in Argentina, get involved with the Canadian congregations?
We’ve got good links with folk in Canada, we are all a part of the Americas. Also I had been a part of the Primates’ debate on this for a long time now and therefore I’d been in contact with Canadians who’d been in touch with us and discussed things with us and asked our advice and that’s what has led to this situation – that in the end they came to us and said, “Look we are going to have to break away from something we can no longer walk with – will you please give us somewhere to live while this thing works itself out?” and we talked about it with other Primates – there were a number of provinces that were prepared to make an offer to receive these congregations and in the end the decision was to come down to us.
And in practical terms what does that mean to take on these Canadian parishioners?
It means basically that these people cannot say that they agree with their local Church, with the national Church where they are, but they want to remain within the Anglican church and – since they can’t remain within the Anglican Church if they leave the Canadian Church and don’t go anywhere else – they are coming to us for shelter until the situation is resolved. We hope it will be a temporary thing and that something more practical and able to be worked out locally will come out of this in the long term. As it stands there are two bishops who will be looking after these congregations, two retired Canadian bishops who will be doing the practical work for us but the overall coverage will be under the Province of the Southern Cone which includes the six countries you mentioned.
And along with the issue of faith when it comes to the running of a church there are legal and financial considerations how do those shake down with these changes?
Well I suppose the most difficult thing will be where the clergy go in terms of stipend, pensions and medical coverage and all that which implies an enormous sacrifice, which shows again how serious this is and how strong the convictions are. But also the tragedy is going to be over buildings – who actually owns the buildings. Because although buildings are secondary in our faith, the church is the temple – we are the temple and God lives in His people – but even so buildings are very very precious to us and they mean a lot, especially locally where families have lived for a long time in one locality so that is going to be probably the hardest thing of all. And what’s been happening in the states is tragic because there are multi-million (dollar) court cases going on at this moment in which even members of vestries are being taken to court for ‘abandoning the communion’ as they say.
I can hear the regret in your voice.
Yeah. Oh yeah. It’s heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking. It’s tragic because the church is meant to be a demonstration of love – and one of the things that really breaks us up is that there seems to be so little love in this. I said at a Primates’ meeting a while back that in a marriage, generally, in spite of difficulties you keep going because you want to, because you love each other and in spite of the fact you face terrible problems sometimes you want to stay together and that’s what keeps you going. But there seems to be little love and little desire to remain together and that is the tragic revelation of this situation.
And yet we’re talking about a tug of war over a view of Christianity.
Over two versions, one which is the ancient historic version and one which has grown up more recently but unfortunately you would have thought there would be enough in common to hold it together.
And do you think there is, you think there is a chance of doing that?
We thought that for a long time, we met together as Primates over and over again and every time we said, “Please don’t go on with this, hold back, let’s talk about this, let’s find a way” – but even on one situation when we had a meeting in Brazil, with all the Primates and we put out a letter and said, “Please don’t do this”, within 48 hours a Canadian diocese had gone ahead with moving on same sex blessings which took our breath away, we hadn’t even sent the letter out more than 48 hours I think it was. The other tragedy is, having been in this situation for so long and having taken part in it there’s been very little real dialogue. There’s been long silences but there hasn’t been real dialogue and that is a tragedy. If Christianity is what it should be then we should be able to sit down and work it out in spite of differences and that is part of the sadness too.
Okay, well I understand there is a conference for the end of April in BC by the Anglican Network of Canada that is the group of more traditional or so-called essential Anglicans. You’re going to that conference, what do you hope that will achieve?
I hope to be there. I hope it will give us a chance to clarify even more how this thing is going to work out and to affirm the position that people are taking so that there’s a security within this and simply to be able to pray together and to say okay we’ve taken a step, how can we know be the sort of church that God wants us to be in a world that really needs to find some hope. And if the world is the creation of God what can we do to help the world find its place within that world vision.
The situation seems especially complicated for the Diocese of San Joaquin which already approved the switch at its annual convention last December. Article two of the Southern Cone constitution limits membership in the province to dioceses “that exist or which may be formed in the Republics of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay and which voluntary declare themselves as integral diocesan members of the province.” Article four of the constitution requires that amendments “be submitted to the Anglican Consultative Council for consideration and then to each diocesan synod for approval.”
In a statement given to a reporter from The Living Church, a spokesman for Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables of the Southern Cone said the provincial leadership was aware of the constitutional impediments before voting unanimously to issue its “emergency, temporary and pastoral” invitation to affiliate. “Both the House of Bishops of the Southern Cone and the General Synod decided to go ahead because of the nature of the emergency,” the spokesman said.
Another complication involves a Southern Cone canon on bishops which states they “should definitely retire by 68 years of age.” In a recent interview with TLC, Bishop John-David Schofield, who will turn 70 in October, said he had been previously been informed by the Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone that the primate could waive the mandatory retirement age requirement on a year-to-year basis, but there is nothing in the constitution or canons to suggest the possibility of such an exception.
The Rev. Van McCalister, public relations officer for the Diocese of San Joaquin, said Bishop Schofield and the delegates to the diocesan convention operated in good faith.
“From our perspective we were invited to join unanimously by the House of Bishops of the Southern Cone,” he said. “We proceeded under the assumption that they had the authority to invite us and that they knew what they were doing.”
The 20-page English-language translation of the Southern Cone constitution and canons made public on Feb. 12 has not been certified as true and correct by legal advisors from the Southern Cone. The document was translated from Spanish to English by staff members from the dioceses of San Joaquin and Fort Worth.
Fort Worth has published the translation on its diocesan website. In November, delegates to Fort Worth’s convention approved the first reading of changes to its constitution and canons. A diocesan task force is evaluating the advantages of remaining with The Episcopal Church or affiliating with the Southern Cone.
Steve Waring
Barely 51% of Americans are Protestants, and among 18- to 29-year-olds, just 43% identify with this branch of Christianity, according to the study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Protestants have always held a majority status in the United States.
At the same time, more than four in 10 adults -- 44% -- have switched religious affiliations or abandoned ties to a specific religion, according to the survey, which provides one of the most detailed looks at U.S. religious affiliation. The Census Bureau stopped asking questions about religion in the late 1950s.
Steve Savage, 53, of San Diego said switching religions was common in his family. He grew up in a house with a Lutheran mother and a Roman Catholic father who attended an Episcopal church. His parents later switched to a charismatic congregation.
Although they started out as Presbyterians, Savage said he and his wife eventually joined a nondenominational church. "I fundamentally did not change what I believe, but I changed brands," Savage said.
Leo Poveda, 43, a Los Angeles native who was born into a Catholic family, said he became a nondenominational evangelical in 2004. Catholicism "never took a hold of me," he said. It was too formal and ritualistic with a "maze of people and titles."Since becoming an evangelical, Poveda says said he feels his faith has come alive: "This is God talking to me."
The Pew study also found that immigrants were twice as likely as native-born Americans to identify with the Roman Catholic Church, with one in three adult Catholics being Latino.
Father Guillermo Garcia, pastor at St. Gertrude's Catholic Church in Bell Gardens, said the large numbers of Catholic immigrants were stabilizing the church's membership. But, he said, "even if they come, there is a tendency to lose them in the second and third generation."
The Catholic Church needs to find more creative ways to reach out to the community, said Garcia, a professor of systematic theology at Mount St. Mary's College: "We are very much a liturgical assembly. We have some of the ancient structure. We don't use the resources of television, radio and the Internet as well as others."
The 148-page Pew study is the first report of the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey and is believed to be one of the most comprehensive snapshots of religious affiliation. The study was based on telephone interviews in English and Spanish with a representative sample of more than 35,000 adults in the contiguous United States. The interviews, which included 40 questions, were conducted from May 8 to Aug. 13, 2007. "The presumption of a Protestant framework for understanding the American character is now a thing of the past," said Richard J. Mouw president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. "We are an increasingly pluralistic society, and we Protestants now have to think much about how we can contribute to the common good as simply just one more voice in the American choir," he said in an e-mail.
But Jerry D. Campbell, president of the Claremont School of Theology, a United Methodist seminary, questioned whether the United States ever was a Protestant nation.
"Early on, Europeans came to America at least in part so that they could enjoy religious freedom," he said in an e-mail.
"Thus they adopted the principle of the separation of church and state. So, technically, one would not say that this was ever a Protestant nation, rather it was a nation made up primarily of individuals who professed to be Protestants."
According to the study, 78.4% of Americans are Christians, about 5% belong to other faith traditions and 16.1% are unaffiliated with any religion.
Secular unaffiliated Americans account for 6.3% of the population; religious unaffiliated, 5.8%; atheists, 1.6%; and agnostics, 2.4%.
At 1.7% of the population, Jews make up the next-largest religious group. Buddhists are 0.7% of the population; Muslims 0.6%; and Hindus and New Age followers, both 0.4%.
The study noted that Protestantism is characterized by significant internal diversity and fragmentation, encompassing hundreds of denominations loosely grouped around three "fairly distinct" religious traditions -- evangelical Protestant churches (26.3%), mainline Protestants (18.1%) and historically black Protestant churches (6.9%).
Evangelicals make up the nation's single-largest religious tradition, followed by Catholics, who comprise nearly one-fourth of Americans.
But Catholics also lost more adherents, with one in three adults who were raised as Catholics no longer in the church, the study said. Roughly 10% of Americans are former Catholics. "These losses would have been even more pronounced were it not for the offsetting impact of immigration," the study said.
Most of the decline in Protestantism has been in the mainline churches, such as Episcopal, United Methodist, American Baptist and Presbyterian Church (USA).
John Green, a senior research fellow and a principal author, attributed this to the decline in birthrates, the inability to retain people born into the churches and people raised mainline Protestant moving to the ranks of the unaffiliated. "You might sort of think of this as family problems -- both at the level of having children, and raising children," Green said.
Researchers found the fluidity of religious affiliation especially striking.
"Everybody in this country is losing members; everybody is gaining members," said Luis E. Lugo, director of Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
"It is a very competitive marketplace and if you rest on your laurels, you're going to be history."
Despite the decline of institutional religion, Mouw said, "we should not jump too quickly to the conclusion that secularism has taken over."
"There is much spirituality out there among the unaffiliated. I find this to be an exciting challenge."
For example, many parents may be content with their own "traditional patterns of worship," he said, but also know that their children are turned off by them.
"So they look for something that the whole family can commit to. Is that treating religion as a mere 'commodity'? Hardly. It is struggling to find resources that will help us deal with some of the most profound and intimate issues of our lives."
To view the study, visit www.pewforum.org.
connie.kang@latimes.com
In the six days since the unanimous vote to remove itself from the Anglican Church of Canada, St. Hilda's has been visited by a delegation from the diocese demanding the keys to the building, their senior minister, Paul Charbonneau, has been suspended with pay, and the parish bank account has been frozen. The diocese has already appointed a new minister and he is expected to show up Sunday.
"I'm not supposed to be on the church property, I'm not allowed to minister in Canada, and I am not to speak disparagingly against the bishops, other priests, or the Anglican Church of Canada," Rev. Charbonneau explained.
But on this frigid morning in Oakville, Ont., just one hour west of Toronto, Rev. Charbonneau -- in good spirits but obviously wearing the strain of current circumstances -- is where he has been nearly every day for the past 14 years: behind his desk conducting parish business. But instead of helping with the weekly food drive or writing a sermon, he is in deep discussion on the phone with a lawyer about what the next move will be.
The scene at St. Hilda's will likely be repeated across the country as a handful of orthodox churches vote to leave the Canadian Church and align themselves with more conservative forces. At its most basic level, it is about the issue of same-sex blessings. At its broader theological base, it is about orthodoxy versus liberalism. But now it is also about control, money and property -- the elements that turn a theological debate into a legal one.
And for Rev. Charbonneau, it is also about his career and the home that he shares with his wife and children.
"This has been tough. We're anxious about it, for sure," said Rev. Charbonneau, a soft-spoken and thoughtful man. "It's not nice to feel like you're on the outside of something that you've been on the inside of for 27 years and now looked at as a schismatic, a fundamentalist, a radical -- when simply all I was trying to do was honour my ordination vows.
"We've lived in rectories for all of our ministry. We never built up any equity. And we put all of our eggs in the Anglican Church basket. [My family's view] is we don't own anything anyway -- we are given things in trust by God. We hold on to things very lightly. We don't feel this heavy burden we're losing a lot of things. I believe when you can look yourself in the mirror, when you've done the right thing, nothing compares to that."
Paula Valentine, a parishioner for 28 years, and a life-long Anglican, said last Sunday's vote by the parish's 100 members was deeply emotional. The mood was sombre, but there was also a sense of excitement that after pondering this move for six years they had actually done it.
She said the parish will do whatever it takes to defend the church and support their minister -- even opening their homes to him and his family if they should be kicked out of the rectory and continuing to pay his salary: "We're prepared to put our money where are mouths are at this point," she said.
For now, the lion's share of the legal bills are being paid out of a $1-million fund set up by the Anglican Network in Canada -- the conservative umbrella group whose members are voting to leave the national Church and put themselves under South American Archbishop Gregory Venables, who shares the conservative beliefs of the dissident congregations.
Archbishop Venables said this week from Buenos Aires it is possible that the courts will decide that the Anglican Church of Canada owns the buildings and the worshippers will have to walk away.
"There is an enormous price to be paid, which is an indication about how strong these convictions are," said Archbishop Venables.
On Wednesday, the diocese sent a delegation of four priests to St. Hilda's, asking for the keys. Rev. Charbonneau and Ms. Valentine said they were photographed by the delegation, but they are not sure why. The four were turned away, but this will not be the end of it. Ms. Valentine argues that canon law is on their side, and that the parish owns the church because they paid off the mortgage and have done the maintenance all these years. The diocese also points to canon law as proof it owns the building and property.
"I know for me it is like the end of an era," said Rev. Charbonneau. "I'm 50 years old. And it feels like in some way I'm starting over again. It's sad that it has moved so far away from my ordination day. I never thought it would come to the day that I would have to leave the Anglican Church of Canada, which I love. On the other hand, I feel like I want look at this as another opportunity, another beginning."
Rev. Charbonneau was raised a Roman Catholic but said he had a born-again experience in 1978 through an Anglican church in Montreal. "I thought these people really believe this stuff. I saw a connect between their faith and their everyday life. That really impressed me. I had an experience where I gave my life to the Lord and I haven't looked back since."
He entered the seminary in 1981 and by the time he left school four years later he and his wife had two children and another on the way. He was at a parish near Oka in 1990 when the famous battle between the police and natives broke out over the construction of a golf course on a native burial ground. He said he spent time behind the barricades with the natives. He came to St. Hilda's in 1994 and found a church much to his liking: not your typical Anglican church, but one that resembled the enthusiasm and feel of Pentecostal house of worship.
All this trouble is not a great way for the church to be preparing for next year's 50th anniversary. St. Hilda's sits just off a wide thoroughfare amidst rows of mainly low brick single homes. The interior seems avant-garde, but in a distinctly late 1950s way. "It's retro, man," Rev. Charbonneau said with grin. The building is two storeys and sprawling. The chapel is carpeted in orange and so are the pews. An enormous cross constructed of logs sits to one side of the sanctuary. There are banners around the nave with such sayings as "Jesus Gives Us Peace" and "Jesus Gives Us Love."
Each week volunteers, along with Rev. Charbonneau, deliver food hampers to the area's neediest. They also run a lunch program for students from the local high school and do fund raising for overseas charities.
They have already discussed what they will do if things turn out for the worst. Other churches, though not Anglican churches in Oakville, have offered them room to conduct services. Rev. Charbonneau and Ms. Valentine said that whatever happens the goal is to stick together as a church family. "We will land on our feet," said Rev. Charbonneau.
On Friday, St. Hilda's reached a temporary truce with the diocese. The new priest will conduct a service Sunday and Rev. Charbonneau will be allowed to do a service too. But the diocese was clear: eventually the dissidents will have to go if they do not come back to the fold.
When asked what they will do when the new priest shows up, Ms. Valentine said: "You hate a confrontation. It's not a good witness to the community when you see the church behaving badly. That's not a good witness to Christianity."
"We'll be gracious," added Rev. Charbonneau. "We'll offer him a coffee."
This means that these congregations are requesting spiritual care from and will come under the authority of Bishop Harvey and Archbishop Venables, rather than their former Anglican Church in Canada diocese and bishop who are walking away from established Christian teaching and globally recognized Anglican doctrine.
The three churches which decided today to accept Bishop Harvey’s spiritual care are:
Church of the Good Shepherd, St. Catharine's Ontario, 70 in favor; 4 opposed; 7 abstained
Church of the Good Shepherd, Vancouver, BC 203 in favor; 0 opposed; 0 abstained
St. Matthias and St. Luke, Vancouver, BC 133 in favor; 1 opposed; 7 abstained
The Church of the Good Shepherd in St Catharines, Ontario, has over 200 members. It was established 1913 and the congregation has met at its current location since 1968. Like many Anglican congregations, Church of the Good Shepherd members built and paid for their church facilities and land. (See: http://goodshepherdstcatharines.ca/)
The Church of the Good Shepherd in Vancouver, BC, has over 300 members and is the largest Chinese Anglican congregation in Canada. The congregation is celebrating its 119th anniversary this year. Both English and Cantonese services are held each Sunday. (See: http://goodshepherdchurch.no-ip.org/)
St Matthias and St Luke Anglican Church in Vancouver, BC, has over 200 members and was formed about 10 years ago when the two churches merged. The congregation is multicultural with an English, a Cantonese/Mandarin, and a Japanese service each Sunday. (See: www.stmstl.org)
All of these churches have acted because they are determined to stay biblically faithful and true to historic Christian orthodoxy while the Anglican Church of Canada has departed from mainstream Anglican teaching and doctrine, particularly in relation to the authority of the Bible.
While orthodox Anglicans are in a minority in Canada, they are in the majority worldwide. What is happening in Canada is part of a much bigger controversy in Anglican churches globally.
Since 2003, the leaders of the global Anglican Churches have repeatedly asked the Anglican Church of Canada to return to faithful Anglican practice and teaching. They have also called upon the Anglican Church of Canada to provide appropriate spiritual care and oversight for parishes like these which remain faithful to orthodox Anglican teaching – but to no avail. In fact the actions of the Anglican Church of Canada have helped precipitate the global realignment now taking place in the Anglican Communion.
Archbishop Gregory Venables, Primate of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, has responded to the need of biblically faithful Canadian Anglicans for spiritual protection and care on an emergency and interim basis - pending a resolution to the crises in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Archbishop Venables is well respected as an orthodox leader in the global Anglican Communion. He leads the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone which is one of 38 Provinces that make up the global Anglican Communion. It encompasses much of South America and includes Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay and Argentina.
Contact:
Marilyn Jacobson, communications
Anglican Network in Canada
604 929-0369
604 788-4222 cell
mjacobson@anglicannetwork.ca
“This is a step forward, albeit a small one,” the Bishop of Central Florida, the Rt Rev John W Howe noted, that permits freedom of conscience for traditionalist while preserving good order in conformance to the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.
However, critics charge there is nothing in the plan to compel a liberal bishop to permit alternative oversight, while spokesmen for the dioceses of Pittsburgh and Fort Worth told The Church of England Newspaper they were unable to comment on the merits of the plan as they had not been consulted in its creation and were unaware of the details.
At their February 2007 meeting in Dar es Salaam, the Primates of the Anglican Communion called upon the US Church to adopt a Pastoral Council with members appointed by both the Presiding Bishop and Dr Williams and the Primates that would provide episcopal oversight for traditionalists unable to accept the ministrations of their bishops, and for dioceses at odds with the Presiding Bishop.
The US House of Bishops dismissed the proposal at their March meeting, saying it violated the church’s unique ‘polity’ by giving control of appointments to those outside the Episcopal Church, and was the thin end of the wedge leading to the creation of a parallel traditionalist jurisdiction.
On Sept 20, Bishop Schori revisited the issue on the opening day of the US House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans, ultimately appointing 12 Episcopal Visitors to serve as her surrogates to traditionalists.
The 12: Bishops Frank Brookhart of Montana, Clarence Coleridge of Connecticut (retired), Philip Duncan of the Central Gulf Coast, Duncan Gray of Mississippi, Dorsey Henderson of Upper South Carolina, Rayford High suffragan of Texas, John W Howe of Central Florida, Gary Lillibridge of West Texas, Rodney Michel of Long Island, (retired), Michael Smith of North Dakota, James Stanton of Dallas, and Geralyn Wolf of Rhode Island were delegated the authority to visit dioceses on behalf of the Presiding Bishop.
However, the Presiding Bishop retained the authority to “take order” for ordaining and consecrating bishops and to oversee the discipline of bishops. As of mid-February, no diocese had taken up her offer for an Episcopal Visitor.
However, Bishop Stanton of Dallas, working with leaders of the Anglican Communion Institute and the Primate of the West Indies, Archbishop Drexel Gomez, took the Episcopal Visitor programme forward. Led by Prof Christopher Seitz, the team sought to meld the needs articulated by traditionalists with the structures suggested by the Primates and the Presiding Bishop.
On Jan 31 Dr Williams met with Archbishop Gomez, Bishop Stanton, Prof Seitz and Dr Ephraim Radner and gave his backing to the emerging “Anglican Bishops in Communion” project, agreeing to issue invitations to the primates of the West Indies, Burundi, Tanzania, the Indian Ocean and Jerusalem and the Middle East to offer primatial pastoral oversight to the Episcopal Visitors.
The Presiding Bishop was briefed by Bishops Stanton of Dallas, Smith of North Dakota, Howe of Central Florida, and Bishop Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana on Feb 21, giving her “nihil obstat” to the Communion plan, one participant reported.
While the details of oversight have not been finalized, the plan keeps the authority of naming Episcopal Visitors with the Presiding Bishop. These visitors would be linked pastorally with the five overseas primates. The plan does not envision the Presiding Bishop relinquishing her authority over the disciplinary process, but would permit visitations on her behalf. The authority to consecrate bishops would be held by the Presiding Bishop, but it is understood that this power could be delegated.
The draft plan seen by The Church of England Newspaper states the Communion plan would “provide a visible link” for traditionalists to the wider Church. “Many within our dioceses and in congregations in other dioceses seek to be assured of their connection to the Anglican Communion. Traditionally, this has been understood in terms of bishop-to-bishop relationships. Communion Partners fleshes out this connection in a significant and symbolic way,” it said.
The plan would provide a “forum” for “fellowship, support and a forum for mutual concerns between bishops” and would “provide a partnership to work toward the Anglican Covenant and according to Windsor principles.”
“The Bishops will work together according to the principles outlined in the Windsor Report and seek a comprehensive Anglican Covenant at the Lambeth Conference and beyond,” it said.
There will be no “formal structure” or “charter” for the programme, but each participating bishops and primate would be “committed to non-boundary-crossing: the relationships will be governed mutual respect and proceed by invitation and cooperation.”
The relationships established would be governed by transparency, with activities reported to the Presiding Bishop and Dr Williams, while also respecting the “canonical realities, integrities and structures of the Episcopal Church and other Churches,” the document stated.
Here are his opening remarks:
"The Archbishop of Canterbury is backing secret plans to create a 'parallel' Church for American conservatives to avert fresh splits over homosexuality.... Dr Rowan Williams has held confidential talks with senior American bishops and theologians who oppose the pro-gay policies of their liberal leaders....
"Dr Williams is desperate to minimize further damage in the run up to the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference this summer which could be boycotted by more than a fifth of the world's bishops.... "According to insiders, Dr Williams has given his blessing to the plans to create an enclave for up to 20 conservative American bishops that would insulate them from their liberal colleagues."
No, Dear Friends.
Here is a summary of what we presented to the Presiding Bishop yesterday. We were not quite ready to release it, but in the light of this significant distortion, I am doing so tonight:
Communion Partners
In the context of the Episcopal Visitors concept announced by the Presiding Bishop at the House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans, a number of us have reflected a need for a larger gathering which we are calling Communion Partners. We believe such a gathering will afford us the opportunity for mutual support, accountability and fellowship; and present an important sign of our connectedness in and vision for the Anglican Communion as it moves through this time of stress and renewal.
Purpose:
* To provide a visible link for those concerned to the Anglican Communion
Many within our dioceses and in congregations in other dioceses seek to be assured of their connection to the Anglican Communion. Traditionally, this has been understood in terms of bishop-to-bishop relationships. Communion Partners fleshes out this connection in a significant and symbolic way.
* To provide fellowship, support and a forum for mutual concerns between bishops
The Bishops who have been designated Episcopal Visitors together with others who might well consider being included in this number share many concerns about the Anglican Communion and its future, and look to work together with Primates and Bishops from the Global South. In addition, we believe we all have need of mutual encouragement, prayer, and reassurance. The Communion Partners will be a forum for these kinds of relationships.
* To provide a partnership to work toward the Anglican Covenant and according to Windsor principles..
The Bishops will work together according to the principles outlined in the Windsor Report and seek a comprehensive Anglican Covenant at the Lambeth Conference and beyond.
Scope:
* The Communion Partners will be informally gathered - there will be no "charter" or formal structure
* Are committed to non-boundary-crossing: the relationships will be governed by mutual respect and proceed by invitation and cooperation
* Will work with mutual cooperation within and beyond the partnership
Participants:
* The Episcopal Visitors who desire to participate (EVs named at House of Bishops New Orleans)
* Those Bishops who are willing to serve as EVs
* Initially, five Primates of the Global South: West Indies, Tanzania, Indian Ocean, Burundi, Middle East
Transparency:
* Communication of activities with both the Presiding Bishop and Archbishop of Canterbury
* Respect for the canonical realities, integrities and structures of the Episcopal Church and other Churches
Our purpose in meeting with Bishop Schori yesterday was to apprize her of this plan, seek her counsel, and assure her that we remain committed to working within the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church, and that the Primates involved in this discussion are NOT involved in "border crossing," nor would we be. We will visit no congregation without the Diocesan Bishop's invitation and permission. We do believe this is a step forward, albeit a small one.
I hope this is helpful, and I thank you for your prayers regarding this important meeting.
Warmest regards in our Lord,
The Right Rev. John W. Howe
Episcopal Bishop of Central Florida
1017 East Robinson Street
Orlando, Florida 32801
407-423-3567 BCF3@aol.com
A handful of hardline American dioceses are already defecting from the Episcopal Church, the American branch of Anglicanism, and transferring their loyalties to a conservative archbishop in South America.
Dr Williams is desperate to minimise further damage in the run up to the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference this summer which could be boycotted by more than a fifth of the world's bishops.
His recent comments backing aspects of sharia law have heightened tensions by further alienating Africans who are struggling with militant Islam in their dioceses.
According to insiders, Dr Williams has given his blessing to the plans to create an enclave for up to 20 conservative American bishops that would insulate them from their liberal colleagues.
The scheme would allow them to remain technically within the Episcopal Church but under the care of like-minded archbishops from abroad.
The Primate of the West Indies, Archbishop Drexel Gomez, a moderate conservative, has agreed to participate, and other primates could be recruited.
However, the initiative is likely to infuriate liberal leaders of the Episcopal Church, who will see it as an attempt to undermine their authority and interfere in their affairs.
Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, the head of the Episcopal Church, has been cracking down on any diocese or parish that seeks to leave, and numerous legal actions are under way.
She and her colleagues have already rejected similar proposals suggested at a meeting in Tanzania last year of all the primates, the leaders of the 38 independent Churches that constitute the Anglican Communion.
However, she met a group of conservative bishops and theolog ians in New York last week after hearing that Dr Williams was sympathetic to the new proposals.
Dr Williams, whose leadership has been under growing attack from conservatives, has been privately encouraging such a development for a number of years. So far, however, he has failed to broker a deal with Bishop Jefferts Schori, a feminist who backed the 2003 consecration of Gene Robinson as Anglicanism's first openly gay bishop.
With several hundred of the world's 880 bishops expected to boycott the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, a schism is looking inevitable unless Dr Williams can paper over the cracks.
Lambeth Palace declined to comment.
“We believe that the church does not need Seabury in its present form,” Dean Hall wrote. “There are a number of other schools who do what we have traditionally done as well as we do. But we also believe that the church very much needs a seminary animated by and organized around a new vision of theological education, one that is centered in a vision of baptism and its implications for the whole church, one that is flexible and adaptive and collaborative in nature.”
The decision to suspend recruitment and admissions was made following a meeting earlier this week of the board of trustees. The board approved a resolution calling on Dean Hall to develop “a detailed plan for the future operation of Seabury, including a financial plan that brings expenses in line with revenues” by its next meeting
The seminary has been running deficit budgets for the better part of 20 years, according to Elizabeth Butler, vice president for advancement and administration. Classes during the current term, which ends in May, will not be affected, but no classes have been scheduled for the term to begin in September. Layoffs of faculty and staff have not been ruled out as part of the reorganization, Ms. Butler said.
“The board has made a really courageous decision which recognizes that the church doesn’t need us as Seabury is currently configured,” she told The Living Church. “We are not clear what will be offered in the fall and since we aren’t clear, we have decided not to say anything.”
Seabury is interested in developing a partnership with either another academic institution or a church organization. Ms. Butler said it was unlikely that the trustees would decide to reopen the seminary as an independent, three-year residential educational institution after the reorganization. The trustees are scheduled to meet again in May, but Ms. Butler said a special meeting is likely to be held in April. The school hopes to unveil its reorganization plan after the regularly scheduled board meeting in May.
Seabury employs eight faculty members, although not all are considered full-time employees. There are 50 students currently enrolled in the seminary’s three-year residential program, Ms. Butler said. An additional 25 students are enrolled in the doctor of divinity program. Existing students in the doctoral program will be allowed to continue, but no new students will be accepted for that program.
Steve Waring
"What about the blood, sweat and tears of the congregation -- all of us who have given all these years?" said Jane Constance, a member since 1982 whose four children were baptized and raised in the church. "It's unthinkable to me, to most of us, that it could belong to them because of a clause most of us didn't know about."
Fair Oaks Presbyterian and other churches splitting from their denominational bodies over theological differences are now set to battle in court over a more worldly issue -- real estate.
Presbyterians and Episcopalians, from Virginia to California, are fighting over who gets church property when congregations break away. Millions of dollars are at stake in arguments that have moved from the church sanctuaries to the courts and have pitted pastors against one another.
"It's like a complicated divorce," said the Rev. Henry Wells of Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church. "It's heartbreaking and ugly."
Wells' congregation and First Presbyterian Church of Roseville, the two largest Presbyterian churches in the region, want to defect from the national church.
Wells said they disagree with the denomination on everything from the ordination of gays, to what to call the Holy Trinity and other basic tenets of the Christian faith. Last year, his church voted to join a more conservative group.
They've been told they can go -- but the church property stays with the denomination.
The two churches are suing the Sacramento Presbytery, the local governing body of the national Presbyterian Church (USA).
The lawsuit, the first of its kind in the Sacramento area, is similar to litigation involving breakaway Presbyterian and Episcopalian churches across the country.
In both faiths, churches that want to go their own way say their buildings were bought and paid for by local congregants and belong to church members. Denominational leaders say the churches are held "in trust" for the national group, according to clauses in the churches' constitutions.
Earlier this month, the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California -- based in Sacramento -- filed a lawsuit against the leaders of St. John's Anglican Church in Petaluma, formerly called St. John's Episcopal Church.
Diocesan officials say the group took over church property in 2006. They seek the return of church buildings that have been occupied by congregation leaders who filed change-of-ownership papers with the secretary of state and then aligned with the more conservative Anglican Church.
"This is a last resort," said the Right Rev. Barry Beisner, bishop of the diocese, who added that they have tried to negotiate with the group. "We are simply seeking the return of property which has been held in trust for the mission of the Episcopal Church."
Officials with St. John's Anglican Church responded with a statement. "The issue of real estate ownership is a matter of civil law by those who own, have title to and maintain their property. It is doubtful that California judges would accede to a bishop's ruling on matters involving real estate and corporate law."
About two dozen of 7,700 Episcopal churches are involved in litigation over property, according to church officials.
The Diocese of San Joaquin in Fresno, which became the first diocese in the church's history to break away from the national church, "has not taken legal action regarding church property at this point," said Neva Rae Fox, spokeswoman for the Episcopal Church.
Seceding churches are challenging the validity of the denominational trust clauses.
"My understanding is that the courts have gone both ways," said Raymond Coletta, who teaches property, trust and wills at McGeorge School of Law. "The courts have leaned heavily on the exact agreements between the congregation and overall church."
The California Supreme Court is expected to rule within the year on a case involving Episcopal churches in the Los Angeles area, according to Bob Johnson, attorney for the Sacramento Presbytery.
He said the trust clause was approved by the denomination in 1981 and again in 1983. Both churches had the opportunity to leave the denomination before it was adopted. "It's pretty clear that the properties are held in trust to benefit the entire denomination."
Larry Cheatham said ownership is clear to him. "We've had building campaigns, fundraisers," said Cheatham, a 20-year-member of Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church who has tithed regularly. "It belongs to the people who contributed to the buildings' upkeep over the years."
The church is a longtime member of the Presbyterian Church (USA), but local congregants have complained about what they consider to be the liberal direction of the national denomination, said Wells. Last year, the congregation voted to break with the denomination and align with the conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
The two churches and the Presbytery had negotiated an agreement to leave, with each church agreeing to give a gift to the local Presbytery. Fair Oaks would donate $250,000 and Roseville $160,000.
But that agreement was challenged. "Why should our denomination hand this over to another denomination?" asked the Rev. David Thompson, pastor of Westminster Church in Sacramento.
A Sept. 2 trial date is set in Placer Superior Court.
The controversy in the Episcopal Diocese is also bitter.
At the center of the dispute is what is now called St. John's Anglican Church in Petaluma. Formerly St. John's Episcopal Church, it had been a part of the Episcopal Diocese for more than 150 years.
Leaders of the church had often disagreed with the national denomination over theological issues and opposed the ordination of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop, according to the Rev. James Richardson, media adviser to Bishop Beisner.
Still, diocesan leaders say they were stunned to learn the church leaders had decided to leave the Episcopal church to join the Anglican church and took over the property.
"It's a great tragedy that it has come to this," said Beisner of the legal action against former congregants. "But they took the first steps into bringing this into the legal system by filing for a name change."
The fights over church property have taken a toll on longtime members.
"The whole process has already gone on too long," said Cheatham of Fair Oaks Presbyterian. "I think everybody just wants a resolution."
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The figures are outlined in the 2008 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, which tracks membership and other trends from 224 national church bodies.
The yearbook's editor, the Rev. Eileen W. Lindner, said many churches' said many people in their 20s and 30s attend and support local congregations but resist becoming members.
Of the churches that reported growth, the Jehovah's Witnesses said their group had a 2.25 percent increase to 1 million members, while The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said it grew 1.56 percent to 5.8 million members in the U.S.
The Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention, Assemblies of God and African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church also reported membership gains under 1 percent each.
A dozen churches said membership remained steady, while seven reported declines.
The yearbook also reported a 4 percent increase in per capita giving from the 65 churches that reported contribution trends.
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http://www.ncccusa.org
However, it must be noted that with the experiences in Sudan, and with the experiences in parts of Northern Nigeria where the Islamic penal code has been in existence since 1960, it would seem that slowly but surely there is the infiltration of an Islamic system that seems deliberately to penalise non-Muslims, rather than simply remaining impartial towards them, or even ignoring their existence. In fact this kind of Islamic law runs totally contrary to the legal notion that one is innocent until proven guilty. For example:
On 21 March 2007, the 32 year old mother of two was stoned, stripped, beaten and stabbed to death before her body was burnt beyond recognition by an angry mob after a Muslim student at a Government Secondary School falsely accused her of having desecrated a copy of the Quran while invigilating an exam. A student had been caught cheating and the teacher concerned had merely confiscated a paper with Arabic inscriptions which the student had hidden in a book that was not, in fact, a religious volume. Despite the fact that another (Muslim) teacher illustrated that the book was not the Quran and had not been torn, a vicious attack on the teacher was launched. The verdict was carried out without any explanation, defence or trial being allowed, The innocent was instantly condemned and brutally murdered.
In February 2004, Fulani raiders attacked an area in the south of Plateau State, claiming that they were chasing cattle thieves. At least 14 villages were affected, hundreds of homes destroyed, and according to the Christian Association of Nigeria, 1,500 people lost their lives. During the attack on the main town, Yelwa, 41 people were killed and burnt in a church and 38 murdered outside it. Every church in Yelwa was destroyed save one that was not in use, and the Christian population fled the area as it became clear that the state government was unable to protect them. All this was purportedly a response to an unproven case of cattle stealing, a case which had not even been taken to the police, let alone to a court.
In September 2001, the city of Jos, the State capital, and its environs was subjected to several days of mob violence, riots, burnings, killings and looting. Much property was destroyed and an unknown number of lives lost. The purported reason for this mayhem was that a young lady had trespassed onto a Muslim prayer ground. The girl herself was not apprehended, nor was any official complaint about her made.
Despite assurances that other faith communities would not be affected by the introduction of Shari'a law, there has been a serious deterioration of religious freedom in areas of Northern Nigeria where Shari'a has been introduced. The building of churches is fraught with danger and difficulty, if not totally impossible. Teaching of Christian Religious knowledge in schools is frequently not possible. Women are particularly affected: some areas have introduced sexual segregation in schooling, public transport and health care. Moreover, a woman who is not married, irrespective of her religious background, is seen by the Muslim enforcers of Shari'a as a prostitute, a punishable offence.
The bid to implement Shari'a law has become a movement for subjugating non-Muslims or making their living conditions unbearable until they either convert to Islam or move to another part of the country.
This development has taken some 50 years in Nigeria; had it begun today this time scale would surely have been less because of improved communications and travel. Should England allow the first hint of any acceptance of Shari'a law today, how long will it take before the country slides into a similar situation of persecution, repression and mayhem? Or has this process already begun?
Most Rev Dr Ben Kwashi Archbishop of Jos Northern Nigeria
Following consultations with the Bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt Rev Suheil Dawani, the conference will now be broken into two parts: a consultation for church leaders in Jordan from June 18-22 and a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from June 22-29.
"We are very grateful for the feedback that we have received on the many complex issues that confront us,” the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen (pictured) said on Feb 19.
"The emphasis of our time together will be our future in the Anglican Communion and the reformation and renewal of our common life rooted in the Holy Scriptures and our common faith in Jesus Christ,” he said.
On Saturday, the Bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt Rev Suheil Dawani urged Dr Jensen to reconsider holding Gafcon in Jerusalem. During his tour of Australia, Bishop Dawani told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation holding Gafcon in Jerusalem was politically unwise.
"We are dealing with many different issues and we have other priorities there," he said, on “the communicable level, the inter-faith level, as well as on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
Last month Dr Jensen and the Primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Akinola travelled to Jerusalem to discuss the June meeting, which critics allege will be a rival Lambeth Conference --- a charge vigorously denied by its organizers. Bishop Dawani shared his concerns over the political ramifications of the conference for the small Arab Anglican community within the ongoing Palestinian and Anglican civil wars.
The first week of the meeting will consist of a smaller, invitation only gathering of the conference leadership, its theological resource group, those bishops serving in majority Islamic settings and other key leaders. “The Jerusalem pilgrimage will focus on worship, prayer, discussions and Bible Study, shaped by the context of the Holy Land,” the announcement said.
By separating the conferences political and spiritual components into distinctive components, the Gafcon organizers hope to assuage Bishop Suheil’s fears of dire political consequences for his community, while honouring the Nigerian wish to meet in Jerusalem. Meeting in Israel for a ‘pilgrimage’ and in Jordan for a ‘consultation’ accomplishes this aim, they believe.
The upcoming conference, held once every 10 years, is expected to see the coming together of a number of Anglican Bishops at the University of Kent in Canterbury. But because of the on-going schism within the Communion as a result of the ordination of Robinson almost six years ago, Gomez said some provinces recently indicated they would not attend the upcoming conclave.
"There are at least four provinces in Africa that have either said they will not attend or are still considering if they will attend, but there are three who said they will definitely not be attending," Archbishop Gomez said in a telephone interview yesterday.
The Communion is comprised of 38 independent and autonomous provinces, sharing a common faith, worship, fellowship and witness.
In the meantime, Gomez — who heads the Covenant Design Group, a committee that is presently seeking a compromise on several issues within the Anglican Communion including the appointment of Robinson — said Anglicans in The Bahamas would continue to carry on their work locally despite the differences that exist within the Communion.
"It is too difficult to say if there will be any headway at this upcoming conference but what will happen is it will be the first time that the vast majority of Bishops as leaders of the church will be in one place and be able to talk about these issues. So far we have just had small meetings and regional meetings but this will be the first international meeting at which most of the churches will be represented," Gomez said.
In 2003, the Episcopal Church in the United States made two decisions at its convention, which included the confirmation and election of Canon Robinson, an openly gay person who had divorced his wife and left his two children, to become the next Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. The second Act of the Convention was to pass a Resolution that would recognize same-sex blessings taking place in individual Dioceses and Parishes. The churches of the Southern Diocese, however, of which The Bahamas is a member, objected to both of these actions.
Also in 2003, following Archbishop Gomez's return from the two-day Extraordinary Meeting of Primates in London, he announced that Primates of the Anglican Communion by an overwhelming majority found the appointment of Robinson "unacceptable" and had given notice that should the American church proceed with the ordination of Robinson, it would definitely produce division and a break in the Communion among many of the provinces.
Archbishop Gomez also predicted that the actions of the Episcopal Church would seriously hamper common teachings within the Communion. Coupled with the Bishop's warning, a scathing 121-page 2004 Windsor Report released by the Lambeth Commission had outlined that Americans should either apologize or consider parting company with the leadership of the worldwide Communion. The report, which was released by a 17-member panel including Archbishop Gomez who is a Primate of the West Indies, called for a stop to the further promotion of homosexuals to the office of bishop, pending consensus in the Anglican Communion. It also called for the 38 churches of the Anglican Communion to openly express support for the church's current teachings by signing a covenant.
In 2005, Archbishop Gomez was appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams, to head the Covenant Design Group to examine the schism in the Anglican Communion as a result of events in the United States that came to a head after the appointment of Robinson. The nine-member group is attempting to establish the framework for a covenant that would direct the 38 autonomous provinces that comprise the global Anglican Church.
Gomez told The Guardian yesterday that the Covenant Design Group would be presenting a document at the July Lambeth conference which would put forth a framework for all Anglican provinces to sign and state whether they are prepared to be bound by certain rules and principles.
Gomez said the Anglican Church's stance in The Bahamas following the consecration of the gay Bishop has not changed, and it is still against such practices.
"We do not support that [homosexuality] and we hold that homosexual practices is contrary to the teaching of the Bible and we still maintain that," Gomez said, adding that the decision to ordain Robinson has led to other "controversies" in the Communion regarding sexuality and church authority.
Last year, Anglicans from around the world converged in the capital for formal discussions at a five-day meeting to address, among other issues, the election and consecration of the homosexual Episcopal Bishop. Committee members visited from the United States and as far as Africa, Europe and South-East Asia.
Bishop Kelshaw, who served as the diocesan bishop from 1989 to 2005, is the second bishop in the Rio Grande to leave The Episcopal Church. The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey N. Steenson resigned in September to join the Roman Catholic Church. A native of England, Bishop Kelshaw, 71, transferred to The Episcopal Church in 1980 to become a faculty member of Trinity School for Ministry.
Since then, the archbishop has clarified a few things on Great Britain’s embrace of sharia in a speech to the Anglican General Synod. “We are not talking about parallel jurisdictions; and I tried to make clear that there could be no ‘blank checks’ in this regard, in particular as regards some of the sensitive questions about the status and liberties of women,” he said. Williams explained that he was advocating not “parallel jurisdictions” but “plural jurisdictions.” Ah! Little wonder that the left-wing Guardian was so impressed with the “sheer complexity of his argument” and his use of “all manner of references.” If you need footnotes, it must be true.
The fact remains: Williams has not retracted his contention that the British legal system’s incorporation of elements of sharia is “unavoidable.” Presumably, after the local sharia tribunal condemns a woman to be stoned to death for the crime of being raped, due process will be served on appeal. Such a hypothetical dramatically overstates what the archbishop has suggested. But it gets a point across about the dangers of sharia — and about the encroaching Islamicization of heretofore Christian democracies throughout Europe and around the world — something the archbishop seems at pains to recognize.
This is not the first time the archbishop has pulled the neat trick of putting his foot in his mouth while simultaneously shooting himself in the foot. He had a very cordial public conversation with atheist children’s author Phillip Pullman, almost totally oblivious to the fact that Pullman’s professed desire is to disabuse children of religious belief — Pullman called C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia “one of the most ugly and poisonous things I’ve ever read.”
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has distanced himself from the archbishop’s statements but still praises Williams’ “great integrity.” The queen, who serves as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, is reportedly dismayed by the arc hbishop’s comments. However, the source of her anxiety is not that the archbishop might be using his position to undermine the values of the English people and government.
According to royal sources, “the Queen is worried, coming at such a difficult time in the Church’s history, that the fallout may sap the authority of the Church.” This “difficult time” is the spreading schism in the worldwide Anglican communion. St. John’s Shaughnessy Church, one of the largest Episcopal churches in Canada, recently voted to leave the Anglican Church in Canada and realign with the more orthodox Bishop of the Southern Cone in South America. While the local church had disagreed with the Anglican Communion’s stance on homosexuality, their decision was not driven solely by that.
“From our point of view, [homosexuality] is not what the vote was about,” a church spokesman told the Globe and Mail. “It was about the supremacy of the Bible and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.” As opposed to the supremacy of, say, the Koran. (Or the Hindu Vedas, for that matter: the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno — bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles — recently apologized for attempts to convert Hindus. “There are enough Christians in the world,” said the Rev. Karen MacQueen, following a January interfaith worship service with Hindus there. That sentiment surely provides comfort to Christian s in India who are regularly victimized and martyred by Hindu nationalists.)
In the Anglican schism brewing in the U.S., 61 churches have realigned with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, headed by Peter Akinola, the Anglican primate in Nigeria. Akinola has clung to traditional Anglican orthodoxy in large part because Christians in Nigeria are subject to violent attempts to Islamicize the country.
Following an outbreak of violence against Christians in Nigeria related to the Danish cartoon incident, Akinola was unequivocal about what he saw going on in his own country. Nigerian Christians had nothing to do with secular Danes disrespecting Islam. The cartoons were only a pretext to the real goal: “It is no longer a hidden fact that a long-standing agenda to make this Nigeria an Islamic nation is being surreptitiously pursued,” he said.
Ben Kwashi, the archbishop of Jos in northern Nigeria, expressed “total disbelief” at the archbishop of Canterbury’s comments. “Once you ask for the first step of Sharia law you are going to get to the last of it. By 1960 when Nigeria got Independence, it began as penal code,” Kwashi told the BBC. “Once it came to this generation they upgraded it to full blown Sharia.”
Nigeria’s wary Anglicans provide a welcome contrast to Rowan Williams’s pollyanna attitude. Widespread violence against Christians has yet to break out in the U.K. — but, in the event, would the archbishop of Canterbury defend Christian beliefs and protect Western values? Many fear the answer is “no.” Either way, Anglicans — as well as those merely interested in freedom — should hold Williams’s feet to the fire until the extent of his surrender to sharia is clearly stated.
It appears unlikely that Williams has the stomach or inclination to resist the encroaches of sharia law’s most un-British elements into the U.K.’s legal system and society. But he doesn’t have to help.
— Mark Hemingway is an NRO staff reporter.
— Mark Hemingway is a writer in Washington
It is the first active Canadian Anglican church to vote for separation since the Province of the Southern Cone (which covers the southern part of South America) last November offered to accept Canadian churches at odds with their bishops or national church. In the last four months, several small congregations that had roots in the Anglican church but were not members, joined the Southern Cone, along with two retired bishops and several retired clergy.
The vote at St. John's annual vestry, or general meeting, was 475 in favor of separation, or 96 per cent, 11 against and 9 absentions. The meeting was closed to the public.
"The mood was very serious, very sober. There was no sense of elation. But there was the firm conviction that we had no other alternative if we wanted to maintain our faith," said Lesley Bentley, a lay member of St. John's acting as spokesperson for the church. Over the last 15 years, she said, St. John's has disagreed with diocesan bishop Michael Ingham over a number of faith issues, culminating in the diocese's 2002 decision to allow blessing ceremonies for gay couples.
"He preached against the bodily resurrection of Christ. His book, Mansions of the Spirit, doesn't support the uniqueness of Christ, which is a core element of our faith. He reads Scripture in a way we don't read Scripture. At this point, it's two different religions," said Ms. Bentley. Blessing same-sex unions, she said, is "contrary to Scripture." St. John's, which is one of the largest parishes in the Canadian church, has withheld its annual diocesan assessment since 2002.
Steve Schuh, who identified himself as a gay member of St. John's who voted against the motion, said in a telephone interview that "the church certainly includes gay and lesbian people and there is nothing in the Bible that excludes gay and lesbian people from the love of God. The Bible doesn't talk about loving and committed same-sex unions. It's terribly sad that (conservatives) have elevated this issue to the level of the (Christian) creeds."
What this means is that these congregations are requesting spiritual care from and will come under the authority of Bishop Harvey and Archbishop Venables, rather than their former Anglican Church in Canada diocese and bishop who are walking away from established Christian teaching and globally recognized Anglican doctrine.
Today, six churches voted to accept Bishop Harvey's spiritual care.
St. George's (Lowville), Campbellville, ON
In favour 128
Opposed 3
Abstained 1
St. Hilda's, Oakville. ON
In favour 86
Opposed 0
Abstained 1
St. Chad's, Toronto, ON
In favour 12
Opposed 10
Abstained 2
St. Mary's (Metchosin), Victoria, BC
In favour 105
Opposed 14
Abstained 3
St. Matthew's, Abbotsford, BC
In favour 186
Opposed 4
Abstained 5
*Holy Cross, Abbotsford, BC
In favour 23
Opposed 0
Abstained 0
*Note: Holy Cross was not an Anglican Church of Canada parish at the time of the vote
Voting Saturday, St Alban's, in Ottawa, approved the motion overwhelmingly.
St Alban's, Ottawa, Ontario
In favour 77
Opposed 1
Abstained 1
All of these churches have acted because they are concerned about what is happening in the Anglican Church of Canada. They are determined to stay true to historic Christian teaching but see the ACoC changing its teaching on fundamental, historic Christian teaching, such as the authority of the Bible and salvation through Jesus Christ alone.
While orthodox Anglicans are in a minority in Canada, they are in the majority worldwide. What is happening in Canada is part of a much bigger controversy in Anglican churches worldwide.
Since 2003, the leaders of the global Anglican Churches have repeatedly asked the Anglican Church of Canada to return to faithful Anglican practice and teaching. They have also called upon the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) to provide appropriate spiritual care and oversight for parishes like these which remain faithful to orthodox Anglican teaching – but to no avail. In fact the actions of the ACoC have helped precipitate the global realignment which is now taking place in the Anglican Communion.
Archbishop Gregory Venables, Primate of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, has responded to the need of biblically faithful Canadian Anglicans for spiritual protection and care on an emergency and interim basis - pending a resolution to the crises in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Archbishop Venables is well respected as an orthodox leader in the global Anglican Communion. He leads the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone which is one of 38 Provinces that make up the global Anglican Communion. It encompasses much of South America and includes Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay and Argentina.
Contact:
Marilyn Jacobson, communications Anglican Network in Canada 604 929-0369 604 788-4222 cell
mjacobson@anglicannetwork.ca
This group meets more in a calendar year that the bishops, and develops lasting relationships. I have been struck again by the similarity in mindset of this group. There is little or no diversity of opinion here, either about the current issues in the church or its political inclinations.
The Presiding Bishop’s remarks were the only indicators I heard that the ”hot button” issues such as San Joaquin and potentially, Pittsburgh and Fort Worth, were significant in the eyes of the hierarchy of this church.
The Presiding Bishop spoke of getting out of, “the grass fires that engulf us; and climbing up the mountain to see the longer perspective,” during Sunday’s Scenario planning. She referred to Ecuador’s Diocese Central as, “helpful perspectives of a diocese healing from a major disruption,“ especially since the rebuilding of San Joaquin was so close to the surface of almost every discussion. She spoke of, “the many challenging subjects that the group dealt with in flexible ways,” especially in the priorities in the budget for reorganizing the staff in New York and reorganizing possibly three dioceses this calendar year.
Reorganizing the staff in New York is essential, because of two reasons. First, real estate in New York City is scarce. The greater percentage of the national headquarters available for rent equals enormous potential income. Secondly, the new regional offices put the staff where the church is: across the country and across the time zones. A prudent move.
The anger and sense of betrayal by San Joaquin for the rest of the Church was evidenced by many of the members of this council. The strongly negative words and facial expressions when the topic was mentioned belayed the calm, controlled exterior “face” the subject was given. But, absence of discussion does not equal lack of concern. Discussion takes place behind closed doors and the resultant anger and/or anguish is not revealed.
“All is well; all is well; all manner of things will be well.” (Attributed to Julian of Norwich) That is the public face of The Episcopal Church today.
Cheryl M. Wetzel
It didn’t matter that we slaughtered their language and couldn’t begin to pray in Spanish, or comprehend the Gospel. We came, worshipped in their language and became a living body of Christ that night. That is what mattered.
The cathedral had been scrubbed from top to bottom. The simple wooden pews and kneelers boasted no padding, just marks where many knees have prayed through the years. The flowers were extravagant and beautiful – and given to the visitors at th