Overview and Commentary on the ongoing crisis

Virtuosity ^ | 5 November 2003 | David Virtue

[ahadams2]

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." --Galileo Galilei

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Someone should remind the Anglican Communion of Galileo's sage advice.

In the wake of the most serious crisis in its history, the leadership of the Anglican Communion seems to have lost all sense, reason and intellectual comprehension at what has taken place, and will now take place, as a result of the New Hampshire consecration.

The Episcopal Church will not be saved by Frank Griswold's plea for "charity" in what he calls a "season of polarization", nor will it be saved by pleas for unity and collegiality by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

And it won't be saved by Irish Archbishop Robin Eames', pleading for time either. "We are moving into unknown territory," he said. The archbishop, a skilful Canon lawyer, said Anglicans had overcome their divisions over women priests and could do so over homosexuality. He is wrong.

But echoing his sentiments, a spokesman for Lambeth Palace said: "It was always to be expected that the consecration would provoke strong reactions. The Archbishop hopes that the commission will be given the necessary time and opportunity to tackle these challenges."

The Archbishop is hoping that a commission on homosexuality, Eames II, will resolve the problem. It won't. Eames II like Eames I on Women's Ordination proved singularly elusive. It is loaded with liberals and will satisfy no one except Western Liberal bishops and their acolytes. Those of us who know Archbishop Eames, know only too well the outcome of these commissions before they even meet. It will be Anglican fudge from first to last.

The Evangelical Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen says time has run out. As Australia's most prominent Anglican leader he predicts that the fracture in the worldwide Anglican Communion over the first consecration of an openly homosexual bishop will grow, and he dismissed the notion that time would heal the wounds.

The Archbishop said the worldwide denomination was "no longer the same" following Sunday's consecration of Canon Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire.

"One thing and only one thing will save the Anglican Communion but the Americans and liberal Canadians are too arrogant to realize it."

And he doesn't think the Archbishop of Canterbury can heal the rift in the absence of repentance.

"No, he's wrong," Jensen said of Williams. "It can't pass or heal."

"No, let me say that differently," he continued. "In the Christian faith we believe in repentance and change. Every day I have to repent. There are things I do wrong which need to be amended for and it may be by the powerful work of God's spirit we may see renewal and change.

"But it would require that before the wounds heal."

And if the Archbishop of Canterbury doesn't understand any of this, Anglicans around the world can and probably will put away this childish thing.

Jensen has warned in the recent past about a future in which parts of the Anglican Communion do not recognize other parts, and with "effective leadership for large parts of the Communion passing to hands other than those of Canterbury."

Jensen's realism is refreshing. Repentance by the arrogant West is all that can save an Anglicanism that is strong and effective for the Lord. And Jensen is absolutely right about conservative Anglicans dispensing with the services of my gracious lord of Canterbury.

Janet Daley of the Telegraph newspaper makes the case well when she writes that homosexual bishops threaten our very foundations. "The heart of it is central to the great ethical dilemma of our age. When North America and the Antipodes confront Africa and the West Indies over their interpretation of religious doctrine and moral law, they are setting the ultimate test for modern democratic orthodoxy."

Unity around Holy Scripture has been superceded by individual desires and personal freedoms, but as Janis Joplin the late rock star would have reminded the American and Canadian bishops, "freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." My rights to have sex with whomever is none of anyone's business, not even God's apparently, and the orthodox Global South will not tolerate that kind of thinking. Not now. Not ever.

AND AS IF TO MAKE THE POINT, THE DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH could begin the official splintering of the Episcopal Church by taking its first formal step on Saturday, at its convention, toward isolating itself from the Episcopal Church USA.

The Pittsburgh diocese is among the nation's most conservative and, under Bishop Robert Duncan's guidance, may become among the first in the country to create a formal division between itself and the national church. "We are not going to be dictated to by the national church," said Assistant Bishop Henry Scriven.

But you ain't seen nothin' yet.

In Concord, NH, members of at least two Episcopal churches in the state say they've asked leaders from the Diocese of Albany to provide oversight for their congregations following Robinson's consecration.

"There definitely looks like there's going to be some realignment," said Robert Newton, a lay leader at St. Mark's Church in Ashland. Newton said he has already spoken to the conservative bishops at the diocese of Albany, N.Y. "They've already agreed to give us that oversight," he said.

And this is just the beginning.

FORWARD IN FAITH, NORTH AMERICA the tenacious Anglo-Catholic wing of ECUSA came out swinging saying the Robinson consecration had "fractured the unity of The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, and betrayed the Christian Faith."

Tough words. And they didn't stop there. They went on to say that, "those bishops who voted their consent to the consecration...have removed themselves from the fellowship and faith of the Anglican Communion."

"The Council will collaborate and cooperate with the American Anglican Council and other classical Anglican organizations to secure the immediate needs of those who are committed to maintaining the historic discipline concerning ordination. The Council is pressing with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates as a matter of urgency the implementation of its previous plan for the consecration of bishops to minister to our constituency," say its leaders.

One of the things they call for is the creation of new, orthodox congregations in dioceses whose bishops supported the consecration.

The slow, but certain break up of ECUSA has begun.

Now what will further stick in Griswold's craw is word that the ANGLICAN MISSION IN AMERICA has come out with a statement this week on women's ordination, that says women may be ordained to the diaconate, but not as priests or bishops.

Their timing couldn't be better. The Continuers, (those who broke from ECUSA in '79) Forward in Faith NA, the Reformed Episcopal Church and many other groups can now rally around the AMIA who are growing at a rapid clip, and together form a solid phalanx against the revisionist ECUSA.

One should not underestimate the evangelical zeal of the AMIA; they are very determined people. They worked hard at the Women's Ordination document, they are solidly Anglican and have the respect of a growing number of Primates. And they are planting churches everywhere.

The question now will be, what will orthodox bishops in ECUSA do? Many have said they will stay and fight. That is one response. Most will now withhold monies from the National Church, that is a given, but we have yet to see or hear from biblically-orthodox parishes inside orthodox dioceses. They too are a force. There is singular unrest in this area.

Furthermore there is unrest for liberal and revisionist bishops who have large orthodox constituencies in their dioceses, like Colorado. What is Bishop O'Neill going to do with 30 plus parishes that are ready to act against him?

According to Canon David Anderson, president of the AMERICAN ANGLICAN COUNCIL, some 300 congregations are expected to apply for alternative episcopal oversight, helping to form a network of at least five dioceses. And those are not small congregations.

There is no way Griswold can stop the break up with talk of Sufi Rumi and fields beyond good and evil, or holding differing opinions in tension, or conducting endless "conversations", a buzzword for homosexual acceptance if you can sit in the lotus position long enough, conversing with your inner self or maybe someone else's.

TO HEIGHTEN THE TENSION, David Booth Beers, Frank Griswold's chancellor and attorney is running around the ECUSA holding "conversations" of his own with bishops and individuals who may want to leave the Episcopal Church. His argument is that if there is a remnant within a diocese that wish to remain, they will retain title to church property for the diocese. He has been summarizing recent case law for selected audiences this fall, including the Oct. 24-27 Executive Council meeting in Lake Geneva, Wis. He added that the Episcopal Church Center has already been contacted by remnants from the dioceses of Pittsburgh and South Carolina. All this will now play out in court where the Dennis Canon will be tested. And it is in the secular courts where the real nastiness will erupt and all talk of niceness and inclusivity will vanish forever.

IN MY LAST DIGEST ON WHO ATTENDED WHERE AND WHAT , some serious errors were made that need to be corrected. First of all Clarence Pope, the former Bishop of Ft. Worth was NOT present at the consecration and his name should have appeared on Bishop David Bena's list opposing the consecration. Keith Whitmore of Eau Claire was also listed as present. He was not.

Of the 42 who laid hands on Robinson, only 10 were current diocesan bishops (there were three other diocesan bishops listed who were also not present - Clark Grew of Ohio, Burnett of Nebraska and Counsell of NJ. Also Bishop Said was not there. It was reported inaccurately that one of the attending bishops, Craig Anderson, is rector of St. Paul's School, Concord, in Mass. It is in Concord, New Hampshire. Also Vincent Pettit is the former Bishop of New Jersey.

While the list contained 53 bishops as participating, only 34 bishops were seated and vested before the altar and 8 in the consecrating party. Only 42 bishops laid hands on Robinson.

It is interesting to note that there were 16 bishops with jurisdiction who objected to the consecration and a maximum of 10 bishops with jurisdiction who participated in the service. Bishop Wolf of Rhode Island was not there because she was attending her father's 81st birthday celebration with her family.

I AM POSTING A NUMBER OF STORIES REFLECTING THE ONGOING struggle in the Anglican Communion including news from Sweden about the appearance of Lutheran Bishop Krister Stendahl and an analysis of the Archbishop of Canterbury's statement. There are a goodly number of stories in today's digest for your education and enlightenment.

All blessings,

David W. Virtue

www.virtuosityonline.org

[ahadams2]

Ping.

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP - ECUSA