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It is now obvious to even the most simple-minded that orthodox priests caught in revisionist dioceses have no future. Their day is done. Sooner or later, like Jews in death camps, their number will be called and they will be marched into oblivion. Six priests in the Diocese of Connecticut learned that bitter lesson this week despite some 23 bishops active and retired who appealed to Bishop Andrew Smith not to inhibit and depose them. At the end their appeals fell on deaf ears. The six will go. How they will go has now been determined - inhibition and deposition...

Invitation from Bishop Andrew Smith to a special clergy meeting April 21, 2005. Dear Friends in Christ, I write to invite you to meet together as fellow clergy with me this Thursday, April 21, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford. We are at an impasse over implementing Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight for six of our congregations. I wrote about it in the last issue of the diocesan newspaper, and the media has given it much attention over this past week. My hope has always been that we will be able to find a way forward....

As reported and commented upon at titusonenine, the Bishop of North Dakota is giving his diocese a timely reality check in asking his diocese the following: The next General Convention is only 15 months away. Therefore, I call upon members of the Diocese of North Dakota, and especially vestries, the Standing Committee, Diocesan Convention delegates and General Convention deputies to engage in prayerful discussions about whether God is calling us to remain in the Anglican Communion or not. Kudos to him. His call is straightforward without any convoluted happy talk. And people at every level of the Episcopal Church need...

After I posted the link to the commentary on the 1928 BCP in our last post, I came across A Rationale Upon the Book of Common Prayer, by Bishop Sparrow, written in 1672. This is another fine effort by Project Canterbury, that valuable resource for all of Anglicanism. Like the commentary mentioned previously, much, if not all, of what it says about the referenced BCP can be applied to other BCP editions--so you may find this one interesting as well. Although the language is a little archaic, it is easily comprehended, as this excerpt from the Preface shows:This Book endeavours...

Andrew Smith blinks:A duly authorized elected body of the diocese has determined and signified to me that six priests of this Diocese have abandoned the communion of this church. My responsibility as bishop is to review that determination and act accordingly. I have offered an opportunity for all the priests to meet with me, next Monday, in the company of Bishop Scruton of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts, whom I have asked to help us in our conversation. In light of this meeting, I will not take action today concerning the inhibition of these priests. I look forward to this...

A Statement from the American Anglican Council on the Executive Council Letter to the Anglican Consultative Council The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) met yesterday and has announced they will refrain from "official participation" in the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) meeting scheduled for June 2005 in Nottingham, England. In their letter to the ACC Chair, however, the Executive Council writes they will still send their delegation. We find it very disturbing that the Episcopal Church leadership met in seclusion, continuing a pattern of secrecy. In addition, we note that they seem incapable of acquiescing fully to the...

A Statement from Six Episcopal Clergy in ConnecticutApril 15, 2005For Immediate ReleaseContact: Cynthia P. Brust 202-412-8721A Statement from Six Episcopal Clergy in ConnecticutWe have read a statement issued by Bishop Andrew Smith on April 15, 2005 in which he announces he will not take action of inhibition today. We reiterate that we do not understand how we have in any way “abandoned the communion of this church” nor have we been privy to the process and evidence by which the Standing Committee has determined such a charge.We have previously attempted to meet with Bishop Smith on several occasions to discuss...

Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut April 15, 2005 A duly authorized elected body of the diocese has determined and signified to me that six priests of this Diocese have abandoned the communion of this church. My responsibility as bishop is to review that determination and act accordingly. I have offered an opportunity for all the priests to meet with me, next Monday, in the company of Bishop Scruton of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts, whom I have asked to help us in our conversation. In light of this meeting, I will not take action today concerning the inhibition...

Dear fellow Clerics, 14 April 2005 Awakened at 4:45 this morning reflecting on the major injustice to be perpetrated tomorrow in Connecticut. Six priests, all permanent rectors, are scheduled to get the axe. This should appall every true liberal, every libertarian, every American who believes in justice and due process. If allowed to stand, it will acquire a kind of normality and thus places every ECUSA priest in direct danger. There is no trial; there is no hearing; there is no defense offered. There is only deposition at the end of 6 months. In the world of occupations, this is...

Stand Firm members in the Diocese of Louisiana send along these proposed changes to the canons introduced at the diocese's annual convention, which is underway now. They also report their amazement that the changes were openly referred to as a way to deal with "dissenting parishes," and that it was crucial these changes be adopted before General Convention 2006.Read it carefully.Changes to Canon 21 proposed: UNION WITH THE CONVENTIONSection 1. Every Ecclesiastical Unit, in order to be entitled to representation in The Convention, must be in union therewith, by which is meant that The Convention recognizes such unit as a...

I know most of us are familiar with commentaries on Scripture, which can be a most valuable help to us in our use of Scripture. Not nearly so common are commentaries or handbooks to our use of the Book of Common Prayer--but these can indeed be helpful and can enrich our understanding of the Prayer Book. One that is available online is The Heart of the Prayer Book, by the Rev. William E. Cox, D.D. This was published in 1944 and the author did not place a copyright on it; Irene C. Teas has made it available to us on...

The Episcopal civil war heats up as the Diocese of Connecticut receives an open letter:Dear Bishop Andrew and Brothers and Sisters of the Standing Committee, We, the undersigned, write to you out of the deepest grief and concern for our beloved Episcopal Church, and specifically for those within the Diocese of Connecticut who are now under threat of deposition as clergy, removal as lay leaders, or reduction to mission status as congregations. We ask in all sincerity how you can suggest they have abandoned the Communion? Neither these clergy nor their laity have ordained contrary to the received teaching (not only of Lambeth but...

Christ Episcopal Church of Overland Park members will learn Sunday whether they will separate from the diocese and the national Episcopal Church. Christ Episcopal Church Parishioners for Unity wrote a letter to the congregation to urge rejecting the separation. The status of the vote, which began April 3, is not known. After voting ends Sunday, representatives of Hillcrest Covenant Church will tally ballots to reveal the fate of Christ Episcopal Church. "There is talk of people leaving the church one way or another," separation opponent Terry Hoyland said. Hoyland among others signed the letter to parishioners opposing the proposed separation....

What the response of the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council to the 2005 Primates’ Communique gives with one hand, it takes away with the other. While it gives an appearance of complying with the Primates’ request, in actuality it does not. The Primates asked the ECUSA delegation to withdraw from the Anglican Consultative Council (AAC) – the only appropriate response is therefore to stay at home. The Executive Council’s request for the ECUSA delegation to appear unofficially is reminiscent of many of the Episcopal Church’s recent actions: Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO) Plan sounds like Alternative Episcopal Oversight but it is...

Scott is an friend in Chicago, and a kibitzer on the HOBD listserv. He attended yesterday’s meeting and made notes - very interesting. What follows is a merger of two emails from his handheld (how he typed so much on such small buttons is amazing in and of itself. But a view into what happened at the meeting, spin free so to speak, is very valuable to those of us working to keep ECUSA in the Anglican Communion and the Christian faith.Here is what he wrote:I attended yesterday’s meeting of the Executive Council of ECUSA (aka “TEC") in Mundeline, IL...

I have a slew of emails asking what I think about the Executive Council statement today. I begin by noting that what is important is what the International Anglican leadership thinks.Let us recall what the Primates actually said in Newry in February:“14. Within the ambit of the issues discussed in the Windsor Report and in order to recognise the integrity of all parties, we request that the Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canada voluntarily withdraw their members from the Anglican Consultative Council for the period leading up to the next Lambeth Conference. During that same period we...

Main Entry: pri'mate Etymology: Middle English primat, from Old French, from Medieval Latin primat-, primas archbishop, from Latin, leader, from primus Date: 13th century 1 often capitalized : a bishop who has precedence in a province, group of provinces, or a nation2 archaic : one first in authority or rank : LEADER 3 [New Latin Primates, from Latin, plural of primat-, primas] : any of an order (Primates) of mammals comprising humans, apes, monkeys, and related forms (as lemurs and tarsiers) -pri'mate-ship \-*ship\ noun --pri-ma'tial \pr*-*m*-sh*l\ adjective Part One: Appreciations There is much in the Primates Communiqué for which...

BRISTOL, CT (4/13/2005)--Acceptance of a gay bishop by Connecticut Episcopal Bishop Andrew D. Smith is threatening to rive a Bristol congregation from the church. Its priest, threatened with removal, contemplates leaving. Six retired Episcopal bishops issued a scathing rebuke to Smith Tuesday, accusing him of "brutal and unconscionable ecclesiastical tyranny" for threatening to remove six priests who disagree with his support for the church's first openly gay bishop. Among the six priests who could be removed as soon as Friday are two from city parishes -- the Rev. Mark Hansen of St. John's Church and the Rev. Donald Helmandollar of...

United in spiritual solidarity, leading Episcopal priests across America will travel to Connecticut to preach Sunday, April 17, 2005 at services of six congregations whose rectors are threatened with imminent inhibition (forbidding them to exercise their pastoral ministries) and ultimate defrocking by Bishop Andrew Smith. The Rev. Allyn Benedict, Christ Church, Watertown; the Rev. Ronald S. Gauss, Bishop Seabury, Groton; the Rev. Mark Hansen, St. John's, Bristol; the Rev. Donald Helmandollar, Trinity, Bristol; the Rev. Christopher Leighton, St. Paul's, Darien; and the Rev. Gil Wilkes, Christ and the Epiphany, East Haven were notified of the bishop's intentions by letters dated...

[In case you have read the initial letter already, I have highlighted the beginning of ++Akinola's note in red so you can jump down to it. --sionnsar] Well, ECUSA has withdrawn our representatives from the ACC. I can’t wait until that meeting. Archbishop Akinola has also chimed in on the June meeting.ENS release:Wednesday, April 13, 2005From Executive Council: A letter to Bishop John PatersonENS 041305-1[ENS] – A letter to the Rt. Rev. John C. Paterson, Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, from the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold and the Very Rev. George L. W. Werner on behalf of the...