Bishop Howe leaves Anglican Communion Network

From Dean Rick Lobs, Interim Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Vero Beach, Florida:

Saying that he wants to stay in The Episcopal Church and in full communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Bishop of Central Florida, the Rt. Rev. John W. Howe has dropped his support of the Anglican Communion Network led by Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan and thrown in his lot with the Anglican Communion Institute, (ACI) a group that wants to stay and fight for change in The Episcopal Church.

The bishop announced this change in the July 2008 "Central Florida Episcopalian", which caught a number of conservatives in the diocese by surprise. "We didn't see it coming," said one evangelical priest who asked not to be named.

In his letter to the diocesan family, Howe said, "In my opinion, the Anglican Communion Institute has inherited the original vision of the Network: to work to promote orthodoxy within The Episcopal Church, and to maintain our relationships with the broader Anglican Communion."

Howe has grown increasingly disenchanted with the direction of the Network over the years and said, "The Network is now made up of far more people who have left The Episcopal Church than those who remain inside it. Scores of parishes have experienced the same kinds of splits and 'disaffiliation' of some of their clergy and parishioners that we have experienced here.". . .

Read it all.

H/t to The Lead at the Episcopal Cafe.

Conservative Anglicans in southern Ohio. . . almost 5 years later

From Per Christum, a blog started in 2006 by a group of Catholic converts. This post is by David Bennett, who in July of 2003 was preparing to enter Episcopal seminary and by August of 2004 had become a Roman Catholic:

. . . Why did I write this post? The other day I was thinking back to those times, and how much I was struggling with my place in the Episcopal church, and within the Church in general. I didn't struggle alone, but with friends and companions in the fight for orthodoxy. Nonetheless, I realized that over the last (soon-to-be) 5 years, most of us have left the Episcopal church, and many of us have left Anglicanism. It is kind of depressing in a way, but I know for a fact that many of our little group that have left are happy with the decision, and those who have stayed are joyful in their calling as well. It also shows just how many self-described orthodox in Southern Ohio have left the Episcopal church; If this is happening all over the country, TEC is most certainly moving even more leftward by default. . .

Read it all.
H/t to TitusOneNine.

Why I left ECUSA, Part 5: A new beginning . . .

The fifth (and final) in a series outlining why my family and I believe it is time for us to leave the Episcopal Church (read Part 1: A brief history, Part 2: A crack appears, Part 3: The deluge, and Part 4: The end). UPDATE: And don't forget the Addendum: Roma è chiamata.

So, we decided we needed to leave the Episcopal Church sooner than I had thought we might. The problem with leaving a church is that you are not just leaving a building and a service style, you are leaving people and a culture, an ethos if you will, that, if you have been brought up in ECUSA like I have, is very grounded in your soul—a certain way of doing “church.”

And now it is gone.

There are a few things I do know, however, that have become the parameters and priorities for my family (every person and family making this move or deciding to stay in ECUSA will have their own priorities, so please don’t think I’m criticizing anyone’s decision—I know how difficult this can be):

• To be biblically sound


• To have a discipline structure in place


• To offer youth programs that emphasize Christ


• To be part of a greater Christian community


• To be fairly close by

I am not interested in joining another mainline Protestant denomination. If the idea of an Anglican Communion (which has had some groups leave, but no official splitting) is important to me—to feel part of a larger global Christian presence—then joining the Presbyterians, the Lutherans, the Baptists, the Methodists, etc. would be a step backwards. Fragmentation is not a gift of the Holy Spirit, and the breaking apart of these denominations over various reasons seems to me to show that they are not a full expression of God’s Spirit in this world. I'm beginning to have serious doubts about the long-term efficiacy of the Protestant Reformation.

Also, all of these denominations seem to be just a few years short of finding themselves where ECUSA is now on the issues of biblical authority and church discipline.

I also, for better or for worse, am not interested in joining one of the continuing Episcopal churches (APA, REC, etc.), even though it seems as though there has been great movement to start bringing those together with Common Cause and the Anglican Communion Network. For a family with children, these churches seem awfully isolated and small, and they are not technically part of a greater global Christian family.

So, with those parameters, that leaves us with several options:

• Try a community church


• Find an Anglican church under a Primate in communion with Canterbury


• Swim the Bosphorus


• Swim the Tiber

We started our exploration at our local community church, which has great youth programs and a lot of outreach (and is very close by). We knew there might be a problem when we walked into the “church” (really an auditorium) and our son said, “Where’s the altar?” I will say, it was a great Bible study, but not a church service as we recognized it. The service consisted of about 30 minutes of praise music from the band on stage, a few prayers, a great “sermon” (talk) from the pastor (very committed and Bible focused), then another song, another prayer, and we were done.

We decided it would make a great Wednesday night Bible study, but left something lacking for a church service. I also feel community Christian churches are sometimes too personality driven. A particular pastor develops a following that starts a church. What happens when he retires? Or deviates from the Christian path? There is nothing behind a community church to keep it focused on anything other than what the pastor wants.

In San Diego, we have quite a few Anglican churches up and running, under the Southern Cone and Uganda, thanks to Bishop Mathes’s pastoral skills. The churches have worked hard together to create an Anglican presence here. One of the churches, St. Timothy & St. Titus, has taken the lead in organizing the youth and has done a great job in putting together retreats and programs that draw all of the Anglican kids in the area, including from Orange County. Unfortunately, St. TnT is quite a ways away and one of our priorities is proximity. My husband commutes every weekday down to San Diego and the last thing he wants to do on a Sunday is have another commute. It also makes it difficult for us to get involved in weekday activities if the drive is too far. There are two Anglican churches somewhat closer to us and we are looking at both.

But my concern with the Anglican churches, which I am still working through, is two-fold.

First, even though these churches have left ECUSA, there is still a lingering miasma of hurt and contention, within the churches and sometimes the clergy. These churches were part of the failed institutional structure of the Episcopal Church. That is not so easy to discard even though they have moved under another Anglican entity. I will say that the service with ++Gregory Venables at St. Anne’s Anglican in Oceanside was a joyous, forward-looking event that all of the local Anglican church participated in. If that feeling of moving on and focusing on God can eventually become the dominant thrust in these churches, that would be wonderful indeed.

My other concern is the overriding one of discipline in the Anglican Communion. Right now, there is none. Will that change? What is to keep what happened with ECUSA from happening again with another group? There is no there there to look to. The Instruments of Communion are broken and ignored. How will that change?

Lambeth seems geared towards keeping anything from happening or any decision from being made definitively. And I don’t believe an Anglican Covenant will fundamentally change anything. We have our Covenant Agreement, it’s called the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. If a covenant does end up being adopted at some point, I think one of two things will happen. Either the covenant will be so anemic as to be pointless or the covenant will be ignored. Neither of these outcomes will bode well for the Anglican Communion.

So that moves us down to the Orthodox Church. I’m the first to admit I don’t know that much about it except that it strives to remain as the closest idea of the early church. Other than that, it seems to be present in this country divided into ethnic groups. We have the Greek Orthodox, the Russian Orthodox, the Armenian Orthodox, etc. With the last name of Coletta, I’m looking for the Italian Orthodox and I don’t see it (well, actually I guess that’s the Roman Catholic Church). There are Antiochian Orthodox churches in the area but they are way down in San Diego and too far away. We do have friends who left ECUSA and now go to the Greek Orthodox Church nearby who have invited us to visit with them (thanks, Jeff and Claudia!) which we will have to do before we make any final decisions.

And now we’re at our last possibility—the Roman Catholic Church. First off, there is one right up the street—less than five minutes by car (so how shallow can I be? Hey, try me!). We have been a few times, and to see the number of children there makes you realize right away that you’re not at an Episcopal Church! My main concern here is that there are areas of doctrine I’m not sure about (although I’m willing to give the church the benefit of the doubt—after years of ECUSA doing its own thing, there is something nice about admitting that I personally don’t have all the answers and that maybe, just maybe, the greater Church does know a thing or two that I don’t, since she has been thinking about them for 2,000 years).

But going to the Roman Catholic Church in a sense closes the door on being Anglican. You don’t just start going to a Catholic church—you join a Catholic church. You become Catholic. You can’t get away with saying, well, we’re just going here for a while. No, you have to commit to becoming a Roman Catholic. That’s a big step and not to be taken lightly.

So here’s my chart:

Priorities	Churches
	Community	Local Anglican	Orthodox	Roman Catholic
To be biblically sound	Y	Y	Y	Y
To have a discipline structure in place	?	?	Y	Y
To offer youth programs that emphasize Christ	Y	Y	?	Y
To be part of a greater Christian community	N	Y	?	Y
To be fairly close by	Y	?	N	Y

(I have no idea why there is such a big gap here-sorry!)

So, we are still in discernment and will be visiting churches over the summer and I will be doing more reading on various doctrinal and theological differences . . .

and we will see where God directs.

Anglican Relief and Development Fund accepting Myanmar cyclone donations

From the Anglican Communion Network [boldface mine]:

Update: The Province of Southeast Asia reports successfully making contact with Archbishop Stephen on May 7.

The Anglican Relief and Development Fund is accepting donations to pay for relief efforts after the cyclone that caused devastation in Myanmar May 3–4. Reports suggest more than 20,000 people were killed by the storm with thousands more still missing.

Yangon (Rangoon) was among the areas hard hit by the storm. “Since the cyclone came ashore, we have been unable to contact Archbishop Stephen Than Myint Oo or any other church leader in Yangon or elsewhere,” said Bishop Henry Scriven, who recently attended Archbishop Stephen’s consecration on behalf of the Network and the Common Cause Partnership.

“In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Anglican Relief and Development Fund received a donation from Anglicans living on the border of Thailand and Myanmar to help the people of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. They gave out of what little they had when we were in need. I pray we show the same generosity to our brothers and sisters,” said Bishop Robert Duncan, moderator of the Anglican Communion Network.

Donations to the Anglican Relief and Development Fund will be collected and then passed on to the Anglican Province of Southeast Asia for distribution and oversight, said Canon Nancy Norton, executive director. Since its founding in 2004, the fund has been active in Myanmar on several occasions. In 2006, it supported an effort to provide health care to tens of thousands of people in the dioceses of Sittwe and Toungoo by training 110 health care workers.

Forward in Faith North America, whose members form a non-geographical convocation of the Network, work with the diocese of Pha-an, which is establishing village primary schools and developing a community learning program for adults using the school venues and equipment.

Forward in Faith is also helping to fund a tutoring program at the diocese of Hpa-an’s hostels, to assist Christian young people in attaining the qualifications they need in order to teach in the diocese’s schools.

Gifts for relief work in Myanmar may be sent to:

The Anglican Relief and Development Fund
PO Box 3830
Pittsburgh PA 15230

Please write “Myanmar Cyclone Relief” in the memo line. An online giving option will be available shortly at http://www.anglicanaid.net/.

Anglican Communion Network diocesan bishops meet

From the Anglican Communion Network:

Bishop Robert Duncan, moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, has released a short statement at the conclusion of the meeting of Network diocesan bishops in Chicago on April 24.

“The diocesan bishop of every Network diocese, as well as a dean representing all the Network convocations, met together in Chicago on April 24. It was an extraordinarily productive meeting. As has happened so many times before in the Network’s five year history, deepened understanding and deeper unity, despite remarkably different contexts and strategies regarding the Episcopal Church, were the fruit of the meeting. The Network’s vision of a biblical, missionary and united Anglicanism was again affirmed and embraced,” stated Bishop Duncan.

Prayer request: Fire at Uganda Anglican girls school

From the Anglican Communion Network:

Bishop Robert Duncan requests prayers for the Anglican Province of Uganda. He received word this morning that there was a fire last night at the Buddo Girls’ School in Kampala where 19 girls and two adults died. The fire appears to have been deliberately set. Mama Phoebe (wife of Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi) is presently in Virginia. They will be leaving tonight from D.C. with a 12 hour layover in London. Please pray for the families of the victims, for Mama Phoebe and the Rev. Helen, for Archbishop Henry and for all those involved.

A number of Anglican Communion Network parishes, under the care of Bishop John Guernsey, are members of the Anglican Church in the Province of Uganda.

H/t to Prayer for Common Cause.

Retired Quincy bishop faces church trial

More on Bishop MacBurney, who graciously came to San Diego to help Holy Trinity Anglican (Southern Cone) with confirmations. Unfortunately, that was too much for Bishop Mathes. From The Living Church [boldface mine]:

A canonical case against the Rt. Rev. Edward H. MacBurney, retired Bishop of Quincy, will be heard by Court for the Trial of a Bishop. It will be the first such case since the canons were amended by General Convention in 2006 to include members of the clergy and laity among the judges in a disciplinary case against a member of the episcopacy.

Bishop MacBurney has been served with a presentment, an ecclesiastical indictment. It charges him with violating Article II, Section 3 of The Episcopal Church Constitution and Title III, Canon 12, Section 3 which states: “No Bishop shall perform episcopal acts or officiate by preaching, ministering the sacraments, or holding any public service in a diocese other than that in which the Bishop is canonically resident, without permission or a license to perform occasional public services from the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese in which the bishop desires to officiate or perform episcopal acts.”

Bishop MacBurney, 80, was Bishop of Quincy from 1988-1994. In June of 2007 Bishop MacBurney confirmed several persons at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in San Diego. An overwhelming number of members of Holy Trinity voted to leave The Episcopal Church and affiliate with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone in 2006. The Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes, Bishop of San Diego, filed the initial complaint against Bishop MacBurney. . .

Bishop MacBurney’s response must be filed with the court by mid April, according to Wicks Stephens, who is serving as Bishop MacBurney’s lawyer. Mr. Stephens, who also is chancellor of the Anglican Communion Network, added that a discovery process would follow with trial presently contemplated in the fall. The Episcopal Church is being represented by Larry White, a Philadelphia lawyer who holds the title Church Attorney.

“From the very inception of the investigation by the Church Attorney Bishop MacBurney has made clear that he did perform confirmations at Holy Trinity Church in June of last year,” Mr. Stephens said. “However those facts alone do not establish a violation of the constitution and canons. Bishop MacBurney intends to resist the charges.”

I'm glad to see that Bishop MacBurney has legal representation and plans to resist the charges. Read it all.

Phoebe Orombi featured speaker at Western Women’s Retreat

From the Anglican Communion Network [boldface mine]:

“The First Lady of the Anglican Church in Uganda,” Phoebe Orombi, wife of Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, primate of the Anglican Church in Uganda, is slated to be the keynote speaker at The Regional Anglican Women’s Council (RAWC) retreat April 11–13 in Costa Mesa, California. Other speakers include the Rev. Helen Oneka, a leader of Uganda’s “Women of Purpose” education ministry, and Jennifer Leber of Virginia, a missionary who with her husband has worked in Uganda for the past ten years.

The event is expected to draw about 150 Anglican women from a region stretching from northern Los Angeles County southward to the Mexican border and east to parts of Arizona. It will be held April 11, 12 and 13 at the Ayres Hotel & Suites in Costa Mesa.

RAWC was organized in February, 2007, by a group of Southern California women within the new Anglican realignment in North America. The organizers felt a need to coalesce in relationship with other Anglican women in their region to discern what God is calling them to do in their communities and to help develop a new understanding of themselves as a cluster in the emerging Anglican formation. The theme of the weekend, “Set Free Indeed … For God’s Purpose,” continues this path of discernment resulting from recent identification with new Anglican relationships.

The Rev. Kathleen Adams, who works with the Network’s Western Convocation, is one of RAWC’s organizers. She noted that the group held several successful mini-retreats in different parts of the region, termed “strength training for women,” as a prelude to the April gathering.

Mrs. Orombi, referred to as “Mama Phoebe” in her home country, is active in Uganda in encouraging women to improve themselves. Her dynamism as an inspirationally spiritual teacher is highly regarded. Weekend organizers note that Mama Phoebe “reminds us that God’s desire is to have a relationship with us” and that “we are to further His kingdom by reflecting God’s heart of love in a hurting world through the good work He began in us.”

Of the world’s estimated 77 million Anglicans, nearly ten million live in Uganda, more than one in every seven who claim the religious affiliation. Mrs. Orombi works closely with her husband in his ministry in this challenging African setting. Among Mama Phoebe’s teachings for the weekend will be her talks to the group on “Set free for love,” “Set free to serve,” and, her final challenging address, “Set free to walk in deeper waters.” Her companions from Uganda, the Rev. Helen Oneka and missionary Jennifer Leber, will speak on being “Set free from sin,” and “Set free to receive the Holy Spirit.”

In addition to the talks, the program offers work shops, ministry teams, liturgical services, counseling and confessions as well as music and free time. Rev. Adams noted that the weekend is a start in what organizers anticipate will be a growing fellowship among Anglican women in the Western Region, similar to that already established and strengthening among the men.

For Retreat information, contact Stephanie Akens-Gunn at 818/249–3517 before March 9th, or download the brochure [PDF].

Anglican Communion Network announces conference

Via email:

Join the ACN's Southeastern Convocation for its upcoming conference "Common Cause: Working Together in Mission and Ministry" April 17-19 at Holy Cross Anglican Church in Loganville, GA ($90). Bishop Robert Duncan, ACN and Common Cause Moderator, will begin the conference Thursday evening by sharing the broad vision of the Common Cause Partnership followed by Jenny Noyes, ACN Director of Evangelism, sharing testimonies of grass roots cooperation among the Common Cause Anglicans.

On Friday morning, Bishops Alex Dickson, David Anderson, and John Rodgers will join other Common Cause leaders in a panel discussion on the work that God is doing in raising up Common Cause "clusters" (churches that can effectively partner together at local levels) throughout the country. The workshops and networking time will help equip you with ministry tools to play your part in rebuilding His Kingdom through vibrant Anglican churches.

The Rev. Tom Herrick, Executive Director of the Titus Institute, will present a pre-conference training day on church planting ($85) on Thursday from 8:30 to 4:30. Go to www.regonline.com/seccommoncause for conference details and to register. Discounts available for groups of three or more for the pre-conference and for students/seminarians for both conferences.

The Rev. Jim McCaslin, Dean of the Southeastern Convocation, invites you to join him at this conference for 'the calling of God to us seems clear: Rebuild my Church from the bottom up working together in mission and ministry because the Cause that I am giving you in Common is taking the saving Good News of Jesus to a lost and hurting world.'

Yours in Jesus,

The Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton
Chief Operating Officer
Anglican Communion Network

AAC weekly update from Bishop Anderson

From Bishop David Anderson of the American Anglican Council via email [boldface mine]:

Beloved in Christ,

In every age, there are a few leaders who become legends in their own time, iconic and larger than life. The people who attain to this level are nearly always unaware of it and not quite understanding of it, thus they are surprised that so many hold them in such high esteem. The Rev. Dr. James I. Packer certainly falls in this category, and so it is with surprise and disbelief that we learn that the controversial and revisionist bishop of New Westminster (Canada), the Rt. Rev. Michael Ingham, has threatened the most orthodox Dr. Packer with suspension of his clerical license for ministry.

In both Canada and the United States, if you love Jesus and take his teachings and commands seriously, the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) or the Episcopal Church (TEC) will come after you with harmful intent. Pray for Dr. Packer as he endures harassment once again from Bishop Ingham. Why is Ingham on the warpath again? It might be over the entire Anglican Church of Canada’s largest church, located physically in Ingham’s geographical area, St. John’s Shaughnessy, Vancouver, voting to affiliate with former ACC Bishop Don Harvey, now of the Province of the Southern Cone, and Archbishop Gregory Venables. The vote was 474 to realign, 11 voting no, and 9 abstentions. This action taking the church out of the ACC ensures that the laity, clergy and congregations are able to maintain their orthodox Anglican Christian faith and, within a new jurisdiction, remain a part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Things are becoming critical in Canada, and the persecution of the faithful up there will probably grow worse in the future.

News pertaining to the USA, but involving as usual the Archbishop of Canterbury, seems centered on a pastoral care scheme put forward by some orthodox TEC bishops as a way for some TEC dioceses and churches to have orthodox primatial and episcopal oversight, and for them to be able to have another channel of relating to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the global primates other than just through Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori. The plan does little to give respite to those orthodox congregations (hopelessly?) trapped in revisionist dioceses with revisionist bishops over them. Why are these congregations hopelessly trapped? Often the challenge of expensive litigation or walking away from deep attachments to their property simply is more than they can muster, so they stay, but in a very endangered capacity.

Although many parishes have walked away, often without their property, and several bishops and dioceses are considering leaving, albeit with their property, there are congregations and orthodox bishops and dioceses for whom this seems to be too much to ask. This scheme put before Dr. Williams is thought to address this, and the ABC seems enthused over the prospect. Unfortunately, it is a formula for disaster. If the world has learned anything, it is that TEC can’t be trusted to keep its word, and in this plan which is being set before Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, the details aren’t even worked out. If there is any hope of it working, everything must be thought through and noted and agreed upon in the document before any signatures are attached. A further difficulty is that without the permission of the local revisionist TEC bishop, no congregation that petitions for help can be assisted. The lambs can only have a watchdog if the wolf gives permission. Bishop Howe of Central Florida commented, “We (Episcopal Visitors) will visit no congregation without the diocesan bishop’s invitation and permission.” Duh! Does that make sense? If the local bishop was at all accommodating of conservatives, the need for protection wouldn’t be there in the first place. Because the need is there, you have to have permission from the person who is the greatest danger to those asking for help. Some of our orthodox bishops wrote this and the Archbishop of Canterbury likes it, and even Jefferts Schori might agree to it. Help me make sense of this. Additionally, can this be legally done without the TEC House of Bishops concurring with the Presiding Bishop in agreeing to such a proposal? We will have to wait and see, but I see this as various stages and degrees of collaboration which offers false hope to a few and puts many at grave risk. I urge the bishops thus involved to reconsider their plans. Bishop John Howe remarks, “If we do this right, it will strengthen the hands of the Presiding Bishop and the Archbishop of Canterbury.” Pray tell, why does Bishop Howe wish to strengthen the hand of Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori who is suing the pants off most of the orthodox who have left and now has been handed up to $500,000 of TEC trust fund income to advance the litigation further, especially against Bishop Howe’s brother bishops in the Anglican Communion Network?

Meanwhile, as TEC raids trust fund income for $500,000 worth of upcoming litigation, some money is found to spread around poorer parts of Africa on what is called by some "The Charm Offensive." Money from TEC, funneled through Bishop Pierre Whalon, a francophone, is being used to attract African primates and bishops to the American cause. Whalon recently delivered money to buy Archbishop Fidèle Dirokpa and Bishop Henri Isingoma new automobiles.

Meanwhile all over the United States, the Common Cause Partners federation churches are preaching the Gospel, seeing men and women’s lives change by Christ, planting and growing churches, and equipping more and more individuals being called by God to enter the ordained ministry to preach the Truth. God is Good...All The Time.

Blessings and Peace in Christ Jesus,
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President & CEO of the AAC

Bishop Duncan: "The disintegration means that a new consensus is on the way."

From Matt Kennedy at Stand Firm, a live-blog transcript of Bishop Duncan's address at the Mere Anglicanism conference this past week in Charleston, S.C.:

. . . These are signs, manifestations of Mere Anglicanism: Truly Catholic, truly Evangelical, and truly Pentecostal and truly reasonable.

Mere Anglicanism is truly evangelical, truly catholic, truly Pentecostal and is reasonable

What is Mere Anglicanism? This synthesis, this via media this construct, the students above are trying to structure their lives around it and they believe this construct is real but it is hard to see because what has been the construct is disintegrating

What I want to suggest about what has gone wrong is this: you all remember the Elizabethan settlement. We say that Mere Anglicanism and Mere Christianity are actually he flowering of that settlement.

And what has happened is that that consensus has disintegrated. The substance of the settlement, not the idea itself, has disintegrated. A new consensus has to emerge and we are a long way from that.

The systems that characterized the Elizabethan settlement, there were three:

1. Anglicanism was agreed to be under the Word. Are we there now? No. We use these words sometimes but they no longer have the same meaning. The settlement was that the church was to be under the Word.

2. The second thing that was true is that the Settlement: was under the prayerbook. We don’t have that anymore. There is nothing in terms of our prayer that is common. There is nothing that might lead us to believe that what we pray is really what we believe. We no longer pray the same things so we no longer believe the same things. The book has collapsed. The book was our magisterium. We did not have a Roman Magisterium. We had a book. It was our articulation of doctrine. It was the theological construct in which we prayed. But just like the word that we believed judged us rather that us it, the book has collapsed.

Third: the Settlement exchanged an international leader for a local leader (pope to king). All this took place under British systems. Theses systems were remarkable. Even after the collapse of the Empire everyone was still under the systems. Who calls the primates together? Who gives the mandate to the ACC and who appoints the General Secretary? The consensus that had existed that was the settlement and the settlement worked in a system.

The system has worked, the settlement has worked for 400 years, but the agreement that authority rests in the bible, in the prayerbook and the English church system…all of that is collapsing

What I am suggesting is that sustaining a Mere Anglicanism that is catholic, evangelical, pentecostal, and reason, is not working under the old settlement. . .

Read it all.

The Anglican Church kicks off the March for Life

From Anglican Mainstream:

Anglicans for Life is pleased to announce that the Right Reverend Henry Scriven, Assistant Bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA and Anglicans for Life Board Member will give the opening prayer at the March for Life Rally in Washington DC, on January 22, 2008 at noon.

Each year thousands of people travel to Washington DC on the anniversary of the Roe versus Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion all nine months of pregnancy. Busloads of adults, teens and stalwart ‘pro-lifers’ make this annual pilgrimage as a way to acknowledge their support for the sanctity of life.

“To have a representative of the Anglican Communion provide the invocation for such a special event as the March for Life is extraordinary,” stated Georgette Forney, President of Anglicans for Life. “We were very honored when March organizer, Nellie Gray called with the request!”

Bp. Scriven’s prayer can be viewed on TV, as the Rally is shown live on EWTN and C-SPAN at Noon, EST. . .

Read it all, and catch a presentation to the San Diego AAC chapter by Georgette Forney here.

Bishop Lyons transfers churches to CANA

From the CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) website:

In a historic act, Bishop Frank Lyons of Bolivia has transferred ten congregations in the midwest United States to the care and jurisdiction of CANA. These congregations had been under the oversight of Bishop Lyons and the Diocese of Bolivia, part of the Anglican province of the Southern Cone in South America. Now, these congregations will be part of the indigenous US ecclesial structure in CANA. This transfer of congregations is a harbinger of the consolidation of Anglicanism for which many orthodox Anglicans in the US have been longing.

And check out the CANA press release here.

"That's where I wanted to go today!"

How did I miss this? ("I don't quite know. What does it matter where people go?" h/t to Winnie the Pooh):

Church of ACTS
Anglican Church of the Spirit

The orthodox Anglican Church of the Spirit, located in the Perris / Nuevo / Hemet area of Southern California, has been newly created by a group of Anglican laity. It is firmly aligned with the worldwide Anglican Communion through the ‘Anglican Communion Network’ and affiliation to the ‘American Anglican Council’. Our worship follows the rich, Bible-based Anglican tradition, acknowledging that Holy Scripture is the Word of God.

Our mission is: “To devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42) by following the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus commanded us as disciples to do (Matthew 28:19-20).”

Our Mission, Theological & Covenant Statements can be found here.

We are located at 28740 Reservoir Avenue, Nuevo, CA 92567

Telephone: 951-306-5647
Email: info@c-acts.org

Real h/t to SanDiegoAnglicans.com.

How to assist the Diocese of Pittsburgh

From Jackie Bruchi at Stand Firm:

The following is an email I received from Peter Frank, Director of Communication for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in response to my letter to him advising that many of our readers desired to assist Bishop Duncan and the Diocese in the battle ahead. My request stated that we are already praying for them and asked for specifics of how else we can help. Here is the response:

Assisting the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh,

We are so thankful for the support Anglicans and other Christians from all over the world have already offered to the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh over the last few years. In the aftermath of big meetings and big decisions we hear over and over again that people are praying for us and support us.

Stand Firm has brought it to our attention that some are looking for ways to also help financially. Since 2003, the diocese has faced significant legal costs. We have already had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend ourselves. To make sure that paying those costs does not force us to curtail parish and diocesan mission; we have created a “Mission Support Fund.” Since it was founded earlier this year, donors have given some $60,000.

If you would like to give to this fund, send a check made out to The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh with Mission Support Fund in the memo line to:

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh
900 Oliver Building
535 Smithfield St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Gifts are tax deductible (we will send you a receipt). On behalf of Bishop Robert Duncan and all of us here in Pittsburgh, thank you again for your past support and willingness to stand with us now during these challenging days. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Peter Frank
Director of Communications

At this time the Diocese does not have a PayPal link. If that changes, I will do my best to let you know. In the meantime, may I suggest you place Bishop Duncan and the Diocese of Pittsburgh in your prayers and consider a donation to this worthwhile cause?

American Anglican Council launches California Wildfire Relief Fund

From email:

Beloved in Christ,

As you know, Southern California has been devastated by wildfires. These fires have forced nearly one million people from their homes and continue to rage throughout Southern California. Estimates put the damage into the billions of dollars as thousands have lost their homes.

Relief efforts are underway, and the AAC has joined those efforts through the creation of a "California Wildfire Relief" fund. We will be coordinating with AAC chapters and our Common Cause Partners to distribute funds on the local level in the Southern California region.

We encourage your participation in this important work. You may make a contribution in three ways:

1. Mail your contribution to:

The American Anglican Council
2296 Henderson Mill Road, NE, Suite 406
Atlanta, GA 30345

2. Make a secure financial contribution online . (Select "California Wildfire Relief" as the Donor Designation.)

3. Call the AAC to make a secure credit card contribution over the phone toll free at 1-800-914-2000.

In all cases, please designate your contribution as “California Wildfire Relief".

We at the AAC mourn with those who have lost loved ones and/or property and continue to pray that God would comfort and draw each hurting person and family to Himself during this difficult time. Please keep all those affected by these fires in your prayers.

Blessings and Peace in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Bishop-elect David C. Anderson
President and CEO, American Anglican Council

Greg Griffith: The ACI’s pretzel logic

From Greg Griffith at Stand Firm:

. . . As SF frequenter robroy points out at Brad's site, it was only after John Howe was faced with the threat of some real pain that he was stirred to do something - anything - and it was only after he wrote to Rowan Williams in desperation that Williams felt obliged to say something - anything. The plain fact is that the moment parishioners start moving towards a plan that stands a real chance of depriving a diocese of money, bishops and archbishops get off their duffs. As we say in the software industry, this is a feature, not a bug. . .

Read it all.

ACI: A statement regarding upholding the ministry of faithful bishops

From TitusOneNine, a reaction from the Anglican Communion Institute on Bishop Howe's recent letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury:

The Archbishop of Canterbury has recently written Bishop Howe of Central Florida, in a letter now made public, concerned that traditionalist parishes ought to see the Diocese, in distinction to ‘the National" or "provincial Church,' as the main unit of Christian faith and teaching, in sacramental unity with the Anglican Communion through his own office. (This view has been generally accepted as a definition of fundamental Anglican polity and has been explicitly assumed in all of the recent Anglican-Roman Catholic Agreed Statements.) The Primates have also recognized bishops like Howe who uphold the Camp Allen principles. In a climate where the ‘National Church' may seek to arrogate to itself more authority than the Archbishop of Canterbury believes is proper, individual Dioceses appear vulnerable to many - especially when alternatives present themselves in the name of offering a more secure reality, outside of TEC altogether.

One of the useful aspects of the Network was its granting to ‘traditionalists' a measure of identification, still inside TEC, but laterally with other Dioceses, as the main unit of Christian faith and teaching, to pursue the Archbishop's stated concern. Bishops like Howe, Stanton, Salmon and others availed themselves of this for this reason, and also because it was consistent with what the Archbishop here writes. In the meantime, however, the Network as originally intended has collapsed, and in its place or alongside it a new reality has emerged in the form of a Common Cause College, whose mechanisms for ‘unity in faith' are different to what the Archbishop describes. This has made the plight of Bishop Howe and others more complicated, precisely as parishes seek to leave and find places in this College or somewhere else.

What is necessary, then, is for the diocesan unit, in conjunction with other dioceses who affirm the Communion's teaching and discipline as Windsor and the Camp Allen principles outline them, to find the place that the Network sought to provide, and to build on what the Archbishop is here underscoring. . .

Read it all.

Sad news about two San Diego Anglican church plants

From SanDiegoAnglicans.com:

Some sad news to report tonight about two of our smaller San Diego Anglican congregations. Temecula Valley Anglican Fellowship, a church plant of St. John's Anglican Church in Fallbrook, has decided to close its doors and consider a new approach to location and ministry emphasis. Fr. Don Kroeger, Rector of St. John's Fallbrook, says that ministry team will be consolidating efforts and looking at ministry opportunities with Anglican youth in the area. We wish them well and look forward to things to come.

Similarly, Holy Family Anglican Fellowship in Vista, a church plant of St. Anne's in Oceanside and shepherded by the Rev Joe Reese will be joining back up with St. Anne's. Fr. Joe, who has been ministering at both St. Annes and Holy Family, says the decision was a difficult one, but prayerfully made and Spirit led.

Both of these events underscore the entrepreneurial times we live in as Anglicans faced with the challenges of setting up and expanding ministries this side of Jordan. Economists call this kind of thing "creative destruction." It's the stuff of life. Much is initiated, only some of it ever takes root. We pray that God continues to lead and bless those who gave of their time and resources to get these fellowships started. You have all learned a great deal. Bigger and better things are ahead.

Common Cause Partners Press Release: Anglican bishops take first steps to new structure

From TitusOneNine:

In the grace, mercy and power of God, and in repentance for past disunity and disharmony, in thanksgiving for our full reconciliation in the Lord Jesus Christ, to give expression to our unity in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church as Anglicans in North America, and for the sake of our mission to extend the Kingdom of God, nurture faithful disciples through Word and Sacraments, seek the lost, and partner globally with other orthodox Anglicans, we hereby commit to do the following:

1. In order to achieve greater unity and strengthen our partnership in the Gospel, we the undersigned commit ourselves to the Common Cause Partnership as set forth in the Articles of the Partnership (see Appendix 1).

2. We declare clearly that we are taking this as a first step in the formation of the “separate ecclesiastical structure” in North America called for at Kigali in September, 2006.

3. In consultation with those Primates and Provinces of the Anglican Communion offering recognition under the timeline adopted, we intend a founding constitutional convention for an Anglican union (see Appendix 2).

4. Those presently-participating bodies which have not yet joined the Common Cause Partnership will decide at the next meeting of their legislative bodies, either to enter the Partnership or leave full membership in Common Cause, becoming observer bodies. It is expected that all presently-participating bodies will be able to enter the Partnership.

5. We will work together on the regional and local levels and avail ourselves of the various ministries of the Common Cause Partners. We will deploy clergy interchangeably as outlined in the Articles of the Partnership. We are free to invite our fellow bishops in this College to share episcopal acts and our sacramental life.

6. The College of Bishops will meet every six months in order to accomplish our stated objectives. The leading bishop of each Partner will serve on a Lead Bishops Roundtable, which may be expanded as they may determine. The Roundtable will advise us in matters referred to it (see Appendix 3).

7. We are committed to the Great Commission. We will make disciples who make disciples and plant churches that plant churches, not resting until the millions of unreached souls in North America are brought to Christ, until all groups on the earth have indigenous churches firmly begun within them and our Lord returns in glory.

8. We ask our Chairman to inform the Primates of the Anglican Communion of these commitments in the hope that our emerging common life will commend us to them as full partners.

Read it all.