England: Forward in Faith UK council passes resolution for new province

From Virtue Online:

Jul 21, 2008

The following Resolution was recently passed by the FiF Council in Canterbury.

The Council of Forward in Faith, meeting at Canterbury on 21st July, was appalled at the outcome of the recent General Synod debate of 7th July. The Council remains determined to respond to the needs of its members by securing a structural solution comprising discrete dioceses for those in conscience opposed to the ordination of women as bishops.

Stephen Parkinson
Director

Check it out.

Why I left ECUSA, Part 1: A brief history

The first in a series outlining why my family and I believe it is time for us to leave the Episcopal Church

Part 1: My background in the Episcopal Church: A Hebrew of Hebrews (with all of the pride that St. Paul infers going along with that)

The information quoted below is from The Huguenot Church, organized as the French Protestant Church, Charleston, South Carolina, in their service bulletin for the Commemoration of the Three-hundredth Anniversary of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, April 21, 1985 (Huguenot Society President in 1985: Theodore Guérard, my father):

The H.M.S. Richmond

In 1679 René Petit, King’s Agent in Rouen and Jacob Guérard, a gentleman of Normandy, petitioned the Privy Council of England to transport foreign Protestant families to one of the English plantations, preferably Carolina, to establish there the manufacture of silk, oil, and wine.

This petition was referred to as the Carolina Proprietors and with their approval went next to the Lords of Trade, where, finally, probably due to Ashley Cooper’s membership on the Board, it was accepted by the King in council. The venture, therefore, received the personal approval of Charles II.

Accordingly, H.M.S. Richmond sailed from England December 19, 1679, bringing to Carolina the first contingent of the Petit-Guérard Colony and landing them at Oyster Point, Charles Town, in April of 1680.

Early records show that the following individuals and families were among the passengers on the H.M.S. Richmond.

Number of Famillies
. . . . . .
P. Guérard of Normandy with his Famillie

The French Huguenots, of course, soon became Anglicans.

I was

• Born into the Mother Church, St. Philip’s Charleston


• Received the sacrament of Holy Baptism “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”


• Confirmed by Bishop Gray Temple


• Went on youth retreats at Camp St. Christopher


• Had weekly EYC combined with St. Michael’s (where my mother’s family attends, and where my sister now goes, having married into a St. Michael’s family – ah, the rivalry!)


• Had pre-marital counseling at The Falls Church (the only church in the D.C. area that the rector at St. Philip’s would accept as providing proper counseling – at the time I had no idea why he was so adamant about this)


• Married (by the 1928 Prayer Book, of course) at St. Philip's (and finally lost the "Guérard" which no one outside of Charleston could ever pronounce or spell)

Father, uncle, cousins were senior wardens, vestry members, etc., etc.

Remember vaguely hearing discussions among the “grown-ups” about women’s ordination, but everyone seemed to agree that it was nothing to worry too much about in Charleston

Attended church intermittently in the D.C. area (yes, basically a C&E Christian, although I had discovered C.S. Lewis in 8th grade, so hope remained)

Moved to southern California, opened the phone book to find out where the Episcopal Church was in Carlsbad (because I figured that would be a good place to meet people), saw Holy Cross “a mission church” (what’s a mission church? I had no idea), saw St. Michael’s By-the-Sea (founded 1894) and thought, well, that sounds like the closest thing I’ll ever get to a Mother Church here.

We went to St. Michael's our first Sunday in California and continued for 14 years. God led us there, I am sure. And God softened my heart there as well to His Word.

It was my first Anglo-Catholic church, but still familiar since there was the Book of Common Prayer - even if we did have Communion every week and say the Nicene Creed (all 1979 prayer book innovations, in my opinion) and use incense, unlike growing up with Communion once a month and the Apostle’s Creed in the weekly Morning Prayer service (and no incense, please). Fr. Neal Moquin, the rector, is a graduate of Nashotah House and a Forward in Faith priest and the curate, Fr. Doran Stambaugh, also a Nashotah House graduate, was ordained by Bishop Keith Ackerman (Quincy).

My husband was received into the Episcopal Church by Bishop Gethin Hughes (now retired, San Diego) and our son was baptized at St. Michael’s. I have served on the Altar Guild and the Vestry, gone to the Mom's Group, the Women's Book Group, the Lenten series, been a delegate at two diocesan conventions, etc.

And I have felt the Holy Spirit there truly, in the people, in the place, and in my heart.

So, why leave and why now? Ah, that's Part 2.

A New Day Dawning for faithful Anglicans, says Quincy Bishop

From VirtueOnline, a write-up by Bishop Keith Ackerman, Diocese of Quincy, on the Forward in Faith conference this summer:

Among the normally quiet and liturgical Anglicans of the United States and Canada, a Second Reformation continues to take shape. A new Anglican province is emerging as faithful Anglicans are working together. While form and structure takes time, members of the Common Cause Partnership (CCP) are acting in cooperation to live out the Gospel commission and in fellowship with the mainstream of the worldwide Anglican Churches. Forward in Faith NA welcomes all of its Common Cause Partners to the 2008 Assembly in the suburb of Saint Louis.

On Wednesday, June 11th, representatives will gather from across the USA and Canada for three days at Our Lady of the Snows retreat center in Belleville, Illinois, for renewed Christian witness and mission in this new climate of cooperation. The featured speakers will be the Reverend Canon Keith Roderick addressing the Imperiled Christians of the Middle East and Carrie Boren on Evangelism.

The Assembly will hear from world church leaders, and leaders from many parts of the Anglican Church in the USA and Canada. The annual gathering will include noted preachers Right Rev. Donald Parsons, and Rev. Dr. Arnold Klukas, both of whom are professors at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin; the Right Rev. John Broadhurst from the UK will give an update on the English front; and education sessions by Lay Teachers Sister Mary Charles, All Saints' Sisters of the Poor, and Mr. John Witt, a former city attorney of San Diego.

The three day Assembly will focus on moving "forward together in mission: celebrating Common Cause" cooperation in working for the renewal of Christian witness to Gospel of Jesus Christ and upholding the Faith and Order of the Undivided Church. . .

Check it out for contact info.

Common Cause Partners build for new Anglican future

From here:

The first meeting of the Common Cause Leadership Council created the structure necessary for building a federation of orthodox Anglicans in North America. Three delegates from each of the ten Common Cause partners gathered in Orlando, Florida December 17-18. The Council unanimously elected Bishop Bob Duncan as Moderator. Delegates also elected Canon Charlie Masters of Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) as General Secretary and Mrs. Patience Oruh of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) as Treasurer. The Leadership Council recognized the ratification of a statement of theology and formed the committees called for by the Common Cause articles of confederation adopted in September 2007. A communiqué from the Common Cause Leadership Council can be found below.

-------------------------------------

Communiqué
We, the gathered bishops, priests and lay representatives of the Anglican bodies federated in Common Cause held the first annual meeting as the newly formed Common Cause Leadership Council of the Common Cause Partnership on December 18th, 2007, in Orlando, Florida.

We created the structure called for in the Articles of Federation now adopted by nine of our partners. We elected officers of the Federation and formed an executive committee, as well as other committees and task forces. We have also begun work to harmonize and strengthen our common call to Christian education and mission. We expect these committees and task forces to begin work early in the New Year. We are beginning to explore the expanding possibilities for ecumenical contact with fellow Christians in North America and around the world.

Our actions today dramatically reversed the fragmentation and separation of the past. We stand committed to the "faith once delivered to the saints" as expressed in our now ratified theological statement. The Common Cause Partnership is united in faith with the vast majority of members of the worldwide Anglican Communion. We are especially grateful for the support and recognition given to us by the provinces of the Global South that have encouraged us to come together in common cause for the Gospel. We are particularly thankful for the presence with us of Archbishop Yong Ping Chung, the recently retired primate of the Province of Southeast Asia and one of the earliest supporters of the rebirth of orthodox Anglicanism in North America, representing the Anglican Coalition in Canada.

Each Common Cause Partner will continue to live out its unique role, maintaining its distinctive ministry and character, noting the provision of the Articles of Federation that "the autonomy of the individual Jurisdictions and Ministries, and their constituent bodies, is in no way restricted or superseded by membership." In the months and years ahead we anticipate a growing number of joint mission initiatives that will strengthen our witness as united and faithful Anglicans in North America. "So in Christ, we who are many, form one body..." (Rom. 12:5). To God be the Glory.

And here's the new Common Cause Partnership website.

Repost of Bishop Iker's comments to Forward in Faith *Correction*

Correction: Okay, now I'm totally confused. From what I can tell (although I may be wrong), the Province of the Southern Cone does allow women to be ordained to the Diaconate but not to the priesthood. I was thinking that the Diaconate was in preparation for the priesthood, but I wasn't taking into account the Diaconate as a lay order. So now, I'm not sure whether this would be a place for Fort Worth or not. I guess I'll have to wait until their convention next week.

Here's repost of an earlier entry I posted on Bishop Iker's comments to Forward in Faith reported on October 26 in the Church Times. I've seen various conjectures since ++Gregory Venables announced his intention to provide a safe haven on where different U.S. dioceses may end up. It seems from his comments that Bishop Iker would not move under ++Venables, but may be talking to other Primates:

CONVERSATIONS about affiliating the three Forward in Faith (North America) dioceses — Fort Worth, Quincy, and San Joaquin — with an overseas province were “very far along”, the Bishop of Fort Worth, Texas, the Rt Revd Jack Iker, told Forward in Faith UK’s National Assembly in London last Saturday.

“Our plan is not only to disassociate . . . from the Episcopal Church, but to officially constitutionally reaffiliate with an existing orthodox province of the Communion that does not ordain women to the priesthood. These conversations are very far along, but cannot be announced until the province that is considering our appeal has made the final decision,” the Bishop said.

They had reached “the end of the road” in the Episcopal Church. None of them would be able to secure consecration of “orthodox” bishops-elect under the canons of the Episcopal Church, as they would need the consent of a majority of the diocesan standing committees and of the Episcopal Church’s bishops — “and that is simply not going to happen”.

Rather than wait until an elected candidate was turned down, they had decided to secure their own futures by separating from the constitution and canons of ECUSA. The election of a woman as Presiding Bishop had made their position “untenable”; and they believed that their request for alternative Primatial oversight had been rejected: within the Episcopal Church, it was “dead”.

“The Primates put forward a very workable plan that we were willing to go along with when they met at Dar es Salaam,” Bishop Iker said; but the Bishops had overwhelmingly objected that, and had encouraged ECUSA’s Executive Council to do the same. Similarly, the Bishops had rejected the Windsor report.

“It is our contention that the Episcopal Church has decided to walk away from the Anglican Communion, and our Forward in Faith dioceses will walk with the Anglican Communion.”

“Messy” litigation would reach “another level of controversy when entire dioceses attempt to separate from the Episcopal Church”, Bishop Iker said. The “official structure” had made it clear that it would declare those sees vacant, depose the bishops, and call a convention in order to reconstitute what it called “continuing dioceses”. . .

. . . FiF dioceses would have full communion only with those those Common Cause partners that did not ordain women to the priesthood. “Co-operation with the bodies which do ordain women or receive women cannot extend to communio in sacris, but we will co-operate with them in every way possible in a state of continuing impaired communion.”

Further, leaders of the Anglican Communion Network and the Common Cause Partnership were “fully committed to undertaking a substantial theological study of the question of the ordination of women, once the structures are in place and we have relatively settled in. We will have a chance, in other words, to bring those who now accept this innovation to reconsideration of their decision in the future.” . . .

Forward in Faith’s US bishops hope to be free in 2009

From the Church Times (U.K.):

CONVERSATIONS about affiliating the three Forward in Faith (North America) dioceses — Fort Worth, Quincy, and San Joaquin — with an overseas province were “very far along”, the Bishop of Fort Worth, Texas, the Rt Revd Jack Iker, told Forward in Faith UK’s National Assembly in London last Saturday.

“Our plan is not only to disassociate . . . from the Episcopal Church, but to officially constitutionally reaffiliate with an existing orthodox province of the Communion that does not ordain women to the priesthood. These conversations are very far along, but cannot be announced until the province that is considering our appeal has made the final decision,” the Bishop said.

They had reached “the end of the road” in the Episcopal Church. None of them would be able to secure consecration of “orthodox” bishops-elect under the canons of the Episcopal Church, as they would need the consent of a majority of the diocesan standing committees and of the Episcopal Church’s bishops — “and that is simply not going to happen”.

Rather than wait until an elected candidate was turned down, they had decided to secure their own futures by separating from the constitution and canons of ECUSA. The election of a woman as Presiding Bishop had made their position “untenable”; and they believed that their request for alternative Primatial oversight had been rejected: within the Episcopal Church, it was “dead”.

“The Primates put forward a very workable plan that we were willing to go along with when they met at Dar es Salaam,” Bishop Iker said; but the Bishops had overwhelmingly objected that, and had encouraged ECUSA’s Executive Council to do the same. Similarly, the Bishops had rejected the Windsor report.

“It is our contention that the Episcopal Church has decided to walk away from the Anglican Communion, and our Forward in Faith dioceses will walk with the Anglican Communion.”

“Messy” litigation would reach “another level of controversy when entire dioceses attempt to separate from the Episcopal Church”, Bishop Iker said. The “official structure” had made it clear that it would declare those sees vacant, depose the bishops, and call a convention in order to reconstitute what it called “continuing dioceses”. . .

. . . FiF dioceses would have full communion only with those those Common Cause partners that did not ordain women to the priesthood. “Co-operation with the bodies which do ordain women or receive women cannot extend to communio in sacris, but we will co-operate with them in every way possible in a state of continuing impaired communion.”

Further, leaders of the Anglican Communion Network and the Common Cause Partnership were “fully committed to undertaking a substantial theological study of the question of the ordination of women, once the structures are in place and we have relatively settled in. We will have a chance, in other words, to bring those who now accept this innovation to reconsideration of their decision in the future.” . . .

Read it all.

Bishop Jack Iker: “We have concluded there is no future for us in the Episcopal Church”

From TitusOneNine:

Listen to the "Report from FiF North America" by the Bishop of Forth Worth, Jack Iker, at the Forward in Faith International Assembly.

Listen here (mp3).

We have come to the end of the road in the Episcopal Church. . .
- Bishop Jack Iker