SanDiegoAnglicans: Sowing good seed

Posted by Fr. Eric Menees of the Anglican Church of the Resurrection, San Marcos (one of the San Diego churches that walked away from their property and is now under the Southern Cone):

This past Sunday, the Youth Groups of Resurrection, Sts. Timothy & Titus and Holy Trinity gathered together at Holy Trinity, Ocean Beach, for a mixer, beach party, pizza fest and some evangelistic action.

About 30 youth gathered from the three churches and marched down to the beach. After setting up camp at Life Guard Station Three and hitting the waves a group of the kids went up and down the beach handing out Christian Bracelets and asking people if they had any prayer requests that they could pray for. They were terrific evangelists!

After they trekked back to HT - O[cean] B[each] they shared in some great hymn singing, went through a ton of Pizza and then gathered for a short video & discussion on prayer. . .

Read it all. I think the Anglican churches in San Diego have made a great effort to work together on creating opportunities for youth ministry. Under the organization of Fr. Russ Martin of Sts. Timothy & Titus and Cindy K. (actually, mostly Cindy!), the middle and high schoolers in the area (including Orange County) have had several overnight retreats and get-togethers, with the fall retreats just around the corner.

Fr. Russell at GAFCON: Final thoughts

From Fr. Russell Martin of St. Timothy & St. Titus in San Diego (Southern Cone) via email [boldface mine]:

Dear Friends in Christ,

All is well with me. The Conference ended on a wonderfully high note as the amended Jerusalem Statement was approved. This was followed up by a closing Eucharist during which our own Archbishop Venables preached. It was wonderful. This is an extremely important and historic statement. It was marvelous as the Primates present all signed their names to the Statement and thus they began their work of working together to form a global orthodox Anglicanism devoted to faithfulness to Christ and the proclamation of His Gospel. I literally wept as the we all stood their brothers and sisters from every corner of the world united as one in Christ Jesus. It reminded me of the magnificent vision of St. John of the Great Multitude in Heaven. I still have much to process related to this incredible day in the life of the Church but I tell you the Holy Spirit was clearly present and we delighted in Him. It has been one of the most significant periods in my life to be amongst the privileged few to take an active part in this important council of the church. I feel so blessed and thankful to our Father in Heaven.

Following the close of the Conference I set out on the follow up tour with Bishop John Gurnesy et al. Our first stop yesterday was Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls where found. It was a wonderful site and very near the Dead Sea. We stayed about three blocks from the Dead Sea. I took in the Sunrise this morning as it came over the mountains from Jordan and illuminated the Sea with startling pinks and reds--like a beautiful rose unfurling. It was simply stunning. I sat with my feet soaking in the water as I did my morning prayers. It was very special. This morning following breakfast we headed for Massada -- the hill top fort build by Herod the Great and the site of a tragic siege that ended with the Jewish Rebels defiantly committing suicide rather than being captured by the Romans. We then went to the Ein Gedi, the place where King David fled and hid while Saul was seeking to take his life and David then cut off the fringe of Saul's cloak as he was relieving himself in cave in which David and his men where hiding (Cf. 1 Samuel 23 & 24). It was beautiful, and it gave meaning to 'streams of living water bursting forth in the wilderness. We then lunched in modern Jericho at a place named Temptation, no less! We then made our way to our next hotel, a Kibbutz on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where we will stay and tour from over the next two days.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of you and I pray that the fire and blessing of the Holy Spirit may embolden you in your witness to Christ and the Kingdom of God!

Russell+

Fr. Russell at GAFCON: Blessed but exhausted

From SanDiegoAnglicans.com, on-going posts from Fr. Russell Martin, St. Timothy & St. Titus, as he goes to GAFCON:

. . . Lunch at the main hotel, followed by the opening Eucharistic Service at 2 p.m. which I was graciously asked to be a chalice bearer--it was simply phenomenal Eucharist service. What a terrific honor, praise God! Then a workshop by the renowned Dr. Oz Guinness on Secularism and its challenges to authentic faith. My posts have been spotty, but I have been swamped. I will try to get another Blog/Journal out to you soon. I have been on full thrust from about 16+ hours now between coordinating the pilgrims at my hotel for transport, assisting in the opening Eucharist and being assigned as Archbishop Venables’ Chaplain. It is wonderful and I have been so very blessed beyond belief but I am bushwhacked. . .

Read it all.

Fr. Russell at GAFCON: Security check, please!

From SanDiegoAnglicans.com, on-going posts from Fr. Russell Martin, St. Timothy & St. Titus, as he goes to GAFCON [boldface mine]:

Days 2-3 of My Pilgrimage to Israel and GAFCON June 17-18, 2008:

. . . As I was nearing the gate, I heard a public address announcement reminding all El Al passengers that they would have to have additional screening by the Airline’s Security prior to being allowed to board the plane. After presenting my passport and being asked a whole series of security questions in a relentless staccato. Then the question of my “orphaned” checked bag came up (why was it with me etc.). To which I recounted my tale of lines and a unexpected night’s stay in New York and that the airline had never returned it to me. I was then informed that I would be required to have my carry-on items searched. So Benjamin returned my passport but held on to my boarding pass he then instructed me to wait until I was called. He continued by telling me to take my carry-on bags and be seated until I was called back up for my search.

About 15-20 minutes late, a nice young man named Damien, also an Airline security agent ask me to follow him and bring my bags for their search. We went into a secured elevator and then down through several locked doors and all the while getting farther and farther from everyone else. I will confess I was a bit nervous and would have totally freaked out except that I had seen Damien checking in other passengers. After being led out of the terminal and out near the tarmac, we skirted a portion of the building to arrive at baggage security area and reentered the terminal several levels and blocks from where we started. I was then ushered into a tiny room where once again I was asked to open my bags and then told to go get seated another anteroom while their team went through my bags. So I sat reading my book and waiting. Several times I was asked to come explain some item or another and then told to return to my seat in the other room. About 45 minutes later I was told everything was fine and that I should repack my bags and prepare to return to the terminal. All my stuff was haphazardly strewn over a large counter so I began to repack for the third time that day. I really did not mind them searching everything but I was a bit put off when they then told me to hurry and kept asking me to move things so they could use a part of the counter. I will confess that my thoughts were a bit less than charitable and inwardly I was thinking, “If you had not made such a mess of it, I would not be taking so long!” I simply smiled and nodded. It was as I was repacking there unsupervised that I noted, somewhat ironically, that they had left a box cutter strewn about on the counter well within reach and nearly mixed in with my things. . .

Read it all - and read Day 1 here.

GAFCON: The lines, the wallet and my wardrobe

From SanDiegoAnglicans.com, on-going posts from Fr. Russell Martin, St. Timothy & St. Titus, as he goes to GAFCON [boldface mine]:

Day 1 of My Pilgrimage to Israel and GAFCON June 16, 2008:

The day began like most travel days, early and in that mad rush of a fog to get the last few things packed. It was also dark, being only 3:30 a.m. when I awoke. After showering and shaving I gathered my bags which I had finished packing the night before, though against all odds, I had actually nearly completed packing the previous Friday. So having finished packed those last few items I began my review:

1. Wallet, with cash
2. Passport
3. Tickets
4. Copies of Itinerary and other conference materials
5. Snacks
6. Cell phone etc.

Fr. Larry Eddingfield arrived, shortly there after, to pick me up at 4:45 a.m. and of course, he was right on time. We loaded the truck with my bags did another review of tickets, wallet, etc.

We arrived at the airport a few minutes after 5 a.m. Following a wonderful blessing, a prayer, and yes another “light” anointing with holy Oil, Fr. Larry released me with a hug and a tear. I proceeded to my first of many LINES that day as I checked my bag and received my boarding pass. During this process my cell phone dropped and hit the floor with an unhealthy thwack! As Dr. McCoy from the original Star Trek, “He’s dead Jim!” and so it was. I tried everything I could think of and it would light up for a second and then power down and just be dead, dead, DEAD!

My next line was of course the obligatory Security Check point, which surprisingly enough, moved rather efficiently and no real problems from my fellow line mates or me.

It was then I had my first real challenge of the day I went to the B. of A. ATM and as I went to pull out my Debit Card I was horrified to find it was not there and worse yet neither were my credit cards which I had planned to take. Yikes, “Holy Hamburgers Batman”, we have a real problem. I immediately began to pray and ask the Lord’s help and after a few minutes His glorious peace began to fall on me. Panic resurged as I realized that I had no phone numbers except Molly’s Cell memorized as I always rely on my Address Book in my phone that has now given up the ghost. I made change and tried desperately to find a pay phone, almost as extinct as a T-Rex. After a few minutes of searching and an inquiry to one Port Authority Police Officers I found a phone. I proceeded to call my wife who was by now fully ensconced in purveying Latte’s and Scones to the ‘Brew-o-philes” that faithfully migrate to Starbucks each morning. Suffice it to say, she did not answer her phone. . .

Read it all for a great "up-close and personal" view!

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.

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.

San Diego: An EpiscopalLife Online press release

More on San Diego from EpiscopalLife Online - and, you have to admit if you read this whole report, that this is really a press release, not a news report.

Here are some of the adjectives used to report the events, relay reaction to the presiding bishop, and describe her own persona:

• Bishop Mathes beamed with pride


• Her humility revealed itself in many moments throughout her visit


• The calm, intelligent way she handled the questions touched the audience.


• Jefferts Schori said thoughtfully


• Jefferts Schori's preaching was concise, thought-provoking and ended with a haunting question


• After the service, parishioners commented on her insightful message

Think there's any damage control going on here? Huummmm. . . .

The Rt. Rev. Valentino Mokiwa elected Archbishop of Tanzania

From SanDiegoAnglicans.com, some international news with a local connection:

Some exciting news for my rector, Fr. Lawrence Bausch, and the people of Holy Trinity Parish, where Archbishop-elect Mokiwa (Dar Es Salaam) is companion bishop (Archbishop Gregory Venables, Diocesan). Many in our community had the chance to meet then-Bishop Mokiwa during his visit to Holy Trinity Parish and the local AAC Chapter just this past February.

Of note, the province of Tanzania has typically alternated its selection of primates, choosing more Anglo-Catholic archbishops for itself every other election. In this instance, however, the province has chosen a second Anglo-Catholic as successor to Archbishop Mtetemela.

I understand some from Holy Trinity Parish may be attending the installation on May 25 of this year.

See also my posting on Bishop Valentino's visit to San Diego.

The Association of Western Anglican Congregations

A new website to check out for those interested in what's happening on the west coast - The Association of Western Anglican Congregations. They currently have 14 member congregations in California and Arizona.

Excerpts from their FAQ page [boldface mine]:

What's the difference between orthodox Anglican churches and the Episcopal Church?

An influential majority in the Episcopal Church has wandered far afield from the orthodox Christian faith. While clinging to the form of the Book of Common Prayer, and the historic documents of the Church, they redefine them to conform to perceived cultural changes. This tendency is insidious because it results in a religion that denies the authority of Holy Scripture and uniqueness and centrality of Jesus Christ as the Way to the Father. It is more than a little reminiscent of the humorist Garrison Keillor's tale of a fellow named Bob who invented a faith called Bobism, "the religion that changes to meet your needs."

What does your organization believe about the role of a bishop?

In the Episcopal Church model of leadership, a bishop sits like a monarch, issues instructions flowing down from the top and receives money flowing back up from the congregations. That's top-heavy management. Congregations don't need to be controlled like that; they need the encouragement and blessing of a godly bishop. The Western Anglicans' DNA recognizes that the most effective ministry takes place person-to-person at the parish level and can't be imposed from on high. In our vision a bishop might also be the rector of one of the parishes. First and foremost, a godly bishop defends the faith, making sure no weeds grow in that garden. A godly bishop manages, ministers to and, when necessary, disciplines the clergy. And a godly bishop does the work of an evangelist and plants churches. A bishop thus focused would have a small budget, mainly for travel expenses, and little or no staff. In other words, the money goes for church planting or stays at the parish level where the ministry needs are found and where God is moving.

What will keep Western Anglicans from falling into the same mistakes that have beset the Episcopal Church?

During the past four decades, perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Episcopal Church has been its failure to defend the basic Creedal tenets of the Christian faith, such as the divinity of Christ and the nature of the Trinity. Under a godly bishop, who views defense of the faith as a sacred obligation, this type of erosion would not happen.

It's important to note that the Episcopal Church has fallen into apostasy despite the authenticity of its historic documents. So documents per se, however sacred, aren't the answer here. Beginning with its failure to discipline the heretical Bishop James Pike in the 1960s, if not before, the Episcopal Church House of Bishops has tolerated an ever increasing apostasy. The only answer to this kind of erosion of the faith is to do what the Church has done throughout the millenia, and that's to maintain a robust defense of the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3) And this gets us right back to the sine qua non of godly bishops who view defense of the faith as a sacred obligation. So what will keep Western Anglicans (and its successor diocese) from falling into the mistakes of the Episcopal Church is diligence in the process of selecting its bishops. Also helpful will be a simple diocesan structure that supports the role of a bishop in providing godly leadership.

How is Western Anglicans being financed?

We're not a high-maintenance organization. We suggest that each of our member congregations contribute $100 multiplied by the number of its delegates to our House of Delegates meeting, held quarterly. That means the largest of our member congregations would contribute $700 annually, and that's a suggestion, not a tax. We've been blessed by private individuals donating a few thousand dollars to date. The only expenses we've had so far are for creating this website and holding meetings of our House of Delegates. As of December 1, 2007, we've raised less than $10,000 and spent less than half of that amount. The "Why" is that we believe effective ministry springs from our member congregations, that it can be encouraged and coordinated but can't be imposed from the top down. Any real money coming our way will be used to strengthen support of our smaller, newer congregations, as they seek to grow through mission, evangelism and service to our Lord. . .

What you are doing seems wonderful. But isn't there a danger that your organization will become just another splinter group and will not lead to unity?

Not really, because we're doing at the grass-roots level, here in the West, exactly what is being done by the Common Cause Partners' Bishops at their level of a College of Bishops. In both cases, orthodox Anglicans are laying aside whatever differences they might have and are coming together in what they pray and expect will be a new orthodox Province of the Anglican Communion in this land. We intend Western Anglicans to become the organizational structure of a diocese of the new Province.

Being subject to the oversight of a number of foreign bishops, will you be able to maintain your unity?

Yes, definitely. To understand why, permit a little history. The Episcopal Church has been hemorrhaging parishes in fits and starts for decades. The first large group departed in 1873 to form The Reformed Episcopal Church (which is now one of the Common Cause Partners, whose "Theological Statement" Western Anglicans has adopted). Some 14 other large groups (and many smaller groups) have left to form splinter denominations since that time. None, however, preserved its connection with the worldwide Anglican Communion until some recently departing congregations found a way to remain in communion with the worldwide church. For example, Western Anglican congregations, beginning in 2004, appealed to the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone of South America (Argentina, Bolivia) or the Anglican Province of Uganda for "provisional" (i.e., for the time being) oversight. Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda put it this way: "They came to us like children who were running away from home, and we offered them a safe place to be. We will not relinquish them into a spiritually dangerous situation."

We regard our several overseas bishops as wonderful, if somewhat temporary, blessings. (Recently, Uganda has consecrated an American, John Guernsey of Virginia, a bishop to provide additional oversight to Uganda's American congregations, including those that are members of Western Anglicans). . .

"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.

Association of Western Anglicans meets [Correction]

From SanDiegoAnglicans.com:

I [David Turney] attended the 2nd official gathering of the newly formed Association of Western Anglicans [correction: the Association of Western Anglican Congregations] (website forthcoming) this weekend up at St. James no-longer-Episcopal Church, Newport Beach. I didn't get a count of how many churches were actually there this weekend, but it was a full house, representing fourteen (and counting) member churches from Arizona, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County. For those trying to keep up with the proliferation of various Anglican gatherings, this one is distinguished as Anglican-only. ACN and AAC groups are still active in Southern California and involve faithful Anglicans both in and out of TEC.

At the meeting we were blessed by the presence of The Right Reverend Evans Kisekka, Diocese of Luweero who shepherds St. James Anglican as well as other Southern California churches. His vision remains the same today as it was back when everybody thought he was crazy for envisioning a new Anglican structure in America. . .

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.

Angel fire spares most of Camp Stevens

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Thousands of people over the past 55 years have been to Camp Stevens sometime in their lives – communing with nature, connecting with others and worshipping God in the hills just north of Julian.

On Saturday, a fire rushed down a hillside west of the Episcopal camp and destroyed 12 buildings, including several lodges with beds for 84 guests.

Remarkably, even though flames were threatening the largest and most important buildings, most of the camp was saved.

“This place is a treasure, and the blessing is the treasure remains,” said The Right Reverend James R. Mathes, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego.

The Angel fire, sparked by an illegal campfire near Camp Stevens, was 70 percent contained as of Monday night and the evacuation orders for the communities of Cedar Glen, Lower Banner Grade and Whispering Pines were lifted shortly after 5 p.m.

Fire officials hope to have the blaze fully contained by Wednesday night. . .

. . . The camp has been in operation since the Episcopal Church in the dioceses of Los Angeles and San Diego purchased it in 1952. . .

. . . When flames swept down on the camp Saturday, about 50 guests and a dozen staff members had to evacuate immediately.

About 30 of the guests were from St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church in San Carlos. For the past 16 years, the choir has gone to the camp for four days each September, said music director Gregory Funk.

The choir had been practicing for hours inside Bishop's Lodge when members were notified of a nearby fire at 1:35 p.m. Ten minutes later, they were told to evacuate right away.

“We all thought it was an overreaction and that the fire would be a long way off. But when we got outside we saw the fire was right up on us,” Funk said.
“The main thing is we all got out and we were able to keep track of everybody,” he said.

Bishop's Lodge was destroyed by flames minutes after the choir fled.

In their latest update, state fire officials said the 850-acre fire destroyed a home and 18 other structures or outbuildings, most of which were at Camp Stevens. . .

Read it all, and add a thanksgiving for safe evacuations.

San Diego area traditional Anglican churches

SanDiegoAnglicans.com has a nifty search page with a listing of the orthodox/traditional Anglican parishes in the San Diego area, 3 still ECUSA. Take a look.

Association of the Western Anglican Convocation

Interesting words from the Vestry Update in the September newsletter of The Anglican Church of St. Timothy & St. Titus here in San Diego:

So now what? Well the Association of the Western Anglican Convocation is coming together. This is a group of fellow Christians who follow Anglican traditions of worship. Fr. Russell is on the Executive Committee of that organization (AWAC) which will be meeting next month and Elaine Fox and I will join Fr. Russell in a meeting of all delegates to AWAC in October. We will keep you posted on progress toward the establishment of a genuine Anglican organization in North America.

H/t to SanDiegoAnglicans.com.
Read it all.

Upcoming Anglican ordination in San Diego

From SanDiegoAnglicans.com, info on an upcoming ordination:

Deacon Austin Mansfield, who has been pastoring the Holy Faith Anglican church plant [see here] down in the National City area, is to be ordained by Francis Lyons, Bishop of Bolivia. Congratulations, Deacon Mansfield.

From http://saintanneschurch.net/22b.churchnews.html Bishop Lyons will be here on Wednesday, September 12th to ordain Austin Mansfield to the priesthood and Ian McCarthy as a deacon. The ordination service will be at St. Anne's at 7:00 p.m. A light reception will follow.

Check it out.

Saga Arequipeña: The Twilight of a Mission

From SanDiegoAnglicans.com, a final posting by David Alenskis on his mission trip to Peru:

. . . Although I was living in Peru, I could not avoid the fact that while I spoke like a Peruvian, ate like a Peruvian, traveled like a Peruvian, made Peruvian friends, and developed an insatiable love for Peru to the point of desiring to call it home at times, I remain an American, and I am bound by that identity with privileges and obligations. And ever so quickly, I have had to return to that homeland which I had left and to which I belonged.

And yet, not even this is entirely accurate. Because all of us, those for whom Christ shed his blood and for whom he was raised, who have been baptized into his Death and Resurrection unto pardon and deliverance from sins, who have received the Spirit of Adoption and have so been made one Body with him, and who have been seated with him at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly realms, we no longer belong to ourselves or to any other but rather belong exclusively to this faithful Savior Jesus Christ and are heirs of the Kingdom which he has ushered in. . .

David sends an update via email on the earthquake situation in Peru (he had already left before the earthquake hit, but is concerned about friends):

My heart is going out to all those who are suffering in Ica and Pisco (I traveled through them at one point en route to Arequipa), and I hope that the government, church, and others can help them in what really is a horrible crisis.

Read it all, and please add the people and churches in Peru to your prayers.

Sin, Forgiveness, and Love

A worthwhile two-part series on Sin, Forgiveness, and Love by Fr. David Baumann here and here.

From Part I:

Recognizing one’s sin provides no guarantee of moving on to the next step. After recognition, one must come to repentance. Repentance means not only saying, “I have sinned,” but being sorry for it and wishing to fix it. There are times when someone may say, “Yes, okay, I did it, but...” And “but” is followed by rationalization, blaming someone else, pointing out someone else’s sin, or even an excuse for why the sin was really okay.

Repentance (which may include contrition or a feeling of sorrow and empathy with offended parties) must lead to confession. In confession, one frankly names one’s sins. Confession must be made to God, quite often to the offended parties, and sometimes to “the Church” in one form or another. If no sin is solitary, neither is any sin just against God alone. Just as love of God and love of neighbor must go together, sin is also against both God and neighbor. In the rite of the Reconciliation of a Penitent, at one point the penitent says, “I confess to Almighty God” and “to his Church...” It is at this point that the penitent begins to gain power over his sin; it is true that to name something gives one power over it.

And from Part II:

We must couple John’s, “No one who is a child of God sins” (1 John 3:9a) with Paul’s, “The good thing I want to do, I never do; the evil thing which I do not want—that is what I do” (Romans 7:19). This is far too complex a matter for reflection on a blogpost that has already grown long, though I think that a good place to start would be to consider what is in the heart of the believer. When we truly and genuinely desire holiness, to love God and our neighbor, our sins will be kind of like “exhaust” on the journey, i.e. not willfully evil or deliberately injurious to others as the primary pattern of life. That is, they are evidence of weakness and imperfection rather than corruption that has been embraced while God is rejected.

New church in Temecula underlines Anglican divide

From a North County Times article by James Curran this Sunday:

. . . Those prayers were recited at the debut service for Temecula Valley Anglican Fellowship, which was held less than a half-mile away from St. Thomas Episcopal Church, the home of their former comrades in faith.

The service was the latest salvo in a chaotic battle for the souls -- if not the hearts and minds -- of believers after a series of ideological decisions, including the ordination of an openly gay bishop, inspired some parishes to split from the national Episcopal Church.

About 75 people attended the first service of Temecula Valley Anglican, which is called an outreach ministry of St. John's Anglican Church in Fallbrook. St. John's has been at the forefront of the struggle. It split from the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego due to theological disagreements.

The diocese and St. John's are currently arguing in the courts to determine who actually owns the land and sanctuary where St. John's currently meets. But instead of consolidating resources for a protracted legal battle, St. John's decided to expand into Southwest County, offering what officials call a traditional option for churchseekers.

. . . Murrieta resident Rick Powell said his family had left the Episcopal Church several years before [2003] due to other decisions he thought ran contrary to Anglican belief. He went to the Temecula Valley Anglican service and plans to continue attending.

"It's been said throughout the centuries, the Anglican Church is built like a stool with three legs," Powell said. "We take the Scripture to be primary. If Scripture's not clear, we take tradition to be our guide. Where tradition is not clear, we take reason.

"In my opinion, the Episcopal Church has changed that paradigm to where it's reason, followed by tradition, followed by Scripture. The demotion of Scripture is the reason (we left)."

[Fr. Don] Kroeger [of St. John's Anglican] said a series of decisions that go against Scripture, not simply the Robinson vote, led to St. John's leaving the diocese.

"I've never even preached against homosexuality," Kroeger said. "I've preached against sin. The church is reinterpreting Scripture. We could not abide by that. I believe what we believe is consistent with 90 percent of Christian churches."

. . .Despite the new congregation nearby, [the Rev. Robert A.] Nagy [of St. Thomas Episcopal in Temecula] doesn't believe his flock will abandon St. Thomas en masse. He cited a survey that asserted first-time churchgoers attend a house of worship based on proximity rather than core belief. . .

Love that last sentence -- nice to know I've selected my church based on convenience and proximity rather than closely held beliefs in Scripture and the Word of God. . . but wait a minute -- I pass several other churches on the way to my church. Huummmmmm. . .

Read it all. Also, see here for everything you ever wanted to know about what's happening in San Diego. And don't forget to check here for more info on the new Temecula Valley Anglican Fellowship.