California Supreme Court church property cases oral arguments to stream live

Today and tomorrow the California Supreme Court will finally hear the litigation between Bishop Bruno and the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and the Anglican churches in the area who left the diocese and kept their property. Will the Court follow the precedent of "neutral principles" or not?

For more background on this, watch my interview with Eric Sohlgren, attorney for St. James Newport Beach and others on AnglicanTV.

A run-down of all the documents pertaining to the case:

S155094
Episcopal Church Cases

Expanded background summary (PDF, 9 KB)
Case information, including Supreme Court docket entries
Court of Appeal opinion (PDF)
Petition for review (PDF, 4,368 KB)
Answer to petition for review (PDF, 622 KB)
Reply to answer to petition for review (PDF, 676 KB)
Bunyan et al. brief (PDF, 2,186 KB)
Episcopal Church's brief (PDF, 2,052 KB)
Bunyan et al. reply brief (PDF, 1,763 KB)
Amicus curiae brief (Charismatic Episcopal Church) (PDF, 745 KB)
Amicus curiae brief (Diocese of San Joaquin) (PDF, 1,389 KB)
Amicus curiae brief (Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church) (PDF, 2,067 KB)
Amicus curiae brief (Iglesia Evangelica Latina) (PDF, 1,496 KB)
Amicus curiae brief (Kirkpatrick) (PDF, 1,174 KB)
Amicus curiae brief (Lee) (PDF, 1,292 KB)
Amicus curiae brief (Poch) (PDF, 1,885 KB)
Amicus curiae brief (Presbyterian Lay Committee) (PDF, 2,063 KB)
Amicus curiae brief (Presbytery of Hanmi) (PDF, 2,035 KB)
Bunyan et al.'s response to amicus curiae briefs (PDF, 2,046 KB)
Episcopal Church's response to amicus curiae briefs (PDF, 1,818 KB)
Answer brief to amicus curiae briefs (PDF, 2,302 KB)

And here's the live-streaming info from SanDiegoAnglicans:

Event Date: 10/07/2008 9:00am - 10/08/2008 5:00pm

Event Address: (updated: there seems to be conflicting information on the sites referenced below about whether this is being covered by streaming video or not. It does look like it will be carried on Cox Cable Public Access, which is channel 23 in southern areas).

Watch streaming video of this week's California Supreme Court oral arguments.

http://www.calchannel.com/
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/supreme/riv-oralarg.htm

Check it out.

BabyBlue: Upcoming timeline

From BabyBlue Online, a list of upcoming events:

October 8 - TEC/Diocese of Los Angeles vs Anglican Congregations (Appeal before the California Supreme Court)

October 14 - TEC/Diocese of Virginia vs CANA, Virginia (significantly scaled-down to focus on whether the VA Division Statute also applies to three smaller properties)

Oct. 20-23 - TEC Executive Council, Helena, Montana

Oct. 21-22 - Anglican Awakening - Akron, Ohio

Nov. 4 - Election Day, USANov. 7 - Diocese of Pittsburgh Special Convention - Pittsburgh, PA

Nov. 7-8 - Diocese of Quincy Annual Synod, Quincy, Illinois

Nov. 13-15 - Anglican Awakening, Amesbury, MA

Nov. 14-15 - Diocese of Ft. Worth Convention, Bedford, Texas

Dec. 1-3 - Common Cause Partnership Council

Dec. 15-19 - Windsor Continuation Group Meeting, Mustang Island, Texas

Jan/Feb 2009 - Anglican Primates Meeting, Bahamas

Check it out.

Weekly AAC message from Bishop David Anderson

Via email, the weekly American Anglican Council message from Bishop David Anderson for August 8 [boldface mine]:

Dearly Beloved in Christ,

Lambeth is now over. Many of us are studying not only the documents of Lambeth, but the detailed analyses that are being produced by various sources, and then sitting back and saying, "OK, what is really going on, and how does this play out in the next year?"

Reports came in from Lambeth that a number of TEC revisionist bishops were spreading misinformation in their Indaba groups about the state of litigation in the United States. Their claim was that the orthodox churches and dioceses "were suing them," and the blame was really to be put on the orthodox. This is untrue, but it has been proven that if a lie is told often enough, people begin to believe there is something to it. Let us look at a few examples of lawsuits in the US.

In California, the bishop of Los Angeles is suing the orthodox churches, as is also the case in the diocese of San Diego. The Los Angeles orthodox churches won in the lower court and were reversed in a Court of Appeals, and the case is now before the California Supreme Court. The point to take away is that Bishop J. Jon Bruno initiated the lawsuit, demanding even the children's Sunday School crayons (no, I am not joking, you can read it in the public record), and for anyone, especially a California bishop, to assert that they were sued first is a deliberate untruth.

In Virginia, Bishop Peter Lee had worked out an arbitration procedure that would have allowed the churches and the diocese to negotiate an agreed-upon settlement and avoid litigation. The churches proceeded with their parish votes and the registration of the vote tallies with the local Court Houses, as per the 1867 Virginia law that applied to church splits. When the TEC Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori heard about it, she advised Bishop Lee that "there is a new sheriff in town." Lee was told that if he didn't sue the churches, TEC would sue him. Bishop Lee uncharacteristically buckled under the pressure, and without advance notice, launched the lawsuits. For him to say that the Virginia churches sued him would be a gross violation of the truth also.

Somewhere in the United States, a parish may have asked for a declaratory judgment to settle issues of property title, or may have, once they were sued, filed a counter suit in defense, but it has been the model of the orthodox churches not to use the courts to attack bishops, dioceses, or TEC. The very aggressive stance that TEC has taken was first formulated by leadership within the Presbyterian Church in the US, and it appears that TEC Chancellor David Booth Beers is following the Presbyterian game plan to a "P."

As I mentioned above, there are lengthy reviews of the Lambeth documents available, but as an extremely brief summary you must notice that those who prepared the Indaba Reflections Document prepared it as a "reflection," not as a "mind of the Conference." It was not intended for the document to be the primary outcome of the conference, but simply a narrative to track what people and groups were expressing. Finally, the Reflections were not to our knowledge voted on or formally adopted by the Conference, nor was the document intended to be a resolution that called for specific action.

However, the Archbishop of Canterbury took the document and re-characterized it according to his agenda for the future, with the implied endorsement of the entire Lambeth Conference - although it was only a small group's compilation of "reflections." If they didn't know what they were producing, Dr. Williams certainly knew what he wanted, and it did serve his purposes.

Dr. Williams would like us to believe that almost everyone wants the three moratoria on same-sex blessings, gays in the episcopate, and border crossings to be effected. No vote on this was actually taken, but on his word we are to believe this. Dr. Williams would also like us to believe that there is "a strong consensus on the need to examine how the Instruments of Communion will best work." Already voices in TEC are shrilly announcing that they have no intention of having any moratoria on anything, and some have suggested that the General Convention of TEC in the summer of 2009 will overturn any agreement to refrain from consecrations of gay bishops.

Another of Dr. Williams' points is that some sort of covenant is desirable, although the extent of its power will have to be determined. The breakdown will, of course, occur when we get to the specifics of the covenant's contents. Will it be adequate as a covenant to prevent prevarication, and will there be actual consequences for those that either break the covenant or don't sign it?

Dr. Williams believes that most favor a Pastoral Forum as something that would help the situation and he is looking for detail on how it will be formed. What is not discussed is his lack of resolve for actually incurring painful consequences. His abysmal performance with the Panel of Reference and the lack of funding available will be crucial factors. If he needs to ask TEC for money for this, you know in advance the outcome has been bought.

Dr. Williams is already $4 million US dollars in the hole for shortfall on the just-ended Lambeth Conference. He has reportedly asked Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori for permission to raise money from TEC in the United States to help cover the debt. Next year he proposes having the JSC and the ACC and the Primates all meeting in one year. Will there be a budget shortfall next year, too? If so, who would cover it?

Dr. Williams is a master at building things designed not to work, such as the Panel of Reference, and now, the Lambeth Conference. All of this is to keep us together while we listen to his encouragement, promises and announcement of another meeting in six or nine or twelve months. In much of the Anglican world, however, everyone is a bit wiser now, and we realize the cause for his procrastination is that he secretly agrees with the gay agenda and hopes that if he can avoid an actual split, in time we will all come along. It is, after all, happening in England, and why can't everyone be like the Church of England, which lets the secular government tell it what is moral and proper? The latest bizarre story is the Bishop of Exeter, the Rt. Rev. Michael Langrish, giving his blessing for a "gay wedding" between Canon Rodney Bomford and his gardener Paddy O'Neil. The marriage couple held a "stag and hen party" at a local pub and apparently the "bride" dressed up in a pink top hat and had a sash.

Letters that Dr. Williams wrote as recently as 2002, when he was appointed as Archbishop, reveal his real beliefs, and they help us to understand why he cannot and will not act to bring the Anglican Communion into good order and faith. His comments, which several British newspapers have now seen and reported on, refute the Anglican Communion's traditional teaching that homosexual behavior is sinful. He goes on to express his hope the the Anglican Communion will at some point change its position to be open to gay partnerships.

He is quoted as saying, "The Bible does not address the matter of appropriate behavior for those who are, for whatever reason, homosexual by instinct or nature." His reported academic brilliance may be as the "emperor's clothes;" this type of remark does such violence to the plain reading of scripture that it should disqualify any such speaker from any level of Holy Orders.

The concept that homosexuality is natural is fully unproven, but, like other types of propaganda, if repeated enough times, some will begin to believe it. For a moment, for the sake of argument, suppose that homosexuality is natural. It then joins many kinds of behavior that are "natural" but forbidden in the Kingdom of God. We are called to put aside the natural in order to put on the supernatural. Violence is very natural for human beings, yet we are called as Christians to turn aside from violence. An eye for an eye is natural, but forgiveness as God forgives us is the model we are called to. When scripture says that men are not to lie with men as with a woman, what part of that is not clear to Dr. Williams? It is an encompassing statement, permitting of no nuancing; it has no footnotes about only applying to heterosexual males who are doing something that they really don't want to do anyway. It uses inclusive language - men are not to do this. Other passages refer to women, lest they feel slighted by omission. Scripture is uncomfortably clear on most of the difficult things such as sex and money, so why is it that the "Primus inter Pares" of the Anglican Communion, who is reputed to be a brilliant scholar, cannot read, mark, learn and inwardly digest these scriptures? Hmm.

If you want to know where all of this is going, read what Rowan had written when he didn't know it would be in the London Times and the Telegraph. Then connect the dots. It does make me wonder if in fact a Queen's option still exists. This revelation about Dr. Williams tells us much about how his use of these post-Lambeth bodies will advance not only his stated agenda, but his now-more-visible underlying agenda.

Let us pray for the Anglican Church, that God's will (not anyone else's) be done. And let us pray for better times and for faithful leaders that the orthodox laity and clergy can truly trust, look up to, and follow.

Blessings and Peace in Jesus Christ,

The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council

They're commminnnnggg. . . General Convention '09 volunteer coordinators and supervisors meet in Anaheim

From EpiscopalLife Online [boldface mine]:

Volunteer coordinators and supervisors got their first look July 12 at the convention facility in Anaheim, California, that will be the center of attention for the Episcopal Church a year from now when General Convention 2009 convenes in the Diocese of Los Angeles.

The meeting with General Convention staff from the Episcopal Church Center took place at the Anaheim Marriott hotel, one of several within a short walk of the Anaheim Convention Center, where the main meetings of the General Convention and the concurrent Episcopal Church Women's Triennial will be held. . .

Most of the supervisors who will work with the coordinators to oversee the 1,500 volunteers expected to staff General Convention were recruited from within the six-county Diocese of Los Angeles, although a few are from other dioceses.

Lynn Headley, representing the Los Angeles diocese in her role as volunteer coordinator, welcomed the gathering to Anaheim on behalf of Bishop J. Jon Bruno. Also attending was Dina Ferguson, chair of the local planning committee.

Leading the meeting was Lori Ionnitiu, manager of General Convention, who explained the basic structure of the triennial meeting. Ionnitiu encouraged the coordinators and supervisors to become acquainted and begin to develop the relationships that will be essential to the smooth operation of the enormous convention and its legislative work. . .

The Rev. Gregory Straub, executive officer of General Convention, gave the group an overview of the workings of the triennial gathering, which is said to be one of the largest legislative bodies in the world, with up to eight deputies from each of its 110 dioceses representing 17 countries, and as many as 300 active and resigned bishops.

"For all its work, General Convention can seem like a party," said Straub as he described the activities that go on outside the two legislative houses, including the plethora of goods and services offered in the Exhibit Hall and events hosted by affiliated groups, such as seminaries and special interest organizations. In all, some 15,000 deputies, bishops, volunteers, exhibitors, guests and others are expected to attend the 10-day meeting July 8-17, 2009.

The theme for the meeting will be "Ubuntu," an African word loosely meaning "interconnectedness," Straub told the group. "It has been translated by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as ‘I am because you are.'"
Connecting that theme to the coordinators and supervisors, Straub said, "We shall be a convention because you are. Without you we cannot recruit and train the volunteers who make General Convention run."

Donna Keller, ECW's vice president for program, told the gathering that the Triennial will have the theme "Grow in Grace," with major addresses by writer Phyllis Tickle and Bishop Steven Charleston, president and dean of Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition, the Triennial will focus on the Millennium Development Goals and feature several workshops and an "Honored Women" night, which will recognize the ministry of women nominated by their dioceses, said Keller, who resides in the Diocese of Los Angeles. . .

Read it all.

Los Angeles: Placentia Anglo-Catholic priest and vestry weigh options

Posted on VirtueOnline, a statement from the Rev. David Baumann of Blessed Sacrament in Placentia (Diocese of Los Angeles) [boldface mine]:

In January 2007 I called for the formation of a Discernment Committee at Blessed Sacrament parish to consider our place in the Episcopal Church during this time of the Anglican crisis and realignment. After sixteen months, that Committee made a preliminary recommendation to the Vestry.

As I am sure most of you know, the Episcopal Church has been in crisis for three or four decades, and the intensity of the crisis has been rapidly escalating over the past few years and now affects the entire worldwide Anglican Communion. As former Senior Warden Robert Bell said over a year ago at the Annual Meeting, "There is a storm coming, and we cannot ignore it." At that time I called for the formation of a Discernment Committee to help us see what the best course for our parish might be in this time of the Anglican crisis.

WHAT THE REPORT SAYS

The Discernment Committee has been working for a year and four months, doing very careful and considered work in an extremely complex situation in order to make a recommendation to the Vestry. The Vestry has now received two documents: my personal report on the background of the current situation after more than 35 years of contending for the Faith, and the Discernment Committee's Preliminary Report and Recommendation. Together these two documents comprise twenty-nine pages. The two documents provide observations on our current crisis in the worldwide Anglican Communion and how that crisis affects us.

Here is the recommendation. The report and recommendation were accepted last Sunday by consensus but are now under prayerful consideration before anticipated final acceptance in June. Yet the Vestry is of one mind sufficiently now to begin to act on the recommendation.

The recommendation has four points: The first point asks the Vestry to recommit the parish to Catholicity, Education, and Prayer-to make an unqualified and strong public commitment to the Catholic Faith, as received by and practiced within Anglicanism and consistent with the faith and practice of the undivided Church, without compromise of revealed truth or dilution of godly charity regardless of any pressure to conform to the precepts of the Episcopal Church wherever the Church violates that faith.

The Committee further asks the Vestry, on behalf of the people of the parish, publicly and emphatically to disavow the stances and practices the Episcopal Church has taken that violate Anglican consensus and orthodox Christianity, and affirm our commitment to the Anglican way and membership in the Anglican Communion wherever it is faithful to Scriptural and creedal Christianity.

The second point asks the Vestry to request Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO)-that is, a relationship with another bishop whose convictions we recognize as in line with creedal Christian belief and worldwide Anglicanism. We would call upon this bishop in times when we have candidates for confirmation and ordination, for the purpose of conducting teaching missions, and when the time comes that we need to select a new rector. Having a DEPO bishop would strengthen our effort to evangelize to Christ in the Anglican tradition and would help to overcome the reluctance of many parishioners and potential members to be identified with the Episcopal Church.

The third point recommends full support for our vocationers to ordination.

It has become clear that it is very difficult for our vocationers to get through the ordination process in the Diocese of Los Angeles for reasons that do not satisfy me or the Discernment Committee. There are other options, however, such as going through a DEPO bishop. The Committee therefore recommends that the Vestry support each vocationer regardless of whichever path that vocationer may choose-that is, if we are convinced that an individual has a call to ordination, the Vestry will do everything it can to ensure that the vocationer will be ordained.

The fourth point calls for restricting or redirecting our Mission Share Fund.

The Discernment Committee recommends that the Vestry redirect the bulk of our Mission Share Fund, the money we give to the diocese, toward missionary and outreach programs that can be gladly supported by all of our membership. Recognizing that the diocese does provide us with many benefits, blessings, and support, the Vestry will give a percentage or a fixed amount of our Mission Share Fund to the Diocese.

Please be aware that the recommendations for DEPO and the redirection of our Mission Share Fund are options that Bishop Bruno has already offered to us at a meeting the Vestry had with him in August 2006; he took the initiative in these matters.

Finally, this is a preliminary report because the Discernment Committee will remain in place to monitor emerging developments within the Anglican Communion and keep the Vestry informed.

WHAT THE RECOMMENDATION MEANS

Who are we? That is, what is this parish? What do we stand for? To what are we committed? Our Statement of Vision says that we were founded as an Anglo-Catholic parish and that we intend to stay that way.

The Anglican Communion is our home-to be defended, protected, and preserved. The very term "God wins" that I have used many times over the years implies that we are engaged in a battle. More than that, we are engaged in a battle that has already been won. . .

Read it all, and check out Fr. Baumann's blog, John One Five. Fr. Baumann also graciously let me take some of Bishop Keith Ackerman's time when he was visiting Blessed Sacrament last year to interview him for AnglicanTV.

American Anglican Council weekly update

Via email, a message from AAC president, Bishop David Anderson [boldface mine]:

Beloved in Christ,

Although the besetting sins of the American Episcopal Church have been teaching paths to God other than through Jesus Christ and playing down the authority of Holy Scripture, the aspect that most people see is the relentless pushing of the homosexual agenda. We read in the Los Angeles Diocese's "Episcopal News" Update from May 25, 2008, that Episcopalians are encouraged to join in the Los Angeles Gay Pride parade on June 8. We quote: "The Bishop's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Ministry invites the diocesan community to join them and Bishop J. Jon Bruno to march and pray in this year's Los Angeles LGBT Pride parade on Sunday, June 8." It goes on to say that "Episcopalians will gather for a celebration of the Eucharist at 9 am in the Bank of America parking lot at the northeast corner of Santa Monica Blvd and Crescent Heights in West Hollywood before moving elsewhere to line up for the parade."

Doesn't that just warm your heart, knowing that not only are misguided clergy and laity supporting Gay Pride, but Episcopal/Anglican bishops are, too - even riding on a float. This is not a new occurrence in the LA Diocese, because each year the bishops take turns participating. The real question is, "When will Katharine Jefferts Schori be photographed riding on a float for Gay Pride?" And it isn't just in Los Angeles; the Episcopal Church bishops and priests are often represented in Gay Pride parades around the country.

It appears, if an article by Hilary White for LifeSite News is true, that now the British Government will officially, though covertly, push the homosexual agenda using all of their embassies and chancery offices around the world, even if that subverts the law of the nation they are in. This is truly breathtaking news, and raises a profound question if true: is there in fact an organized international effort to corrupt the moral climate of the entire world? If the story is true, this public exposure of the British diplomatic agenda will have far-reaching consequences. Within England, the governments' pro-homosexual legislation has caused the Roman Catholic Church to begin pulling out of the adoption ministry, because all agencies will have to handle adoptions for homosexual couples as well as for married heterosexual ones. Lost will be a vital ministry which helps both small children and couples desiring a child, along with the millions of pounds sterling poured into these agencies by Roman Catholics for buildings and services.

Word has reached us of Islamic attacks in northern Nigeria, and churches being burned. Apparently the Islamic tactic of kidnapping young girls, forcing them to convert to Islam, and then marrying them off to Muslim men, has finally resulted in police action. Although the girls in this case were rescued by the police and taken out of the area for safety, this is something that many in our Christian Anglican family have to deal with when they are a minority in Islamic Sharia Law areas. Is England ready for this? The Archbishop of Canterbury has already said that Sharia Law is "probably inevitable" in England. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali has a better idea - why not introduce Muslims to the real Christian faith and give them the opportunity to be freed from misunderstandings and become an inheritor of eternal life through Jesus Christ? In the meanwhile, let us pray for those Christians in northern Nigeria whose lives and property are today at risk.

Moving from the global back to the local, the number of dioceses that are protesting the form and manner of the depositions of Bishops Cox and Schofield, done at the last House of Bishops' meeting, continues to grow. South Carolina and Central Florida have been joined by Springfield, Northern Indiana, Western Louisiana, and more may follow.

Blessings and peace in Christ Jesus,

The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council

Tactics explained at Fr. Jake's

I always get tactics and strategy confused, so I may be using the wrong term in the headline. But whichever it is, it's happening now!

From the Rev. Susan Russell over at Fr. Jake's on justifying All Saints move to start performing same-sex weddings [boldface mine]:

Although it's certainly debatable, reading Canon 17:5 in conversation with Canon 18:1 we believe that the spirit of those canons transcends the letter of the language describing marriage as a union between a man and a woman in Canon 18:2b. And we'll be suggesting fixing that in Anaheim.

It's arguable that the 1976 approval of the ordination of women wouldn't have happened without 1974 and Philadelpia pushing the church to amend the canons to reflect the reality there WERE women who were priests. I'll argue it's the same here ... and that the church needs to amend the canons to reflect the reality that there are same-sex couples who are MARRRIED.

But remember, Bishop Bruno knows nothing about any of this! But Susan Russell+ has that covered as well:

+Jon's letter to the clergy said ...

I remind you that pastoral acts are personal decisions between clergy and members of your congregation.

... which is why we don't have to ask for "permission" for blessings -- which have been happening at All Saints Church for over 15 years -- and where we'll stand when we start marrying gay couples on June 16th.

From Bishop Bruno of Los Angeles to the clergy and laity in his diocese

From Susan Russell's blog [boldface mine]:

Dear Clergy and Laity of the Diocese of Los Angeles,

I trust by now you have had the opportunity to read my statement in response to the recent California Supreme Court decision.

Some clergy and lay leaders have contacted my office requesting information or clarification of how this decision affects what we can do, or will do, as well as what our policy on this issue will be. As publicized in the press, the State of California expects the decision to become effective 30 days after its issuance. In addition I remain on sabbatical and am scheduled to resume my regular work schedule the week of June 3.

There are canonical, prayer book, and pastoral questions which are raised and must be addressed. I have been in contact with the bishops of the Dioceses of California and San Diego and we will be working together with other bishops of California to meet and discuss how we proceed. I will keep you informed and will act with all possible dispatch while attending to the canonical and pastoral issues the decision affect.

I remind you that pastoral acts are personal decisions between clergy and members of your congregation. In the meantime please remain patient and prayerful. Thank you.

Yours in Christ,
J. Jon Bruno, Bishop
Diocese of Los Angeles

H/t to Stand Firm.

AnglicanTV round-up

Be sure and check out all of the video at AnglicanTV. Kevin spent the weekend in the mountains of southern California videotaping the talks at the annual Anglican Men's Retreat.

This is the second year that Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi of Uganda has been their primary leader. A number of other bishops were there as well, including Bishop John Guernsey and Bishop Terence Kelshaw (I know there were others, but I don't have their names in front of me).

The theme this year was Christian courage and they studied Joshua and the book of Judges. Watch these all - very inspiring.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

AnglicanTV: Archbishop Henry Orombi, Talk 1, at Anglican Men's Weekend 2008

From AnglicanTV:

AnglicanTV: Anglican men's weekend *Update

Update: From Kevin, "The lodge won't let us use their broadband for the live stream. Will upload videos tonight."

Kevin Kallsen at AnglicanTV is at the Anglican Men's Weekend in southern California. He will be live streaming as much as he can, given the sporadic Internet connections in the mountains. Check it out here!

This is a live stream of the Anglican Men's Weekend. We are in the Hills of Southern CA -- so I can't promise a good internet connection all weekend. I will post the flash video the following morning.

The stream starts at 8:00pm PST with Archbishop Henry Orombi speaking.

Saturday:

9:00am pst: Archbishop Henry Orombi and Paul Ssembiro
1:30pm pst: More Teaching
6:30pm pst: More Teaching
8:30pm pst: Bishop Calvaconti
Sunday:

Holy Euacharist Rite II

Video clips hosted by Ustream

"Mere accommodation of the orthodox. . . is no longer an option"

From the Midwest Conservative Journal, thoughts on Lambeth and the future of the Anglican Communion:

. . . Might Dr. Williams cut his losses and recognize Donald Harvey and Bob Duncan as co-primates of Canada and the United States regardless of how loudly TEO and the AOiC scream? It might be his only way to keep the Communion in one piece. Will such a move keep people like me in the Anglican tradition?

No. Mere accomodation of the orthodox within a heterodox "church," a so-called "safe haven," is no longer an option. I might just as easily "accomodate" myself to the Unitarians. When the issue concerns my soul and the souls of those around me, "you believe what you want and we'll believe what we want" is not an attractive philosophy.

I don't know why, but it makes me a little nervous that Christopher Johnson is channeling my thoughts! But he is so right - "mere accommodation of the orthodox. . . is no longer an option."
Read it all.

AnglicanTV interview with Bishop Terence Kelshaw

I interviewed Bishop Terence Kelshaw, retired bishop of the Rio Grande and now Bishop in Residence for St. James Anglican under Uganda, for AnglicanTV last week. Bishop Kelshaw talked about a wide range of issues, including the politicization of the Episcopal Church, the proposed Anglican Covenant, Lambeth 1998 and 2008, the Anglican Communion Network, GAFCON, Bishop Kelshaw’s role in the trial of Bishop Righter, the current House of Bishops, etc. Enjoy!

Don't forget that Kevin is still fundraising for his trip to GAFCON!

AnglicanTV interview with Eric Sohlgren, attorney

Here's my interview with Eric Sohlgren, attorney with Payne & Fears LLP in Irvine, California, about the on-going litigation between the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and churches which have voted to leave the diocese, move under Anglican bishops, and retain their property. Mr. Sohlgren is the lead attorney for St. James Anglican in Newport Beach.

These cases have moved to the California Supreme Court, and in mid-November, the opening brief for St. James was filed. Here is the press release from Payne & Fears on the filing, and here is a copy of the opening brief itself.

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.

AnglicanTV: Must Watch: the Bruno Press Conference

From AnglicanTV:

California Supreme Court to review church property dispute [Updated]

UPDATE: for more info, check TitusOneNine, which has a response from St. James posted.

From the [Newport Beach and Costa Mesa] Daily Pilot:

St. James Church has taken its land dispute against the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles County to the California Supreme Court in hopes of having the previous decision giving control of the property to the diocese overturned.

The Newport Beach church filed a petition in July with the state court after an appellate ruling in June in favor of the diocese. The court on Wednesday granted St. James’ petition to review the case, according to Supreme Court records available online. . .

Read it all.

St. Luke's may stay on property pending appeal

From the American Anglican Council:

St. Luke’s of the Mountains Church will continue to occupy the church property and buildings it has purchased and maintained for over 60 years, during the appeal of a ruling by the Los Angeles Superior Court on July 3, 2007. . .

The Court had previously granted summary judgment in favor of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and The Episcopal Church on their claim to take over the property of St. Luke’s based on an internal Episcopal rule, following a recent decision of the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District. On August 15, 2007, St. Luke’s Church appealed the Court’s judgment against it. This morning, the Honorable John S. Wiley of the Los Angeles Superior Court granted a stay of the judgment pending appeal, which allows the St. Luke’s congregation to remain in the La Crescenta church property until a final appellate ruling is made.

The Court rejected the Episcopal demand that the local congregation deposit over $7 million – based on a commercial valuation – in exchange for permission to remain on the property. By doing so, the Court adopted St. Luke’s arguments that the property was an historic church in continuous operation for many decades.

In addition, the Court rejected the demand of the Episcopal Diocesan bishop, the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, that no other Christian bishops be permitted on the property without his prior permission. This demand was irrelevant to protecting the property from damage pending appeal, and instead would have served solely to deprive St. Luke’s Church of visits from its spiritual leaders based on their church affiliation. . .

Read it all.

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.

Anglican churches petition California Supreme Court

From Virtue Online, an update on the ongoing legal manuevering between ECUSA and three of the Anglican churches originally in the Diocese of Los Angeles:

Three California Anglican churches today announced the filing of petitions with the California Supreme Court to settle a church property dispute case that affects countless churches and their members throughout California. The three churches are St. James Church in Newport Beach, All Saints' Church in Long Beach, and St. David's Church in North Hollywood.

In July 2007, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three, reversed the Orange County Superior Court's prior ruling that the three former Episcopal churches, which ended their affiliation with the national denomination in 2004, did not forfeit their property by changing their affiliation to another Anglican church.

This division of the appellate court broke with nearly thirty years of California church property law applying "neutral principles" (i.e., who holds the deed, who bought or donated the property, and whether the local church ever agreed to turn over the property), and instead ruled that denominations can take over local church property by simply passing an internal rule - even if the local church is separately incorporated, bought and maintained the property, and never consented to the rule. . .

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