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.

Local reflections on GAFCON

Reflections from Fr. Larry Bausch, rector of Holy Trinity San Diego (Southern Cone) and member of Forward in Faith, on his GAFCON experience, posted on SanDiegoAnglicans.com [boldface mine]:

It has been quite interesting to read some of the many email opinions both here and at other sites concerning GAFCON. As one who was blessed to attend the Conference, I can say that I have not been surprised to see that many who were not there have had time to reflect on what happened in advance of some of us who were. This is in part the consequence of the full schedule which allowed virtually no time for reflection. Between speakers, workshops, networking and conversations while eating meals or sitting on busses, there wasn't much time left. Taking the earliest bus back to my hotel each evening, I arrived about 9:15 pm at the earliest or 11:00 pm at the latest, with mornings starting usually with the Eucharist at 6:30, breakfast, and time to board the bus at 7:30 am.

Now, having had a couple of days to do a bit of reflection, I'd like to offer the following comments: First, I was stunned with the comprehensiveness and strength of the Statement. It covered more territory than I had thought possible, considering the gravity of our concerns, the diversity of the local circumstances of the pilgrims, and the very strong personalities in leadership. Second, I was particularly pleased with the clear acknowledgement of the utter failure of the Archbishop of Canterbury to fulfill the expressed will of the 1998 Lambeth Conference and subsequent Primates' Meetings in using his authority to withhold invitations from those bishops who have violated this will from Lambeth 2008. In this same vein, the Statement is quite clear that GAFCON had become necessary precisely because of this failure. Third, I rejoice in the endorsement of the creation of a new orthodox Province for North America, using the work of the Common Cause Partnership to help bring this about.

I do agree with many who have written that the Statement is imperfect, and that it leaves many strategic concerns unaddressed. . .

Read it all.

Why I left ECUSA, Part 2: A crack appears

The second in a series outlining why my family and I believe it is time for us to leave the Episcopal Church (read Why I left ECUSA, Part 1: A brief history here)

Part 2: A crack appears

I had been to Bible studies at church, usually moms’ groups where we would go through a booklet on “Women in the Bible” or something that related the Bible to our everyday lives. These are great studies to get to know other women and become more familiar with God’s Word, but at some point, I realized that I wasn’t really doing Bible study - I was doing Bible dabbling.

Often, we would deviate from the Bible to talk about our current situations with children, husbands, work, etc. I knew I needed something more rigorous and structured, since I am not one to be disciplined enough to do that on my own. My husband had been going to Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), a non-denominational Bible study that combines lectures with small groups, for several years. I had seen his commitment and relationship with God grow and I wanted something similar. A friend introduced me to Community Bible Study (CBS), which is very like BSF. To keep up with the CBS study, you really do need to do some Bible study every day. The small groups allow more in-depth discussion of the study, and the lectures and notes give context and help relate that particular study to the Bible overall.

Usually, we would do an Old Testament book one year and then the next a New Testament book. I had never done something as in-depth and as broad. For the first time I was able to understand the true connection between the Old and New Testaments. The continuity of God’s work in the world and the steadfastness of His character and His love for us became real to me through studying His inspired Word.

CBS and BSF both stress taking what you’ve learned through your study and applying it to your life and the world around you through whichever church you attend. Because of this connection, I became more interested in what my church was doing, not only locally but nationally. Part of the attraction of the Episcopal Church for me was its tradition and its global Communion. While I had never considered it much, the fact that I was part of a tradition that stretched back hundreds of years was important (remember that pride thing!). It meant, I thought, that the church was not as susceptible to a particular personality or specific cultural shift – any changes would have to stand the test of time.

Then 2003 happened. It was not the consecration of +Gene Robinson per se that distressed me. One particular act, however ill conceived or even wrong, does not a church make.

No, it was Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold agreeing with the other Primates at the emergency meeting called by the Archbishop of Canterbury in October of 2003 that +Robinson’s consecration would “tear the fabric of the Communion” and then two weeks later, presiding at the consecration.

The unanimous consensus of the emergency meeting communiqué was that ECUSA should not proceed with the consecration and +Frank Griswold was one of the ones covered under “unanimous.” Was he lying to the other Primates when he agreed? I don’t know, and frankly, don’t care. All I know was that when I heard that had happened, I was shocked, absolutely floored. If he had told the Primates he couldn’t agree with them or that he supported +Robinson’s consecration, I would have thought he was nuts but would have figured it’s just another day in the Episcopal Church and it will blow over.

But he lied. And he was the presiding bishop of my church.

Then, the next big thing happened. I went online to see if I could find any info on why this had happened, and somehow, I don’t remember exactly how, I discovered Christopher Johnson and the Midwest Conservative Journal. I prefer to think of it as a “God thing,” but others may disagree. All of a sudden, I wasn’t alone (and I wasn't crazy to be so upset). There were others out there trying to make sense of what was going on, too.

All the while, I was still involved at my own church. People were talking about what had happened but not much that I heard. Most seemed to think it would all pass over, or that it was happening far away, or that the local parish was the most important thing so it wasn’t worth worrying about.

But I could not get out of my mind that the presiding bishop of my church, a man who had sworn to uphold God’s Word and the faith received, a man in apostolic succession to Peter and James and John, had blatantly, publicly, openly lied on a matter of grave importance and trust.

Coming: Part 3: The deluge

Retiring a gadget

I had three little gadgets on the right side of my blog page here:

• one counting down the days to GAFCON


• one counting down the days to Lambeth


• and one that marked the number of days since September 30, 2007, the deadline for a response to the Anglican Primates' Dar-es-Salaam Communiqué

No adequate response by the Episcopal Church, definitively one way or another, was given to the Communiqué, except that no response is a response. (I am, of course, totally ignoring - just like everyone else - the Joint Standing Committee report, which seems to have served its purpose for about 15 minutes, never to be heard from again.)

After interviewing Archbishop Orombi, where he talks about the ramifications of that Sept. 30 deadline, I realize that it is time to retire this particular gadget, so it has now been removed.

It no longer makes sense to mark those days. They are already marked - as lost.

Beyond compromise

From the Guardian (U.K.):

. . . For years [the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams] has used his considerable charm to try to hold [the Anglican Communion] together. But the simmering row over homosexuality has made this increasingly difficult. And two developments in the past fortnight make brutally plain that the communion is already falling apart.

Last week primates from the developing world - led by the conservative Nigerian bishop Peter Akinola - issued a demand that the Lambeth conference planned for next year should be postponed until the disputes dividing the affiliation have been decisively settled. Their aggressive stance cuts to the heart of the communion, since the Lambeth conference, held once every 10 years, is one of the only institutional expressions of this loose allegiance of churches. Then, on Thursday, another conservative archbishop -this time based in Latin America - suggested he was ready to adopt breakaway dioceses from within the US. In making the offer Bishop Gregory Venables launched a direct attack on the American Episcopal church, which has been trying to stem a flow of conservative defectors since New Hampshire elected the openly gay Gene Robinson as a bishop in 2003. By definition, in an "episcopal" church individual bishops hold sway in specific areas. If another bishop is competing for worshippers then he is running a different and parallel church. . .

Dr Williams is a liberal who is instinctively supportive of gay people. His desire to hold the communion together, however, has already led him to support a moratorium on the consecration of gay bishops and to suggest that Anglican churches should not recognise same-sex unions through public rites. These concessions have not, however, checked the communion's unravelling. The fence on which Dr Williams has been sitting has collapsed. It is time for him to preach what he believes.

Read it all.

Open letter to the Primates from Archbishop Akinola

From the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, an open letter from Archbishop Akinola to his fellow primates [boldface mine]:

. . . I write on the 490th anniversary of that moment in Church history when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Cathedral in Wittenberg in which he asserted, among other things, that the truth of the gospel must always take precedence over the structures of the church. It is becoming increasingly clear that we are facing a similar situation today. While it has been my hope that we would be able to share these reflections face to face it seems unlikely that we will be called to meet together in the near future and so I offer these thoughts by letter.

It has been repeatedly stated and most succinctly summarized in the report, 'Road to Lambeth' we face a two fold crisis in the Anglican Communion: a crisis of doctrine and a crisis of leadership, in which the failure of the “Instruments” of the Communion to exercise discipline has called into question the viability of the Anglican Communion as a united Christian body under the common foundation of faith. (See the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral)

The Church of Nigeria is not interested in territorial expansion. The failure to resolve these dual crises has been at the heart of the decision by our Church and a number of other Global South Provinces to offer encouragement and oversight to a growing number of clergy and congregations in the USA. These pastoral initiatives are not and should not be seen as the cause of the crises.

Although they have variously been described as “interventions” “boundary crossing” or “incursions” -- they are a direct and natural consequence of the decision by The Episcopal Church (TEC) to follow the path that it has now chosen.

These pastoral initiatives undertaken to keep faithful Anglicans within our Anglican family has been at a considerable cost of crucial resources to our province. There is no moral equivalence between them and the actions taken by TEC. They are a heartfelt response to cries for help. We acted in accordance with the Gospel mandate. Had TEC, against all godly warnings, not taken actions that tore the fabric of our beloved Communion there would be no need for hundreds indeed, thousands of its members to seek pastoral, episcopal and now primatial care elsewhere.

It has been suggested that our actions violate historic Anglican polity and early church tradition with particular reference made to the Council of Nicea. This assertion is both hollow and made in bad faith since those who make it are more than willing to ignore historic biblical teaching on the uniqueness of Christ, the authority of the Scriptures and the call to moral obedience. With regard to Nicea - while there was concern for proper order there was even greater commitment to maintaining right teaching. This can be seen by the provision of godly bishops and clergy in places where the incumbents were proponents of false teaching.

The world needs to understand that the situation that we now confront is not primarily about structure or conferences but about irreconcilable truth claims. It is worth remembering that in the Biblical narratives religious structures have often been the enemy of revealed truth. When these structures become obstacles, YHWH, in his own way and at a time of his own choosing removed them and brought His people back to Himself. Of course there is value to preserving Anglican structures but we must never do so at the expense of the people for whom our Lord Jesus the Christ gave his life.

Until the Communion summons the courage to tackle that issue headlong and resolve it we can do no other than provide for those who cry out to us. It is our earnest prayer that repentance and reconciliation will make this a temporary arrangement. One thing is clear we will not abandon our friends.

When we met in Dar es Salaam, after a great deal of effort, we suggested a way forward that had the support of all those present – including the Presiding Bishop of TEC. The House of Bishops and Executive Committee of The Episcopal Church quickly rejected this proposal on the grounds that it apparently violated their canons. We now have a counter proposal from TEC and yet there is no indication that it will meet the needs of those for whom it is supposedly designed. This endless series of proposals and counter proposals continues with no apparent conclusion in sight. Sadly, it is becoming increasingly clear that the only acceptable end as far as TEC is concerned is the full capitulation of any who would stand in opposition to their biblically incompatible innovations- this we will never do. There is a way forward - we have written and spoken repeatedly about it – the time for action is now.

I believe that we Primates must meet in the next few months to respond to the crisis that now confronts us. The situation in The Episcopal Church is deteriorating rapidly. Lawsuits are escalating and I have just heard that Bishop Bob Duncan is now threatened with ecclesiastical trial by the Presiding Bishop for his faithful attempts to find a way to protect his faithful members and diocese. Other godly bishops are under the same threat. Their only crime is a desire to continue their Christian pilgrimage as faithful Anglicans. This situation will affect all of us. We dare not let our love for the historic structures of our beloved Communion, important as they are, allow us to destroy its future. We are losing members. We are losing time. We are losing our integrity as an important part of the One, holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

“Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision”. Joel 3:14

+Peter Abuja,

All Saints Day, 2007

Read it all.
H/t to Stand Firm.

dpeirce says it perfectly

Dave (comment #10) at TitusOneNine says what I've been thinking:

"It’s all over but the shouting” (#1), and the loss of leadership in the Anglican Communion (#5), are telling descriptions of what is happening. I’ve always advocated waiting for the Primates to speak “officially” regarding TEC’s response to DeS… and the fat lady is just sitting there. She isn’t singing; in fact, she hasn’t even stood up. She’s just sitting there.

There’s some individual grumbling from Primates, but nothing official. +++Rowan is leading in the direction of accepting the apostacies (although he wants to try and appear “fair” and “communion-minded"), TEC is sitting back licking the feathers off its mouth, and the Primates are just sitting there.

Am I missing something?

In faith, Dave
Viva Texas