Bishop MacBurney issues an apology

From the Living Church [boldface mine]:

The Rt. Rev. Edward H. MacBurney, retired Bishop of Quincy, and Wicks Stephens, his lawyer, have reached an agreement under which Bishop MacBurney voluntarily submitted to discipline.

Last January, the Title IV [disciplinary] Review Committee issued a presentment against Bishop MacBurney for allegedly leading a service of confirmation at a congregation which had left the Diocese of San Diego in order to join the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone in South America. Bishop MacBurney was subsequently inhibited, or prohibited, from functioning in any way as a priest or bishop, pending an ecclesiastical trial which had been scheduled to be held in November.

In her “Sentence Upon Voluntary Submission to Discipline” dated Sept. 9, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori removed the inhibition against Bishop MacBurney and admonished him “not to repeat the actions which caused the presentment to be brought against him.” She also directed him to apologize “in writing to the Bishop of San Diego for not respecting his authority as the bishop of that diocese.”

Bishop James Mathes of San Diego, who originally had brought the complaint against Bishop MacBurney, said he was satisfied with the outcome. The process “held a bishop of the church accountable to his colleagues and this was a good thing,” Bishop Mathes told Episcopal News Service. He said Bishop MacBurney’s willingness to apologize for his actions “provided us a way to provide forgiveness.”

In an interview with a reporter for The Living Church, Mr. Stephens said that the sentence conformed to the terms which were agreed to before the voluntary submission was made adding that Bishop MacBurney is fully restored as a retired member of the House of Bishops, meaning he can again perform priestly and episcopal functions with the permission of the local diocesan bishop.

“I’m sure there are a number of diocesan bishops who would want to have an Anglo-Catholic bishop come and minister,” Mr. Stephens said. “This was a practical means of bringing him back.”. . .

Read it all.

Presiding Bishop removes MacBurney's inhibition after retired bishop apologizes

From EpiscopalLife Online [boldface mine]:

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has removed the inhibition she placed in April on retired Episcopal Diocese of Quincy Bishop Edward MacBurney.

In a September 9 order, Jefferts Schori said that MacBurney had voluntarily submitted to discipline (Canon IV.2(9) and (10)) over a presentment which the Title IV Review Committee issued on Jan. 24, 2008.

Diocese of San Diego Bishop Jim Mathes, who originally asked for MacBurney to be disciplined because he conducted unauthorized confirmations in San Diego, told ENS September 10 that the order and discipline of the church had been "maintained and in some way enhanced by this process."

"Bishop MacBurney's decision is the result of my efforts and those of others to find a non-judicial outcome to an unfortunate event," Mathes said September 10 in his weekly email to diocesan clergy. "Today, the order of our church and the collegiality of the House of Bishops have been enhanced."

The process "held a bishop of the church accountable to his colleagues and this was a good thing," Mathes told ENS.

"I grateful to Bishop MacBurney for his role in this," Mathes said, explaining that MacBurney's willingness to apologize for his actions "provided us a way to provide forgiveness."

Jefferts Schori's September 9 order admonishes MacBurney to not make any other such visits and to apologize in writing to Mathes "for not respecting his authority as Bishop of that Diocese.". . .

Read it all.

BabyBlue makes a list

From BabyBlue Online, a list of upcoming events of interest:

Been thinking about what comes next. Here are some of the events:

Sept. 3-4 - CAPA Primates and Standing Committee Meeting, Nairobi, Kenya

Sept. 12-14 - The PB Road Show in Augusta, Savannah and Statesboro, Georgia

Sept. 17-19 - TEC House of Bishops, Salt Lake City, Utah

September 26-27 - Anglican District of Virginia Synod, Herndon, VA

Oct. 4 - Diocese of Pittsburgh Annual Convention, Monroeville, Pennsylvania

October 8 - Trial: TEC/Diocese of Los Angeles and Anglican Congregations, California
October - Trial: TEC/Diocese of Virginia and CANA, Virginia

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

Oct. 22-24 - REC General Council, Victoria, BC

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

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

Feb. 9-13, 2009 - General Synod of the Church of England, London

Jan. 28-31, 2009 - AMiA Winter Conference, Greensboro, NC

Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2009 - TEC Executive Council, Stockton, CA

April 20-22, 2009 - TEC Executive Council, South Portland, Maine

May 2009 - Anglican Consultive Council

July 9-12, 2009 - BabyBlue's 30th High School Reunion, Honolulu, Hawaii

July 8-17, 2009 - TEC General Convention, Anaheim, CA

July 10-14, 2009 - General Synod of the Church of England, York

Nov. 17-19, 2009 - General Synod of the Church of England, London (if needed)

Check it out.

Bishop Ackerman, Diocese of Quincy, says cancel The Episcopal Church General Convention 2009

From Hans Zeiger in Canterbury for Virtue Online:

A leading orthodox bishop of The Episcopal Church has proposed canceling the 2009 Episcopal Church General Convention in order to fund the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Following the Thursday march on London by over 600 Anglican bishops and their spouses in support of the MDGs, the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman, Bishop of Quincy, said that "there should be no General Convention this year, and all the money for the convention should be sent to fund the goals."

Ackerman furthermore called for The Episcopal Church to "cancel all meetings that require face to face and conduct nothing but video conferencing." He said that the American wing of the Anglican Communion should "donate its money to churches that would be positively affected."

Though leaders of The Episcopal Church have stated their commitment to the MDGs and made their biggest stand yet in London on Thursday, Ackerman has doubts that The Episcopal Church has yet made a true commitment.

"If the church is absolutely, totally committed to these goals, there are three things it needs to do," Ackerman said.

"First, place the goals in the context of the Gospel itself.

"Second, leaders must make the necessary changes in their own personal lifestyle so that they can make their own commitment to model what God wants done.

"Third, the church must corporately find a way to fund this."

In response to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's invitation to African bishops to join her for drinks at a Canterbury reception (despite the Sudanese bishops' abstinence from alcohol), Ackerman offered a specific MDG funding proposal. "Do not invite the Sudanese to a reception. Cancel the reception and give the money to the Sudanese church."

Check it out. And here is an interview I did with Bishop Ackerman in March of last year for AnglicanTV. He is such a gentle soul, but so strong in the faith.

Virtue Exclusive: Interview with Bishop Keith Ackerman, Quincy

From Virtue Online:

On the eve of the decennial Lambeth Conference, VirtueOnline spoke with the Anglo-Catholic Bishop of Quincy, the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman in Canterbury to gauge his reaction and opinion as to what has been taking place in The Episcopal Church, the Church of England and what, if anything he expects to see will come from this Conference of some 600 bishops. Bishop Ackerman is also president of Forward in Faith, North America.

VOL: How many bishops are left in The Episcopal Church that refuses to ordain women to the priesthood?

Ackerman: Just two, Bishop Jack Iker of Ft. Worth and me.

VOL: Bishop John-David Schofield has left TEC and it would appear that both the dioceses of Ft. Worth and Quincy are a vote away from leaving. Is this inevitable?

Ackerman: It is probably inevitable.

VOL: Last week The Church of England synod voted to ordain women bishops with no provision for its traditionalist wing to continue to have a place at the table without seriously compromising themselves. In your opinion what is their future?

Ackerman: The C of E has always been 20 to 30 years behind the United States, and we are already witnessing within England a similar phenomenon that has resulted in continuing churches formally or informally applying to Rome moving to Eastern Orthodoxy and or attempting to create a separate province. My hope is that the phenomenal division and hemorrhaging that has taken place in TEC will be an example that the English will look at very carefully as they consider their future. . .

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.

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.

Quincy: Episcopal bishop will sing 'Dreamcoat' selections

Okay, who's going to be there and has a video camera or even a video phone so that we can all see this performance? From the PJStar.com:

PEORIA - The spiritual leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy will sing songs from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at Saturday's Diocesan Woman Annual Nexus at St. Paul's Cathedral, 3601 N. North St.

Bishop Keith Ackerman will perform selections from the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical with the Diocesan Choir. He previously performed "Joseph" in a dinner theater format in the early 1990s. . .

Read it all.

A New Day Dawning for faithful Anglicans, says Quincy Bishop

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

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

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

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

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

Check it out for contact info.

Weekly message from Bishop David Anderson

The weekly message from the American Anglican Council, via email [boldface mine]:

Beloved in Christ,

First of all, we at the AAC extend our heartfelt sympathy to those whose children perished in the dormitory fire near Kampala, Uganda this week. May the Lord comfort your souls. If this fire was indeed set deliberately, we pray that the perpetrators will be identified soon. BBC coverage of the story may be found here.

In the US this week, a question on many orthodox Episcopalian minds has to do with Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori's inhibition of retired Bishop MacBurney (80 years of age) while he was dealing with the imminent death of his son. She was advised of the difficulty of the moment by the Bishop of Quincy, Keith Ackerman, but apparently cared not. Now MacBurney's son has died and with funeral plans in place, Schori has suddenly written him to lift the inhibition (temporarily and in a limited manner) so that he can function in the services for his son.

What caused her post facto swelling of concern and pastoral care? If it was really derivative of her caring, why did she not wait two or three weeks and then inhibit him? What was the hurry, given that she knew of his situation? One would suspect that others, perhaps farther up the ecclesial ladder, gave her counsel. It seems that Jefferts Schori's continuing difficulty is that she can't get it right the first time.

Jefferts Schori recently polled the TEC bishops to see if they might agree to hold a May meeting of the Episcopal Church House of Bishops. This is code for "can we gather and depose Bishop Duncan just like we did Cox and Schofield?" The answer was apparently unenthusiastic. Whether this was attributable to reconsideration of the improperly done executions at the last meeting or busy calendars before the Lambeth Conference isn't known.

The Presiding Bishop's office seems to be applying pressure on local dioceses to ramp up the aggression on orthodox churches, especially those that have left TEC. Apparently, even where conversations have been underway towards negotiating a settlement, the "new sheriff in town" wants those negotiations ended, preferring the approach of a proverbial law firm "Dewey, Suem & Howe." TEC has now launched litigation against Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, NY, and their well-known rector, Fr. Matt Kennedy, who is one of the founders of the Stand Firm blog and a member of the AAC Board of Trustees.

In Connecticut, the stand-in, bishop James Curry, acting while diocesan bishop Andrew Smith is on sabbatical, launched an attack on a parish in Groton which is named for Bishop Samuel Seabury. Although the parish voted 100% to leave TEC and the diocese of CT and relocate to the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), and although the congregation of some 800 active members and their priest of 35 years, Fr. Ron Gauss, are still using the church building, Bishop Curry has appointed a priest-in-charge, and has demanded the keys to the church and the records. Sounds like "here's your hat, and don't let the door hit you on your way out." Fr. Ron and the parish refused those demands, and fully intend to continue worshipping in the church which they built and paid for.

We are waiting to see if Lambeth Palace sends a letter to Bishop Schofield telling him that his previous invitation to Lambeth is withdrawn. It would not be surprising, since Lambeth Palace and the Anglican Communion Office follow the lead of the Episcopal Church's handling of depositions, ignoring any counter arguments or claims. We observed the unfair and improper manner in which Lambeth Palace and the Anglican Communion Office dealt with Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti of Recife and his diocese when he moved from Brazil to the Southern Cone. We would be surprised if they handled the San Joaquin issue any differently. We would NOT be surprised if Jefferts Schori doesn't, perchance, show up in England in the immediate neighborhood of the General Synod held prior to Lambeth. This would, of course, provide an opportunity for her to bring greetings, etc., all unplanned, as it were. This is also why there needs to be a re-arrangement of the polity of the Anglican Communion, such that the piping of TEC does not call the tune in London.

Blessings and peace in Christ Jesus,
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson
President and CEO, American Anglican Council

Forward in Faith North America reacts to the inhibition of Bishop MacBurney

From Forward in Faith:

“It is a sad day when godly bishops are no longer free to provide pastoral care for those beyond our formal institutional boundaries.” FiF NA President

Today the Right Reverend Edward MacBurney, the bishop retired of the Diocese of Quincy (Episcopal) received a Letter of Inhibition from Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church in the USA (TEC). The Inhibition forbids MacBurney from functioning as a bishop of TEC.

Last year MacBurney was invited by the Presiding Bishop & Primate of the Southern Cone, the Most Reverend Gregory Venables, to make a pastoral visit to a Southern Cone parish in San Diego, California, on his behalf. In a spirit of Anglican unity and Christian generosity, Bishop MacBurney agreed to respond to the pastoral needs of those outside TEC with whom TEC claims fellowship.

“This is an alarming move against a godly man who, without publicity, rightly helped a brother bishop provide care for his people,” said the Right Reverend Keith Ackerman, President of Forward in Faith NA and current TEC Bishop of Quincy (IL). This move against Bishop MacBurney is a clear warning that the leadership of TEC is endeavouring to bring the days of the biblically orthodox within TEC to a close. “Schori clearly has no intention to ‘live in tension with people who don’t agree with you about everything’ as she was quoted in Saturday’s interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune reporter, Sandi Dolbee. “While Schori extolled the imperative to worship together, her Inhibition is to prevent others from worshipping with Bishop MacBurney,” said Father Keith Acker who was also interviewed by Dolbee on Schori’s weekend visit to San Diego.

Internationally this is an attack upon the many world leaders of Anglican Churches (Primates) who have responded to the “burning house” of the ever increasingly post-Christian theology of TEC and its abandonment of the Bible as the Word of God in any meaningful sense.

Bishop MacBurney welcomes the opportunity to defend his actions from the scandalous neglect of Christian charity led by Katharine Jefferts Schori and the leadership of TEC. Bishop MacBurney will have 90 days to respond to the charges.

The Right Revd Keith L. Ackerman
President of Forward in Faith North America

Of shame, there is none

My understanding is that Bishop Ackerman asked the presiding bishop not to undertake this action at this time because of Bishop MacBurney's family situation. From VirtueOnline:

Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, has formally inhibited The Rt. Rev. Edward H. MacBurney, retired Bishop of Quincy. Two days after the letter of inhibition was signed by the Presiding Bishop, MacBurney's son Page died.

Bishop Keith L. Ackerman SSC, Bishop of Quincy, said MacBurney was not aware of the inhibition. Ackerman had to read the inhibition to him over the phone.

"I am beside myself with grief over this unnecessary action taken against my predecessor especially at a time when he is mourning the death of his son this past Friday. I am particularly saddened that, with the exception of the Bishop who initiated this action, those involved in determining this course have never spoken with Bishop MacBurney directly. In the midst of this difficult time for Bishop MacBurney and his family, I am really much more concerned about the implications of St. Matthew 18:15-17 as it relates to how reconciliation is pursued than I am with Title IV, Canon 1, Section 6 as it relates to discipling my dear brother. In the meantime, we are ministering to the needs of the MacBurney family."

Mrs. Jefferts Schori said the presentment issued by the Title IV Review Committee was based on Title IV, canon 3, Section 43Copyright, 44, and 45 of The Episcopal Church. Bishop MacBurney is inhibited from exercising his gifts of ministry and will face a court trial.

Read it all. And the bishop who initiated this is San Diego's Bishop Mathes.
H/t to MCJ.

Retired Quincy bishop faces church trial

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mathes V. MacBurney: Dean Munday of Nashotah House weighs in

From SanDiegoAnglicans.com [boldface mine]:

Bishop Munday's blog is my favorite new (to me anyway) weblog. Add his feed to your favorite RSS reader for insightful and uplifting commentary about everything happening in the American churches. Even in his recent post about the cruel and useless charges being brought against Bishop Macburney, he manages to make the topic Christian Joy.

From here:http://toalltheworld.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-being-joyful.html:

"In the midst of the turmoil last week over the deposition of Bps. John David Schofield and William J. Cox and the threatened deposition of Bishop Robert Duncan, the news could have been overlooked regarding the Presiding Litigator's intention to depose Bishop Edward MacBurney. I wrote these words to the House of Bishops/House of Deputies listserv in response to another Deputy who said that he believed the words of the PB calling for compassion toward Bps. Cox and Schofield were sincere:

You wrote, "I believe that the call of our Presiding Bishop to be compassionate toward these two bishops is genuine..." Let me state emphatically that I do not believe this to be the case. Bishop Cox had already been received into another province. He should have been spared this action. The PB was informed that Betty Cox is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and that the action against Bishop Cox was causing her severe mental distress. The PB was informed of this publicly by Kendall Harmon at the clergy day during her trip to the Diocese of South Carolina. [You can watch the video of Kendall Harmon speaking to the Presiding Bishop about Bishop Cox here. It is approximately 7:00 minutes into Part 5 of the series.] Bishop Cox has said that the PB never contacted him except for the letters pertaining to his deposition. If she did not show compassion toward Bishop Cox prior to his deposition, what reason is there to believe that she will do so now?

Today [3/13/08] it became public that charges are being brought against the Rt. Rev. Edward MacBurney for his visit to a non-Episcopal church in San Diego. (Bishop MacBurney is the bishop who ordained me to the diaconate and priesthood.) The Diocese of Quincy informed 815 some time ago that the MacBurneys are dealing with a son who is in hospice care with terminal cancer. If the PB wanted to demonstrate compassion, she could have waited until later to deal with this (if it had to be done at all). . .

Read it all. This is beyond legalistic - this is outright cruelty dressed up as polity.

More on charges against Bishop MacBurney

From George Conger:

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is gauging her strength among the members of the US House of Bishops to see if she has sufficient political capital to depose traditionalist Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh before the July Lambeth Conference.

Bishop Schori’s admission came in the same week as word of new litigation against a retired conservative bishop was announced. The former Bishop of Quincy, 80-year old Edward MacBurney is charged with violating the church’s canons by visiting a non-Episcopal church in the diocese of San Diego without the permission of the local Episcopal bishop. . .

Bishop MacBurney, however, has not been charged with abandonment of communion at this stage of the ecclesiastical proceedings, but merely with canonical violations. In a statement released by the Diocese of Quincy, his lawyers noted the novelty of the charges against their client as to “whether an Episcopal bishop exercises total control over a certain geographical territory or whether a Bishop merely exercises control over the Episcopal churches within that territory.”

The current Bishop of Quincy, the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman has given his full backing to Bishop MacBurney, saying his actions had been done in “good faith” and were motivated by the claims of conscience. Forward in Faith called the charges “pastorally and politically inept.”

The attack on Bishop MacBurney “will alienate others across the Communion who have not yet grasped the extent of the graceless and totalitarian mindset which now dominates the Episcopal Church,” it said on March 14.

Read it all - I've just concentrated here on the info about Bishop MacBurney since that has a San Diego connection.

SanDiegoAnglicans.com: More on Bishop MacBurney

From SanDiegoAnglicans.com:

. . . It's well known that Bishop Mathes, Diocesan of The Episcopal San Diego brought these charges against Bishop MacBurney (80 Yrs. old, retired, & currently dealing with a dying son of his). . .

Read it all and keep checking back - Dave will have more from the San Diego perspective.

Diocese of Quincy: Bishop MacBurney charged for coming to San Diego

A little San Diego news, from VirtueOnline [boldface mine]:

Diocesan News Release
3/13/2008

Bishop Edward MacBurney, bishop retired of the Diocese of Quincy, has been formally charged with canonical violations by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. These charges stem from events occurring in June, 2007 when Bishop MacBurney was invited to make a pastoral visit to a non-Episcopal church in San Diego, California. MacBurney, 80 years old, retired from his position as a diocesan bishop in 1994, but as a bishop in good standing still actively ministers to churches throughout the country and also in other parts of the Anglican Communion..

The basis of the charges against MacBurney relate to the allegation that he did not receive permission to perform liturgical rites from the sitting Episcopal diocesan bishop in San Diego. Even though the church MacBurney visited had severed ties with the Episcopal Church in the United States and had re-affiliated with the Anglican Bishop of Argentina, a primate of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the charges allege that MacBurney impermissibly crossed Diocesan boundaries.

Although MacBurney is retired, he remains a member of the Episcopal House of Bishops with seat and voice. The essence of the charge is the claim that MacBurney is prohibited from ministering within the geographical territory of another Episcopal diocese even if the church to which he ministers is no longer affiliated with the Episcopal Church. . .

Read it all.

The Division Continues: Diocese of Quincy takes new steps toward realignment

From BabyBlue Online:

Just in from the Diocese of Quincy's Synod which has just concluded:

The synod took steps to consider possible relationships with other branches of the Anglican Communion. Quincy is presently affiliated with the Episcopal Church in the US. A number of decisions were made that open the door for possible alignment with a different branch of the world-wide Communion.

“As a Diocese our goal is to remain in fellowship with the wider Anglican Communion,” said the Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman, Bishop of Quincy. “Over a year ago we asked for alternative oversight from an archbishop outside the US. We re-affirmed that request at this synod.”

“No final decisions were made about our affiliation at this synod,” according to Fr. John Spencer, press officer for the Diocese. Spencer said a number of decisions are currently being made in various parts of the Anglican Communion that will affect not only the US church, but all 38 provinces of the Communion. “Decisions will be made in the next few weeks about who will or will not attend next year’s Lambeth Conference,” a meeting of all Anglican bishops held every 10 years. . .

Read it all.
Also, here's an interview I did with Bishop Ackerman in March of this year for AnglicanTV.

Words from Bishop Keith Ackerman of the Diocese of Quincy

Ruth Gledhill of the (London) Times speaks to Bishop Keith Ackerman:

I was blessed to have the chance this week to speak to Bishop Keith Ackerman of the Quincy diocese. He says his diocese, on the Anglican-Catholic wing, has been 'reserved' in its response to the crisis and has not been aggressive in its pursuit of a solution. Nevertheless, the diocese has begun setting out plans that could see it leave TEC. 'We are throwing ourselves on Rowan Williams' mercy,' Bishop Keith told me. 'We want to persuade him to stop the haemorrhage that is taking place in The Episcopal Church. The haemorrhage is being grossly understated. There are now 53 denominations of continuing churches in the US. There are numerous parishes that are no longer under US jurisdiction. I'm led to believe there may be as many as 200 of these.

One of the things that Lambeth 98 was terribly specific about was that the US needed to come up with a plan for them to re-enter the family. At Lambeth we said we would reach out to those who consider themselves of Anglican tradition. But there has been very, very little effort. More effort has been put into ecumenism with the Lutherans and United Methodists than with the various bodies of Anglican tradition. Frankly, I have much more in common with them than I do with Lutherans or Methodists.

'We need to find a way to bring the family back together again.'

One peculiarity he pointed to was the lack of a legal entity called TEC. 'What there is, is the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA. That is our name. That is how we are incorporated. So we were in effect supposed to be a missionary society. We did not have SPCK, we did not have CMS. We were to be the missionaries, particularly in unsettled parts of the US.'. . .

Read it all, and here's an interview I did with Bishop Ackerman for AnglicanTV in March. Ruth is correct when she says she "was blessed to have the chance this week to speak to Bishop Keith Ackerman" - it truly is a blessing to talk with him.

Diocese of Quincy announces synod plans

From TitusOneNine (but no link to wherever the original is):

The Diocese of Quincy, headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, announced today that it will consider proposals at its October Synod that would cut its ties with the General Convention of the Episcopal Church if leaders of that Church continue to pull away from mainstream Anglicanism.

The Archbishops of the Anglican Communion have set September 30th as the deadline for the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops to give “unequivocal” assurance that they will stop advocating teaching and practices that are incompatible with Holy Scripture.

“We’re praying the House of Bishops will have a change of heart when they meet in New Orleans September 20th-25th,” said Bishop Keith Ackerman of Quincy. “As a diocese, our goal has always been to uphold the historic faith and order of the Church. This is reflected in our diocesan Constitution. If the Episcopal Church refuses to turn back, we will be forced to make a decision."

Fr. John Spencer, President of the Quincy Standing Committee, made it clear that the Diocese is not trying to preempt the upcoming meeting of the House of Bishops. "We’re required to finalize proposed Synod resolutions now to meet canonical deadlines. It’s not our intention to prejudge what the House of Bishops may or may not do when they meet later this month.”

Spencer also stressed that Quincy is not acting alone. “Other dioceses will consider similar proposals this fall,” he said. “They will announce their plans in due course. If the Episcopal Church continues to reject the pleas and counsel of the Anglican Communion, we’ll be compelled to seek a home in a different Province of the Communion where we can practice the Christian faith in good conscience.”

Read it all, and check here for my interview with Bishop Ackerman for AnglicanTV from March.