epiScope

Anglicans: start caring

A kinder, gentler church
by GERCINE CARTER
Nation News (Barbados)
4/19/08.

AS HE NEARS RETIREMENT, Archbishop Drexel Gomez, head of the Anglican Church in the Province of the West Indies, has issued an impasssioned plea for a "more caring and compassionate" church in the province.

In a sermon based on caring and love, he told a gathering of Anglican priests and laity at St Mary's Church in Bridgetown on Thursday night: "We must face up to the challenge to see where we stand in love. We must devise more strategies to assist members in their engagement with God and to foster a deeper commitment." Above all, he implored Anglicans to start caring once more.

He said Anglicans were faced with "the challenge of discernment and commitment", areas to which he felt sufficient attention had not been paid in the province. As he prepared to demit office, the Anglican church leader implored followers of the faith to surrender their lives to God and His will, rather than pursue their own agenda.

It’s all here …

Bully pulpit

Archbishop criticises gay threats
Dr Williams criticised what he called "unchristian bullying"
BBC

The Archbishop of Canterbury has condemned death threats made against the leader of a group representing homosexual Anglicans in England.

Dr Rowan Williams said threats against Rev Colin Coward, director of Changing Attitude, marked the "latest round of unchristian bullying".

He was also criticising assaults on gay Anglicans in Nigeria.

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Row on archbishop 'immoral' claim
Welsh assembly in Cardiff Bay
Some Welsh law-making is possible in consultation with the UK government
BBC

The archbishop of Wales says it would be "immoral" for Wales not to have full law-making powers in the near future.

But Conservative Monmouth MP David Davies said his comments were "disappointing" and there were more pressing issues he could speak out on.

Barry Morgan spoke to BBC Radio Wales in his role as chair of Tomorrow's Wales, which looks at devolution.

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Bishop readies for next round

Key conference, book lie ahead for Robinson
By Michael Paulson
Boston (MA) Globe
March 25, 2008

CONCORD, N.H. - Five years after he was consecrated a bishop in a nearby hockey arena, wearing a bulletproof vest under his new golden vestments, Gene Robinson is bracing for another round of controversy.

Next month, his new book is to be published, and in it, amid the assertions of his deep faith in Jesus and a self-examination of his theological beliefs, are the emphatic expressions of disappointment in the leadership of his Anglican Church. Robinson is frustrated that those Anglican leaders, known as primates, asked for time to consider the issues but then refused to meet with him.

In June, Robinson plans to enter into a civil union with his partner of 20 years, Mark Andrew. He says he will do everything he can to keep photographers away, out of deference to those who find his same-sex relationship offensive, but he acknowledges that the event is likely to attract negative attention nonetheless.

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Prohibition

VICAR RESIGNS OVER CONDUCT TO WOMAN
KATE SKELTON
19 March 2008
Nottingham Evening Post (UK)

A Senior Nottingham clergyman has resigned after admitting "inappropriate conduct" towards a woman.

The Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham started disciplinary procedures against Canon Andrew Deuchar, a former member of the Archbishop of Canterbury's staff.

He has voluntarily withdrawn from his post as priest-in-charge of St Peter's, All Saints and St Mary's churches and has accepted a two-year ban on active service within the Church of England.

It’s all here … and Deuchar was Archbishop George Carey's secretary for Anglican Communion affairs. Ruth Gledhill's take is here.

Bishop defends press freedom

No democracy without free media: Bishop warns
Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

A top religious prelate yesterday came out strongly against the recent harassment, attacks or arrests of independent journalists and urged the government to take immediate steps to safeguard the free media which he described as the most valuable democratic institution of a modern state.

Colombo's Anglican Bishop Rt. Revd Duleep de Chickera in a statement said brazen and systematic violence against media personnel, especially the staff of Rupavahini were both disturbing and frustrating.

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AbC's "non-offer" rejected

Gay bishop criticises Williams for Lambeth snub
Riazat Butt
The Guardian (UK)
March 11 2008

The gay American bishop whose ordination caused ructions in the Anglican church has criticised the Archbishop of Canterbury for his failure to unite the communion.

Gene Robinson, the Bishop of New Hampshire, made the remarks after declining to attend the Lambeth conference, the 10-yearly gathering of the world's bishops, because his invitation was a "non-offer".

He told a spring gathering of the US Episcopal Church House of Bishops: "It has been a very difficult 48 hours sitting here and hearing your plans for Lambeth.

"In my most difficult moments it feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has cut me out of the herd."

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Gay Bishop Out of Anglican Summit
By RACHEL ZOLL
The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The first openly gay Episcopal bishop announced he will have no official role in a meeting this summer of world Anglican leaders, saying restrictions that organizers wanted to place on his involvement had caused him "considerable pain."

New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson had been told last year that he could not fully participate in the once-a-decade gathering in England, called the Lambeth Conference, as the world Anglican Communion sat on the brink of schism over his 2003 election.

Still, Episcopal leaders had been negotiating with the Anglican Communion Office to allow him to join the event in some capacity. The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the U.S.

At a Texas meeting Monday night of the Episcopal House of Bishops, Robinson said that the final offer to include him was in effect a "non-offer," and he had declined it.

It’s all here …

Gay bishop won't attend conference
V. Gene Robinson said he would not have been allowed to actively participate in the global gathering of Anglicans in London.
By Rebecca Trounson
Los Angeles Times
March 11, 2008

The Episcopal Church's only openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, said Monday that he would not attend a global gathering of Anglicans in London this summer, telling fellow Episcopal leaders he had declined an offer that he said would not have allowed him to play any meaningful role at that meeting.

Robinson, who is attending a retreat this week in Texas with other Episcopal bishops, told the group he had decided not to attend the Lambeth Conference, after negotiations for him to participate or be granted official observer status had failed. His remarks were released by the Episcopal Church late Monday.

The Lambeth Conference is a once-a-decade gathering of leaders of the Anglican Communion, the world's third- largest Christian denomination. It is hosted by the archbishop of Canterbury, currently the Most Rev. Rowan Williams.

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Gay priest not welcome at world meeting
By Michael Conlon
Reuters
March 11, 2008

LEADERS of the US Episcopal Church were told that the gay man they elevated to bishop will not be allowed to attend a top, once-a-decade worldwide Anglican Church meeting this year.

"It feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Rowan Williams), has cut me out of the herd," said Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, after receiving the definitive word that he will be excluded from the Anglican Communion's Lambeth Conference in England.

It was the US church's consecration of Bishop Robinson in 2003 as the first bishop known to be in an openly gay relationship in more than four centuries of Anglican Church history that jolted the 77 million-member global church, already divided over biblical interpretation, the ordination of women and the blessing of same-sex unions.

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Gay bishop excluded from world church meeting
Malaysia Sun
11th March, 2008 

Leaders of the US Episcopal Church have been told that a gay man who was once elevated to bishop will be unable to attend the worldwide Anglican church meeting this summer.

According to Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, he has been told by his superiors in the Anglican Communion that he will be asked to stay away from the Lambeth Conference in England.

It is believed the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, made the decision after the US branch of the Anglican church negotiated the issue in an effort to have Bishop Robinson attend the conference.

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Heavenly surprise

Christians Wrong About Heaven, Says Bishop
TIME
Feb. 07, 2008

N.T. "Tom" Wright is one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought. As Bishop of Durham, he is the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England and a major player in the strife-riven global Anglican Communion; as a much-read theologian and Biblical scholar he has taught at Cambridge and is a hero to conservative Christians worldwide for his 2003 book The Resurrection of the Son of God, which argued forcefully for a literal interpretation of that event.

It therefore comes as a something of a shock that Wright doesn't believe in heaven — at least, not in the way that millions of Christians understand the term. In his new book, Surprised by Hope (HarperOne), Wright quotes a children's book by California first lady Maria Shriver called What's Heaven, which describes it as "a beautiful place where you can sit on soft clouds and talk... If you're good throughout your life, then you get to go [there]... When your life is finished here on earth, God sends angels down to take you heaven to be with him." That, says Wright is a good example of "what not to say." The Biblical truth, he continues, "is very, very different."

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Duelling archbishops

Archbishop aims to save divided Church
Call for Anglican bishops to attend Lambeth Conference as conservative clergyman draws up formula to avert schism over gay priests
Ruth Gledhill
The Times (UK)
February 4, 2008

The Anglican archbishop in charge of drawing up the document intended to reunite his warring Church said he believes that schism can still be averted in spite of divisions over the issue of homosexuals.

The Archbishop of the West Indies, the Most Rev Drexel Gomez, said that a new formula had been found that would allow the disciplining of errant churches while respecting the traditional autonomy of the 38 worldwide Anglican provinces. Urging all Anglican bishops to attend the Lambeth Conference this year, he said that it would be a “tremendous tragedy” if the Church fell apart.

A new document to be published this week would form “a basic way of holding each other accountable as a Communion”, he said. But he indicated that the Episcopal Church of the United States was unlikely to face discipline or any form of exclusion from the Anglican Communion as a result of consecrating Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.

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Bishops ticked over Lambeth boycott
The Australian
February 05, 2008

THE head of the Anglican Church in Australia says he is disappointed Sydney bishops have pulled out of the church's top global meeting.

The boycott of the Lambeth Conference is being spearheaded by the Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen, a leading conservative voice in the acrimonious row over the ordination of openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson in the US.

Dr Aspinall said in a statement today he was disappointed over the move by Dr Jensen, and urged him to reconsider.

"I find it difficult to understand the view that the Lambeth Conference is not a proper place to deal with issues facing the international Anglican Communion," Dr Aspinall said.

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GAFCON an opportunity for Israel

Anglicans choose Jerusalem for key June conference
Jerusalem Post
Dec 30, 2007

The battle over homosexuality that has threatened to split the Anglican Communion could be decided at a June meeting in Jerusalem. On December 26, a conservative coalition led by the archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, announced a June 15-22 conference in the Holy Land to chart the church's future course.

Divided into liberal and conservative factions, the 80-million member Anglican Communion is on the verge of breaking up over the consecration in 2003 of a gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire.

However, Anglicans are as divided over Israel as they over homosexuality. While the meeting will focus on the current crisis facing the church, some Anglican and Jewish supporters of the gathering hope the presence in Jerusalem this June of conservative Anglican bishops from every continent will present an opportunity to broaden Israel's support in the developing world.

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Responses to responses to responses

Anglican provinces divided on adequacy of Episcopal Church response on gay bishops
The Associated Press
November 22, 2007

LONDON: Anglican churches worldwide were divided on whether the U.S. Episcopal Church had responded adequately to concerns about gay bishops, church authorities said Thursday.

Twelve leaders of national churches informed the Archbishop of Canterbury that they accepted the Episcopal Church's response. Ten primates — all part of the conservative Global South alliance — rejected the response, and a dozen have yet to give a stance.

Three other primates reported mixed views, and another promised to respond after further consultation, according to a statement from Lambeth Palace, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' office in London.

Williams indicated he would respond to the survey in his annual Advent letter next month.

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The damage of exclusion

Anglican 'reach of enmity' condemned
By staff writers
22 Nov 2007

The first Inclusive Church conference opened at the Hayes Conference Centre in Derbyshire today (Thursday) with an attack on the damage done by the growing tendency to exclude, within the Anglican church.

The main address was given by Dr Jenny Plane Te Paa, a member of the 2003 Lambeth Commission.

In a strong speech, Te Paa told the conference how pervasive "the reach of enmity" had become within Anglicanism. But referring to the "grace filled lives of the faithful Christians of our churches", she urged the conference "not to notice the bad behaviour of the few, but the good behaviour of the many."

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Obsession and speculation

Tutu criticises 'gay obsession'
Liverpool Daily Post
Nov 18 2007

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised his own church for being "obsessed" with homosexuality.

The South African Nobel laureate said God "must be weeping" at seeing that the Church had such misplaced priorities. He also criticised the present Archbishop of Canterbury for not demonstrating the attributes of a "welcoming God".

Speaking to Michael Buerk for a special Radio 4 programme, Archbishop Tutu, 76, said: "Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict. God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another. In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."

It's all here ...

Dr Rowan Williams to target pro-gay bishops
By Jonathan Petre
Daily Telegraph
19 November 2007

The Archbishop of Canterbury is preparing to target individual bishops whose pro-gay policies threaten to derail his efforts to avert schism, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

In a high-risk strategy, Dr Rowan Williams may even snub them by withdrawing their invitations to next year's Lambeth Conference.

He has told friends he will challenge any bishop he believes is coming to the conference with an agenda "very much at odds" with his attempts to maintain unity in the worldwide Church.

Dr Williams sent invitations in May to most of the Anglican Church's 880 bishops around the world for the once-a-decade showcase gathering in Canterbury.

It's all here ...and you know, when the Wikipedia guys post an piece like this, they mark it "articles with unsourced statements"...such as...

Mother died in curse ritual

Attempt to lift makutu led to woman's drowning
JENNY LING and EMILY WATT
The Dominion Post
12 November 2007

A Wainuiomata woman died during her family's attempt to exorcise a Maori curse, with the mother of two drowning in a lounge as up to 40 relatives watched.

Janet Moses, 22, died in a ritual at a relative's house as family members tried to drive out a makutu (curse).

The family believed the curse was linked to a relative stealing a taonga. Another relative becoming sick was also blamed on the curse.
…
Dr Hone Kaa, an archdeacon of the Maori Anglican Church, said he was last involved in a makutu-lifting ceremony 12 years ago, but said they were still commonplace.

"It's a very difficult process. I'm personally very wary of removing them."

It’s all here …

Culture wars

Face to faith: Anglicanism, a house divided against itself, can't survive its civil war in one piece, says Giles Fraser
Saturday November 10, 2007
The Guardian

The American civil war began with the secession of South Carolina from the United States. They left so as to defend their "right" not to have a liberal agenda imposed on them by campaigning progressives from the north. Interfering do-gooders weren't going to force proudly independent southerners to accept that slavery was wicked. Parallels with the escalating crisis within American Anglicanism are now being made. The diocese of Pittsburgh, led by Bishop Bob Duncan, has just voted to quit the Episcopal church, and other conservative dioceses in the south might follow suit. They are sick to death of liberals telling them that gay is the new black. They want independence to protect their homophobia. And so they have reinvented the idea of the confederacy.

Whatever else can be said about this analysis - and conservatives do their nut about it - this is the script through which liberal US Christians understand the theological culture wars over homosexuality. To them the argument over gay bishops is manifestly a civil-rights issue that requires strong leadership and moral determination: General Grant and Abraham Lincoln. That is why US progressives are so frustrated with Rowan Williams, for the only thing he has in common with Lincoln is the beard.

It’s all here …

News from all over

Anglican Bishop accuses Govt. of interference
By Sam Strangeways
Bermuda Royal Gazette
November 8, 2007

The Anglican Bishop has accused Government of interfering in church affairs in an "entirely inappropriate" way over the issuing of work permits to non-Bermudian clergymen.

Bishop Ewan Ratteray has reignited a long-running row with the Department of Immigration about the issue in his November newsletter to churchgoers — and hit out at some members of his own flock whose behaviour he describes as "reprehensible".

Bishop Ratteray, who said relations with current Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess were greatly improved, writes that the Anglican Church's relationship with Government with respect to appointments to parishes has long been a "matter of deep concern" to him.

It’s all here …

Archbishop demands Govt apology for raids
By DAN EATON
The Press (NZ)
7 November 2007

New Zealand's top ranking Anglican archbishop has waded into the row over last month's anti-terror raids, comparing police treatment of Maori to the persecution of the Jews in ancient Egypt.

Archbishop Brown Turei, leader of the Maori strand of the church and the most senior of New Zealand's three Anglican primates, called for the Government and police to apologise for the way the raids were executed.

He likened the Terrorism Suppression Act used in the raids to efforts early last century to assimilate Maori.

"This is Pharaoh and the Hebrews in Egypt all over again," Turei said.

It’s all here …

Uganda: Bank Officials Arrest Impersonator
John Augustine Emojong
The Monitor (Kampala)
7 November 2007

SECURITY officers at Orient Bank Kampala on November 1, arrested Sekisambu Godfrey alias "Joshua" for impersonating the Chaplain of the Bishop of Bukedi Diocese, Rev. Joshua Iroota.

Godfrey Sekisambu from Nfufu Zone in Zaana,Wakiso district was after his arrest detained at CPS Kampala. Sekisambu who was also in possession of a fake ID purporting to be a driver of Global Transporters used Postal Add ress 70 Pallisa in his transactions.

Tororo District CID Officer Mr. Stephen Akol told The Daily Monitor that Sekisambu communicated to Canon Keith Price from the Anglican Church in UK claiming to be Rev. Joshua Iroota from Bukedi Diocese. Canon Keith is a friend and development partner of Bukedi Diocese.

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Listening process

Anglicans 'fearful' on gays
Barney Zwartz
The Age (AUS)
October 24, 2007

AUSTRALIAN Anglicans had become fearful and mean-spirited about homosexuals in the church, a gay priest told the church's national synod last night, while a top Anglican suggested homosexuality would be the next battleground.

Justice Peter Young, the synod's deputy chairman, told The Age that homosexuality would be the next problem for the Australian church now the debate over women bishops had been resolved. "We can see from England and New Zealand what the problems are. We can see that the next problem is between the (Anglican) hierarchy and gay and lesbian Christians," he said.

The gay priest, 60, who has lived almost 40 years in a monogamous relationship, was one of four homosexuals whose testimony was read by volunteers to preserve their anonymity in a special session of synod. The priest said there was a much more generous attitude to gays in the 1970s and '80s, and he knew many clergy living in faithful relationships. "In recent years the climate has changed. It is fearful and very often mean-spirited," he said.

It’s all here … 

In tact/Intact

Anglican Faith Needs “Serious Adjustments” To Remain In Tact
By Tameka Lundy
Bahamas News
23rd October

The crisis over same sex blessings and openly gay clergymen has been simmering ever since some liberal Episcopalians endorsed both, much to the chagrin of conservative Anglican primates.

"It is clear that the future of the Anglican Communion is unclear at the moment but there can be no doubt that the future shape of Anglicanism will have to undergo significant adjustments if the Communion is to remain intact," said Archbishop Gomez, who heads The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Diocese.

The basic issue the church is faced with resolving is its relationship with the Episcopal Church and the rest of the Anglican Communion in light of the consecration of the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire and the ongoing ambiguity over same sex blessings.

Archbishop Gomez added that in addition, the Communion must make some decisions on the resolution of the situation created by the interventions of certain Primates on behalf of those members of the Episcopal Church who feel alienated on theological grounds.

It’s all here …

Gomez Blasts Political Tribalism
By Tameka Lundy
Bahamas News   
23rd October

The head of the Anglican Church in The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos His Grace Archbishop Drexel Gomez last night urged legislation to establish an Ombudsman as a means of stopping the politics of tribalism dead in its tracks and give citizens a proper system of redress from governmental impropriety including victimization.

The archbishop decried the political polarization that has occurred since the May 2 general election, declaring that it had reached new and undesirable heights.

He even claimed that the polarization was posing a threat to the quality of life in The Bahamas.

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Debates

Diocese to stay in U.S. church
Quincy Episcopals to remain as debate on gays continues
Associated Press
October 22, 2007

MOLINE, Ill. - While the Episcopal Church struggles with issues related to homosexuality, delegates of the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy have decided to remain part of the national church, at least for the immediate future.

The diocese's annual synod was supposed to be a forum on the possibility of leaving the national church but remaining part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

"We gather every year to assess the life, ministry and mission of the diocese," said Rev. John Spencer, a diocesan spokesman. "We are a diocese that's focused on mission and outreach, so that's always the primary focus when we come together. We didn't make any formal changes in our relationship with the [U.S.] Episcopal Church this weekend."

It’s all here …

One faith, two perspectives on Anglicanism
Dana Clark Felty
Savannah Morning News
October 21, 2007

Two long-time members of Christ Church explain how the recent decision to break ties with Episcopalians has caused them to take an honest look at what they believe.

Celia Dunn learned early on that the Episcopal Church serves a broad spectrum of Christians.

She grew up with the "low church" style of worship at Christ Church through the 1940s that mirrored its Protestant neighbors.

At age 15, she was introduced to the "high church" style of St. Mary's School, an Episcopal convent school in New York. The worship included daily Mass, incense and genuflecting that mirrored practices of the Roman Catholic Church.

There's room within the Episcopal Church for both, she said.

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Faith and love
By Lindsay Whitehurt
Farmingtn (NM) Daily Times
10/21/2007

FARMINGTON — Chris Carlson prayed every week for three months before choir practice, asking God what she should do about her homosexual daughter.

"I would be listening to people tune up instruments, and kind of humming, making sure they got the bars right ... and I would start praying. I would just go, God, is this a sin? What am I supposed to do here?'" said Chris, 53.

Her husband, John Carlson, 55, knows there are specific passages in the Bible that condemn homosexuality.

"I don't want to reject my daughter. I don't want to disown her. I don't want to lose her. So what's the best thing I can do?" he said.

Their church leadership at St. John's Episcopal Church would later vote to split from the Episcopal Church following the confirmation of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire.

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Church audit of leader completed
The Denver Post
10/22/2007

A breakaway Episcopal church said Sunday that its audit of allegations against its leader is complete.

Grace Church and St. Stephen's Parish set a news conference for Tuesday to discuss it. A parish meeting was planned Tuesday night on the subject, spokesman Alan Crippen said. He declined to discuss the report and said it had not yet been formally released Sunday.

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It's Lord Carey of Clifton now

Archbishop of Canterbury to speak Sunday
The Jamestown (RI) Press
October 17, 2007

The Most Reverend George Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, will be speaking at Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church in Jamestown this Sunday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. The topic of his address will be "Christianity and Islam: Is a clash inevitable?"

Lord Carey served as the 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002. Following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Archbishop Carey became very involved in efforts to encourage dialogue between Christians and Muslims. In January of 2002, he initiated and hosted an inaugural gathering at his London residence, Lambeth Palace, between Christian and Muslim scholars from around the globe, with the intention of creating an on-going dialogue between these two great faiths. Following his retirement in October of 2002, Lord Carey has continued to be intimately involved in efforts to bring Muslims and Christians together for dialogue.

It’s all here …

Church divide over gays has a global audience

As the Anglican debate plays out, other denominations seek guidance for similar battles in their futures.
By Rebecca Trounson
Los Angeles Times
October 13, 2007

As Episcopalians and Anglicans wait to see if their fractious global fellowship will splinter or hold together in a long-running conflict over homosexuality and the Bible, other denominations are watching nervously.

The same or related issues are roiling many denominations, especially such mainline Protestant churches as Evangelical Lutherans, Presbyterians and Methodists. And many church leaders and scholars predict that the way these questions play out in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion will hold lessons for them all.

"The struggle going on inside the Anglican Communion. . . is not peculiar to Anglicanism," Sister Joan Chittister, a Roman Catholic nun, wrote in a recent column in the National Catholic Reporter newspaper. "The issue is in the air we breathe. The Anglicans simply got there earlier than most."

It’s all here …

Rift between Peoria-based Diocese of Quincy and The Episcopal Church likely would lead to property dispute
By MICHAEL MILLER
Peoria (IL) Journal Star
October 14, 2007

PEORIA - The Episcopal Diocese of Quincy's struggle with The Episcopal Church may continue with a dispute over semantics and end with a dispute over property.

When the diocese's annual synod meets Friday and Saturday in Moline, resolutions that could drastically alter Quincy's affiliation with The Episcopal Church may be considered.

If diocesan leaders express their intent to affiliate with a different province or Anglican organization, it will raise the technical question of whether an entire Episcopal diocese can leave TEC.

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Episcopalians now face a reunited opposition
De-Balkanizing the Anglican traditionalists
David C. Steinmetz
Orlando Sentinel
October 14, 2007

Anglicans don't do schism well. Schism is a split in the structure of the church and Anglicans (also known in this country as Episcopalians) do it badly.

Which is surprising, considering that Anglicans are famous for doing things well, or at least doing them with an enviable sense of style. But when it comes to schism (arguably America's favorite indoor ecclesiastical sport), most Anglicans are embarrassingly clumsy.

They are, for one thing, prone to splinter. Rather than rally around a single standard and build a viable group of dissenters who can survive and prosper, Anglicans have preferred to split into several tiny, non-viable groups that are barely visible and hardly missed.

Until recently, fragmentation seemed to be the strategy du jour of traditionalists in the current Anglican crisis. This crisis was precipitated by the decision of the Episcopal Church to consecrate a divorced non-celibate gay man as the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire and to allow the blessing of same-sex unions. A minority of Episcopalians in the U.S. and a majority of Anglicans worldwide disagreed strongly with this decision and set about to scupper it.

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Josiah Idowu-Fearon: At the heart of two flashpoints
Rod Dreher
Dallas Morning News
October 14, 2007

With the worldwide Anglican Communion on the verge of disintegration over the issue of homosexuality, and increasingly violent tension between Muslims and Christians in the Third World, Josiah Idowu-Fearon, who was born in 1949, labors at the center of these two global religious flashpoints.

As the outgoing Anglican archbishop of Nigeria's Kaduna state, he oversees a Christian flock in a traditionally Muslim region where thousands have died in interreligious strife there. An academically trained Koranic scholar, Archbishop Josiah works with Muslim leaders to avoid communal violence and paper over differences. But as a top leader in the booming and theologically conservative Anglican church in Nigeria, whose numbers dwarf its sister Episcopal Church in the United States, the prelate speaks out against Western attempts, particularly among liberal Anglicans, to modernize traditional Christian teaching about human sexuality. It's a conflict that he says is not really about sex, but about the nature of religious authority.

Archbishop Josiah recently spent a few days in Dallas as the guest of the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation. He sat down for an interview with Points, excerpts of which follow:

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Historic Church Votes to Leave Episcopal Roots
October 14, 2007

A historic Savannah church is breaking its ties with the Episcopal Church. This morning, 87% of the congregation of Christ Church voted they would now become part of the Anglican Communion.

Christ Church has met in Savannah as an Episcopal Church for 274 years; however, over the last 30 years, church leaders say several hundred churches around the country are starting to feel that the Episcopal Church has abandoned them and their beliefs.

"Over the past 30 years, there has been a slow devaluation of scripture in the church," said Steve Dantin, senior warden of the vestry of Christ Church. "We're now facing questions about the actual unique Deity of Jesus Christ and those are the real issues at hand."

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Discord

Bishop wants unity amid discord
Leader of Albany Episcopalians affirms opposition to same-sex unions and ordaining gay clergy
By MARC PARRY
October 11, 2007

ALBANY -- Bishop William Love has broken his public silence on the latest national Episcopal drama with both a call for unity and a strong reaffirmation of his conservative views.

Love, back from a high-stakes meeting of the country's Episcopal bishops, reiterated in a letter to local priests Tuesday that he won't allow the blessing of same-sex unions -- public or private -- in the 19-county Albany diocese. He also won't ordain gay deacons or priests.

And he argued that the church should keep its troubles from spilling out of the pews and into courtrooms, where several dioceses have found themselves in messy property disputes.

The Rochester Episcopal Diocese recently won its latest court fight against an Irondequoit church that, according to Episcopal News Service, "had been at odds with the diocese over the 2003 ordination of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire."

The church wouldn't pay its diocesan dues and kept using its building even after it formally split with the Episcopal Church. The diocese succeeded through the courts in getting the congregation to relinquish the property.

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Faith -- Episcopal Church 'breaking apart'
By Matt Russell
Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin
10/12/2007

Four years after it approved an openly gay bishop, the Episcopal Church is still dealing with the fallout.

Recent developments include a pledge last month by Episcopal bishops meeting in New Orleans to "exercise restraint" in approving another gay bishop. That move, plus a pledge not to authorize public blessings of same-sex unions, came amid pressure from conservative leaders in the worldwide Anglican Communion to which the Episcopal Church, the denomination's U.S. branch, belongs.

Last month's pledges won't change the fact that several churches across the nation likely will leave the Episcopal Church over the coming months, said the Rev. Michael P. Forbes, the chaplain of Grace Chapel, a small group of Rochester-area Episcopalians who have left local churches following the 2003 ordination of Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

"It's not going to be a pleasant sight," Forbes said. "Nationally, essentially the church is breaking apart."

There's no indication local parishes will do so, but Forbes estimates 800 parishes could leave the Episcopal Church nationwide. The Rev. Dr. Douglas Sparks of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Rochester puts the number much lower, citing an estimate of about 75 parishes that could leave the 7,600-parish Episcopal Church.

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Conservative Presbyterians leave church
By BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press
10/12/2007

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Episcopal Church isn't the only mainline Protestant group shaken by open conflict between theological liberals and conservatives.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is facing similar trials, with traditionalist congregations planning to bolt and a conservative denomination preparing to take them in.

About 30 of the nearly 11,000 Presbyterian congregations have voted to leave the national church since the denomination's national assembly session in 2006, according to The Layman, a conservative Presbyterian publication that has been tracking the breakaways. Denominational leaders say they could lose an additional 20 congregations as a result of this latest rupture.

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church, a conservative group separate from PCUSA, has voted to accept any of the departing congregations. Presbyterian conservatives are meanwhile organizing themselves through groups such as the Presbyterian Global Fellowship and the New Wineskins Association of Churches.

Presbyterian leaders emphasize that only a fraction of their congregations are leaving. But any litigation over church property could hurt the church's reputation and its bottom line. And the departures come after years of dwindling congregational membership and recent budget woes.

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JSC: TEC OK

Panel Says Episcopalians Have Met Anglican Directive
By NEELA BANERJEE
New York Times
October 4, 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 — In a victory for the Episcopal Church in its effort to remain in the Anglican Communion, a high-ranking Anglican advisory committee said Wednesday that Episcopal bishops had complied with a directive by Anglican leaders on same-sex unions and gay bishops.

The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion, which has been torn by disputes over the church’s liberal stance on homosexuality.

Earlier this year, the communion’s regional leaders, or primates, issued a directive to the Episcopal Church to curtail the consecration of partnered gay and lesbian bishops and the authorizing of rites of blessing for same-sex unions.

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Anglican Panel Praises Episcopalians
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 3, 2007

A world Anglican panel acknowledged Wednesday that Episcopal bishops are making some concessions to ease the turmoil they created in 2003 by consecrating their church's first openly gay bishop.

But the committee said that all sides in the long-running conflict over the Bible and homosexuality need to do much more to keep the beleaguered worldwide Anglican fellowship from splitting.

The advisory report from the lay-clergy Joint Standing Committee was written for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, as he struggles to prevent a schism in the 77-million-member Anglican Communion.

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Anglican leaders urge unity
A key panel responds to Episcopal bishops' pledge of restraint on issues that have threaten the worldwide communion.
By Rebecca Trounson, Los Angeles Times
October 4, 2007

Leaders of the global Anglican Communion responded largely positively Wednesday to pledges from the Episcopal Church to use restraint in consecrating gay bishops and other contentious matters.

But an influential joint standing committee of Anglican bishops, clergy and lay leaders also called on all sides in the continuing debate over homosexuality and biblical authority to work harder to ease their differences and keep the 77-million-member Anglican Communion intact. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of Anglicanism.

The panel's report to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican Communion's spiritual leader, came in response to a statement by Episcopal bishops last week at a meeting in New Orleans.

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African Anglican bishops steer away from gay row
By Ed Harris
Reuters
Oct 4, 2007 1

QUATRE BORNES, Mauritius, Oct 4 (Reuters) - African Anglican archbishops ducked homosexuality, the issue dividing the worldwide Communion, on Thursday and instead drew attention to the poorest continent's problems.

Last month Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, one of the Church's fiercest critics of gay rights, blasted bishops from the U.S. Episcopal Church for "ignoring" pleas to take a clear stand against consecrating gay clergy or blessing gay unions.

Chairing a meeting of African archbishops in Mauritius, Akinola was at pains to avoid the topic.

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White Anglicans accused of pressuring African churches on anti-gay agenda
By staff writers
Ekklesia
4 Oct 2007

Lesbian and gay Christians in the UK have criticised primarily white conservative Christians for pressurising African Anglican leaders to back them, and have said that the US Episcopal Church's compromise in saying it will not ordain gay people or bless partnerships at the moment is likely to backfire.

The response comes after a press release from the conservative Church Society network in England, effectively telling African Anglican churches meeting in Mauritius over the next few days to take a series of measures to outlaw Western churches who take a different view to them.

The bishops will be meeting under the banner of CAPA (Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa) which includes the provinces of Burundi, Congo, Central Africa, Egypt, Indian Ocean, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Southern Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and West Africa. CAPA is chaired by Archbishop Peter Akinola - an outspoken opponent of recognising lesbian and gay people.

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Divisions

Gays still divisive issue for local Episcopalians
By JOHN HENDERSON
Camden (NC) Daily Advance
September 30, 2007

An international debate over the ordainment of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire four years ago is still reverberating throughout America's Episcopal churches — including those in the Albemarle.

Parishioners unhappy with the way the American Episcopal Church has handled the issue in fact broke away and formed a new Anglican church in Camden more than a year ago.

But opposition to Bishop V. Gene Robinson's ordination in 2003 wasn't the only issue driving the split, says the Rev. Rickie Steenstra, former priest at Christ Episcopal Church in Elizabeth City and current pastor of Church of the Redeemer in Camden.

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Scottish Anglicans call for gay tolerance
Glasgow (Scotland) Herald
September 30 2007   

Anglican leaders from Scotland and Mexico called for tolerance yesterday after a row about homosexuality split the Communion.

The call came from Primus Idris Jones, of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and Archbishop Carlos Touche-Porter of Mexicoat a conference in Manchester Cathedral to promote "inclusive theology".

The event, attended by Anglicans from across the UK, followed last week's undertaking by the US Episcopal Church to modify its liberal approach to homosexuality.

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Archbishop told to spurn US church
The Sydney Morning Herald
October 1, 2007

LONDON: Conservative Christians will throw down the gauntlet to the Archbishop of Canterbury this week and demand that he disown the US church over gay bishops.

A letter to be sent to Rowan Williams today by Reform, an evangelical group representing 1000 parishes, urges him to openly oppose the US position.

The group warns failure to do so would split the Church of England from "top to bottom" and lead to a demand the US church be barred from Lambeth Council, the annual gathering of bishops.

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Service for gay clergy nothing but a sad secret
Christopher Bantick
Herald Sun (Australia)
October 01, 2007

IT is profoundly sad that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will hold a secret communion service for gay clergy and their partners.

Sad, not because Dr Williams is prepared to administer communion to gay men and women, but infinitely sad that this is to be done in secret.

Since the news broke on the church society website, evangelical.org, criticism directed at Dr Williams has been intense and expected.

The reason is obvious. The Anglican Church effectively discriminates against gay and lesbian members who are unwise enough to declare their sexuality.

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Rift over gay clergy cools down for now

A split in the Episcopal Church appears to have been repaired for now after U.S. bishops reached a compromise on gay clergy.
BY JAMES H. BURNETT III
Miami Herald
Sep. 29, 2007

Four years after a feud erupted in the Episcopal Church over the appointment of a gay bishop and the formal blessing of same-sex unions, a surprising thing happened at the church's House of Bishops assembly in New Orleans last week: The dispute appeared to cool -- for now.

''I say it was nothing short of a small miracle,'' says Bishop Leo Frade, of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida.

But that doesn't mean vocal opinions don't remain on both sides of the issue.

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God, gays and Episcopalians
The church's split over homosexuality reflects more than religious convictions.
L.A. Times
September 29, 2007

The U.S. Episcopal Church this week tried to appease conservative fellow Anglicans at home and abroad by reaffirming a promise to "exercise restraint" in approving sexually active gay bishops. The conciliatory statement, which followed some ecclesiastical shuttle diplomacy by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, fell on mostly deaf ears among conservatives. One dismissed it as a "delaying tactic."

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Tireless Shuttle Diplomacy
Archbishop of Canterbury, on Trip to U.S., Wins Compromise in Bid to Avoid Anglican Church Split
By Bruce Nolan
Religion News Service
September 29, 2007

NEW ORLEANS

His admirers describe him as a brilliant theologian with the soul of a poet, but it's the work of a diplomat -- a church diplomat -- that brought the archbishop of Canterbury here last week.

Archbishop Rowan Williams's 77 million-member Anglican Communion is in full-body spasm, seemingly on the verge of tearing itself apart over issues of homosexuality and the church.

For years, the 2.4 million-member Episcopal Church -- the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion -- has steadily marched toward consensus that homosexual relationships are not necessarily sinful; that gay men and lesbians may become bishops; and that the unions of gay couples may be sanctified.

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...and reactions UPDATED

Nigerian archbishop blasts Episcopal Church stand
By Michael Conlon
ReutersUK
27 Sep 2007

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A leading conservative critic of the U.S. Episcopal Church said on Wednesday its bishops have turned their back on pleas from global Anglican church leaders to take a clear stand against consecrating gays as bishops or blessing same-sex unions.

"Sadly it seems that our hopes were not well-founded and our pleas have once again been ignored," Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria said, responding to a six-day meeting of Episcopal Church bishops that ended a day earlier in New Orleans.

"Instead of the change of heart (repentance) we sought, what we have been offered is merely a temporary adjustment in an unrelenting determination" to make the rest of the global Anglican Communion, as the worldwide church is called, think the same way as its U.S. branch, Akinola said in a statement issued from his office and circulated to American media.

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Anglican split gains ground
Pittsburgh bishop calls on church conservatives to split if necessary from more liberal elements
Stuart Laidlaw
Toronto Star
September 27, 2007

PITTSBURGH–A possible massive realignment of the worldwide Anglican Church got started last night in America's Steel City.

Pittsburgh Bishop Bob Duncan, long a critic of his church's liberal drift, called on conservative Anglicans in the United States and Canada to return to traditional Christian values to revive the church, and to even split from their national churches if need be.

"Anglicanism seems to be failing in the west," said Duncan, a major force in the conservative Anglican movement. "Would each one of us become a missionary bishop?"

He was speaking at the opening last night of a four-day meeting here to discuss splitting the Episcopal Church, as Anglicanism is known in the U.S., in two – one liberal and one conservative.

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Bishop skeptical of Episcopal stance on gays
By Steve Levin,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
September 26, 2007

Pittsburgh Episcopal Bishop Robert W. Duncan Jr. last night dismissed the promise of church leaders meeting in New Orleans to "exercise restraint" in approving gay bishops and same-sex blessings.

Speaking before the opening in Pittsburgh of a four-day gathering of more than four dozen bishops representing both the Episcopal Church's conservative minority and U.S. and Canadian offshoots of the denomination, Bishop Duncan said the leaders' promise was "the same stuff; it's not movement."

"The American church is moving in one direction," he said. "The Western church is moving in one direction. The classic church stands where it has always stood."

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Nigerian Anglicans want U.S. church to ban gay clergy

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola has rejected the U.S. Episcopal Church's latest efforts to calm tensions over the consecration of gay bishops -- an issue threatening to split the global Anglican-Episcopalian family.
art.nigeria.afp.gi.jpg

U.S. Episcopal congregations against gay clergy have turned to Nigerian Anglican Archbishop Peter Akinola.

Akinola, a vocal and influential leader of the faction seeking an outright ban on gay bishops, said a resolution this week by the U.S. Episcopalians that failed to explicitly bar gay bishops from the pulpit meant his followers' "pleas have once again been ignored."

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African archbishop says Anglican church still faces 'gay' crisis

LAGOS (AFP) — An influential African archbishop said Thursday that the Anglican church was still in crisis despite the US Episcopal Church agreeing to halt the ordination of gay bishops and blessing same-sex unions.

Benjamin Kwashi, archbishop-elect of Jos province in Nigeria, insisted that the gay crisis was "not resolved" by the statement by US church leaders.

"The statement by the US Episcopal bishops should be taken with extreme caution," Kwashi told Nigerian media.

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The turbulence of priests
A meeting in Louisiana papers over the cracks
The Economist
Sep 27th 2007

IN NEW ORLEANS it is hard to stop talking about hurricanes, even metaphorically. “People came here thinking this was going to be Katrina II,” said Gene Robinson, the gay American Episcopalian whose ordination as bishop in 2003 plunged the worldwide Anglican Communion of churches into crisis. In the end, reported Katherine Jefferts Schori, who led 160 Episcopalian prelates in six hard days of deliberation, they found “common ground to stand on...high ground”.

Will the elevation be sufficient? Faced with the risk of a fiasco at next summer's Lambeth conference—a once-a-decade gathering in England for all the communion's bishops—the Americans were pondering how far they could go to meet conservative demands that they stop elevating gay bishops and blessing same-sex couples. Without concessions from the American side—so the Africans and other conservatives had made clear—Lambeth might face a mass boycott.

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Travails

Q&A: Anglican vote on homosexuality
Guardian Unlimited
Tuesday September 25, 2007

The leaders of the US Episcopal church were today voting on a compromise aimed at preventing a global split in the Anglican communion over homosexuality. Riazat Butt looks at the potential outcomes and what they would mean for the worldwide Anglican community.

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Gay row could split church
Express and Star
25th September 2007

The Bishop of Lichfield has said a rift in the Church of England over the issue of gay bishops is likely to lead to a permanent split.

The Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill said the American Churches were wrong to appoint a gay bishop and said 95 per cent of the Anglican Community would agree.

Churches in America have been given until September 30 to reverse their stance on gay bishops by the Anglican Communion.

Religious leaders in the UK have said it could split the Church of England.

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Goodbye Father Jeffrey. Hello, Sister Moon.
Ruth Gledhill - Articles of faith
September 25, 2007

As we report, the Bishop of Rio Grande, Jeffrey Steenson, has today explained to the US bishops why he is to be received into the Roman Catholic Church. He leaves an Episcopal Church in disarray, led no longer by a 'house' but by a 'community' of bishops, with a songbook of praise to Mother Earth, Sister Moon and Brother Sun. Thank you BabyBlue for finding out what the bishops are singing in New Orleans and thus reminding us that this whole affair actually has very little to do with homosexuality. Read on to enjoy the words of the songs.

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Chaos theory

Analysis: Anglicans Already Breaking Up
By RACHEL ZOLL
Associated Press
September 24, 2007

NEW ORLEANS - As Episcopal leaders consider barring more gays from becoming bishops to prevent an Anglican schism, the world Anglican family is already dying by a thousand cuts.

Theological conflict over the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, is draining the Anglican Communion of its global influence.

Episcopal and Anglican conservatives who have been trying to maneuver collectively have instead been scattering in different directions, adding to a sense of chaos.

And while the number of Episcopal parishes that have broken with the national church is relatively small, observers say there's another threat that's harder to measure: that some parishioners upset by how leaders have handled the crisis are falling away from the church.

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Bad news in Bahamas

Gomez Says Church Has Not Failed In War On Crime
By Vanessa C. Rolle
Bahamas News
September 14

The Bahamas has allowed some of its communities to turn into battlegrounds, Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez said Thursday.

Most murders committed this year were committed by young men, according to police, and the victims have also been young men.

Archbishop Gomez said many people might believe that the church has failed society in this regard, but he said society has failed itself.

"The church has not failed," he said.

"What has happened is that there are too many people who belong to the church who do not pay attention to what the church is teaching and what the church is standing for. I don’t think the church has failed."

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