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More from Africa

Ghana: Financial Assistance for Students
Accra Mail (Accra)
EDITORIAL
1 April 2008

Inaugurating the Anglican University College of Technology last weekend, President Kufuor asked private universities to "explore avenues to institute financial support schemes for students from poor financial backgrounds."

Any Ghanaian parent or guardian, who has applied for a university for a child or ward abroad, especially to US universities, would generally be on the look out for what kind of "financial assistance package" would come with admission. So generous are some of these packages that many Ghanaians have had more or less free education from certain American universities.

It’s all here …

Orthodox Anglican church to get first Bishop in Ghana
Ghana News Agency
April 01, 2008

Sekondi, GNA- The Very Reverend Doctor Jacob Augustine Welbourne, would be consecrated and enthroned as the first bishop of the orthodox Anglican Church of Ghana at Sekondi on April 6, this year.
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The release said between 1983 and 1994, he was the rector of the Trinity Episcopal Church in New Jersey and St. Clement's Episcopal Church in Michigan all in the United States of America.

He was the parish priest of the St. Augustine's Anglican Church at Dansoman and was transferred in 2002 and made the Dean of the cathedral church of Saint Andrew the Apostle, at Sekondi.

In 2006, he and four other church members of the church were charged for contempt of court, imprisoned and upon their release broke away to form the Orthodox Anglican Church at Sekondi.

It’s all here …

Sunk

Navy Chaplain Fired From Teaching Job After Report Exposed His Anti-Islamic Views
by Jason Leopold
Atlantic Free Press

A top Navy chaplain who wrote a book several years ago attacking Islam, calling the religion “evil,” and urging the United States to launch a “jihad” against the faith, has been fired from a prestigious theological institute after officials at the school recently became aware of the chaplain’s controversial book.
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On the website for St. John's church, a civilian Anglican church near the military station where Waite is stationed, he is listed as a Former Priest Associate and Chaplain-in-Residence.

It's all here ...

First Easter

New Anglican church to hold Easter service at Mount Dora Community Center
Rosemarie Dowell
Orlando (FL) Sentinel
March 22, 2008

MOUNT DORA - When the Rev. Woodleigh Volland recently polled members of his newly formed church about having an Easter service, he received a round of applause.

"Everyone supported it," Volland said. "Everyone wanted to do it."

The church, Epiphany Celebration Anglican Church, had a few things working against it though, such as its own infancy, lack of planning time and most importantly, a suitable location.

The church was founded late last year after Volland and the majority of his fellow congregants at St. Edwards Episcopal Church left the church and the Episcopal Church USA. The split involved the ongoing dispute about the ordination of a gay bishop.

It’s all here …

Continuity

St. Matthew’s Anglican Church moves into 105-year-old building
by Leslie Boyd
Asheville (NC) Citizen Times
February 23, 2008

WEAVERVILLE – From the time they first gathered nearly three years ago, congregation members of St. Matthew’s Anglican Church have wanted a permanent home.

Today their prayers are answered as they worship for the first time in their new building, the 105-year-old former home of Reems Creek Beech Presbyterian Church.

“We’re so excited about being able to preserve this wonderful old building,” church member Mary Jane Westall said.

The building was designed by Richard Sharp Smith, who also designed the Cathedral of All Souls in Biltmore Village and St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on Charlotte Street in Asheville. The property has been in use by churches since 1792.

It’s all here …

Commuting clergyman
Anglican archbishop makes home in Vacaville, works in San Francisco
By Karen Nolan
Vacaville (CA) Reporter
02/23/2008

Although they aren't likely to be confused any time soon, Vacaville now has something in common with Canterbury: Each is home to an Anglican archbishop.

The Most Rev. James E. Provence, however, doesn't have his cathedral here. This archbishop is a modern-day clergyman who commutes to St. Thomas Church in San Francisco, where he continues to serve as priest in addition to now overseeing two dioceses, or regions, for the Anglican Province of Christ the King (APCK).

How did an archbishop end up living in a place that doesn't even have any of his denomination's churches? Two words: Housing prices.

It’s all here …

Breakaway bishop

New Anglican American bishop to visit Christ Church Sunday
Jennifer Edwards
Midland (TX) Reporter-Telegram
01/26/2008

The new Anglican bishop for protesting Episcopal churches, including Christ Church Midland, will pay a visit and lead worship Sunday.

On Sept. 2, Anglican Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi of Uganda consecrated the Rev. John Guernsey as bishop over all American Anglican congregations currently under the protection of the Uganda's Anglican Church.

Though he visited the area before his consecration, it will be the first time he's visited Christ Church Midland, he said. While here, he'll also visit Good Shepherd Church in San Angelo and an emerging group in Lubbock.

It’s all here …

Breakaways

Trinity Anglican gets ready to mark a year in existence
BY MARILYN D. CARPENTER

Though it was founded a mere 12 months ago, the traditions and beliefs of Trinity Anglican Church of Port Charlotte are steeped in religious history.

Margo Lang, whose late husband served as rector at St. Paul's Anglican Church, joined forces with Ed and Joy Robedee to found the new church on Jan. 14, 2007, after the membership of St. Paul's had dwindled, and the church disbanded.

The retired Rt. Rev. Stanley Lazarczyk, bishop ordinary, agreed to lead the fledgling church, which meets at the Cultural Center of Charlotte County on Sundays and holy days.

Lazarczyk made it clear that Anglican Catholic Church is not to be confused with the Episcopal Church

It’s all here … and at least the reporter got that right…

Breakaway Anglicans debut to small audience
Leaders confident 'they will come,' as new church opens doors to worshippers
CHRIS COBB
Ottawa Citizen (Canada)
January 06, 2008

And on the first day, barely a dozen of the breakaway Anglican faithful showed up.

Far from being disappointed, Brian DeVisser said he considered Sunday's service a historic and successful occasion that bodes well for Ottawa's conservative-minded Anglicans.

"It went really well," said Mr. DeVisser, shortly after completing the first service of the Kanata Lakes Fellowship at the neighbourhood's tiny, but venerable Old Schoolhouse.

It’s all here …

Hounds of heaven

Blessing of the Hounds continues Thanksgiving tradition
By BEN BAUGH
Aiken (SC) Standard
November 20, 2007

It wouldn't be Thanksgiving in Aiken without it. The Aiken Hounds Opening Meet and Blessing of the Hounds in Hitchcock Woods holds the distinction of arguably being one of the most awaited traditional celebrations of the holiday season.

The event will be held at the Memorial Gate in Hitchcock Woods at 11 a.m. on Thursday morning, Thanksgiving Day. Father Garrett Clanton of All Saints Anglican Church will officiate the Blessing of The Hounds, said Linda Knox McLean, Aiken Hounds Master of Foxhounds and hunt secretary. Knox McLean is a joint MFH of the Aiken Hounds with Lellie Ward and Nancy Francis.

The Aiken Hounds were established in 1914 by Thomas Hitchcock Sr. and his wife Louise Eustis Hitchcock. They were recognized by the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America in 1916.

"It's a nice brisk walk to the Memorial Gate," said Knox McLean. "It's what everyone loves to do on Thanksgiving day."

It's all here ...

Spiritual journey

Epps to be consecrated as bishop
By W. WINSTON SKINNER
The Times-Herald
11/9/07

David Epps came from a Baptist family, attended a Methodist youth group, fell into being pastor of an Assemblies of God church, and will be consecrated next week as an Episcopal bishop.

The twists and turns that have brought Epps from his Tennessee boyhood to the bishop's chair sound like a New Testament saga, one that could only be envisioned in the mind of God.

Epps, a pastor in the local area for almost 25 years, will be consecrated as bishop of the Mid-South Diocese — which includes Georgia and Tennessee — of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. The service will be conducted in the sanctuary of Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church on Highway 54 in Peachtree City.

It’s all here …and though we feel it necessary to point out he's not TEC, he's certainly had an interesting spiritual journey that's worth reading about.

Walking apart

Cleric calls defrocking 'badge of honor'
By Valerie Richardson
The Washington Times
November 4, 2007

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Rev. Don Armstrong knows exactly what to do with the letter informing him that he's been officially defrocked by the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado.

He's going to frame it and hang it in his study as a "badge of honor."

"This is the last in a long line of publicity opportunities [Bishop] Rob O'Neill has been using to express his pastoral care and concern for me and my family," Mr. Armstrong said sarcastically.

It’s all here …

Lansing church makes strides in 3 years
New Anglican congregation looking for its own space
Kathleen Lavey
Lansing (MI) State Journal
November 5, 2007

On Jan. 1, 2005, a handful of former Episcopalians met at Mayflower Congregational Church.

The New Year's Day service launched a new Anglican congregation focused on very old, Bible-based tradition.

Today, as it nears its third anniversary, Christ the King Anglican Church has a full-time pastor, a growing congregation and a full-steam-ahead plan to find its own space.

It’s all here …

Allegations in Australia

Fresh allegations against clergyman
By Greg Roberts
The Australian
October 15, 2007

THE Anglican Church is investigating fresh allegations of sexual misconduct against a senior South Australian clergyman.

The allegations surfaced as the church was forced to secure a housing loan of $190,000, which was approved by the clergyman, Peter Coote, for his bishop.

Archdeacon Coote was stood down by Ross Davies, the Bishop of the Murray, after The Australian revealed in July that three women had complained of sexual misconduct by the archdeacon.

Bishop Davies was told in an internal church report in 2004 that the complaints were credible, but he has said he took no action against the archdeacon at the time - other than to refer him to a counsellor - because of legal advice.
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Anglican Primate Phillip Aspinall and Adelaide Archbishop Jeffrey Driver are considering an appeal by Murray parishioners to establish a tribunal to determine if Bishop Davies should continue in office.

The parishioners have cited the bishop's failure to respond adequately to complaints against Mr Coote, and his licensing of clergy attached to the ultra-conservative, US-based Traditional Anglican Communion.

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.

It’s all here …

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.

It’s all here …

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:

It’s all here …

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."

It’s all here …

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.

It’s all here …

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.

It’s all here …

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.

It’s all here …

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.

It’s all here …

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.

It’s all here …

CCP

Groups Plan New Branch to Represent Anglicanism
By NEELA BANERJEE
New York Times
September 30, 2007

Bishops from 13 Anglican and Episcopal groups in North America announced Friday that they had formed a partnership as the first step to creating a rival to the Episcopal Church, the American branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The announcement by the group, the Common Cause Partnership, marks a widening of the fissures within the Episcopal Church and in the greater communion over the church’s liberal stance on homosexuality.

Earlier in the week in New Orleans, the bishops of the Episcopal Church defied a directive by leaders of the Anglican Communion asking them to set up an alternate structure for conservative churches, to stop consecrating openly gay and lesbian bishops and to ban the blessing of same-sex unions.

It’s all here …

BeliefWatch: Anglican Angst
By Matthew Philips
Newsweek

Oct. 8, 2007 issue - What happens when the Archbishop of Canterbury and 150 Episcopal bishops meet in New Orleans to talk about gay rights? Predictably (temporizing is an Anglican hallmark), it's hard to tell. Despite heaps of press over a meeting last week in which the Episcopal House of Bishops was to clarify its views on homosexuality, the outcome remains fuzzy. Did they, as The New York Times reported, reject orders from conservatives to stop consecrating gay and lesbian bishops and blessing same-sex unions, thus sealing the fate of a fracturing church? Or did they, according to USA Today, make concessions to those demands and preserve the united of the worldwide Anglican Communion? It depends on whom you ask.

It’s all here … and a big epiScope Amen to Mr. Philips’ final sentence: “Doing the work of the Gospel, it seems safe to say, is more productive than debating it.”

Episcopalians plan to leave denomination
By Julia Duin
The Washington Times
September 29, 2007

Fifty-one Anglican and Episcopal bishops announced plans yesterday to form a separate Anglican province in North America within 15 months, giving disaffected Episcopalians a chance to flee their increasingly liberal denomination.

The Common Cause partnership, which includes bishops from several Episcopal dioceses and leaders of nine Anglican organizations, met yesterday in Pittsburgh. The leaders represent 600 congregations and more than 100,000 people.

The bishops said they will meet in December to put together an office staff for a 39th province of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion.

It’s all here …

INTERVIEW: Bishop Robert Duncan
September 28, 2007
Religion and Ethics Newsweekly
Episode no. 1104

Kim Lawton's September 27, 2007 interview with Bishop Robert Duncan of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh:

Q: What did you think of the final document the House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans produced?

A: The final document from NO was very much what the HOB has said before, and it revealed the commitment of the American church to continue on its move forward in terms of the innovations in faith and order. It did acknowledge the trouble in the communion and the pain that the American church has caused. It did maybe slow things down a little bit, but it's not going to change the direction, and clearly in New Orleans as there has been for some while there really are two churches under one roof and those two churches are one that is moving in a way with the culture and with secular society, moving toward embrace of the culture itself, and the other is moving in a direction -- I mean we are trying to stand where we've always stood. That's the reality. So that's New Orleans, but that's old news.

It’s all here …

When splitting is right decision
Area churches weighing controversial issues
Johnstown (PA) Tribune-Democrat
September 28, 2007

On Oct. 31, 1517, a monk named Martin Luther posted on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church in Germany his list of 95 areas of disagreement with the Catholic church.

That act was a key moment in a division of the church in Europe that eventually led to the formation of Protestantism and new denominations of believers. Obviously, the Catholic church continued, even as groups splintered off and went their own way.

Religion can be a contentious and divisive undertaking. People sometimes disagree, quite passionately, about fundamental principles, or how those beliefs should be incorporated into lives and traditions.

That’s when changes happen.

It’s all here …

Another group

Breakaway Episcopalians Form Partnership
By JOE MANDAK
The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A leading Episcopal conservative announced plans for a partnership Friday that aims to create an alternative to the liberal-leaning Episcopal Church.

Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, whose diocese is considering breaking away from the national denomination, said the group will be called the Common Cause Partnership.

The founders are a mix of groups with varying ties to the Episcopal Church and the world Anglican Communion. Among the members will be Episcopal dioceses and parishes that have broken away or plan to split from the national church, congregations that have never been part of the Episcopal Church and fellowships that are considered schismatic by the Anglican Communion.

It’s all here ...

Peeved in Pittsburgh

`Episcopal church self-destructing,' bishop says of rights fight
Conservatives, liberals unhappy with decision
Stuart Laidlaw
Toronto Star
Sep 27, 2007

PITTSBURGH–A move by the U.S. Episcopal church this week to stave off an Anglican schism is already on shaky ground, with neither liberals nor conservatives happy about the church's decision to go slow on gay rights.

"The Episcopal church is self-destructing," Pittsburgh Bishop Bob Duncan told the Star yesterday.

Duncan is currently hosting a meeting of 51 conservative bishops from across the U.S. to discuss breaking away from the Episcopal church, as Anglicanism is known in the United States, because they feel it has become too liberal.

It’s all here …

New church offers traditional worship

St. Michael the Archangel is 3rd Orthodox Anglican church in Indiana
Indianapolis (IN) Star
September 13, 2007

NOBLESVILLE -- The pastor and parishioners at St. Michael the Archangel, a church that began serving Noblesville Sunday, are certain God has opened doors to a great future.

St. Michael the Archangel is an Orthodox Anglican church that was established in January as a mission of the Anglican Diocese of Bolivia. The mission church is the third one established in Indiana, with others in Nashville and Anderson. Sunday worship is held in the Winks Building at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds.

"We're looking to be a church that is Bible-based, traditional, not agenda driven and a place where families can raise their children and learn about Christ," said the Rev. Tom Tirman, pastor of all three Indiana Anglican churches.

It’s all here …

Misdoings

Ex-chorister sentenced for photographs of boys
Baltimore Sun
August 1, 2007

A former organist and choir director of a Timonium church was ordered yesterday to serve three years of probation for possessing photographs that depicted young boys as the subjects of sadomasochistic abuse.

David R. Riley, 59, of Roland Park was granted probation before judgment on one count of possession of child pornography. He resigned his position as organist and choirmaster of the Choir of Men and Boys at St. Stephen's Traditional Episcopal Church after a plea hearing in April. By entering an Alford plea, Riley did not admit guilt in the case but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him.

It’s all here …and note that the congregation is not associated with the Episcopal Church but with the Anglican Church in America.

More U.S. Episcopalians Look Abroad Amid Rift

I'm really sorry to see how this story turned out; Alan Cooperman is usually a more careful reporter than this.

Overseas Prelates Lead 200 to 250 Congregations

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 17, 2007; A03

The Anglican archbishop of Rwanda was first, then his counterpart in Nigeria. Now Kenya's Anglican archbishop is taking a group of U.S. churches under his authority, and Uganda's archbishop may be next.

African and, to a lesser extent, Southeast Asian and Latin American prelates are racing to appoint American bishops and to assume jurisdiction over congregations that are leaving the Episcopal Church, particularly since its consecration of a gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003.

So far, the heads, or primates, of Anglican provinces overseas have taken under their wings 200 to 250 of the more than 7,000 congregations in the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of Anglicanism. Among their gains are some large and wealthy congregations -- including several in Northern Virginia -- that bring international prestige and a steady stream of donations.

It’s all here … and here's the problem.

It's sad, but it wasn't ours

Church Treasurer Indicted for Embezzling $409,000
The longtime volunteer treasurer of a midtown Manhattan Episcopal church has been indicted on charges of embezzling $409,000.
Wed, Mar. 07, 2007
Posted: 10:46:01 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) - The longtime volunteer treasurer of a midtown Manhattan Episcopal church has been indicted on charges of embezzling $409,000.

Thelma Daniels Perkins, 59, was charged with second-degree grand larceny Tuesday after she was arrested last week at her house in Rahway, District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said.

Perkins pleaded not guilty at her arraignment in Manhattan's state Supreme Court. Justice Laura Ward ordered her held on $75,000 bail and scheduled her next court appearance for March 14.

Perkins' lawyer, Steve Bilkis, said later that his client "has never had any criminal entanglements. I have no indication at all that there was any impropriety by my client. The facts will come out and exonerate my client."

It’s all here …  and please note that contrary to the impression left by headline and lede, this is not a TEC church but First Reformed Episcopal Church. The Daily News has an ever so much more colorful, but no less misleading, version of the story here. In any event, it's a sad misunderstanding of Commandment #8 (or #7 if you're Roman Catholic or Finnish Lutheran--so says Wikipedia).