Anglican Archbishop of Sudan Wants BP Gene to Resign

Archbishop of the Sudan, the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul wants Bishop Robinson to resign...

so what's new about that? Most of the global south wants that to happen.

My words to Bishop Robinson would be, "hang in there Bishop Robinson. A lot of us are holding you up in our prayers and think you're doing a great job."

Gordon

From anglican-mainstream.net

July 22nd, 2008 Posted in Lambeth Conference |

Lambeth Report #6 Tuesday afternoon, July 22, 2008

Cherie Wetzel reporting from Canterbury, England

We have just had a briefing with the Archbishop of the Sudan, the Most Reverend Dr. Daniel Deng Bul.  He informed the press room this morning that he would come and speak with us, since the Anglican Communion News Bureau running this conference, would not schedule a time for him to address the press. 

The archbishop is young – I would guess that he is in his 40’s.  He is very articulate and has an earned Ph.D.  By his own admission, he has been an Anglican since he was a very small child.

His words are responses to questions asked.  I think the questions are self-evident.

“Gene Robinson should resign for the sake of the Church and the entire Anglican Communion.  We are pleading with them (the others at this conference) for the Anglican World, to not throw that away.

“We do not want to throw any people away, either.  But we are here to determine how to remain united.  That begins with forgiving one another for errors made.  Gene Robinson is an error.  The American church has not admitted they are wrong and we cannot forgive them until they do.

“I do not see a way out of these problems with the Indaba groups.  The main issues have not been touched.

“300 bishops are not here because of Gene Robinson.  Can he not resign to allow them to come?  Why has he not done that? 

“He is a human being and we are not throwing him away but the norms of the Anglican Communion have been violated.  The question is not if Gene Robinson comes but what are we being challenged to do by GAFCON?”

“Let the Anglican world be united and be a normal, respected Christian body.” 

“We have not punished the American church yet.  We are asking them to repent.  I am talking about the institutional church in America, no specific bishops.  I am here to speak within the House.  I cannot be silent on this issue; I must speak to the House for the reality I know with my people.  I should not hesitate to be here since I have been an Anglican since I was a child. 

When asked what would happen to the Communion if Robinson did not resign, the archbishop continued, “I cannot predict what will happen if he will not resign.”

Ruth Gledhill of the Times of London asked the archbishop who would pay for this conference, reportedly 2.6 million pounds in debt at this minute, and not able to pay for this by the parishes in the Church of England, if the American church was not invited.  He replied very gently, “Issues of faith cannot be mixed with materialism.”

I do hope he means that, because you can bet the province of the Sudan has seen its last American dollar.  It is rumored that liberal elements in the American church paid all or a significant part of the cost for the Sudanese to attend.

The archbishop, known as an expert in the field of reconciliation said, “I am here talking to my brothers and sisters in America.  We have experienced offense by their actions.  I am not trying to offend them in return but tell them that I love them.  We have had a painful experience and they must ask for forgiveness so we can go on together.

“If there is a cultural problem in America, it should be kept in America and not allowed to come into the Anglican world.  I am not saying the Americans should all be excluded, but keep Gene Robinson away and we will find a way to help them.  (Imagine the  American Episcopal Church actually acknowledging that they need the help of the Sudan!)

“This issue of homosexuality in the Anglican Communion has a very serious effect in my country.  We are called ‘infidels’ by the Moslems.  That means that they will do whatever they can against us to keep us from damaging the people of our country.  They challenge our people to convert to Islam and leave the infidel Anglican Church.  When our people refuse, sometimes they are killed.  These people are very evil and mutilate and harm our people.  I am begging the Communion on this issue so no more of my people will be killed.

“My people have been suffering for 21 years of war.  Their only hope is in the Church.  It is the center of life of my people.  No matter what problem we have, no material goods, no health supplies or medicine; no jobs or income; no availability of food.  The inflation rate makes our money almost worthless and we have done this for 21 years.  The Church is the center of our life together. 

“The culture does not change the Bible; the Bible changes the culture. Cultures that do not approve of the Bible are left out of the Church’s life; people who do not believe in the Bible are left out of our churches.  The American church is saying that God made a mistake.  He made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Adam. 

“We will not talk to Gene Robinson or listen to him or his testimony.  He has to confess, receive forgiveness and leave.  Then we will talk.  You cannot bring the listening to gay people to our Communion.  People who do not believe in the Bible are left out of our churches, not invited in to tell us why they don’t believe.

“I have just come from a meeting of the African and Global South bishops who are here.  There were almost 200 bishops there.  They support the statement my Church made yesterday.  That’s 17 provinces. 

“The Authority of the Bible is always the same.  You cannot pull a line out or add a line to it.  That brings you a curse.  We are saying no.  You are wrong.

Archbishop Deng Bul then talked about the humiliation his country faces with the indictment of their president by the International Court.  He feels it reflects badly on the whole country and will make more people in Darfur die.  He spoke of a recent attack in Sudan by the Lord’s Resistance Army from the Congo and Uganda.  They came across the border and slaughtered a whole town of people.

When asked if he knows any gay people in the Sudan he replied, “They have not come to the surface.  We do not have them.”  The press from TEC that were in the room did not laugh out loud at this statement, but nearly.

He concluded by saying that he felt the purpose of the Lambeth Conference is for the bishops to act as counselors to Rowan and the Primates.  They will take these matters under discussion and decide on a way forward.  The Archbishop of Canterbury will then act on the counsel he receives from the bishops.  We will help him determine what is good for the Communion. 

The final question was about the women and ordination, an issue that is still a smoking topic in the Church of England.  “Yes,” he said.  “Women are human beings that have ministered with the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Lord Jesus Christ.”  He does believe in the ordination of women.

Archbishop Deng Bul was accompanied by his Canon, the Rev. Francis Loyo. 

As they left the pressroom, the Rev. Dr. Charles Robertson, Canon to the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, said he had a short statement.  He clarified that the Episcopal Church has had a positive relationship with the Sudan for many years and has been there with the intention of making a difference.  They have succeeded in doing that.  The Episcopal Church expects to continue that relationship and continue to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of the Sudan, finding a way to move forward from yesterday’s statement.  Canon Robertson declined to answer questions.

People ran to their laptops to get the message out on the Web.  I had a chance to personally thank Canon Loyo for their statement and told him that it would cheer and encourage many faithful Episcopalians in the United States.  I hope YOU have been encouraged by this.  No matter how it might feel.  We are not alone!

Cherie Wetzel

Anglican Bishops Meet in Canterbury

From the New York Times

July 21, 2008

Anglican Bishops Meet in Canterbury

By JOHN F. BURNS

CANTERBURY, England — As he passed through the heavy wooden doors of this city’s ancient cathedral behind a procession of 650 other Anglican bishops and archbishops on Sunday, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, appeared taut and ill at ease. It was as if keeping a church with an estimated 80 million followers around the world from breaking apart over the issue of gay priests and bishops was proving almost too heavy a burden.

Read more here:

Anglican Bishops Meet in Canterbury - NYTimes.com

Anglican Communion Bigotry Continues

Katie Sherrod wrote the following on the Walking With Integrity blog today. It's a great post. But it's upsetting that many of the Bishops in the Anglican Communion believe it is entirely appropriate to practice bigotry. They've banned Bishop Robinson from next Tuesday evening's purple hat meeting.

Gordon

MIND THE GAP 

by Katie Sherrod

For one brief tiny second, I think there was a rainbow over the green field where the Integrity/Changing Attitude Eucharist took place this afternoon before a crowd of 160 people, including 33 bishops, mostly from the US. The Canterbury Cathedral loomed dramatically over the trees beyond the altar.

It was a cool blustery mostly sunny afternoon interrupted occasionally by brief light showers of rain. As the second shower was passing, the sun came out, creating a rainbow just as I glanced up. I grabbed my photographer’s arm, but it was gone before I could get words out.

Did I imagine it? Was it wishful thinking?

It seemed much too apt to be true, that tiny glimpse of color, so I’m assuming I imagined it. One often feels that way in the Anglican Communion – thinking one has glimpsed some hope only to find it was an illusion.

But this afternoon, there was one genuine icon of hope for LGBT folks, and that was Bishop Gene Robinson, striding across the road from St. Stephens encircled by a small group of American bishops come to stand in solidarity with him at the service.

The irony is that at the very moment Bishop Robinson wasn’t feeling very hopeful himself. He had just learned that the house of bishops of the 38 “national” provinces are supposed to meet Tuesday evening and that “they” – the Lambeth Conference organizers – had decreed that Bp. Robinson was not to be allowed to attend the meeting of the US House of Bishops. It might make it appear that he is a participant in the conference, something “they” apparently want to avoid at all costs, lest it offend – who? The people who are boycotting Lambeth?

It was the very thing he had pleaded with his brothers and sisters not to allow to happen – that they not allow the “powers that be” to separate them.

So Bp. Robinson was grateful for the Eucharist, because, as he said, “Eucharist always helps.”

Integrity and Changing Attitude had joined forces to put on the service for the purpose of praying for the bishops at the Lambeth Conference. It was a startling sight – the groups that had been the most wounded by the actions of Lambeth 1998 were here praying for the success of the Lambeth Conference, while those who had most celebrated the outcome of the 1998 conference were boycotting it.

The service, presided over by Colin Coward of Changing Attitude, seemed to lighten the spirits of those present. While a Eucharist like this is fairly common at, say, a General Convention or even a diocesan convention in the U.S., it’s almost unheard of in England, where the leadership of the Church of England tries to pretend there are no such folk in their pews, and certainly not in their pulpits, behind their altars, or under their miters. The mind boggles, doesn’t it?

So the LGBT folk from England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland who were present were mildly amazed to see an openly gay priest at the altar and hear a lesbian preach.

Susan Russell was at her best, preaching a sermon of God’s inclusive love that clearly touched the hearts of many of those sitting or standing on the grass in front of her.

She started out by talking about that ubiquitous warning of the British rail system, “Mind the Gap,’ the warning to passengers to be aware of the distance between the train and the platform.

“I can’t help but wonder if minding the gap isn’t one of the ways an island people cope with the challenges of gaps that don’t have anything to do with trains! It is a mindset that says `gaps happen and we mind them and keep moving along’ that is part of the DNA of not only the English people but of the English Church.

“It is the essence of an Anglican comprehensiveness that has – up until now – been able to hold together a world-wide communion in spite of the gaps between theologies and polities and languages and liturgies.

“As this Lambeth Conference begins, I’m wondering if `minding the gap’ might not be one of the most important things those of us who love, care about and pray for this Anglican Communion can do,” she said.

She reminded the listeners that Jesus promised that “the truth will set you free.”

“To mind the gap is to commit ourselves to tell the truth about the very real gaps that exist between the experiences, worldviews, and theologies of many members of the Anglican Communion. It is equally to speak the truth that the Gospel we share is stronger than the differences we acknowledge,” she said.

“Gaps do not have to become chasms and differences do not have to become divisions – in spite of what you might have read in the Sunday papers this morning from the Gospel According to Durham,” she said, a reference to N.T. Wright, the bishop of Durham, who compared the ordination of a gay bishop to the invasion of Iraq in the Sunday Times today.

She said the church at its best has “not only the potential but the vocation to bridge not only the gaps that separate us from each other within the communion but the gaps that separate the church from the world it has been created to serve as the Body of Christ … as Jesus’ hands and feet at work in the world.

“The truth that will set us free is that Jesus spent a WHOLE lot less time talking about who was going to get to heaven than he did talking about bringing heaven to earth. `Thy kingdom come, thy will be done ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN’ are arguably among the most familiar words in all of Christian faith – the words our Lord Jesus `taught us to pray.’

“So my wondering today – and we’ve happily got a great lot of bishops here who should be theologically trained enough to give us an answer -- is this: When did the litmus test for going to heaven become correctly guessing who else God has on the invitation list? “

“Jesus didn’t have a single word to say about guessing the guest list … or about doctrines or dogmas or creeds -- or even about Lambeth Conferences! In the gospel from Matthew we heard this morning he quite clearly tells us that it is not our job to fuss about the weeds – or what even to decide which ones are the weeds! Jesus will deal with that at harvest time, he assures us. And it is high time the church took him at his word and -- leaving what he’s asked us to leave to him to him – to get on with the work he has given US to do.

She pointed out that Jesus was VERY clear about what that work looks like -- “inasmuch as you did it unto the least of these.”

“The question Jesus asked was, `did you bring water to the thirsty, food to the hungry, clothing to the naked?’ … not `did you agree on liturgical practice, come to consensus on a biblical hermeneutic, unravel the mystery of human sexuality?’

“Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us that the creation waits with eager longing “In hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage …” and that is as true in 21st century Canterbury as it was in 1st century Corinth. The whole creation. Not just one part or parcel – one race or gender or orientation or identity. The WHOLE creation-- free of poverty, free of violence, free of exploitation, free of oppression, free of sexism, free of racism, free of homophobia. And what will set the creation free is the truth.

She told her listeners that “our job is to tell the truth about the God who loved us enough to become one of us and then called us walk in love with God and with our neighbors. It is THAT truth that is core of the Gospel message of love and hope and inclusion and it is THAT truth that has the power to set the creation free. If we will claim it. If we will proclaim it. If we will get on with the work WE have been given to do.”

She then told Robert Fulgham’s story of the time he had to mind the children while the other grownups were off doing something else. He set the children to sorting themselves into giants, wizards and dwarfs, a game the purpose of which was mostly to run around and make noise.

Then, While the groups huddled in frenzied, whispered consultation, a tug came at my pants leg. A small child stands there looking up, and asks in a small, concerned voice, "Where do the Mermaids stand?"

Where do the Mermaids stand?

A long pause. A very long pause. "Where do the Mermaids stand?" says I.

"Yes. You see, I am a Mermaid."

"There are no such thing as Mermaids."

"Oh, yes, I am one!"

She did not relate to being a Giant, a Wizard, or a Dwarf. She knew her category. Mermaid. And was not about to leave the game and go over and stand against the wall where a loser would stand. She intended to participate, wherever Mermaids fit into the scheme of things. Without giving up dignity or identity. She took it for granted that there was a place for Mermaids and that I would know just where.

Well, where DO the Mermaids stand? All the "Mermaids"--all those who are different, who do not fit the norm and who do not accept the available boxes and pigeonholes?

Answer that question and you can build a school, a nation, or a world on it.

What was my answer at the moment? Every once in a while I say the right thing. "The Mermaid stands right here by the King of the Sea!" says I.

So we stood there hand in hand, reviewing the troops of Wizards and Giants and Dwarfs as they roiled by in wild disarray.

It is not true, by the way, that Mermaids do not exist. I know at least one personally. I have held her hand. 

Russell went on to say, “A question I have answered a hundred times is `why are you going to Lambeth Conference?’

“My answer this afternoon IS this afternoon. It is this extraordinary gathering of wizards and dwarfs and giants and mermaids – standing together as the Body of Christ – receiving together the bread and wine made holy – going out together to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ Jesus to the world.

“It is the church telling the truth that will set it free – the truth that it is not true that faithful gay and lesbian Anglicans do not exist … for we know some personally. We have held their hand.

“And it is the opportunity to witness to that truth that will set this church – this communion – indeed this creation – free of the fear of inclusion and open to the Holy Spirit of God calling it to move forward in faith into God’s future. And may the God who has given us the will to do these things give us the grace and power to accomplish them. Amen.”

The passing of the peace took a long time as the gathered crowd shook hands, hugged, laughed, and wiped tears away. Then they moved into the Great Thanksgiving with a gusto not often seen in an English service, ending with a hymn beginning “We sing a love that sets all people free.”

The sound of the singing blew across the field, over the boys playing soccer, the child toddling carefully over the grass, the woman throwing a ball for her happy dogs, the couple walking hand in hand, drifting past the cathedral and off into a waiting world. 

--

Posted By Katie Sherrod to Walking With Integrity at 7/20/2008 11:58:00 AM 

Bishop Robinson Heckled in England

I've had the privilege to hear Bishop Robinson three times. The first time was in February of 2004 when he was installed as Bishop of New Hampshire.  He's an awesome speaker and a deeply spiritual leader in The Episcopal Church. I love him dearly as do many of us.

Gordon

Bishop Robinson was heckled while preaching in England.  See the two minute clip here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7504484.stm

A Sermon for Our Times: Bishop Gene Robinson in the Face of Fear

Rev. Debra Haffner

July 18, 2008

Huffingon Post www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-debra-haffner/a-sermon-for-our-times-bi_b_112879.html?view=screen 

Watch this clip from the BBC.

Really. Stop now and watch it. It's less than two minutes. And it brought me to tears.

If you don't recognize the clergyman who is speaking, you have surely heard of him. He's the Right Rev. Gene Robinson, the ninth bishop of the diocese of New Hampshire and the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church. This is the man who stands, as his recent memoir puts it, "in the eye of the storm" that has engulfed the global Anglican Communion since his consecration as bishop five years ago.

In the video clip, taken last Sunday, Bishop Robinson is preaching at St. Mary's Church, Putney, in south London. He was on his way to the Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade meeting of Anglican bishops convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. The conference opens on Wednesday (July 16).

Not that he will be allowed inside. To appease those who oppose the ordination of gay clergy and leaders, the Archbishop has excluded Bishop Robinson from attending. Bishop Robinson instead will stand on the margins, in an adjacent space called "the Marketplace," where products are sold and new ideas get a hearing. He intends to put a face on the controversy, a face of love in a climate of fear.

Fear was the subject of Bishop Robinson's sermon on Sunday in London. As the clip shows, he had hardly begun speaking when a protestor rose from the congregation, shouting "Repent!" Yes, lamentation is called for, but not from Bishop Robinson. Rather, it is the church itself -- not just the Anglican Church, but many faith traditions, both Christian and non-Christian -- that should lament, to consider with regret, how it has marginalized gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. Sexual and gender oppression can no longer be portrayed as virtuous and morally defensible. That is a worthy sermon for our times.

But the incident in south London calls another sermon to mind. In Matthew's telling of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you." (Matt 5: 43-44).

In St. Mary's Church on Sunday, the Sermon on the Mount came to life. Parishioners responded to the heckler first with clapping hands, then with voices joined in a hymn of praise. There was no shouting back, no shoving, just an outpouring of love that overwhelmed the voice of fear. When the incident was over, Bishop Robinson continued. "Pray for that man," he said.

Pray for him. Love him. Pray for the Bishops gathered in England. Pray for Bishop Robinson, excluded from the table.

We are all challenged to create loving, respectful relationships, and to honor the many ways that people live and love. An inclusive, embracing love leads us to affirm sexual and gender diversity as a blessing in our lives. 

Archbishop Apologizes For Persecution of Gays

This was on BBC Manchester tonight

MANCHESTER, December 17, 2007  –  Archbishop Desmond Tutu has apologised to gay people all around the world for the way they have been treated by the Church.

The Archbishop recently criticised the church for being ‘obsessed’ with homosexuality but speaking on the only gay programme on the BBC he goes further and says he’s ‘sorry’.

The Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner says “sorry” to the worldwide LGBT community in an exclusive recorded interview with Ashley Byrne, presenter of Gay Hour, to be transmitted tonight (December 17) on BBC Radio Manchester.

“I want to apologise to you and to all those who we in the church have persecuted,” Archbishop Tutu says in the interview.

“I’m sorry that we have been part of the persecution of a particular group.  For me that is quite un-Christ like and, for that reason, it is unacceptable.

“May be, even as a retired Archbishop, I probably have, to some extent, a kind of authority but apart from anything let me say for myself and anyone who might want to align themselves with me, I’m sorry.

“I’m sorry for the hurt, for the rejection, for the anguish that we have caused to such as yourselves.”

The interview is something of a “scoop” for BBC Radio Manchester, a local radio station who’s  Gay Hour – officially LGBT Citizen Manchester – is broadcast every Monday.

This programme can be heard via BBC Manchester's 'audio on demand' until 8pm on December 24 by clicking HERE.  The 22-minute interview starts after approx 16 minutes.. 

It will also be permanently available on the Canal Street website from tomorrow.

LGBT Citizen Manchester is produced for BBC Radio Manchester by Made in Manchester Production.

SEE ALSO

Archbishop Tutu Gives Hope for Gays and Lesbians, by Andy Harley. Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said homophobia is, to him, as “totally unacceptable and unjust as Apartheid ever was.”  (UK Gay News, February 6, 2004)

The Very Rev. John Tidy Lectures at Integrity of the Palm Beaches

The Very Rev. John Tidy (left) All Soul's Episcopal Church, Miami Beach, FL

The Rev John Tidy was asked by Bishop Frade to be the priest-in-charge at All Souls Episcopal Church on South Beach. It is the only Episcopal church in Miami Beach.  Prior to coming to the Episcopal Diocese of SE Florida, Father Tidy, from England, served as Rural Dean of Kingston, Diocese of Southwark, UK and as Dean of St George's Cathedral, Jerusalem.

Father Tidy gave a great lecture on his experience living in Jerusalem and the plight of the Palestinian people. He spoke of his hope for full inclusion of G/L/B/T Anglicans within the Anglican Communion and expressed his heart felt appreciation for The Episcopal Church's leading the way.

TEC FALL House of Bishops Meeting in NOLA

The House of Bishops invited the Archbishop of Canterbury to this year's fall meeting. The HOB meets twice a year. Of course the Archbishop brought his entourage along. This year's fall meeting was in NOLA. Having had a particularly difficult week at work I was coming home and taking naps after hurriedly reading my email. So trying to make up for my lapses, I've compiled some of the news coverage today. Gordon www.cafepress.com/fartotheleft

**********************************************

The Times-Picayune

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

N.O. becomes the accidental backdrop for a high-stakes meeting to save the world's Anglican communion

By Bruce Nolan Staff writer

The archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, arrives in New Orleans today hoping to find a way to keep the world's third-largest Christian church from breaking up in a global clash over homosexuality

The Most Rev. Rowan Williams will meet with about 160 Episcopal bishops from around the United States, and key primates or heads of Anglican churches from other countries, in talks Thursday and Friday at the Hotel InterContinental. His mission is to find a way to avert a rift between the 2.4-million-member Episcopal Church (USA) and more conservative Anglican churches in 37 other geographic provinces. Many of their leaders believe the Episcopal church has broken faith with Christianity by supporting same-sex unions and ordaining gay bishops and other clergy. The Anglican Communion numbers 70 million members; in Christianity only the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches are larger. In other times, the five-day meeting might have been a routine, semiannual gathering of the church's House of Bishops to study together, socialize and conduct church business. But the affliction Hurricane Katrina spread across the region gives the meeting an additional gloss: Bishops said they wanted to visit New Orleans to support the city and inspect the work of the Episcopal church's Jericho Road housing initiative and other Episcopal relief projects. Bishop Charles Jenkins of the Diocese of Louisiana asked each to bring a gift of $10,000 to be divided between Louisiana and Mississippi. Many will, he said Tuesday -- and Bishop Mark Lawrence of South Carolina has pledged to arrive with a gift of $100,000, Jenkins said. He said the bishops probably will bring gifts totaling more than $1 million. A growing separation But the meeting has taken on even greater significance for the Anglican Communion, which for 30 years has been under steadily increasing strain over the Episcopal church's acceptance of same-sex unions and gay bishops who live with partners. For Anglicans here and abroad it tests the very definition of what it means to be an Anglican. Worldwide, 37 autonomous Anglican churches are linked to the Church of England in a voluntary communion of shared traditions, theology and mission. The archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual head of the communion, first among equals by consent of the other primates. The overseas primates, led by powerful African clergy such as Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, are pressuring Williams to declare that because of its nontraditional view of homosexuality, the Episcopal church is no longer a full member of the Anglican Communion. Williams has resisted for the sake of unity. He has engaged all sides in constant negotiations, hoping to appeal to the church's common legacy in dealing with the dispute. Deadline is Sept. 30 The latest crisis stems from a meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, last spring, where Anglican primates from around the world demanded that the Episcopal church declare it would not authorize same-sex unions and would ordain no more partnered gay clergy after the 2003 ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The primates also suggested the creation of an alternative leadership structure inside the Episcopal church to provide spiritual care for dismayed conservative Episcopalians. The primates demanded a reply by Sept. 30, giving the New Orleans meeting a sudden, unexpected prominence. A few weeks later, Episcopal bishops rejected the proposals and asked Williams to come to the New Orleans meeting. American bishops on both sides of the sexuality question seemed to form a strong consensus against the foreign primates' proposal to create their own leadership structures inside the American church, an idea widely viewed as a violation of each church's autonomy. In recent months, however, to the dismay of Williams and most Episcopal bishops, Akinola and other African bishops have begun ordaining their own new conservative American bishops inside the Episcopal church, effectively creating an embryonic structure for conservatives under their own oversight. The bishops' schedule calls for closed-door meetings with Williams all day Thursday and Friday morning. First among the Episcopal bishops will be Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, a defender of faithful gays and lesbians, who was elected last summer. Representatives of overseas primates demanding change also will sit in on the talks, according to a schedule the church released. "It seems now the way it's going to work is they're going to have to go home and digest what they've heard" before declaring their response to whatever the Americans put forward, Jenkins said. Hoping to avoid a split Few observers expect the Episcopal bishops to retreat from their steady course of the past 30 years. "We expect the House of Bishops will continue the direction they've already set," said Peter Frank, a spokesman for the Anglican Communion Network, a fellowship of nine conservative dioceses and 650 to 700 congregations. He said conservative bishops will leave the New Orleans meeting when Williams leaves. The meeting is scheduled to continue until Tuesday. Jenkins said he and 10 co-signers will offer a resolution that tracks the overseas primates' wishes: banning same-sex rites, ending ordination of gay bishops, and establishing some kind of alternative Episcopal leadership for conservative congregations. But he said his highest priority is to hold the communion together even with its divisions. "The most devastating thing, and the thing I do not want to see happen, is that there becomes two Anglican communions in North America," he said. "It is a sickness unto death. If we claim to be a catholic body, this is a temptation to which we cannot give in. "On a more pragmatic level, those who will be hurt the most by this are the poor," he said. "We are involved heavily around the world in ministries of relief and development. And I don't think we have the luxury of giving in to our self-absorption on this issue, and taking that energy and those resources away from the poor." He said he and other bishops have informally discussed new forms of keeping conservatives and liberals inside the church. He said two models might take off on slight measures of diversity in Roman Catholicism: one in which religious orders with their own governance run certain Catholic parishes, and another in which Eastern-rite Catholics conduct their own forms of worship and governance while remaining in full communion with Rome. Neither of those models, however, contains theological differences as great as those dividing the Anglican Communion. Some diocesan Web sites this week carried an unconfirmed report from The Living Church, an independent Episcopal publication, reporting that Jefferts Schori would propose to the House of Bishops that she appoint an alternative leadership structure for conservatives, as the overseas primates proposed -- but the appointments would be hers, not theirs. That idea already has reportedly drawn opposition. The publication said Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker, a conservative leader, said conservatives would not accept pastoral oversight from the "unilateral dictates" of Jefferts Schori. . . . . . . .

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Archbishop of Canterbury's Lack of Leadership Puts the Anglican Communion at Risk of Coming Apart

It appears to me that the Archbishop of Canterbury's flip flopping on issues of human sexuality and his choosing sides in the Anglican conflict may lead to total destruction of the Anglican Communion as we know it. Instead of being a leader and staying in the middle and being fair on both sides, he chose to side with the global south and the ilk of Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria. Archbishop Rowan Williams created this mess and now he is faced with the consequences. The American Church cannot possibly do the things requested by the meeting of the primates in Tanzania. We're a democracy. The House of Bishops, House of Deputies and the Executive Council reaches decisions by voting. And besides, our Annual meeting isn't until 2009. ----------------------------------------- Subject: Archbishop losses favor on all fronts Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:59:13 -0400 The Daily Telegraph Leader March 23, 2007 Communion no more: The Archbishop of Canterbury's plan to save the Anglican Communion lies in near ruins. The American bishops have rejected Dr Rowan William's scheme - endorsed by Anglican primates in Tanzania last month - to create a traditionalist enclave for conservatives opposed to liberal bishops. And they have set out their opinions in stinging language: not only is the Archbishop accused of promoting a 'spiritually unsound' project, but it is also implied that he is behaving like a British colonialist. The text of the American bishops' statement is damaging. This is a national Church speaking with an (almost) united voice. The casus belli has shifted from the ordination of Gene Robinson, to allegations of bullying by a group of primates led by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Dr Williams now finds himself out of favour with liberals and moderate conservatives in his own Communion. And, harsh though it may sound, he has only himself to blame. In the past couple of years, he has allowed conservative Anglicanism to be hijacked by extremists. Archbishop Peter Akinola, Anglican Primate of Nigeria, is the leader of the Global South provinces opposed to the ordination of actively homosexual clergy. That is fair enough, but he has also defended new Nigerian legislation that makes 'cancerous' (his word) same-sex activity punishable by up to five years' imprisonment. The deeply divisive figure of Archbishop Akinola was central to Dr Williams's Tanzanian compromise; is it any wonder that it has been rejected? The Archbishop's attempts to hold together the Communion have led him to a theological position so convoluted that he now has few natural supporters. He will find himself exposed at next year's Lambeth Conference - if, that is, it can take place at all without the support of the American Church.

ANSWER END THE WAR IN IRAQ RALLLY AT THE PENTAGON

South Carolina Friends, Tim and Terry

I found myself at the Episcopal Peace Fellowship brunch sitting with a group of really nice folks. Among them were Tim and Terry. The three of us left together after the brunch to go down to the staging area for the march across the bridge to the Pentagon. It was SO cold and windy. I had my thermal underwear on and wool socks. I'm SO glad I prepared for the weather.

En route from the staging area, pro-war supporters were in bleachers on one side of us and lined up on the other side. It was probably meant to intimidate us but it didn't. They yelled obscenities and we gave them the peace symbol in return. We listened to a few of the speakers at the Pentagon Rally. The sound system was excellent. But it was so cold that after about an hour we left, walked back across the bridge and caught a cab to the Luna Diner at Dupont Circle to get something to eat and get warm. We met some Viet Nam veterans sitting at the table next to us. They had attended the rally as well. Above are just a few of the collection of pictures I took at the rally.

EPISCOPAL PEACE FELLOWSHIP

Episcopal Peace Fellowship Brunch Saturday, 3/17/07

After doing the four mile candlelight march and White House Peace Vigil the night before many of us were tired and facing more cold weather after our brunch to attend the anti-war march and rally at the Pentagon.

Learn more about The Episcopal Peace Fellowship at http://www.epfnational.org/publish/index.shtml

Lisa in Center, Tim and Terry

Peace Singer, Lisa Dudley and me

Lisa sings "Bring "Em Home, Lord" at the Episcopal Peace Fellowship Brunch on Saturday Morning, 3/17/07 Jackie Lynn, Executive Director, Episcopal Peace Fellowship Two Yale Divinity Students with father of one of them. Couple at the Sat. Episcopal Brunch

PARLIAMENT ENTERS ANGLICAN FRAY

Pew, what a scorcher: gay schism startles Speaker Simon Hoggart Tuesday March 6, 2007 The Guardian Questions to Stuart Bell, the MP for Middlesbrough who represents the church commissioners in parliament, come round every month. The atmosphere in the chamber subtly changes. There is a hush. The sunlight splashes into the chamber and onto the woodwork as if through stained glass. It takes little imagination to hear the faint sound of organ music, to see the floral offerings on the despatch box. Normally the questions are routine, about funding for church restoration or pensions for retired clergy. Very rarely, there is a small controversy. One was about whether bishops should have their own chauffeurs, or be obliged to drive themselves - whether with the help of SatNav or divine guidance (£249.99 from Halfords) was not clear. But normally nothing disturbs the marmoreal calm. Yesterday however was different. Chris Bryant, a gay Labour MP and former vicar, asked how much it had cost to send the archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Anglican bishops' conference in Dar es Salaam last month. This was the gathering meant to prevent the church's expected schism over the ordination of gay clergy. A compromse was reached, but, as we were to learn, it did not satisfy Mr Bryant. For what it's worth, it turned out that Cantuar's trip cost £2,094, while Ebor came in at a pricier £2,866. This was not, however, the point of Mr Bryant's question. He was furious. It was as if the vicar had asked if anyone knew any just cause or impediment, and someone at the back of the church had started yelling, "Yes, stop! She is married to me!" 'It is particularly depressing," he said, loudly, "that the two British archbishops chose to side with the fundamentalist BIGOTS from other parts of the Anglican communion, rather than representing the ordinary faith of most Anglicans in this country, who are entirely tolerant and decent!" A great "whoooh!" went up, slightly shocked and a little camp. No one was supposed to talk like that. The Speaker was startled. He told Mr Bryant that he should not stray from his question, which was about the costs, not the content of the meeting. But he was not half as cross as Mr Bell. The money had been well invested and well spent, he said. "If he wanted to talk about bigotry and extremism, he could not have done better than he did today!" That was the cue for another "whooo!" Contrary to what Mr Bryant said, the conference had had a good result because it produced an agreed communique on the subject of gay bishops. Mr Bell, who I am sure sounds pious when he is abusing the ref at a Middlesbrough match, concluded "blessed are the peacemakers". Mr Bryant sat on his pew - sorry, bench - fuming. I hoped he would - condemn Mr Bell's reply as a load of old cassocks, but the discussion had moved on.

Praise Jesus! Now The Church of England Can Get Some of the Heat

Jonathan Petre On religion

From the blogs of telegraph.co.uk 02 March 2007 Now that the dust is settling, is it possible to make any sense of what happened last Wednesday evening at the Church of England’s General Synod?

The Church’s “Parliament”, which gathered in the Church’s ivy-veined headquarters in Westminster this week, held two debates on contrasting private members’ motions on homosexuality on what was dubbed “gay” Wednesday.

The first represented a mild shift towards the liberal position by accepting that homosexuals should be included as equals in further dialogue about their place in the Church. But the outcome of the second, initiated by the Rev Paul Perkin, an evangelical from south west London, was so ambiguous that even Synod members were initially left shaking their heads in bewilderment.

Mr Perkin’s motion denounced the House of Bishops’ 2005 pastoral guidance on civil partnerships as a “recipe for confusion” by appearing to lend moral credence to such partnerships even though they are widely regarded as the equivalent of gay marriage. The guidance allows clergy to enter into civil partnerships on the proviso that they first reassure their bishop that they would abstain from sex, thereby remaining faithful to Church teaching. But the bishops have since failed to discipline anyone who has breached their guidance. The thrust of Mr Perkin’s motion was designed to expose their impotence and to try to provoke a more virile approach.

But this did not happen. The House of Bishops’ tabled a blander, more acceptable alternative, aimed at winning an endorsement of its pastoral guidelines while neutralising any significant criticism of them.

Sadly for the House of Bishops, however, its strategy also backfired. An unholy alliance of liberals and conservatives amended its amendment, removing its self-congratulatory if modest description of its own guidance as a “balanced and sensitive” attempt to square Church teaching with the law.

The final motion adopted by the Synod merely acknowledged “the diversity of views within the Church of England on whether Parliament might better have addressed the injustices affecting persons of the same sex wishing to share a common life had it done so in a way that avoided creating a legal framework with many similarities to marriage”. It also noted “the intention of the House to keep their Pastoral Statement under review”.

On the face of it, this does not seem to say very much, though it leaves the bishops’ guidance in a more than questionable state. The conservatives clearly didn’t get their way, but nor did anyone else. Surely, then, the only conclusion is that nothing really substantial had happened. However, the tone of the debate has left conservatives seething and liberals celebrating. What really angered conservative evangelicals was the way that openly gay clergy, whose behaviour appears to be in blatant breach of official Church policy, felt able to stand up in the Synod and talk publicly and unapologetically about their physical relationships with no fear of retribution. To the conservatives, no clearer indication of the bishops inability or unwillingness to act could be imagined.

One evangelical member of the Synod, Alison Ruoff, has reflected this strand of thinking in a letter to the Daily Telegraph. “For me, Wednesday in General Synod was a grim day for the Church of England,” she writes. “Although on the face of it, things might have been worse, when looking at the texts that have come from the debates.

“However, some of the speeches that were made, particularly from members of the clergy, were in many ways truly shocking. No longer is there any shame about anything. Descriptions of ‘loving partnerships’, including the mention of sex, was par for the course. The bishops sat there unmoved. Yet some 10 years ago clergy would have not only have been disciplined but ‘unfrocked’”.

Other evangelicals commented that the Church of England was now heading inexorably down the same path as the liberal Episcopal Church, a somewhat paradoxical situation given the firm stance adopted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, following Tanzania. Liberals also sensed a real shift in the Church of England’s mood on gays and civil partnerships in their direction.

InclusiveChurch, the liberal pressure group, issued a press release under the heading of “a good day for the Church of England”, saying that it hoped that the debates reflected “a new understanding and respect for differing theological positions about lesbian and gay people within and outside the Church”.

It said that the motion on civil partnerships showed that “the present arrangements are not working”, and called for same-sex blessings and the appointment of gay bishops. The Rev Giles Fraser, the liberal vicar of Putney in south London, summed up this view. “It seemed to me that the ground shifted,” he said. “There was no appetite in the Synod for going back.”

So what seemed on the surface to be a confusing stalemate might in fact have been be a paradigm shift. It will be fascinating to see how the tectonic plates collide in the coming months, and whether the House of Bishops can contain the shockwaves.

Posted by Jonathan Petre at 02 Mar 07 20:21