Pop Quiz! Who started the Episcopal Church?

If you said Henry the VIII, you better read Dean Sam Candler's piece at the Daily Episcopalian!

Click HERE to read it all

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A comprehensive solution

By Sam Candler

In times of controversy in the Episcopal Church, and even in times of relative calm, someone inevitably makes the accusation or the slight joke that Henry VIII (and his search for a suitable wife) started the Episcopal Church. Thus, I require all my confirmation classes and any audience who hears my presentations on the history and theology of Anglican Christianity to repeat the same line: Henry VIII did not start the Anglican Church (or the Episcopal Church.)

You pass the class if you can say that simple sentence. You pass with honors if you can state who actually did found the Episcopal Church: Jesus Christ founded the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Church, developed from the Church of England, and an integral member of the Anglican Communion of Churches, is part of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of Jesus Christ.

That church, started by Jesus Christ, has included inevitable conflict. Even the beautiful first century Christian community involved conflict, which we can read about clearly in The Book of Acts (see Acts 15:2). One of the great apostles, St. Peter, was opposed to his face by the other great missionary apostle, St. Paul (see Galatians 2:11). From then on, every Christian community has lived through conflict. Sometimes that conflict was minor, and sometimes it has been major (see The Great Schism of 1054).

The Anglican tradition of Christianity, evolving as it did far from Rome and the more established centers of western civilization, has always seen its share of conflict and debate. Usually, that conflict has emerged from competing sources of authority. Who, or what, is the final authority in the Anglican Church? From the fifth century onwards, ecclesiastical authority rotated from the Archbishop of Canterbury, to whomever the reigning monarch might be, to the Roman Pope; after the Reformation, that revolving locus of authority included the common people themselves.

Consider the first Archbishop of Canterbury, St. Augustine (of Canterbury, not of Hippo), who landed at Canterbury in 597 AD. He was the first official Roman missionary bishop in what we now call England; but a Celtic form of Christianity, centered around local abbots and monasteries, was already present. St. Patrick had already returned to Ireland; St. David had evangelized Wales; and the great St. Columba had already founded Iona in the north country. One of the early English synods, held at Whitby in 664, was convened over a concern for authority; would the established Church follow Roman or Celtic Christian customs? They chose Rome at that time.

Thus, the question of authority was settled for a season, but not for all time....

Read the rest HERE

Important Op-Ed by David Abshire and Ian Markham in the Washington Post

With all the turmoil, vitriol, hurt, and anger happening in our Episcopal/Anglican Church, I found this piece by David Abshire and Ian Markham to be an important contribution, as it does not tread the same worn pathways that the strident liberals and the strident conservatives have been walking. Do read it all at the Washington Post website.

~ Rev. Peter Carey

David Abshire and Ian Markham

Anglicans Can Find Common Ground at the Cross

The boycotting of the Lambeth Conference in July by more than 200 Anglican Bishops worldwide has once again drawn attention to the divisions within the Anglican Communion. As mainstream Episcopalians, we are saddened by the rifts in the Church, especially because we believe them to be rooted, to a large extent, in misperceptions and misrepresentations. In addition, we lament the lack of civil dialogue around the divisions in the Church. We seek to remedy some of those misperceptions and advance a civil public discourse on these issues.

In May, Os Guinness posted a column to "On Faith" entitled "Evangelicals Reach Out." The piece referenced his Evangelical Manifesto and the prominent Americans that had supported it. It was superbly written, and subsequently Newsweek carried it in print. It was an affirmative statement of belief, which we endorse. But it stands in stark contrast to others of Guinness' public comments and the positions of some of the congregations and clergy with whom he has aligned himself. A year ago, Guinness and the Reverend John Yates wrote a piece carried in the Washington Post entitled "Why We Left the Episcopal Church." We respectfully but strongly disagree with its depiction of the American Episcopal Church, as strongly as we endorse the message of the Manifesto.

read the rest HERE

Intensification and Extensification - good ecclesiological words to know!

My friend and fellow priest, The Rev'd Nathan Humphrey, has a very helpful and insightful blog post today in which he explains a possible framework for understanding the rift that exists now in our Anglican Communion . He defines two terms, "intensification" and "extensification" and explains that one way we might understand this rift better (and some possible moves towards unity?) may be to examine the ways that various parts of our Communion pursue one or the other of these methods more energetically...

He says it all better than me, so check out his post HERE...

And here are a few snippits:

From "Communion in Conflict" blog...

"It struck me then that our American brand of Anglicanism in The Episcopal Church focuses on the "extensification" of Anglican identity through inclusion of the marginalized, through valuing tolerance and diversity.

Other brands of Anglicanism, however, value intensification--strengthening the bonds that already exist, not in an "exclusive" way, necessarily, but sometimes the net effect can feel or come across as pretty exclusive.

So it seems to me that, in part, the reaction to The Episcopal Church's efforts at extensification is an intensification that seems to some like a circling of the waggons, a turning inward in self-protection, while from the perspective of those doing the intensification, it is a matter of gaining clarity on one's core identity.

In short, extensification and intensification are two ways of "doing church," each with its own positive and negative aspects. My question is: can one intensify existing relationships while at the same time extensifying oneself in authentic ways so that new relationships are established?"


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From Lambeth ... from Mid-Court

...from Virginia Theological Seminary's "Center for Anglican Communion Studies" ...




7/21/2008
From Lambeth...

From Mid-Court

Well, here we are at the Lambeth Conference in a place called Canterbury. Our VTS “booth” or hospitality center is located at the Lambeth Markeplace in the Sports Centre of the University of Kent. That seems to be an appropriate location for us at this Wimbledon of Anglicanism. We are watching the fast volleys from our courtside perch! No match-point yet!

All kidding aside, you cannot miss the gravity of this event. In the history of the Communion, the Conference may be its most critical hour. It is a time which calls for great sacrifice and wisdom, and so we pray fervently for all the delegates and all who surround and support them.

Last week, the initial days in retreat with Rowan Williams set the right tone. The Archbishop met with his guests in the great nave of Canterbury Cathedral.

His opening address last evening left the impression that Anglicans will have a “Covenant” as this Conference concludes.

But there seems to me to be a larger question than the proposed Anglican Covenant: Will the Conference find the Anglican Communion recovering its religious imagination?

We have misplaced one of the great gifts of Anglicanism to the rest of Christendom: The ability to think outside the box and to imagine a church and a world that does not yet exist. Will we be clear about what we value as Anglicans in a changing church and world once we go home from this sacred place? How do we nurture Gospel values in a church conversation that could dwell on misplaced values? Our history teaches us that we are a broad church, but of late we have asked narrow questions and taken narrow positions. As we deal with current matters, are we connected with our long history and our early church identity? Can we imagine a new Church for this historic Christian way called Anglican?

Barney Hawkins

Archbishop of Canterbury's Sermon at York Minster

Archbishop of Canterbury's Sermon at York Minster

Sunday 06 July 2008

General Synod, July Group of Sessions

Any congregation might be forgiven for wondering what are we going to hear about this morning. Members of Synod in particular (but perhaps members of the Church of England in general) may have the slight sense that there's rather too much to be hearing about, that we're suffering somewhat from issue fatigue. So perhaps we ought to begin where we always ought to begin, in listening to what the Word of God has to say. And scripture says, 'Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion. I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit". And today's scriptures say, 'Who will rescue me from this body of death. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord'. And scripture says, 'Come to me all you who travail and are heavy laden. My yoke is easy and my burden is light'. In a way, the pivot for understanding all this is provided in the epistle today. Paul in the letter to the Romans gives us the key.

We live under law, different kinds of law. The law of God, which is for our health, and the law we make for ourselves. We long to be masters of our future, and so we become the prisoners of our past. We long to take control of the world we're in. And because we are who we are, and our histories have been what they have been, we dig ourselves deeper and deeper into unfreedom. The will that we want to use to conquer the world, is a will weakened and bruised by the legacy of self-love, going back to the very roots of the human race. The effects of that legacy work themselves out as relentlessly as any oriental karma. We want to take hold of our future and we are gripped, paralysed, by our past.

We find ourselves in that 'waterless pit' of which Zechariah speaks....

Read the rest HERE.

Bishop Chane offers comment on Archbishop Williams' response to Gafcon

from the Times....(via Ruth Gledhill's blog)...

Bishop Chane tells The Times in response:

"The archbishop's thoughtful letter is helpful, and his defense of the Communion's structures is persuasive. I am particularly grateful to hear him say that "the conviction of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as Lord and God and the absolute imperative of evangelism are not in dispute in the common life of the Communion." This slanderous bit of boilerplate has been repeated frequently by the opponents of the Episcopal Church, and it is heartening to know that the archbishop realizes that it false.

'I am quite concerned however that Archbishop Williams seems not to understand that there are primates, bishops, and others in the Communion who are actively seeking to undermine his office. He says that we should not "input selfish or malicious motives to those who have offered pastoral oversight to congregations in other provinces." But there is no doubt that extending such oversight is an effort to foment discord, and punish those who argue on behalf of the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of our Communion. Peter Akinola is unwilling to articulate a simple condemnation of violence against homosexuals. What more does he have to do to persuade the archbishop that his views are dangerous, malicious and un-Christian?'

Read Ruth Gledhill's full posting, Summer of Schism: Cantuar slams Gafcon... HERE

Archbishop Rowan Williams Responds to the Gafcon Declaration

Our Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams can be criticized for many things, but this response to the GAFCON final declaration is excellent, and points to several problems with the recent declaration. I echo Tobias Haller at In a Godward Direction by giving the Archbishop a hearty "hear here" for this response. Have a read...

from the Anglican Communion News Service...

Archbishop of Canterbury responds to GAFCON statement

Posted On : June 30, 2008 5:04 PM |
ACNS: ACNS4417
Related Categories: Lambeth

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has responded to the final declaration of the Global Anglican Future Conference with the following statement:

The Final Statement from the GAFCON meeting in Jordan and Jerusalem contains much that is positive and encouraging about the priorities of those who met for prayer and pilgrimage in the last week. The ‘tenets of orthodoxy’ spelled out in the document will be acceptable to and shared by the vast majority of Anglicans in every province, even if there may be differences of emphasis and perspective on some issues. I agree that the Communion needs to be united in its commitments on these matters, and I have no doubt that the Lambeth Conference will wish to affirm all these positive aspects of GAFCON’s deliberations. Despite the claims of some, the conviction of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as Lord and God and the absolute imperative of evangelism are not in dispute in the common life of the Communion

However, GAFCON’s proposals for the way ahead are problematic in all sorts of ways, and I urge those who have outlined these to think very carefully about the risks entailed.

A ‘Primates’ Council’ which consists only of a self-selected group from among the Primates of the Communion will not pass the test of legitimacy for all in the Communion. And any claim to be free to operate across provincial boundaries is fraught with difficulties, both theological and practical – theological because of our historic commitments to mutual recognition of ministries in the Communion, practical because of the obvious strain of responsibly exercising episcopal or primatial authority across enormous geographical and cultural divides.

Two questions arise at once about what has been proposed. By what authority are Primates deemed acceptable or unacceptable members of any new primatial council? And how is effective discipline to be maintained in a situation of overlapping and competing jurisdictions?

No-one should for a moment impute selfish or malicious motives to those who have offered pastoral oversight to congregations in other provinces; these actions, however we judge them, arise from pastoral and spiritual concern. But one question has repeatedly been raised which is now becoming very serious: how is a bishop or primate in another continent able to discriminate effectively between a genuine crisis of pastoral relationship and theological integrity, and a situation where there are underlying non-theological motivations at work? We have seen instances of intervention in dioceses whose leadership is unquestionably orthodox simply because of local difficulties of a personal and administrative nature. We have also seen instances of clergy disciplined for scandalous behaviour in one jurisdiction accepted in another, apparently without due process. Some other Christian churches have unhappy experience of this problem and it needs to be addressed honestly.

It is not enough to dismiss the existing structures of the Communion. If they are not working effectively, the challenge is to renew them rather than to improvise solutions that may seem to be effective for some in the short term but will continue to create more problems than they solve. This challenge is one of the most significant focuses for the forthcoming Lambeth Conference. One of its major stated aims is to restore and deepen confidence in our Anglican identity. And this task will require all who care as deeply as the authors of the statement say they do about the future of Anglicanism to play their part.

The language of ‘colonialism’ has been freely used of existing patterns. No-one is likely to look back with complacency to the colonial legacy. But emerging from the legacy of colonialism must mean a new co-operation of equals, not a simple reversal of power. If those who speak for GAFCON are willing to share in a genuine renewal of all our patterns of reflection and decision-making in the Communion, they are welcome, especially in the shaping of an effective Covenant for our future together.

I believe that it is wrong to assume we are now so far apart that all those outside the GAFCON network are simply proclaiming another gospel. This is not the case; it is not the experience of millions of faithful and biblically focused Anglicans in every province. What is true is that, on all sides of our controversies, slogans, misrepresentations and caricatures abound. And they need to be challenged in the name of the respect and patience we owe to each other in Jesus Christ.

I have in the past quoted to some in the Communion who would call themselves radical the words of the Apostle in I Cor.11.33: ‘wait for one another’. I would say the same to those in whose name this statement has been issued. An impatience at all costs to clear the Lord’s field of the weeds that may appear among the shoots of true life (Matt.13.29) will put at risk our clarity and effectiveness in communicating just those evangelical and catholic truths which the GAFCON statement presents.

© Rowan Williams

from Father Jake: "The Schism Has Been Postponed"

From Father Jake Stops the World blog...a very helpful rundown of some analysis of the GAFCON meeting/pilgrimage/conference in Jerusalem....

"The Schism Has Been Postponed"

Yesterday, Ruth Gledhill offered this report from GAFCON:

Several of the bishops in the audience in Jerusalem last night are drawing up secret plans to form a “Church within a Church” in an attempt to counter Western liberalism and reform the Church from within...

...The aim is not to split with the worldwide Anglican Communion, which counts 80 million members in 38 provinces, but to reform it from within.

Formal ties will be maintained with the Archbishop of Canterbury but fellowship members will consider themselves out of communion with provinces such as the US and Canada.

Members of the fellowship could attempt to opt out of the pastoral care of their diocesan bishop and seek oversight from a more conservative archbishop, either from their own country or abroad.

The success of the fellowship in averting schism will depend on the response of the local leadership...

Jim Naughton clarifies what most likely caused such a shift in goals:

...So the leaders of GAFCON are attempting to dress up strategic failure as the dawning of a new phase of their march toward victory, hoping that the media will bite. After five years of schismatic maneuvering, they have said, in effect, that they will associate closely with some Anglicans while trying to make life miserable for others--a state of affairs in no way different today than it was last month, last year or last decade...

Tobias Haller has come to a similar conclusion, while reminding us that postponing the schism is going to play havoc with the plans of one of our local break away groups:

...The leaders also appear to be grasping that the revolution and reformation of Anglicanism is going to take longer than they thought. Rather than a turning point, GAFCON will be the continuation of more of the same, as the leaders continue to work from within at the glorious reform of the Anglican Communion. Perhaps they are realizing at long last that there is not the impetus for a split they may have thought there was. As the whole independence effort by CANA in Virginia was to prove there was a “division” in the Anglican Communion (and The Episcopal Church) — after all, the judge said so, so it must be true! — the language of “working from within” will be of little solace to those who were, quite literally, banking on a split...

Mark Harris suspects this temporary backing away from schism may be part of a more long-range plan to grab the entire Anglican "franchise":

...So I don't buy the notion that the realignment gang is opting for a more modest option...not yet. The take over of the Anglican Communion is a long term process and if the realignment crowd must rest a while in the world of accommodation, where it claims to be a fellowship of real Anglicans within the shell of the remnants of the old, so be it.

But that fellowship will be working to remake the Anglican Communion into a world wide church with a head elected by a curia (read Primates) who will for sure demand to be representative of blocks of people, so that in effect the Global South Primates group will dictate the terms of office and elect the Metropolitan. They will work for a Covenant with a clear disciplinary code and separate out the sheep from the goats early on - don't sign don't come. From the front end they will exact an entry fee consisting of agreement to a statement of belief, or a covenant, or some other screening device...

Today, Riazat Butt reports that Peter Jensen of Sydney, who seems to be emerging as the leader of the GAFCONites, has confirmed that there will be no schism in the near future:

...Jensen is seen at the conference as the bridge between the hardline conservatives who want nothing to do with liberal churches in the US and Canada and those who wish to stay in the communion despite profound ideological differences over the ordination of gay clergy. It is agreed among the clutch of westerners at the conference that the real power will lie with the Australian delegates, not those from Africa...

...He also expressed doubts about the long-term prospects for Gafcon. "This is a coalition of people who would not necessarily work together. Will it work? We don't know." He insisted there was not a schism, but confirmed that there would a "structure within a structure", which would allow clergy and congregations to opt out of liberal churches and join more conservative groups.

I tend to agree with Mark's take on what is happening. Quite possibly the strategy has shifted from schism to going after the whole Anglican "franchise." I don't think it is going to work, any more than it did back when David Anderson was using the same line about TEC.

I suspect that they know such an attempted coup is not going to work, but they hope this ploy will keep their supporters in line by dangling a "new" strategy on which to hang their hopes (even though it is really a continuation of an "old" strategy, slightly repackaged). They hope this will buy them some time, maybe a decade or so, to get their ducks in a row. They can continue their plum picking forays in North America, until the time is finally right to form some new denomination which will be free of gay cooties.

It could make the next few years "more of the same," which is unfortunate, although the longer this is prolonged, the fewer Anglicans who will be left that agree with their take on things. In twenty years, not too many folks will still be listening to rhetoric that is so obviously the last gasp of a dying world view.

I'll let this Guardian editiorial have the last word:

...The issue on which all of this currently hinges is the status of openly gay people. Over the past half century, civil society in many parts of the world, including ours, has broken free from the long tradition of hostility and discrimination against gay people - and both society and individual lives are immeasurably the better for it. Now, inevitably and rightly, the same process is taking place in the churches, with pressure for the election of openly gay clergy and bishops and the blessing of same-sex unions. In the past, the church has managed such issues by covering them up. But on this issue in these times, that is no longer possible.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has battled to hold both his church and the wider communion together in the face of these pressures. That is one of his jobs - and it has not been a dishonourable effort. Yet it seems clear that it has only delayed an inevitable - and ultimately necessary - confrontation over this issue. Dr Williams has not, contrary to the views of Archishop Akinola, led the church into this. But, now that it is coming, he has a profound responsibility to lead the church out of it, happily and without fear. The question facing Anglicans - and facing other religious groups too - is whether theirs is a faith that is loving enough to treat gay people as equals. If the communion cannot hold together in the face of this question, then so be it. Unity matters as long as the cause is a good one. If the cause is not good, then maybe nor is the unity...

"Splitting Up: Anglican Angst" in the Christian Century Magazine

The Christian Century has an interesting article, "Splitting Up: Anglican Angst" by Jason Byassee which is well-worth a read...

I wonder what Ed Friedman, the late guru of family dynamics as they apply to organizations and churches, would make of the "family" dynamics in our beloved Communion...

the Rev. Peter M. Carey

~~~~~~~~~~~

Splitting up

Anglican angst

by Jason Byassee

Last year the Church of the Resurrection in suburban West Chicago closed its doors and put its building up for sale. The Episcopal congregation had suffered membership losses 14 years earlier when some conservative members left to start their own church, also called the Church of the Resurrection, in nearby Glen Ellyn. The new congregation later aligned itself with the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA), which is connected to the Anglican Church in Rwanda. The new Church of the Resurrection later experienced its own split, with some members leaving to launch the Church of the Great Shepherd—also affiliated with AMIA—in Wheaton. The Church of the Great Shepherd eventually closed its doors, but not before a 2004 split led to the formation of the Church of the Savior back in West Chicago. During this time the ranks of St. Mark's, an Episcopal congregation in Glen Ellyn, had been swelling—until the Episcopal Church consecrated an openly gay bishop in 2003, whereupon many St. Mark's members left to form All Souls, still another AMIA church, in Wheaton. Meanwhile, another split at the original Church of the Resurrection in West Chicago, which had experienced renewed growth, led to the creation of the Church of the Resurrection Anglican, a church which is overseen by the archbishop of Uganda. So now there are two Resurrection churches in the area, both formed in exodus from the original—now defunct—Church of the Resurrection, and both affiliated with African Anglican bodies, not with the Episcopal Church in the United States, sometimes abbreviated as TEC. Got all that? Even for Anglicans in the vicinity it takes a long memory or a flow chart to keep straight all the Episcopal-Anglican divisions and acronyms that have developed in the well-heeled suburbs of DuPage County, just west of Chicago.

...read the rest HERE....

Barney Hawkins reflects on trip to Sudan

The Rev Dr. Barney Hawkins of the Center for Anglican Communion Studies at VTS reflects on his trip to the Sudan....

...I have posted it below, or you can read it HERE.

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5/13/2008

REFLECTIONS ON MY TRIP TO THE SUDAN

I returned from the Sudan on April 23. Since then, not one day has gone by that I have not thought about my visit and the people I met. I traveled to the Sudan for the enthronement service for the Most Rev. Daniel Deng Bul (VTS ’97) on Sunday, April 20. It was quite a journey: Washington to Amsterdam to Entebbe, Uganda. I spent one night in Kampala, Uganda and connected with the delegation from “815” and my former student and friend, the Rev. Robert Marshall. He represented the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia which has had a long companion diocese relationship with the Province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan. On April 19 we departed for Juba, the capitol of the Southern Government of the Sudan.

From the moment we arrived in Juba, gracious hospitality was always present. On the day of our arrival, the Diocese hosted us for dinner on the grounds of the Cathedral. On the day of the enthronement service, there was hospitality all day long. The actual service lasted four hours, but no one was watching the clock. In the afternoon until the sun set, there were speeches and skits to honor the new Archbishop and his family. It was a festive and fun time. In the evening, the Most Rev. Daniel Deng Bul hosted all out of town guests for a dinner at a camp on the banks of the Nile. It was a long day, and a day to remember.

The Archbishop of Rwanda preached the sermon at the enthronement service. He and Daniel Deng Bul had studied at VTS at the same time. The Archbishop of Kenya in his charge to the new Archbishop warned: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.” Going with others as a leader has been the hallmark of Daniel Deng Bul’s significant ministry in the church and public square in the Sudan. He is a voice for the voiceless. He is a voice for peace in his troubled land. He is the voice of both reason and hope.

Last week there were incursions from Chad which threatened the government in Khartoum. Darfur rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim has promised to launch more attacks until the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in Khartoum is brought down. There is a very fragile peace between Khartoum in the north and Juba in the south. By 2011 the peace agreement between Khartoum (Islam) and Juba (Christian) must be ratified. After hearing the President of the Southern Government and the Governor of the state of which Juba in the capitol, I am deeply concerned about the prospects for peace. Darfur adds another sad dimension to the story. It is a country divided by religion and material resources. It is a country ravaged by war and poverty. Such conditions do not make for easy conversation to resolve differences.

For one bright moment on April 20 at a joyful enthronement service, however, the Christian flock in Juba was full of hope about the future. The Most Rev. Daniel Deng Bul is a servant leader who follows closely the One who is the hope and promise of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan, Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of us all. I experienced Gospel hospitality during my brief time in the Sudan. This Gospel hospitality is an outward and visible sign of the hope which lives within the Sudanese people. The future of the Sudan is ultimately in God’s hands, the God of Peace and Justice whom we know in the Risen Lord.

The Rev. Barney Hawkins, Ph.D.
Executive Director, CACS

"There was never a golden age..." quote from Dr. A. Katherine Grieb

A year ago, I was at seminary at VTS (Virginia Theological Seminary) and taking a wonderful seminar on Paul's Letter to the Galatians, taught by the Rev. Dr. Katherine Grieb. It was a challenging and a tremendously outstanding class and I learned an immense amount from Dr. Grieb. She is a great scholar, and a compassionate and caring person. She was an attorney before she became a priest, and has a deep knowledge of theology and the scriptures, she brings all this experience to bear in her work in the Anglican Communion. She recently spoke at the Diocesan Convention in Kentucky and spoke about the current state of affairs in the Anglican Communion ... a quote to note is this helpful reminder (that MANY of us overlook):


"There never was a golden age when everybody in the church agreed about everything."
-Rev. Dr. A. Katherine Grieb

I've also posted the entire article (from Episcope) below:

Church undergoes a 'family argument'

Episcopalian priest urges reconciliation
By Peter Smith
Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal
February 24, 2008

Kentucky Episcopalians heard a combination pep talk and Bible study yesterday from one of the leaders in efforts to keep the fragile Anglican Communion together despite what seem irreconcilable differences over sexuality and theology.

The Rev. Katherine Grieb told the annual meeting of the Diocese of Kentucky that divisions in the church are as old as the church itself, and Bible passages offer differing models on whether to split or stay together despite differences.

"We're having a family argument," said Grieb, a Virginia Theological Seminary biblical scholar and a member of a team drafting a "covenant" to hold together the Anglican Communion, which consists of the Episcopal Church and other national churches descended from the Church of England.

"There never was a golden age when everybody in the church agreed about everything," she said at the gathering at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in southwestern Jefferson County.

It’s all here …and here's a link to Grieb's excellent address to the House of Bishops last March--worth a re-read.

The Anglican Communion Matters - Commentary by Dean Markham

Each day I read the commentary written by the Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary, today, I appreciated his brief and apt comment about the Anglican Communion and his assertion that it does matter...read the rest below, and read his commentary each day HERE.

Friday, February 22, 2008

2/22/2008

Make no mistake about it, the Anglican Communion matters. My ordination as an Episcopal priest is recognized by 80 million Anglicans worldwide – the third largest group in Christendom (after the Roman Catholics and the Orthodox churches). Many members of the Episcopal church settle in our tradition having come from the West Indies and else where in the Communion: these people want to continue to be in the same church as their siblings. In addition, Christians are exhorted by our Lord to be united – and it is not our place to add to the division. And it is both a privilege and a challenge to live in a global world, required to live with the diversity of culture: in this respect we anticipate the heavenly kingdom.

So it is a great honor to have on the campus today the most senior officer in the Anglican Communion - the Revd Canon Kenneth Kearon. He is the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Office in London. Born and educated in Ireland, he became a priest in 1982. He was the Director of the Irish School of Ecumenics in 1999 and has an academic interest in medical ethics.

We are delighted that Canon Kearon and his wife staying with us on the campus. He will be offering today a ‘Fridays at the Seminary’ exploration of the Anglican Communion. And last night he participated in a student panel. We are grateful for his willingness to visit and hope and trust that this is the first of many visits to Virginia Theological Seminary.

The Very Rev Ian Markham
Dean and President

Blogs I read daily - Anglican Communion - The Episcopal Church

Anglican/Episcopal blogs I read every day:

I received an email today from a friend who asked what blogs I recommend related to the Anglican Church and The Episcopal Church...well, here are some of the blogs that I read daily. I've probably forgotten some that I actually do read daily (or nearly daily), and I probably am leaving out some important ones. Please let me know what your favorites are...!

The Episcopal Cafe
http://www.episcopalcafe.com
The Diocese of Washington sponsors this blog that does a pretty good job of covering the actions and intrigues of the Anglican and the Episcopal Church. There are a variety of editors, and some very good writers, as well as some folks who stay amazingly aware of the actions of our church.

Preludium
http://anglicanfuture.blogspot.com/
Preludium is written by Mark Harris, who is a priest in the Diocese of Delaware and a member of the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church. He is an incredible reader and observer of the goings-on in our church, and I have learned a great deal from his observations. I read everything he writes.

A Guy in the Pew
http://aguyinthepew.blogspot.com/
Chuck Blanchard at A Guy in the Pew is one of the editors for The Episcopal Cafe, but he also has his own blog in which he comments quite often on the goings-on of The Episcopal Church. He is extremely thoughtful, and is amazing in his ability to digest other articles and offer his thoughts on them. For just "a guy in the pew" he is amazingly wise about all that is going on in our church!


Father Jake Stops the World
http://frjakestopstheworld.blogspot.com/
Father Jake is the pseudonym of an Episcopal priest who serves on the East Coast of the United States. He is decidedly "liberal" in his outlook, and can be polemical about those on the "right" on many issues in the church. Lately, I have been reading him daily. He is often (somehow) the first person to "break" stories on the Anglican Communion and The Episcopal Church. He can be polemical and biting in his observations and I love him for it - even if I don't agree with him hook, line, and sinker.

Covenant
http://covenant-communion.com/
"Covenant" is another very thoughtful blog, that is written (I believe) by a small group of writers, and I find their level of theological knowledge and understanding to be very valuable in understanding our present situation. The perspective is hard to pidgeon-hole, but they seem to occupy somewhere in the moderate-to-conservative area. I find the comments and the coverage on "Covenant" to be just excellent.

In a Godward direction
http://jintoku.blogspot.com/
In a Godward direction is written by Tobias Haller, who is an extremely intelligent and keen observer of the actions and stances taken by the Anglican Communion and by people in (and trying to leave) The Episcopal Church. He writes extremely well, and tackles some difficult subjects. I find his thoughts helpful to my understanding, and his awareness of the "news" as well as the "Good News" is impressive.

The Anglican Centrist
http://anglicancentrist.blogspot.com/
The difficulty of occuping the "center" in any discussion or debate is extremely hard, but Father Jones at the Anglican Centrist does an amazing job of walking that "via media." I was alerted to his work by a friend of mine (DK), and I find Fr. Jones to be very helpful to me as I work to challenge my own assumptions. His blog is well-written and helpful and important for an understanding of the goings on of our kooky (and wonderful) church, and his knowledge of theology is excellent.

Inch at a Time
http://inchatatime.blogspot.com/
This blog is written by the president of Integrity, Susan Russell. She is a priest in the Diocese of Los Angeles and is a good and pithy writer, and interesting commenter on all things Episcopal. I don't agree with all her perspectives (I am leaning toward Obama over Clinton, for instance), but I appreciate her writing and observations.

Titus One Nine
http://www.kendallharmon.net/t19/
Titus One Nine is not a blog that I always agree with, and more often or not my blood pressure rises after reading Kendall Harmon's observations. However, he is a very good writer and is courageous in his willingness to (from his own perspective) "call a spade a spade." Of late, I have appreciated his writing and am glad that he is out there writing. He certainly gets me thinking!

The Episcopal Majority
http://episcopalmajority.blogspot.com/
The Episcopal Majority writes from a decidedly moderate to liberal (or just liberal) perspective on The Episcopal Church. There are a variety of commenters, and there have been some real gems in the last few months. They don't post every day, or even every week, but when they do post, it usually is pretty good.

Episcopalooza
http://4mrwrdn.blogspot.com/
Episcopalooza is mostly a "news blog" as the writer(s) tend to post a lot of articles and videos and pictures and such related to The Episcopal Church. I check out what they post each day, and it is often a good read.

Stand Firm
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/index/
Stand Firm tends to drive me wacko with much of what is written and commented upon, but in the spirit of fair treatment, I strive to read what is posted each day and try to take it in with an open mind. Behind some of the vitriol there is a lot of hurt on the part of many people in our church and I keep us all in my prayers. I recognize that there are extremely faithful people writing at Stand Firm and though I disagree with them about issues more than I agree, I do consider them brothers and sisters in Christ.

Irenic Thoughts
http://kingofpeace.blogspot.com/
Frank Logue is the rector of King of Peace Episcopal Church and posts on a wide variety of topics - not solely the "large" Episcopal Church stuff. He is clearly dedicated to his people, and to his particular calling as a parish priest. I enjoy reading and viewing all the wonderful things that go on at his church, and I enjoy reading his theological and biblical reflections as well. In addition, he was a member of the VTS (Virginia Theological Seminary) "Fightin' Friars" flag football team back when he was at seminary (I, too was a member of the team, but several years after Frank was.)

Andrew Plus
http://andrewplus.blogspot.com/
Andrew Plus is written by an Episcopal Priest who is another good commenter on the goings-on of our church. In addition, he has a great list of Anglican Blog links on his site as well, which is well-worth checking out.

Ember Days
http://emberdays.blogspot.com/
I think I first found Ember Days when I was trying to figure out when I needed to write my "Ember Day Letter" to my bishop (people in the ordination process are asked to write their bishops four times a year, on the traditional "ember days'). The writer of Ember Days blog is a professor of ethics and theology and is also a postulant for holy orders in the church. He is bright, articulate, and connects his deep understanding of theology with the everyday events in our church.

Episcope
http://episcopalchurch.typepad.com/episcope/
Episcope is the quasi-official blog of the national Episcopal Church. They mostly post news releases from The Episcopal Church, and coverage of Episcopal churches from around the country. What I really like about this blog is that they have a list of blog links that are categorized as "eyes left" (liberal), "eyes center" (moderate), and "eyes right" (conservative). Good stuff linked here!

Ruth Gledhill at the London Times
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/
Ruth Gledhill is the religion reporter at the London Times, and she does a really good job of covering the Anglican Communion, and also a pretty good job of covering The Episcopal Church.

Cartoon Church
http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/
Cartoon Church is a really funny and good blog written by Dave Walker who offers, funny, wise and challenging cartoons about church. He has some great ones that are really well-worth checking out - and for Dave, a picture is often worth several thousand words!

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addendum....

Now, to prove that I am fallible and human, I clearly left out a few of the blogs that I do read often...as a quite "new priest" perhaps I was afraid, somewhere subconsciously, to include the following blog because I feel myself going mad at times in the midst of this vocation.

Of course, I could be wrong
http://revjph.blogspot.com/
A priest with more courage, and far more self-knowledge about his own 'madness' than myself calls himself the "MadPriest" and he offers a terrific blog, that he so wonderfully named "Of Course I Could Be Wrong," (talk about epistemic humility!) which is a wonderful way to offer his quite challenging and polemical and funny and strange, and, well...quite mad observations on all things Anglican.

In addition, a commenter let me know about the Kew Continuum, which I have added to my "read list" ... also, the same commenter said that there are far too many clergy-types on this list, and I agree - - I can't believe I am already falling into the trap (having been a priest for just over a month!) of not listening to the laity enough. I am on the lookout for "the best Anglican blogs written by the laity"...more later on that!

Bishops Behaving Badly ... getting boring!

When I began this blog I thought I would spend a good deal of time commenting on the goings-on of the Anglican Communion, and especially the several controversies that are present in this body currently. I must admit that I do still read a dozen or more blogs that cover and comment upon (and create?) these disagreements, I have found that there is so much more going on nearby and far away, that I can't seem to muster a lot of energy for all of it. That said, I do know that people are struggling and are feeling hurt in many areas, and I do pray for them - and try to help when I can. I found this piece over at "the anglican centrist" to be especially appropriate, pithy, and descriptive of the situation, and I pretty much agree with Father Jones' impressions of the current state of affairs. I've posted a bit of it, and the rest you can find HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``
from the anglican centrist

In all truth - I am so bored with this story that I have ceased to follow it too closely or think about it very much.

The bottom line is this: the leadership of the Episcopal Church has responded to the broad-daylight plotting of bishops Duncan, Scofield and Iker to form an alternative Anglican ecclesiastical entity in the United States, with offshore primatial 'oversight,' so that they may transfer the current property of the Episcopal Church in those dioceses, which like any one of these United States - to make a secular analogy -- are not free to secede from the Union. Not surprisingly, these men have cried, "Persecution!"

Read the rest HERE.

Anglican Bloggers on Facebook ...

I just joined the Facebook Group, "Anglican Bloggers," and there is this cool cartoon from Dave over at "The Cartoon Blog," I wonder what the response from Lambeth Palace will be to this development (a new "Windsor" Report, a revision to the proposed "Covenant"? ), hmmmmm????

There are quite a few great blogs out there in the Anglican Blogging world, do check some out on my blogroll to the right

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

The Church of England Evangelical Council uses various means...

The Church of England Evangelical Council makes an appearance on Dave Walkers "Cartoon Blog," I've posted the cartoons below, you can also find them HERE. You can also click on the image below for a larger version of them. Do check out Dave Walker's awesome "Cartoon Blog," he is talented, bright, witty and also a great gadfly.

Anglican Communion, in need of a middle school dean of students?

Maybe it's because I've spent a decade teaching young people, and maybe it's because I have seen adults revert to middle-school behavior, which is really also mostly a reversion to the age-stage of the "terrible twos", but I am thinking that maybe what Archbishop Rowan Williams needs is a cadre of middle school directors and deans of students to help work out all the various cliques, groupings, squabbling, name-calling, and general unpleasantness.

From Dave Walker's "cartoon church blog" the following cartoon is worth many more than a thousand words....(hat tip to "inclusive church blog" for this cartoon as well)...

Who is in communion with whom? (doesn't this look like a diagram of playground conflicts?)

Exporting Schism??

One of the (probably too) many blogs that I read on the Anglican Communion is Father Jake Stops the World, his blog is edgy, provocative, and never without a lot of pithy Truth. He calls them as he sees them, and while I don't always agree with everything he writes, he gets me thinking, and gets me seeing things in new and nuanced ways. His entry today on "Exporting Schism" is provocative and very interesting:

"Since the schism in North America is being heralded as a great success, having gained the allegiance of 5 diocesan bishops (out of 110) and 60 congregations (out of 7,600), it appears that the same tactics will now be exported to England.

From the Telegraph:

...Reform also says it will bring in foreign archbishops to ordain priests in dioceses where incumbent bishops refuse to disassociate themselves from the American church, which appointed the openly homosexual Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003...

...The Rev Rod Thomas, the chairman elect of Reform, said: "The situation in the Anglican communion is so serious now that we have to plan for an inevitable split in the Church of England from top to bottom"...

Reform is a group that describes itself as "a network of churches and individuals within the Church of England, committed to the reform of ourselves, our congregation and our world by the gospel." Their "reform" seems to be primarily about getting rid of the gays.:




Read the rest of it HERE.

Father Jake Stops the World: Exporting Schism

House of Bishops Statement

The House of Bishops came out with a statement today in response to questions and concerns raised by partners in the Anglican Communion, the "Episcope Blog" has the entire statement, HERE.

House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church
New Orleans, Louisiana
September 25, 2007

A Response to Questions and Concerns Raised by our Anglican Communion Partners

In accordance with Our Lord's high priestly prayer that we be one, and in the spirit of Resolution A159 of the 75th General Convention, and in obedience to his Great Commission to go into the world and make disciples, and in gratitude for the gift of the Anglican Communion as a sign of the Holy Spirit's ongoing work of reconciliation throughout the world, we offer the following to the Episcopal Church, the Primates, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), and the larger Communion, with the hope of "mending the tear in the fabric" of our common life in Christ.

"I do it all for the sake of the Gospel so that I might share in its blessings." 1 Corinthians 9:23

Introduction

The House of Bishops expresses sincere and heartfelt thanks to the Archbishop of Canterbury and members of the Joint Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates for accepting our invitation to join us in New Orleans. By their presence they have both honored us and assisted us in our discernment. Their presence was a living reminder of the unity that is Christ's promised gift in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Much of our meeting time was spent in continuing discernment of our relationships within the Anglican Communion. We engaged in careful listening and straightforward dialogue with our guests. We expressed our passionate desire to remain in communion. It is our conviction that The Episcopal Church needs the Anglican Communion, and we heard from our guests that the Anglican Communion needs The Episcopal Church.

The House of Bishops offers the following responses to our Anglican Communion partners. We believe they provide clarity and point toward next steps in an ongoing process of dialogue. Within The Episcopal Church the common discernment of God's call is a lively partnership among laypersons, bishops, priests, and deacons, and therefore necessarily includes the Presiding Bishop, the Executive Council, and the General Convention.

Summary

* We reconfirm that resolution B033 of General Convention 2006 (The Election of Bishops) calls upon bishops with jurisdiction and Standing Committees "to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion."
* We pledge as a body not to authorize public rites for the blessing of same-sex unions.
* We commend our Presiding Bishop's plan for episcopal visitors.
* We deplore incursions into our jurisdictions by uninvited bishops and call for them to end.
* We support the Presiding Bishop in seeking communion-wide consultation in a manner that is in accord with our Constitution and Canons.
* We call for increasing implementation of the listening process across the Communion and for a report on its progress to Lambeth 2008.
* We support the Archbishop of Canterbury in his expressed desire to explore ways for the Bishop of New Hampshire to participate in the Lambeth Conference.
* We call for unequivocal and active commitment to the civil rights, safety, and dignity of gay and lesbian persons.

read the rest of it HERE

interview with Rowan Williams ...

...and thank God he's able to give a moment of reflection to something other than the Anglican Communion!

"Yesterday, Dr Rowan Williams met Gordon Brown for the first time since he became Prime Minister and the Archbishop clearly intends to get more involved in the national debate. "Politics is so much about human issues now," he says.

In his four years as head of the established Church, he has shied away from being a moral arbiter and rarely given an interview. When we meet him, however, he talks frankly about everything affecting society, from Pop Idol to gang culture.

"Is our society broken? I think it is," he says. "We are in a phase of our culture where the fragmentation of society is far more obvious. It's not just families, it is different ethnic communities and economic groups. We talk about access and equality the whole time, but in practice we all seem to live very segregated lives."

He goes on: "Outside my front door in Lambeth I see a society so dramatically different from across the river or in Canterbury. There is a level of desolation and loneliness and dysfunctionality which many people have very little concept of. If you sense that the world you live in is absolutely closed, that for all sorts of reasons you are unable to move outside, if nothing gives you aspirations, there is an imprisonment in that, there is a kind of resentment that comes with that and a frustration that can boil over in violence and street crime."

Inequality is, in his view, just a symptom of a wider moral vacuum. "I don't think that the huge wealth of some is the cause (of the problems), it is more that society just wants to reward business success and celebrity. If you're a teenager in Peckham neither of those are easily accessible."

Indeed, he is horrified by the triviality of modern society. "We are too celebrity obsessed, we have got into a dangerous cycle where fame is an objective in itself."

His children are 11 and 19. "I sometimes sit with them and watch The X Factor and it is heartbreaking to see people who plead with judges to get through because they just want to be famous so intensely," he says.

Broadcasters, he argues, are contributing to the moral decline. "There is a gladiatorial streak in the entertainment business now where increasingly humiliation is the way forward. That worries me, there is a kind of sadism that can't be good for us. It is the building-up and the pulling-down of contestants, it is pushing people into situations where they expose their vulnerability, encouraging a culture of shamelessness."

One of the Archbishop's key concerns is how the society we live in is damaging children. "What is lacking in children's lives is space. They are pressed into a testing culture, or even into a gang culture, they are bullied and manipulated until they fit in, they never have any time to develop in their own space."

He understands the urge to join a gang. "A lot of it is yearning for love, they want to fit in, if their families are as chaotic as some of them are, gangs give them a sense of belonging."

But he says pushy parents who rush children between ballet and violin lessons are suffocating their offspring too. "Children live crowded lives, we're not making their lives easy by pressurising them, whether it's the claustrophobia of gang culture or the claustrophobia of intense achievement in middle-class areas." "

Click here to read the entire interview