"I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."   (John 17:14-17)

• San Joaquin's Diocesan Convention Paves Way for Break with The Episcopal Church
• Archbishop Venables Affirms Primates' Support for 2nd U.S. Anglican Province
• Episcopal Parishes in Virginia Moving Toward Break with Church
• Another Departure in the Diocese of San Diego

SAN JOAQUIN'S DIOCESAN CONVENTION PAVES WAY FOR BREAK
WITH THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

U.S. diocese favors break with Episcopal Church
Source: Reuters
Saturday, December 2, 2006
By Jorene Barut-Phillips

FRESNO, California (Reuters) - A California diocese of the Episcopal Church on Saturday took a major step toward breaking with the U.S. church because of its position on issues including homosexuality, a move unseen since the U.S. Civil War.

Clergy and lay representatives at the annual convention of the 10,000-member Diocese of San Joaquin voted 176-28 in favor of the step, according to the Rev. Van McCalister, a spokesman for the diocese that represents 48 parishes in central California's San Joaquin Valley.

If the measure passes again next year, it would allow for the development of a new church that officials say would break from the leadership of the new head of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, while remaining part of the worldwide Anglican Church.

Individual parishes have left the church in recent years, but Saturday's move marks the first time since the Civil War that an entire diocese has voted to distance itself from the church, McCalister said.

Officials from the Episcopal Church Center in New York were not immediately available for comment.

Jefferts Schori, 52, condones the blessings of gay relationships and supported the church's 2003 consecration of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire. Some in the church saw that event as a crack in its foundation, prompting at least one priest to resign.

'JUST ONE SYMPTOM'

"Homosexuality is just one symptom of how the church has lowered its view," said McCalister. "The key issue, however, is the ecclesiastical structure that recognizes the authority of the Bible, as it has for about two millennium. We're not bringing in anything new."

The measure, an amendment to the diocese's constitution, seeks to "maintain solidarity with the rest of the Anglican Communion," or family, McCalister said. Other conservative U.S. Episcopal bishops have asked for placement under the jurisdiction of more orthodox overseas leaders.

"A congregation is judged according to its faithfulness and what it stands for," said the Rev. John Riebe of All Saints Episcopal Church in Bakersfield, who voted with the majority.

The Episcopal Church is a branch of the 77-million member Worldwide Anglican Communion, a loose federation of national churches around the world. Jefferts Schori leads 2.4 million followers in the United States.

The former Oregon State University professor set a precedent last month when she became the first female leader in the history of the Episcopal and Anglican churches, most of which do not allow women to serve as bishops.

Jefferts Schori has said the fact that she is a woman has added fuel to the fires of division in the church.

At the San Joaquin diocese's convention on Friday, Bishop John-David Schofield said, "The Episcopal Church walks apart from the Anglican Communion, but accuses us of leaving the church."

Jefferts Schori last month said Schofield would violate his vows if he led his diocese away from her leadership and suggested he "seek a home elsewhere." However, she added that the door remains open for dialogue and reconciliation.

Schofield responded, saying, "At a diocesan level, the choice is between continuing membership in an unrepentant, apostate institution or following Holy Scripture."

ARCHBISHOP VENABLES AFFIRMS PRIMATES' SUPPORT FOR
2ND U.S. ANGLICAN PROVINCE

We Are Standing with You - Archbishop Gregory Venables' Speech to the Diocese of San Joaquin
Live Video
Transcript from Global South Anglican News:

These are difficult days in the Anglican communion. And its primates are only too aware of the problems orthodox believers are facing in the Episcopal church in the United States. The division which we face and to which we referred as the “tearing of the very fabric of the Anglican communion” has already happened, and has been recognized as having happened.

At the Lambeth Conference in 1998, over 90% of the bishops present voted to make it clear that the overwhelming mind of the Anglican communion is that in the area of human sexuality, there are two options for the Christian; marriage, between two people and intended for life, or abstinence.

We thought that that was clear enough. But it soon became clear from actions and words and decisions made that not everybody wanted to follow the line of the Communion. And we all knew at that moment that this present separation was going to happen. And basically it happened because there are two ways at the present moment of defining Christianity. One is to accept the way the Church catholic over the last 2000 years has defined it, in terms of God and the revelation He has given us in Scripture and in our Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Saviour; or at the present moment, in postmodern terms, where it’s whatever you want it to be, because truth can no longer be defined.

In our primates’ meeting in Brazil in 2003, we said very clearly as primates “Please, don’t do it.” And then the decision was made in the United States, in spite of us pleading with the leadership here not to do it. We met together in an emergency meeting in Lambeth in October 2003 and we said, “Don’t go ahead with the consecration.” And a few weeks later, the consecration took place. We then worked towards the completion of the Windsor meeting at our meeting in Northern Ireland in February 2005. We said, “Here is the Windsor report, take it outside, read it, consider it, and then let us know whether you are prepared to come back into the Anglican communion with an expression of repentance and putting things right, and then we’d be able to move forward once again in terms of what we would call communion.”

At the general convention in the United States in 2006, the decisions made and the actions taken have made it perfectly clear that ECUSA is not willing to comply with the minimal request of the Windsor report. On the basis of that, the Global South primates met in Kigali, Rwanda, in September 2006 and we decided to move ahead with the preparation of a model of alternative primatial oversight. We discussed this with the Archbishop of Canterbury and we are clear that we want to do everything in collaboration and consultation with the four instruments of unity.

We met together in Washington D.C. in November 2006 and we listened to the experiences and the voices of Windsor report diocese, of the network, and of other people, and it became clear that God is calling us to form a united group which will move together with this plan for there to be alternative primatial oversight within the United States, worked through and authorized by the primates of the Anglican communion. That suggestion will go to the primates in February at our meeting in Tanzania, which is a unified, consistent, and fully supported message from the leadership of the Global South. It’s “Although you might need to separate from an agenda which has left long ago, the plan of God for the Christian church, at no time will you have to separate from the Anglican communion.”

So our word for you, with great respect, and with great love, and with our prayers, is “Don’t despair, don’t fret.” As James in his epistle said, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” And there’s a very good reason for that. When Jesus Christ calls you to be a member of the Christian church, it is an offer He makes as a result of the enormous sacrifice which He made. As a result of His great sacrifice, you and I will never have to face what He faced. We will never face that awful moment when He cried out from His very heart as His body was racked with physical and mental and emotional and spiritual pain, “Why have You abandoned me?” We are in communion with Our Creator God through Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for eternity.

But standing for that here in this world does require sacrifice. And that sacrifice means we have to move out of our comfort zone. When the apostle Paul was freed from a religion which had abandoned God’s agenda, and freed into the true Christian faith, God sent a message to him through Ananias: “Tell him how much he had to suffer for My sake.”

My dear friends, I do not say this lightly; suffering is not an easy thing. But if you are serious about the Lord Jesus Christ, then you will have to pay a price. There are no two ways about it. And the major price you and I will have to pay is standing up in the face of criticism, in the face of opposition, and the face of rejection. There has never been a moment in the history of the Christian church where that has not been true. And our wonderful and our beloved Anglican church is founded on the blood of martyrs like Latimer, and Ridley, and Cranmer, who gave their lives at the stake because they knew they had no other option.

When I’m preparing people for service, ordained ministry or lay ministry, I often like to remind them of what the apostle Paul had to face when he became a minister. Let me read you those words, just to remind you: “Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one. I am talking like a man, with far greater labours, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings and often near-death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one, three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, and night and day I was adrift at sea, on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure, and apart from other things there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

My dear brothers and sisters, to be a follower of Jesus Christ and to serve Him is not a comfortable or an easy option. And if we expect it to be, we are going to be disappointed. If we are not facing great difficulties in our Christian lives and our Christian ministry, then I seriously believe we need to question whether we really are at all Christians. If you stand up for the Lord Jesus Christ, if you offer yourself to serve Him, then you are going to face difficulties. But we have no option. So please do not be over-distressed at what is happening.

When the apostle Paul finished, he wrote from imprisonment to a very worried Timothy, and was able to say that he’d completed his ministry. But consider the terms he used to describe it: “I have fought the good fight. I have run the race. I have kept the faith.” And you and I are called to do exactly the same. It is a fight. It is a race that requires discipline and exertion and effort. And we have to keep the faith, both in terms of keeping the faith pure and in terms of being obedient to the faith.

The coming days might well be difficult, but listen to what the apostle Paul said about his experience of keeping the faith: “We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed we felt that we’d received the sentence of death.” There is always going to be that sort of tension in true Christian service. We are always going to find ourselves between a rock and a hard place. But he goes on to say, “But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead.”

I do hope that speaks to your heart, my dear brother and my dear sister. The difficult place you and I find ourselves in all too often as a result of wanting to follow Jesus is the very thing that causes us to remain faithful. And listen to what Paul goes on to say: “He delivered us from such a deadly peril.” We can all look back and say, “Yes, He delivered me.” Yes, He delivered me, and I’m so grateful, that when I was so up against it, I didn’t know which way to turn – as an Argentine friend of mine once said in preaching, “I was so low, I had to raise my hand to touch the floor.” But He delivered me because that’s the sort of God we serve. We might find ourselves in the fiery furnace, but at the very moment when the worst thing happens, we suddenly find that the Son of God is walking with us there, in the flames. And in the fiery furnace, the only things that God burnt up were the ropes that bound them. Maybe God is going to free us up a whole lot in this trial that we’re going through.

But he goes on to say “On Him we have set our hope that He will deliver us again.” And there is the moment of faith. We look back and we say He’s delivered us; and we know He’s going to deliver us again. Nobody enjoys a bad moment, nobody who is a true Christian will say “I enjoy suffering, I enjoy the trial, I think this is great”; of course we don’t. But we can count it all joy, because even in the midst of trials, there is glory. And that’s where we meet God.

And please don’t think I’m talking to you from a great distance and sitting comfortably. If you weep, I weep too. If your heart is broken, my heart is broken. If you struggle, I struggle. And that’s why we’re doing this together. Because we are all out of the same fragile, sinful mold, and we are all walking our way towards the wonderful future that God has for us.

So please be assured not only of our prayers but of the fact that we are standing with you and we are working this through with you. I cannot tell you how much I respect your wonderful bishop, John David. He’s a man that I learned to listen to and to draw near to and I am so thrilled that God has given you a courageous and brave man to lead your church at this time. I urge you to give him your full support and to work with Him and be assured, I and my other colleagues in the Global South are walking with you too.

May God bless you and be with you.

EPISCOPAL PARISHES IN VA. MOVING TOWARD BREAK WITH CHURCH

Source:  The Boston Globe  (Associated Press)
By Matthew Barakat, Associated Press Writer
December 8, 2006

FALLS CHURCH, Va. --They are two of the biggest churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, with roots stretching back to Colonial times.

One even had George Washington as a lay leader.

But next week, The Falls Church and Truro Church will vote whether to break their centuries-old ties to the national denomination as its fight over the Bible and sexuality intensifies.

Parishioners who support a split say they can no longer abide what they see as moral backsliding by the Episcopal national leadership, marked most starkly by the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

The two Virginia churches hope to align themselves with Anglican Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, among the fiercest critics of Robinson's election. The archbishop is seeking to create a U.S. alliance of disaffected parishes as a rival to the Episcopal Church.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the 77 million-member world Anglican Communion, which is struggling to stay unified despite deep divisions over whether gays should be ordained.

Most overseas Anglicans believe gay relationships violate Scripture, but conservatives are a minority within the 2.2 million-member Episcopal Church. Still, the protests by traditionalist Episcopalians have had an impact. Last week, the Diocese of San Joaquin, in Fresno, Calif., took what its leaders called a first step toward a formal break with the national church.

The potential split by the two Virginia churches comes after three years of effort by local Bishop Peter James Lee to keep conservatives in the fold. Lee, who voted to confirm Robinson, has earned praise for his outreach even from those who opposed his vote.

Now, the Virginia bishop is warning  that any move by the prominent Virginia parishes to leave could prompt nasty lawsuits over who owns the historic properties.

Lee said he respects the crisis of conscience some feel, but he said there is no recognized way for a church to leave the diocese as a group and take their property with them.

"We live in a free country, and individuals are free to walk away," Lee said.

Several small Virginia churches have already broken with the denomination, but none are of the size or the historic importance of Truro, located in Fairfax, and The Falls Church.

The two congregations' roots stretch back to before the denomination formed in the United States. The city of Falls Church took its name from the Episcopal parish when the city incorporated in 1948. On an average Sunday, nearly 1,300 people worship in Truro Church and more than 1,900 attend services at The Falls Church. Each church claims more than 2,400 members.

The vestries, or boards of directors, of both parishes voted last month to recommend a split. Parishioners, starting Sunday, will vote through Dec. 16 whether they should leave. A supermajority of 70 percent of those who cast ballots is required to approve a break.

"The vast majority of members are very concerned about the direction of this church, and it's very likely that the upcoming vote will reflect that," said the Rev. Rick Wright, associate rector at The Falls Church.

The churches' leaders believe Virginia law will be on their side in a property battle. They say a state statute dating back to the Civil War favors congregations over denominations in such property disputes, provided that a majority of all church members vote to leave.

The diocese disputes this. Lee said he has been advised by canon lawyers that the hierarchical structure of the Episcopal Church favors the diocese over the parish and that a civil court would be violating the denomination's religious freedom if it were to intervene in favor of the two churches.

"I really want to avoid litigation if at all possible," said Lee, who raised the possibility of some type of settlement involving property sharing or a buyout. "But we do operate under a system of order and discipline, and I have an obligation to bring to the attention of those congregations the potential repercussions of their actions."

Valerie Munson, a Philadelphia-based lawyer who specializes in religion and law, said civil courts consider a variety of competing principles when they wade into such disputes.

"People on both sides of the issue would like to state it in black-and-white terms, but it's not," Munson said. "If courts judge these cases following neutral principles of law rather than politics, they are going to be very difficult cases to decide."

Lee is continuing to press for discussions even as the churches prepare to vote.

"We are in the hope business," Lee said. "We never give up hope."

ANOTHER DEPARTURE IN THE DIOCESE OF SAN DIEGO

Service marks Episcopalians' exit: 2 priests, members leave over doctrine
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
By Sandi Dolbee, Staff Writer
December 7, 2006

In a solemn service last night at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Rancho Peñasquitos, San Diego Bishop James Mathes said goodbye to the latest priests and parishioners breaking away from the diocese as part of ongoing divisions over the direction of the U.S. Episcopal Church.

“Tonight is a night of tears,” Mathes told about 70 people gathered in the sanctuary. “We have failed.”

At one point, he turned to the rector and assistant rector who are resigning to lead a new Anglican church, and told them: “This is a source of great sadness to you, I know, and I share that deep grief.”

He told parishioners that their decision to leave “is a source of unspeakable pain to me. But I accept your decision.”

This was the first farewell service of its kind since the secessions began in the San Diego diocese late last year. Including St. Timothy's, eight of the 51 congregations in the diocese have split up over the national disagreements that range from biblical to social issues – such as whether Christianity is the only way to salvation or whether an openly gay priest should have been ordained bishop of New Hampshire.

Priests and members who broke away have formed new Anglican congregations under oversight elsewhere in the worldwide Anglican Communion, while the diocese appointed new priests to minister to parishioners who wanted to remain Episcopalians. A diocese official estimated yesterday the departures total less than 1,000 of 14,000 Episcopalians locally.

In this latest case, the Rev. Russell Martin, St. Timothy's rector, and the Rev. Larry Eddingfield, the assistant rector, decided last week to leave and become pastors of a new congregation that will begin meeting Sunday at Resurrection Community Church in Poway.

Martin estimated last night that about 150 of the 200 or so members of St. Timothy's are leaving with them. Mathes said the Rev. Maryanne Lacey, a retired priest, will be the interim minister at St. Timothy's.

In interviews Sunday and again yesterday, Martin said he felt the Episcopal Church was straying from its biblical roots. Staying, he said, would be giving his tacit approval.

In his sermon, Mathes acknowledged that those who are leaving around the country no longer regard the Episcopal Church as orthodox. But, he said, he disagreed.

Except for St. Timothy's, the other local departures were largely done without the bishop's involvement. In this case, both priests met with Mathes twice last week to discuss the separation. They said they felt it was the right thing to do.

Last night's service, which was modeled in part on a liturgy for when pastors leave a congregation, was planned by the priests and the bishop as a way of giving closure.

In an interview before the service, Mathes said he didn't think this separation was necessary, adding that the Episcopal Church's nature has been to try to be a place where people of divergent opinions can co-exist.

Later, in his sermon, he told the people he is still hoping for reconciliation. “Even as you depart,” Mathes said, “I beg you to stay.”

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