Friday, January 26, 2007

"'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty." -Zechariah 4:6

• From the AAC:
  AAC Web Site Redesign Coming Soon
  "Who Is Really Anglican?"- Canon Anderson Clarifies CANA's Status
  AAC Statement on Recent Developments in the Diocese of Virginia
  
   
• The Latest News:
  Bishop Duncan, Another Bishop Will Attend Primates' Meeting
  Bishop Lee Inhibits 21 Priests in Virginia
  Archbishop Akinola: Sexuality Issue Must be Resolved Before Lambeth

AAC WEB SITE REDESIGN COMING SOON 

The American Anglican Council (AAC) Web site will get a new look and organization in the coming weeks, although the web address (www.americananglican.org) will remain the same. We hope the new design and organization will better assist your navigations of the AAC's online resources.

In addition, the AAC will begin using newly designed templates for these Weekly Updates that will match the new site design. We will send an email to let you know when these exciting changes will become effective.

A STATEMENT BY THE REV. CANON DAVID C. ANDERSON, AAC PRESIDENT AND CEO

American Anglican Council Press Release
January 25, 2007
For Immediate Release

Who Is Really Anglican? Would the Real Anglicans Please Stand Up!

In recent pronouncements, the Episcopal Bishop of Virginia, the Rt. Rev. Peter Lee, has stated that the new Anglican organization called CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) is not a part of the Anglican Communion. He says this to undermine the credibility of the northern Virginia district of CANA (the Anglican District of Virginia) in the eyes of Virginians and others. This is in part because he feels that he has a franchise right to Anglicanism in his part of the state, much as a medieval lord might have rights to his domain, his serfs, and the property located therein. Bishop Lee feels that in the Anglican world one piece of land can only have one jurisdiction, or at least one Anglican jurisdiction (since the Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists and Roman Catholics seem to have overlapping jurisdiction on land he claims).

There is, as you might guess, more to the story.

First, in the Anglican world there are often anomalies, such as is the case with Europe, where both the Church of England and the Episcopal Church USA (now called TEC) both claim the same territory, and each has churches and bishops overseeing the same geography if not the same churches. This should inform Bishop Lee’s concerns about his singular claim to the Virginia topography: Bishop, it’s time to share.

Second, Bishop Lee and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, which comprises the middle and northern portions of the state, would claim that they are a part of the Anglican Communion, even as they would deny this about CANA. In fact, Bishop Lee’s connection, and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia’s connection, to the Anglican Communion are not direct, but subsequent to being a part of the Episcopal Church USA/TEC. It is the province of TEC that has global membership, and Bishop Lee and his diocese are members through TEC. The only problem is that TEC’s membership is currently in a stand-down mode and is under critical review. Further sanctions may in fact be levied against TEC, and this would weaken Bishop Lee’s standing in the Anglican Communion as well.

CANA, on the other hand is also a part of the Anglican Communion, but through the Anglican Province of Nigeria instead of The Episcopal Church in the United States. CANA was formed legally within the Constitution and Canons of the Nigerian church, and CANA’s bishop, the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, was consecrated with other Nigerian bishops at a service in the cathedral in Abuja, Nigeria, last summer. Bishop Minns sits in the House of Bishops of Nigeria as a voting member along with the other Nigerian bishops. CANA’s connection to the Anglican Communion is through Nigeria, which is not under any stand-down protocol or critical review within the Anglican Communion. It is, in fact, the largest and fastest growing of all the Anglican provinces.

The irony of Bishop Lee’s remarks is that he gets the exclusive claim wrong. The Diocese of Virginia and The Episcopal Church (of the United States) are both tarnished at present, whereas the Province of Nigeria and her CANA mission in the United States are untarnished and in good standing. Although both the Diocese of Virginia and CANA exist as churches under their representative provinces, the status of the U.S. province is clouded; furthermore, TEC is diminishing numbers, representing just over 2 million individuals on the roles, whereas the Province of Nigeria is rapidly growing and has approximately 20 million in church on Sundays.

It finally becomes quite a study in contrasts; no wonder Bishop Lee is anxious about the future.

The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson
President and CEO, American Anglican Council

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AAC COMMENTS ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA

American Anglican Council Press Release
January 19, 2007
For Immediate Release
 
The American Anglican Council (AAC) joins congregations in the newly formed Anglican District of Virginia in lamenting the lack of willingness on the part of the Diocese of Virginia to negotiate 11 churches’ properties, which the diocese declared “abandoned” in a news release yesterday. The decision on the properties, approved unanimously by the Executive Board of the Diocese of Virginia, also “authorizes the Bishop to take such steps as may be necessary to recover or secure such real and personal property.”

“I am deeply disappointed, though not surprised, at the Diocese of Virginia’s sudden resort to litigation after pledging to avoid court battles in a protocol agreed upon last fall,” said the Rev. Canon David C. Anderson, AAC President and CEO. “The churches involved have indicated a clear willingness to negotiate a fair, amicable agreement regarding their properties, but the diocese has prematurely ended these discussions under the guise of concern for the diocese and national church, despite the fact that all options for an agreement have not been exhausted.”

The churches recently voted overwhelmingly to leave the Diocese of Virginia because of the national church’s continued departure from historic Anglicanism and biblical Christianity. Despite growing hostility and increased threats from diocesan and national leadership, the churches have maintained a spirit of Christian charity during the departure process.

“The AAC stands in strong support of these faithful churches in Virginia and urges Bishop Lee and the other diocesan leaders to halt the current course of destruction,” Canon Anderson said. He went on to note that peaceful terms regarding property have been reached between dioceses and departing parishes in other areas of the country, including recent agreements between Christ Church, Plano, and the Diocese of Dallas, and between two Puget Sound churches and the Diocese of Olympia.
 
“It is ironic that a diocese and national church which so pride themselves on ‘reconciliation’ should ignore the chance for peaceful negotiation and instead choose to spend precious resources on expensive legal battles,” Canon Anderson continued. “Negotiation is possible, but only with the willing cooperation from both sides. We pray that a reasonable, amicable agreement will emerge in Virginia despite recent indications otherwise.”

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BISHOP DUNCAN, ANOTHER BISHOP WILL ATTEND PRIMATES' MEETING

Note: A recent report on Drell's Descants (blog of Brad Drell) indicates that the other U.S. bishop to attend the Feb. 12-19 Primates' Meeting along with Bishop Duncan will be the Rt. Rev. Bruce MacPherson, Bishop of the Diocese of Western Louisiana.

Source: The Living Church
January 25, 2007

Invitations to the primates’ meeting next month in Tanzania, in the form of a draft agenda, propose setting aside Wednesday, Feb. 14 in order to hear from others, including two bishops of The Episcopal Church. The invitations were emailed by a member of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' staff within the past few days.

Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan has accepted an invitation which was made to him earlier this week, according to a source who wished to remain anonymous. The identity of the second bishop of The Episcopal Church could not be confirmed at the time of publication.

Unlike Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, who usually attended primates’ meetings with one or more staff members, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will not have any aides present. Bob Williams and Matt Davies will be present as working journalists for Episcopal News Service. The Rev. George Conger will report from the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, for The Living Church. It is expected that a number of other media representatives will also be reporting on location.

In recent years, the primates have become less beholden to the agenda initially proposed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The agenda for the February 2005 meeting in Northern Ireland, for example, was changed significantly once the meeting began.

BISHOP LEE INHIBITS 21 PRIESTS IN VIRGINIA

Episcopal Church bars 21 clergy from duties
Source: The Richmond Times-Dispatch
By Alberta Lindsey, Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
January 25, 2007

The clergy in the 15 Virginia churches that split from the Episcopal Church have six months to reverse their decision or they will be removed from the ordained ministry.

As of Monday, 21 clergy from the departed churches were barred for six months from performing any priestly duties in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia or participating in the councils of the church or diocese, according to a statement released Tuesday by the diocese. The diocese's annual council will meet tomorrow and Saturday in Richmond.

 An additional six clergy, who are affiliated with other dioceses but were working in the Diocese of Virginia, had their licenses rescinded by the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, bishop of the Virginia diocese.

Jim Pierobon, a spokesman for some of the departed Northern Virginia churches, said, "We at The Falls Church were preparing to offer a service, presided over by an Episcopal priest who remains on our staff, for the handful of folks who disagreed with our decision in mid-December to separate from the denomination.

"But Peter Lee has now cut off our ability to accommodate those whom he says need pastoral care. Once again, Peter Lee appears to be working at cross-purposes," Pierobon added.

Attempts to reach some of the affected clergy were unsuccessful.

The diocese's standing committee met last week to consider the status of the clergy and determined that the clerics had abandoned the Episcopal Church.

The clergy become ineligible to earn further credited service toward their pension from the Episcopal Church. At retirement age, they would receive a pension based on service before their removal from ministry.

The majority of members of the 15 churches voted to leave the Episcopal denomination and affiliate with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, under the authority of Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola. A few of the departed churches affiliated with the archbishop of Uganda or other African countries.

The churches left the denomination over disagreements of the role of gays and lesbians in the church and the authority of the Bible.

ARCHBISHOP AKINOLA: SEXUALITY ISSUE MUST BE RESOLVED BEFORE LAMBETH

Note: This excerpt was obtained through Anglican Mainstream and is unavailable at the original source except to UK residents.

The Church of England Newspaper   reports in this week's edition:

The issue of homosexuality and the Anglican Communion must be resolved before the 2008 Lambeth Conference, if the Church of Nigeria is to participate, Archbishop Peter Akinola argues.

In a Jan 14 interview with the Guardian newspaper of Lagos, Archbishop Akinola, the Primate of the Communion’s largest province, said sending over 100 Nigerian bishops to Lambeth would not be an act of prudent stewardship, if the conference was simply going to be an expensive episcopal jamboree.

“A Lambeth Conference that will not be able to guide the church in a way that the church will embrace” and “comply” is “not worth attending.” The Church of Nigeria would be a “bad steward, to use God’s resources and waste it on jamboree. God will hold me responsible and accountable for spending money in that way.”

Attendance at a Lambeth Conference does not make you a “Christian,” nor a “leader” nor “bishop”. “You are all these before you go to Lambeth,” the Nigerian church leader stated. He saw the Lambeth Conference as a “gathering of bishops in fellowship to think together, to pray together and seek God’s face together, discuss issues in an atmosphere of peace and conviviality.” It “does not legislate,” nor can it tell “any diocese or province” what to do.

However, “as a result of the fellowship, praying together, studying the word of God together” the bishops at Lambeth come to a “consensus of opinion, which we now commend to the provinces for further actions.” The Nigerian church believed the “moral strength” underlying its deliberations and decisions “should be strong enough to make everybody comply with it.”

The 1998 Conference “came to the conclusion that homosexual conduct is not acceptable in our church.” However the American Church had rejected this, saying its approval of homosexual behaviour “is their business and not ours. They said it is good for them. “That is why we are saying in Nigeria and indeed in Africa that if the Lambeth Conference resolutions and consensus-building will be of no use to some people, it is not worth attending,” Archbishop Akinola said. “For me to close my eyes to raise over 120 million Naira for the three week meeting and for somebody to take decisions reached there lightly, I will rather use that money for mission and evangelism in Nigeria.”