Friday, February 16, 2007

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:18)

• A Message from the AAC - Continue to Pray for the Primates' Meeting
• AAC Statement on the Communion Sub-Group Report on Episcopal Church Compliance with Primates' Requests

• 7 Global South Primates Refuse Communion with Rest of Primates on Friday

• Primates Review Draft Anglican Covenant (Living Church report)
• National Episcopal Church Sues Virginia Churches Just Prior to Primates' Meeting
• England: Thousands of Churches Face Closure in Ten Years

A MESSAGE FROM THE AAC: CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THE PRIMATES' MEETING

Please continue to pray for the Primates' Meeting in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, as it continues through the weekend and ends Monday, Feb. 19. Pray also for those currently there on assignment, including AAC President the Rev. Canon David Anderson.

According to notes by Peter Ould on the Friday Primates' Meeting press conference, the primates "[have] not reached definite conclusions yet" regarding the U.S. Episcopal Church's (TEC's) status in the Communion and other issues pertaining to orthodox Anglicans and Episcopalians in the United States. A sub-group report was released Thursday making recommendations to the primates regarding TEC's compliance with the Windsor Report and the primates' requests, but the report is merely advisory, representing the conclusions of four individuals and not the final consensus of the full body of primates. (Note: See the AAC's response and a link to the sub-group's report below .)

We expect more breaking developments over the weekend and will get the latest news into your hands as quickly as possible. Online traffic has become very heavy on nearly all Anglican Web sites this week, and, as a result, posting news and comments on the AAC blog has been extremely difficult at times. Continue to check both our Web site News section and the AAC blog  for regular coverage, and look for additional email updates on significant developments that occur.

Blessings,
The American Anglican Council (AAC)

A STATEMENT BY THE AAC ON THE COMMUNION SUB-GROUP REPORT

*Note: A copy of the Communion Sub-Group’s report may be found on the AAC Web site here.

American Anglican Council Press Release
February 15, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The American Anglican Council (AAC) finds a report released today by the Anglican Communion Sub-Group highly inadequate in its assessment of the U.S. Episcopal Church’s response to requests made of the church by the Anglican Communion primates. The sub-group – which consists of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Central Africa Bernard Malango, Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan, Chancellor of the Province of West Africa Philippa Amable, and Church of England representative Elizabeth Paver – was charged with assisting Dr. Williams and Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general for the Anglican Communion, in evaluating the U.S. Episcopal Church’s response to the 2004 Windsor Report and February 2005 primates’ requests. The report was completed last fall but has just now become available to both the primates and the public.

The Communion Sub-Group’s report, through analysis of General Convention resolutions and consideration of a few selected circumstances in the U.S. province, states that The Episcopal Church (TEC) in the United States is in compliance with two of the primates’ three requests. The report says that, despite not using the same language as the Windsor Report, TEC has complied with the request for a moratorium on the consent to bishop-elects living in same-sex unions, as well as the request for an expression of regret for the consecration of V. Gene Robinson, a partnered homosexual, in 2003. However, the report determines that the U.S. church did not address the issue of a moratorium on same-sex blessings and that it is therefore “hard to discern exactly where the Episcopal Church stands on this issue.” Despite acknowledgement of evidence to the contrary, the report avows that it is “not at all clear” whether TEC is complying with the moratorium request and says the topic should be “addressed urgently” by TEC’s House of Bishops.

The report by the Communion Sub-Group minimizes or ignores the known existence of verifiable evidence of Windsor non-compliance by TEC. Its examination of the text of General Convention resolutions’ language is literal and gives TEC the benefit of a doubt when the resolution language is vague. In addition, the report fails to address individual diocesan resolutions that have rejected General Convention resolutions pertaining to Windsor compliance. The report confirms that Lambeth Resolution 1.10 remains the standard for sexual behavior in the Anglican Communion, yet ignores the many instances at all levels of TEC, from the presiding bishop down to diocesan and parish level, where statements and actions defy this standard.

“This report gives a ‘best-case scenario’ picture of TEC that is not only skewed in favor of TEC but quite simply fails to reflect the reality of life in the Episcopal Church,” said the Rev. Canon David Anderson, AAC president and CEO, who is on-site in Tanzania covering the Primates’ Meeting for the AAC’s Encompass publication. “This report misses the mark entirely in its analysis of TEC’s beliefs and intentions. Furthermore, the report does not indicate an understanding that the issues surrounding human sexuality are only the tip of the iceberg. The crisis in TEC goes to the very core of Christian beliefs, and many of the primates have already recognized that sexuality is only a symptom of those deeper issues, including biblical authority and the nature of who Jesus is.”

The Anglican primates heard presentations today from three other U.S. bishops who were specially invited to give an account of the situation in TEC at this week’s Primates’ Meeting; the primates are expected to make a decision on TEC’s status in the Communion, and on the requests by U.S. orthodox for alternative primatial oversight, before their meeting ends Monday, Feb. 19.

“The Episcopal Church leadership has become expert at spinning the issues in order to placate the worldwide Communion and avoid discipline for their actions, but the AAC prays that the primates will see through this deception and will recognize the urgency of the situation in the United States, especially in view of the recently stepped-up persecution and hostility experienced by orthodox in the face of revisionist bishops and dioceses,” Canon Anderson said. “Now is the time to act; we have waited too long to address the problems in the U.S. province – as the Communion Sub-Group’s report itself admits – and if the primates do not respond decisively now, it will deal a severe – perhaps fatal – blow to Anglicanism in North America and world-wide.”

SEVEN GLOBAL SOUTH PRIMATES REFUSE COMMUNION WITH REST OF PRIMATES ON FRIDAY

Source: Church of Nigeria News
February 16, 2007

Sitting at the Lord's Table: Statement from Global South Primates

A number of the Global South Primates have not shared in the Holy Eucharist today with their fellow primates. They include Abp. Peter Akinola, Abp John Chew, Abp. Benjamin Nzimbi, Abp Justice Akrofi, Abp. Henry Orombi, Abp. Gregory Venables, and Abp. Emmanuel Kolini. They represent more than 30 million faithful Anglicans. They have released this statement:

"We each take the celebration of the Holy Eucharist very seriously. This deliberate action is a poignant reminder of the brokenness of the Anglican Communion. It makes clear that the torn fabric of the Church has been torn further. It is a consequence of the decision taken by our provinces to declare that our relationship with The Episcopal Church is either broken or severely impaired.

Scripture teaches that before coming to sit with one another at the Lord's Table we must be reconciled. (Matthew 5:23-26 and 1 Corinthians 11:27-29) We have made repeated calls for repentance by The Episcopal Church and its leadership with no success. We continue to pray for a change of heart.

We are unable to come to the Holy Table with the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church because to do so would be a violation of Scriptural teaching and the traditional Anglican understanding, "Ye that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbours, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways; Draw near with faith" (Book of Common Prayer)

This is a painful decision for us and also for our host and brother, the Most Rev'd Donald Mtetemela. He understands our painful dilemma and accepts our decision. Pray for the Church."

Friday, February 16, 2007
White Sands Hotel, Jangwani Beach, Tanzania

AMID LOWERED TENSIONS, PRIMATES REVIEW DRAFT COVENANT

Source: The Living Church
By the Rev. George Conger
February 16, 2007

The Episcopal Church remained the focus of the second day of the Anglican primates’ meeting Friday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The primates continued their discussion of The Episcopal Church’s response to the Windsor Report, received a draft version of the proposed Anglican Covenant, followed the progress of the Panel of Reference, and heard a presentation on the status of the “listening process” within the Anglican Communion.

Outside the meeting, a statement of broken communion released on behalf of seven primates explained why they could not participate in the Eucharist with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori generated controversy, but had no impact on the day’s events, participants in the meeting told a reporter for The Living Church.

Conference spokesman Archbishop Phillip Aspinall of Australia told the media that he was unaware of the statement, but noted that it had “no new implications.” It was an “expression of the fact that relationships” within the Communion were perceived as “fractured.”

At the 2005 meeting in Northern Ireland, 14 primates declined to receive the Eucharist with Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold. In Dar es Salaam, the formerly recusant primates of the West Indies, Pakistan, Central Africa, Congo and Tanzania received with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, as did the new primate of the Indian Ocean. The primate of Sudan, who in 2005 did not receive, is absent from Dar es Salaam. Two primates who arrived late to the meeting, representing the Philippines and Myanmar, were not present for the controversy.

Different times, circumstances and people prompted this change, one Global South leader noted, adding however that the resumption of eucharistic fellowship by some did not represent a relaxation of opprobrium for the actions of The Episcopal Church.

Archbishop Drexel Gomez of the West Indies noted that there were three camps: “those that had made no formal statement in response to The Episcopal Church’s actions, which included those supportive of its actions as well as those with no stated opinion; those in impaired communion; and those in broken communion.

The Province of the West Indies was in a state of “impaired communion” with The Episcopal Church, he explained. It was “no longer business as usual,” as links were not severed, but “the relationship will be dealt with as needs arise.”

Pre-meeting tensions and maneuvering also appear to have abated. The mood inside the meeting, one participant said, was considerably different than that of the 2005 session in Northern Ireland, with a noticeable drop in tension.

On the second day of the meeting the primates “moved from the intense listening mode,” Archbishop Aspinall said, to a “free and frank exchange of views” during the morning session. Following Morning Prayer, discussions continued on The Episcopal Church. There are some “real tensions for us to work through,” Archbishop Aspinall noted.

During the afternoon, a draft copy of an Anglican Covenant was presented by Archbishop Gomez. While the details will not be released until Feb. 19, after it had been circulated electronically to the bishops of the Communion, the covenant will not “deal with subjects” of specific concern, but will “provide a framework” for “mutual accountability,” Archbishop Gomez said.

It will be a “statement of classical Anglicanism,” he said, and was “faithful to our tradition.” The timeline proposed by the covenant design group would be a period of discussion and modification leading up to the Lambeth Conference in 2008; a revision by the conference that would then be returned to the primates for final corrections followed by distribution to the Communion’s 38 provinces for ratification.

Archbishop Peter Carnley, former Primate of Australia, then presented a report on the Panel of Reference. He noted that the panel had been subject to three sets of difficulties: the “sheer effort to establish the facts”; constraints provided by pending litigation in some instances; and “human problems.”

The conference spokesman noted the primates asked “very blunt” questions as to whether the “outcomes achieved were proportionate to the work of the panel.” Further constraints were imposed by human failings, he added. “There must be a will for reconciliation for the panel to be effective,” Archbishop Carnley noted.

The primates concluded their discussion of the panel and the covenant and received a presentation on the “listening process” by Canon Phil Groves. Canon Groves outlined preliminary proposals on the process for the 2008 Lambeth Conference, but noted that in some circumstances it would be necessary to “establish safe ground” in certain societies for “people to feel safe” to allow it to continue productively.

On the third day of the meeting, the primates are scheduled to discuss theological education across the Communion and to continue discussion of The Episcopal Church. No decision on its status has been made, Archbishop Aspinall noted, but one Global South primate noted the discussions appeared to him to be reaching a climax.

NATIONAL EPISCOPAL CHURCH JOINS DIOCESE IN SUING VIRGINIA CHURCHES, JUST PRIOR TO PRIMATES' MEETING

Anglican Church Leaders in Virginia Call New Lawsuits by The Episcopal Church 'un-Christian' and 'Heavy-Handed'
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jim Pierobon, 301-520-1758

FAIRFAX and FALLS CHURCH , Va. , Feb.12 - Leaders of The Falls Church and Truro Church Monday called new lawsuits filed against their congregations and nine other congregations by The Episcopal Church, in the words of Falls Church Senior Warden Tom Wilson, “not surprising but sadly un-Christian and heavy-handed.”

The complaint by The Episcopal Church was filed Friday against the 11 churches, along with their rectors, vestries and trustees, that have severed ties with The Episcopal Church since mid-December. It comes on the eve of meetings beginning Wednesday in Dar es Shalaam, Tanzania, where The Episcopal Church is under growing scrutiny from a majority of the 38 primates, or archbishops, in the worldwide Anglican Communion over The Episcopal Church’s disrespect for Scripture. This disrespect for Scripture is what drove the 11 congregations to join a growing movement of orthodox Christians to strengthen ties with the Anglican Communion – ties that are separate from the Episcopal Church – through the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, or CANA .

The complaints cite internal Episcopal Church rules known as “canons” in support of the claim that the denomination owns the properties at issue. The deeds to the properties, however, are in the name of trustees for the congregations, not the Diocese or The Episcopal Church, and the buildings were constructed and have been maintained without financial support from the denomination. In addition, neutral principles of Virginia law do not recognize denominational trusts in congregational property, and a Virginia statute provides a neutral method for protecting congregations’ property rights in the case of a division within a diocese or denomination. In short, the congregations are prepared to defend themselves against these lawsuits.

“If The Episcopal Church were half as devoted to the Scriptures as it is to its so-called ‘canons,’ perhaps it would not find itself in these dire straits,” said Wilson.

“This is just the latest evidence of division within the Episcopal Church,” said Jim Oakes, Senior Warden of Truro Church . “It’s unfortunate that anyone who sides with an orthodox branch of the Anglican Communion finds itself being sued. But we have studied the law and are prepared to respond.”

The 20-page lawsuit seeks a “preliminary and permanent injunction” ordering the defendants to relinquish control of the church buildings and other assets. Some of the Vestry members named as defendants include those who voted against departing the denomination. The lawsuit names persons serving as trustees at many of the churches. All totaled, almost 200 individuals are named as defendants, 108 by name and another 88 earmarked as “John Does” and “Jane Roes.”

The lawsuit follows a similar set of lawsuits against the congregations filed by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia on January 31, 2007. Rather than join as a co-plaintiff in the Diocese’s lawsuits, which assert similar claims – except for the preliminary injunction – The Episcopal Church brought its own claims in a separate proceeding.

ENGLAND: THOUSANDS OF CHURCHES FACE CLOSURE IN TEN YEARS

Source: The Times (London)
Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent
February 10, 2007

Thousands of churches face closure, demolition or conversion in the next decade, leading to the demise of some branches of Christianity in Europe, according to experts.

In some parts of the country, former churches are being turned into centres of worship for other faiths. A disused Methodist chapel in Clitheroe on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales is the latest, destined to become a mosque for the town’s 300 Muslims.

There are more than 47,000 churches in Britain today, and 42 million people, more than 70 per cent of the population, consider themselves to be Christian. It sounds a lot, but behind the figures lies a story of decline in the country’s established religion.

Although the Pentecostal and Evangelical branches of Christianity are growing, worshippers often prefer modern, functional, warehouse-style buildings to the traditional neo-Gothic landscape of British ecclesiastical architecture.

Just one tenth of the nation’s Christians attends church, and churches are now closing faster than mosques are opening. Practising Muslims will, in a few decades, outnumber practising Christians if current trends continue.

A generation ago the churches in Britain seemed unassailable. The first mosques in Britain opened at the end of the 19th century but by 1961 there were just seven mosques, three Sikh temples and one Hindu temple in England and Wales, compared with nearly 55,000 Christian Churches.

Sometimes, with denominations such as the Methodists split into three types, there could be as many as seven or eight churches in one small town to cater for Roman Catholics, Anglicans and different groups of Protestants.

By 2005 the number of churches had fallen to 47,600. According to the organisation Christian Research, another 4,000 are likely to go in the next 15 years.

In the Church of England alone, which still has 16,000 churches, 1,700 have been made redundant since 1969.

Over the same period, the number of mosques in Britain has grown to almost the number of Anglian churches that have closed. The Islamic website Salaam records a total of 1,689 mosques.

Covenants attached to redundant Anglican churches, however, make it difficult for them to be used by another faith. None has become a mosque, and only two have become Sikh gurdwaras, and the Church of England has opened more than 500 new churches since 1969. Redundant Anglican churches tend to be developed into houses, offices or restaurants. In Cheltenham, 19th-century St James’s is now a branch of Zizzi’s, an Italian restaurant.

Methodist churches, down from 14,000 in 1932 to 6,000, and closing at the rate of 100 a year, are often sold with no restrictive covenant attached.

Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “In 1990 there were about 400 mosques in the UK. Many existing mosques are also being refurbished and enlarged.”

Peter Guillery, of English Heritage, said that the trend was not new. The 18th-century Huguenot church in Brick Lane, in the East End of London, became a Methodist chapel in 1819. It became a synagogue at the end of the 19th century, and a mosque in 1976.

Multifaith use of buildings is growing. Art and Christianity Enquiry, a Christian arts trust, is planning a seminar next month on how many buildings in Britain are being shared by different faith groups.

But Ceri Peach, of Oxford University, said in The Geographical Review: “The new cultural landscape of English cities has arrived. The homogenised, Christian landscape of state religion is in retreat.”