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Friday, May 11, 2007
"When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord
your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not
forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his
decrees... Otherwise, when you eat and are satisifed...and when your herds
and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is
multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord
your God... If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and
worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will
surely perish." (Deuteronomy 8:10-14,19)
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Message from AAC President Canon David Anderson
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AAC Celebrates Installation of Bishop Martyn Minns, New
Season for U.S. Anglicanism
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Archbishop Peter Akinola Responds to the Archbishop of
Canterbury
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Diocese of Colorado Sues Grace Church and St. Stephen's
Parish, Colo. Springs
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Bishop Salmon's Letter to the S.C. Diocese on Re-electing
Mark Lawrence
Message from AAC President Canon David Anderson
Beloved in Christ,
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Send
information to the Communiqué Compliance Office! |
As announced in February, the AAC is
monitoring the Episcopal Church's compliance with the primates' Dar es
Salaam Communiqué through its newly created Communiqué Compliance Office
(CCO).
We continue to encourage you, our readers, to send us any
material pertinent to this effort, by
e-mail, phone (800-914-2000),
or regular mail.
The most helpful materials include diocesan
newsletters, church newsletters, diocesan-wide (or church-wide) e-mails,
and other pieces of information that indicate compliance or defiance
with respect to: (1) the primates' call for a halt to litigation; (2)
the communiqué's request for clarification of the Church's position on
ordination of bishops who are living active homosexual lifestyles; (3)
clarification of the Church's position on same-sex blessings; and (4)
the primates' pastoral scheme for providing relief to orthodox churches
and dioceses. In addition, the CCO files include any material that
indicates a diocese's or bishop's rejection of Scriptural authority.
The CCO is collecting information through Sept. 30, 2007, by which time
the Church must respond to the communiqué's requests. Regular CCO
reports are issued to global Anglican primates and leaders, as well as
to the public.
The laity and clergy within U.S. Episcopal dioceses are
the AAC's eyes and ears for what is happening within each diocese.
Your help is imperative to the success of our efforts! |
Although these Weekly Updates go out to a large number of
subscribers, most of whom are supporters of the work of the American
Anglican Council (AAC), some individuals of a contrary point of view also
subscribe to check up on us, and that's okay. My weekly piece shares my own
opinion on the current events, and from time to time, as new information
arrives or circumstances change, I will want to recast my analysis. This
format provides an opportunity when needed.
To begin with some good news, the AAC is pleased to
welcome Nash Nunnery to our Atlanta team. Nash comes to us from Jackson,
Miss., and will serve as the Director of Communications for the AAC. You
will begin to see his name appear on news releases and articles as the weeks
go by. Welcome aboard, Nash! (AAC
press release and photo here)
Included in our material this week is a letter from Bishop
Ed Salmon to the Diocese of South Carolina concerning the bishop election
process. South Carolina is committed to staying inside the lines as it goes
forward as a diocese, yet is convinced that their first election chose the
right person—so the process outlined by Salmon addresses both priorities.
We have received
word that the Very Rev. Dr. Paul Zahl has submitted his resignation as
dean to the board of trustees of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in
Ambridge, Pa., and the board has accepted his resignation. I will be sorry
to see Paul step down, as he is a personal friend, and I greatly admire his
academic and scholarly gifts. We will pray for the best for both dean and
seminary.
Disturbing news has reached us of the martyrdom of two Christian leaders
in Turkey. They were tortured beyond comprehension for their Christian faith
by radical Muslim hate-mongers, and the response of the Turkish authorities
is not clear to us at this point. Our prayers go out to those who live and
worship in such precarious situations.
The Communiqué Compliance Office’s April report has just
been completed, and a full PDF format will be released on the AAC Web site
next week. The report is best used when you are already connected to the
Internet so that all the hyperlinks to original documents work. (A limited
quantity of the full-text version that includes the back-up documents will
also be available for those who do not have Internet access.)
Last Saturday’s installation service in Virginia of the
Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns was a glorious event. The Primate of All Nigeria, the
Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola, presided over the installation of Bishop Minns
as missionary bishop for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA),
the mission arm in the United States of the Anglican Church of Nigeria.
Based on the anxious anticipation of the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori,
presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church (TEC), as well as that of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams, it appears that
the installation is seen as a turning point in North American Anglican
affairs. If Jefferts Schori had been paying attention, she would have known
of the installation weeks in advance, and yet she waited so late to protest
that it suggests that her protest wasn’t really about stopping the event so
much as registering her displeasure. Perhaps the same could be said for Dr.
Williams’ letter, which wasn’t sent until the Nigerian primate was in New
York, en route to Virginia, at which point it was then leaked by Canon Jim
Rosenthal (the Anglican Communion Office’s director of communications) to
the press. However, the actual copy of the letter to Archbishop Akinola only
reached him after the event had taken place. Was this on purpose?
One wag suggested that TEC was investing in a new growth
area, lawsuits, by putting together their own TEC-branded law firm
franchise, to be called Dewey, Suem, and Howe. Two of the principals were
formally in a firm called Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe, but have now moved into
liturgical litigation. The new law firm will require proper vestments and
will build a company mission statement using the so-called Baptismal
Covenant of TEC.
The use of lawsuits by ostensibly Christian organizations
such as TEC to terrorize churches, vestry members, and the folks who sit in
the pews is unconscionable. The frustration behind TEC’s rage is that they
cannot force the laity or clergy to go along with their polytheistic
theology and beliefs on homosexuality, and people and clergy are voting with
both their feet and purses. If TEC had canon law jails, many of us would be
locked up, never to see the light again—but, fortunately, they don’t. Many
of the church properties on which they spend millions of dollars to seize
TEC will finally have to sell for 10 cents on the $1 because the buildings
won’t have viable congregations to keep the properties up and make repairs.
The idea in suing vestry members and clergy is to frighten people about
losing their own private homes and automobiles to a tyrannical bishop bent
on punishing the orthodox Anglicans. Now the Presbyterians’ liberal leaders
are joining in the fray in the Anglican world—a macabre ecumenism based on
terrorizing their own church members.
The Rev. Don Armstrong, who is currently under attack by
the Episcopal bishop and Diocese of Colorado, has now come under harassment
and stalking by hate groups affiliated with the homosexual activist agenda.
One activist crept into last Sunday’s worship service underway and threw
a pie at Armstrong, narrowly missing him as he stood in the pulpit
preaching. Another activist for the homosexual agenda took pictures of Fr.
Don as he parked his vehicle in front of Starbuck’s to dash in for a quick
cup of coffee. Multiple photos of Fr. Don appear on a homosexual activist
Web site, where he is shown parking his car, text-messaging on his
Blackberry, and drinking his coffee. It makes one wonder, what is the point
of this if not to harass him and encourage others to do the same? As the
state legislatures hurry to put “hate crime” laws into place, the laws
should be crafted to also protect the free speech of the Christian community
to name sin as sin, and to protect Christian leaders and clergy from
harassment and violence for their witness.
It seems the entire Western world has gone crazy—and the
ride isn’t over yet. Remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ should shape
the world, not the other way around.
Blessings and peace in Christ Jesus,
The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson
President & CEO, American Anglican Council
AAC Celebrates Installation of
Bishop Martyn Minns, New Season for U.S. Anglicanism
AAC Press Release
May 7, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The American Anglican Council (AAC) joined Anglicans
world-wide this past weekend in celebrating the installation of the Rt. Rev.
Martyn Minns as missionary bishop for the Convocation of Anglicans in North
America (CANA), the U.S. branch of the Anglican Church of Nigeria and fellow
Common Cause Partner with the AAC. Three staff members represented the AAC
at the Woodbridge, Va., service, which filled over half of the 3,500-seat
Hylton Chapel.
“This weekend’s event was a high point in North American
Anglicanism,” said AAC President and CEO the Rev. Canon David C. Anderson,
who attended the event with his wife. “We are extremely grateful for the
courage and faithfulness of the Nigerian church and its leader, Archbishop
Peter Akinola, who formed CANA two years ago.”
AAC Director of Finance and Development Doug Mussey as
well as AAC Director of Human Resources Mary Orr were also present to help
cover the event for the Council.
In his remarks, Anderson congratulated Minns on this new
phase of his ministry and assured that the AAC’s prayers and full support
are with him. Minns, an AAC Board of Trustees member, has been very active
with the ministry of the AAC in addition to serving as rector of Truro
Church in Fairfax, Va., for 16 years.
With over 30 affiliated churches, CANA has experienced
tremendous growth since it was formed in 2005 and has emerged as one of the
forerunners in the renewal of an orthodox Anglican presence in the United
States. The presence of leaders of other orthodox Anglican groups at this
weekend's service, Anderson said, was a particularly hopeful sign that there
will be a renewed effort to work together and build one another up through
shared mission and ministry.
“The energy and zeal of the Church of Nigeria have come to
the U.S. through CANA, and we pray that the result will be a
re-strengthening of the historic, biblical Anglican faith in this nation
after decades of accelerating moral and theological decline in the Episcopal
Church,” Anderson said. “Bishop Minns’ installation marked what we hope is a
new season for all U.S. orthodox Anglicans.” END
| Eyewitness account of Minns'
installation: "CANA, which has
more regular worshippers than nearly 50 of The Episcopal Church’s (TEC)
dioceses, currently consists of 34 parishes, with others queuing up to
join. About one third are in Virginia and the rest are spread across 11
other states. About a dozen of the churches have predominantly Nigerian
membership...
"'My priority,' [Minns] said, 'is to support the
growing movement of Anglicans who wish to honour the authority of
Scripture as the Word of God and remain steadfast in the historic
teachings of the Church. CANA hopes to replicate the growth of, and
enthusiasm for. Anglicanism now evident in the Global South.'
"...The Washington Post came out with a report on
Sunday headed “Rebel Anglicans appoint a bishop.” It might have been
nearer the mark to say that estranged Episcopalians were reasserting
their true Anglican identity."
-Gerry O'Brien, Church of England
Newspaper, May 11, 2007
Full Text |
Letter from Archbishop Akinola to Archbishop of
Canterbury Rowan Williams
Source: The Church of Nigeria
Archbishop of Canterbury
Lambeth Palace, London
Sunday, May 6th, 2007
My dear Rowan,
Grace and Peace to you from God the Father and from our
Lord Jesus the Christ.
I have received your note expressing your reservations
regarding my plans to install Bishop Martyn Minns as the first Missionary
Bishop of CANA. Even though your spokesmen have publicized the letter and
its general content I did not actually receive it until after the ceremony.
I do, however, want to respond to your concerns and clarify the situation
with regard to CANA. I am also enclosing a copy of my most recent letter to
Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori.
We are a deeply divided Communion. As leaders of the
Communion we have all spent enormous amounts of time, travelled huge
distances - sometimes at great risk, and expended much needed financial
resources in endless meetings, communiqués and reports – Lambeth Palace
2003, Dromantine 2005, Nottingham 2006 and Dar es Salaam 2007. We have
developed numerous proposals, established various task forces and yet the
division has only deepened. The decisions, actions, defiance and continuing
intransigence of The Episcopal Church are at the heart of our crisis.
We have all sought ways to respond to the situation. As
you well know the Church of Nigeria established CANA as a way for Nigerian
congregations and other alienated Anglicans in North America to stay in the
Communion. This is not something that brings any advantage to us – neither
financial nor political. We have actually found it to be a very costly
initiative and yet we believe that we have no other choice if we are to
remain faithful to the gospel mandate. As I stated to you, and all of the
primates in Dar es Salaam, although CANA is an initiative of the Church of
Nigeria – and therefore a bonafide branch of the Communion - we have no
desire to cling to it. CANA is for the Communion and we are more than happy
to surrender it to the Communion once the conditions that prompted our
division have been overturned.
We have sought to respond in a measured way. We delayed
the election of our first CANA bishop until after General Convention 2006 to
give The Episcopal Church every opportunity to embrace the recommendations
of the Windsor report – to no avail. At the last meeting of the Church of
Nigeria House of Bishops we deferred a decision regarding the election of
additional suffragans for CANA out of respect for the Dar es Salaam process.
Sadly we have seen no such respect from the House of
Bishops of The Episcopal Church. Their most recent statement was both
insulting and condescending and makes very clear that they have no intention
of listening to the voice of the rest of the Communion. They are determined
to pursue their own unbiblical agenda and exacerbate our current divisions.
In the middle of all of this the Lord’s name has been
dishonoured. If we fail to act many will be lost to the church and thousands
of souls will be imperiled. This we cannot and will not allow to happen. It
is imperative that we continue to protect those at most risk while we seek a
way forward that will offer hope for the future of our beleaguered
Communion. It is to this vision that we in the Church of Nigeria and CANA
remain committed.
Be assured of my prayers.
Sincerely,
+Peter Abuja
The Most. Rev. Peter J. Akinola
Primate of All Nigeria
Colorado Episcopal Diocese Sues Grace Church
and St. Stephen's Parish, Colo. Springs
Source: Rocky
Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson
May 11, 2007
The Episcopal Diocese of Colorado on Thursday made its
first move to regain control of the venerable property that was known for
much of its history as Grace and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Colorado
Springs.
The diocese filed documents in El Paso County District
Court declaring it is the rightful owner of the 134-year-old church, which
has been renamed by its current rector as Grace Church and St. Stephen's
Parish.
"It is a shame that a small, misguided group has forced
this litigation by illegally taking possession of the church property," said
the chancellor of the diocese, Lawrence R. Hitt II, in a statement Thursday.
The parish is currently under the authority of the Rev.
Don Armstrong, whom the diocese has accused of misappropriating hundreds of
thousands of dollars in parish funds.
Armstrong, and a majority of the parish's governing board,
declared in March that they no longer are under the authority of Episcopal
Bishop Rob O'Neill nor do they belong to the Episcopal Church, which they
believe has strayed from historic Christian teachings on issues of sexuality
and scriptural authority.
Armstrong and the board hope to bring the parish property
with them into a national network of conservative churches called the
Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). A parish vote is scheduled
for May 20 to determine if a majority of the 1,500-plus-member congregation
wants to join CANA.
Last month Armstrong's group sought to formally break its
ties with the Episcopal Church. It argued in a complaint filed in district
court that the parish exists "free of any claims of ownership by the Bishop
and the Diocese of Colorado."
They maintain that the parish is a separate nonprofit
corporation founded 14 years before the Episcopal Diocese was in 1887, and
that it has held title to the property since the land was donated to the
church by Colorado Springs founder Gen. William Palmer.
In its counterclaim filed Thursday, the diocese disputes
that Armstrong's group has any authority over the parish.
A Letter to the Clergy of the Diocese of South
Carolina from the Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr.
Source:
Diocese of South
Carolina
May 10, 2007
Dear Friends,
I have just come from a meeting of the Standing Committee
where critical decisions were made toward the re-election of the Very Rev.
Mark Lawrence as the XIV Bishop of South Carolina. The position of the
Standing Committee was that there was an overwhelming consensus that 1) the
Holy Spirit had spoken in the election of Fr. Lawrence; 2) that the Bishops
and Standing Committees had intended to consent to the election even though
technicalities had prevented it; 3) and that we carefully follow our own
Canons in order to strongly support the election.
In order to follow our Canons, it is necessary to
re-convene the Diocesan Convention of November 2006, which according to the
minutes was recessed, not adjourned. This means that the delegates from the
November 2006 Convention are still in place. The date for convening this
Convention is June 9, 2007. At that Convention, it will be necessary to
suspend Rule 21; because it would require an entirely new election process
duplicating the process we used in the first election. Rule 22 gives us the
authority to suspend the Rule 21 by a 2/3 vote. After its suspension, the
Convention can then call for an Electing Convention. This would then require
our congregations to elect new delegates for this Convention. The former
Electing Convention cannot be re-convened. It was called for the purpose of
electing a Bishop for the Diocese, and this work was done.
The re-convened convention of 2006 will also be asked to
affirm the appointment of Wade Logan as Diocesan Chancellor as required by
the Canons. Due to reasons of health, Mr. Eugene N. Zeigler has resigned as
Chancellor of the Diocese. He will remain as Chancellor until the Convention
approves a new Chancellor.
This Electing Convention will then be convened later in
the summer of 2007 for the purpose of re-electing Fr. Lawrence. This date
will be announced when the Electing Convention is created.
Following the election, the Standing Committee will
implement an intensive effort to receive the consents during the 120 day
period. Since a majority of Standing Committees intended to approve in the
first election, the Standing Committee has a clear field in which to work.
This process will allow a consecration date to be set so
that when consents are in, we may proceed to consecrate Fr. Mark Lawrence as
the 14th Bishop of South Carolina.
Yours faithfully,
Edward L. Salmon, Jr.
Bishop of South Carolina XIII
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