++Venables:  My personal conviction after a very long period of active participation in this drawn-out process is that the system is not allowing a solution. It's Catch 22. We believed initially that there was a simple, albeit painful, solution but there seemed to be an overwhelming reluctance to pay the price. It's not even "unity whatever the cost" because that's the one thing we won't end up with. The Anglican Communion has already unraveled, and things are even further away from resolving the deadlock. Under these conditions, Lambeth will not only fall far short of anything positive but actually make things worse. Perhaps, looking at it from the outside, it looks easy but inside it's not only labyrinthine, but there is no centre to get to. It's an ecclesiastical Alice through the Looking Glass, but there's no humour and little real love.

AAC:  Why do you think there is disillusionment with Canterbury and the Anglican System?

++Venables:  It's not personalised but it is definitely to do with the Anglican system and the whole procedural set up. So much has been done such as Lambeth 1:10, several very clear communiques, the Windsor report and even some crucial and concrete decisions taken, yet nothing seems to have really changed and it's hard not to read this negatively. It's as if every time you have to start from scratch and people have just got tired. The latest disillusionment is that there won't be another primates' meeting, which is a tragedy because it was there that everything was developed. In the real world you don't dismiss the medical team before the operation is completed.

AAC:  There are orthodox Anglicans who think attending Lambeth is the answer and that the GAFCON is a mistake; what do you say to them?

++Venables:  God bless them but they're probably making a mistake. Some of us who have actually participated in all the meetings believe we have to get on with the really important ministry of the Church, which is to do with salvation and eternal life, and that this can only be done with those who share the historic biblical faith. It's a question of realism and priorities.
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Warning over Anglican Conference in Holy Land
Source:  Religious Intelligence
Date:  January 2, 2008
By: George Conger

The Bishop in Jerusalem has urged organizers of the Jun 15-22 Jerusalem conference of conservative Anglican bishops to move the meeting outside the Holy Land, saying the gathering would inflame sectarian tensions...

...In a statement released on Jan 2, Bishop Darwani noted he had not been consulted about the Conference before it had been announced, and learned of the gathering from the organizers' press release...

...The leadership team of GAFCON contacted ReligiousIntelligence.Com to say that a letter was sent to Bishop Suheil Dawani on December 24, two days prior to the press announcement. Two of the leadership team, Archbishop Peter Akinola and Archbishop Peter Jensen, had already requested a meeting with him to discuss his concerns with him in the next two weeks.

Read the entire article by clicking here.

NOTE: Upon follow-up investigation, GAFCON media contact Peter Frank had this to say to the AAC's Robert Lundy:

31 Bishops Stand with Bishop Schofield and Diocese of San Joaquin
Source:  Diocese of San Joaquin
Date:  January 2, 2008
Dear Bishop John-David,

We, Episcopal colleagues from across the Anglican Communion and across the world, write to salute you on the courageous decision of the Diocesan Convention of San Joaquin to take leave of The Episcopal Church and to align with the Province of the Southern Cone. We know that decision was to a large extent the result of your tenacity and faithful leadership, and for that we give thanks to God. It has been said that you are isolated and alone. We want you and the world to know that in this decision for the faith once delivered to the saints, we stand with you and beside you. May Christ abundantly bless you and your diocese with all the gifts of the Spirit and with joy in believing.

Yours in Christ,

The Rt. Rev. Jack L. Iker, Bishop of Fort Worth

and:

The Most Rev. Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney
The Rt. Rev. Matthias Medadues-Badohu, Bishop of Ho
The Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester
The Rt. Rev. Gerard Mpango, Bishop of Western Tanganyika
The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh
The Rt. Rev. Ross Davies, Bishop of The Murray
The Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman, Bishop of Quincy
The Rt. Rev. Peter Beckwith, Bishop of Springfield
The Rt. Rev. A. Ewin Ratteray, Bishop of Bermuda
The Rt. Rev. Michael Hough, Bishop of Ballarat
The Rt. Rev. John Broadhurst, Bishop of Fulham
The Rt. Rev. Martyn Jarrett, Bishop of Beverley
The Rt. Rev. John Goddard, Bishop of Burnley
The Rt. Rev. Keith Newton, Bishop of Richborough
The Rt. Rev. Robert Forsyth, Bishop of South Sydney
The Rt. Rev. Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet
The Rt. Rev. Lindsay Urwin, Bishop of Horsham
The Rt. Rev. Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes
The Rt. Rev. Henry Scriven, Assistant Bishop, Diocese of Pittsburgh
The Rt. Rev. Bill Atwood, Province of Kenya
The Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, Convocation of Anglicans in North America
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Convocation of Anglicans in North America
The Rt. Rev. John Gaisford, lately Bishop of Beverley
The Rt. Rev. Edward MacBurney, lately Bishop of Quincy
The Rt. Rev. Roger Jupp, lately Bishop of Popondota
The Rt. Rev. David Silk, lately Bishop of Ballarat
The Rt. Rev. Nöel Jones, lately Bishop of Sodor and Man
The Rt. Rev. Edwin Barnes, lately Bishop of Richborough
The Rt. Rev. William Wantland, lately Bishop of Eau Claire
The Rt. Rev. Donald Parsons, lately Bishop of Quincy
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Diocese of Virginia Obtains 2 Million Dollar Credit Line for Litigation
Source: Virginia Episcopalian
Date:  January 2008

The following is an excerpt from page three of the January 2008 edition of the Virginia Episcopalian.  The publication is produced by the Diocese of Virginia.

One feature of the 2008 budget that will be new for delegates is the cost of litigation to protect and preserve Episcopal Church real and personal property from being appropriated for non-Episcopal Church uses. In 2007 the Executive Board authorized the treasurer to open a $1 million line of credit to cover anticipated legal expenses for the near-term. That line has since been increased to $2 million and about $1 million has been accessed. As a result, the 2008 budget features a debt service line item of about $80,000. In addition, the Executive Board pre-authorized diocesan officials to consider contracts for the sale of non-strategic diocesan real property...

Read the rest of the article by clicking here.
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Episcopal Leader Says Church Faces Double Standard
Source:  BBC News
Date:  January 1, 2008

By Christopher Landau

The head of the Anglicans in the United States has accused other churches, including the Church of England, of double standards over sexuality.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katherine Jefferts Schori, told the BBC her church is paying the price for its honesty over sexuality. The threat of schism in the Anglican Communion was prompted by the appointment of a gay bishop. The US church elected an openly gay man Gene Robinson as a bishop in 2003. Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori defended her ministry. "He is certainly not alone in being a gay bishop, he's certainly not alone in being a gay partnered bishop," she said. "He is alone in being the only gay partnered bishop who's open about that status." She said other Anglican churches also have gay bishops in committed partnerships and should be open about it. "There's certainly a double standard," she told BBC Radio 4's PM programme .

Gay blessings

The US church also faces criticism over its stance on services of blessing for gay couples. The church has stated it will not officially authorise such services, but Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori admits they do take place. "Those services are happening in various places, including in the Church of England, where my understanding is that there are far more of them happening than there are in the Episcopal Church," she said.  Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori refused to criticise US parishes that carry out services of blessing for gay couples, saying that it was a decision for each individual church...

Read the rest of the article by clicking here.
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