David Virtue's News and comments on the current situation.

"If there were any word of God beside the Scripture, we could never be certain of God's Word; and if we be uncertain of God's Word, the devil might bring in among us a new word, a new doctrine, a new faith, a new church, a new god, yea himself to be a god. If the Church and the Christian faith did not stay itself upon the Word of God certain, as upon a sure and strong foundation, no man could know whether he had a right faith, and whether he were in the true Church of Christ, or in the synagogue of Satan."-- Archbishop Thomas Cranmer

Will he or won't he? Gene Robinson is playing a cat and mouse game with the Anglican Communion over whether or not he will go forward with his consecration as the next Bishop of New Hampshire on Nov. 2.

First of all he says he will go ahead regardless of what anybody says, and then, in the next breath he says that he might be persuadedotherwise if the Archbishop of Canterbury personally asked him not to proceed for the sake of unity in the communion. He'll even fly to London to get word from the Archbishop himself. Robinson said that if the Archbishop of Canterbury asks him to step aside -- which Williams has not done -- Robinson would take that into his "prayer life." But the words of Williams, spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, would not be enough to dissuade him.

Then he says he will proceed regardless, because if he doesn't, then sooner or later there will be a gay man or woman consecrated as bishop and so he might just as well go ahead and get consecrated anyway.

The penultimate note said that several Anglican leaders have appealed to him to step down, "but the only thing that could sway me would be if he felt a personal call from God to stand aside."

THEN AT the last moment there came this: "There has been no contact between the two since the [world] bishops' meeting," Mike Barwell, a spokesperson for Robinson said. Lambeth Palace also issued a denial the two men would meet within the next two weeks.

So this leaves us in a maybe he did, maybe he didn't situation. Virtuosity will keep you posted.

But despite Mr. Robinson's alleged "personal call" from God, God HAS issued a call to Mr. Robinson and He said NO. Thomas Cranmer's quote at the beginning of the digest adequately answers the wannabe bishop. Any notion that the Apostles of the Early Church would have laid hands on Robinson, is unthinkable.

Now I will be attending the consecration next week in the DIOCESE OF New Hampshire, and I sent a formal request saying I would be there. Initially I was denied credentials but then following a little arm-twisting and a "no censorship appeal" there was a change of heart. The deep thinkers in New Hampshire thought otherwise and so I will be there to report on it all for you, including the AAC "alternative" Eucharist that follows afterwards.

Being denied access is not new to this reporter. It was tried once before when the Episcopal police at the gates of Kanuga would not let me in to talk with the Primates. I was politely kicked off the premises. It goes with the job.

GIFTS OPF GOLD SOUGHT FOR BISHOP'S CROSS. It is customary for a new Bishop to receive various symbols of the office of Bishop, including a Pectoral cross. Such a cross is often fashioned of gold. The Standing Committee of the diocese, in consultation with Bishop-elect Robinson, has proposed a plan to make the new bishop's pectoral cross something special, symbolizing the entire diocese. They have invited members of the diocese to send gold pieces such as jewelry they no longer use to the diocese (care of the parish office). A local goldsmith will melt the gold down and create a beautiful and unique cross for the new bishop. This prompted one angry orthodox layman to note, "Why don't they make a calf if there's any left over?" Indeed.

And on a brighter note, at the International bishops' conference held before Lambeth in mid September, Rowan Williams stood up and said during a question and answer period that he did not recognize the deposition and inhibition of Fr. David Moyer by Bishop Charles Bennison. The Bishop of PA is a pariah except among his own revisionist pals. He is despised by two Canterbury archbishops and he has offended his own Affirming Catholic Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold by ignoring two letters the PB sent him telling him, in so many words, to cease and desist beating up on Fr. Moyer. Bennison's day will come.

Bishop Bob Duncan the feisty Bishop of Pittsburgh recently asked, SO, WHAT WILL THE INTERVENTION LOOK LIKE? "It will be messy, like the past. It will be missionary, like the future. It will demand our best: charity and trust and patience and courage, and every other New Testament virtue."

"I believe the first action of the intervention will be a rebuke to the Presiding Bishop, to the Bishops who voted for confirmation of Canon Gene Robinson, and to the Diocese of New Hampshire. There will also be a rebuke to any who voted for blessing same-sex unions as "within the bounds of our common life," and more plainly to any who have instituted or permitted such blessings to go forward. This is not Anglicanism and this is not Christianity - either catholic or reformed - and the Primates will say so."

BUT INTERVENTION is too late now for Fr. David Ousley of ST. JAMES THE LESS in Philadelphia - the city of Brotherly Shove. The Appellate Court has decided in favor of Bennison and so the rector and parishioners will be forced to leave, the church will close, the school for poor Black children has already closed, the good father will be tossed out of the rectory and to add insult to injury Bennison can sue all the vestry members individually for legal fees. Is this a great church or what.

This could bankrupt some of these good folk. It also shows you the depth of venality Bennison will sink, in order to have the property at any cost. He would sooner take it and close and lock the church doors and pay to have the grounds kept up because it cannot be sold to a furniture store as it has an historic cemetery. Rather than let these good people have the faith they declare (which is not the same as Bennison's) and the liturgy they want, he has ground their faces into the Philadelphia pavement. One hopes that their appeal to the State Supreme Court will yield some relief from this bastard bishop. There isn't a hell low enough for this man.

AND FOR THOSE RECTORS WORRIED ABOUT PROPERTY ISSUES, there is this historical note:

During the 1930s in the United States, the Protestant Episcopal Church faced exceptional needs. Regions of the Midwest had no congregations. Bishop Henry W. Hobson set out to remedy that. If the people could not come to church, the church would go to the people. On this day, October 1, 1937, he opened the St. Paul Wayside Cathedral. This was a church on wheels removable altar, an organ, and a sound and film system--not to mention Bishop Hobson's chair--it carried the Gospel into rural areas (such as coal camps), offering baptisms, confirmations and religious services to outposts where the Episcopal church had lacked representation for years. Today St. Paul Wayside Cathedral is a more fixed entity. Clearly this was a case of innovation over hand wringing.

MONEY, or the lack of it is beginning to catch up with revisionist dioceses. In the DIOCESE OF NORTH CAROLINA they are letting go at least one staff member because "there was no longer any money in the budget." The Diocesan Media & Communications Specialist, was laid off this week. The ECUSA is reaping what it is sowing. I wonder, said one layman, if the bishops are going to take a pay cut.

And in the DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA, Peter Lee is taking it on the chin with the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars now being withheld from wealthy northern Evangelical parishes (you can read Julia Duin's story from the Washington Times.) You can be sure that this is going to be a nationwide problem in every diocese over time. Affirming sodomy is coming with a very high price.

This week, Bishop Duncan addressed the DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH at the Church of the Ascension in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh. He was back from Plano and from London. You can read what he has to say to his diocese. Bishop Duncan is emerging as the central orthodox spokesman with strong statements of disassociation and more. One wonders how long revisionist "tolerance" will allow him to continue. he has freed his parishes to make their own choices. This is bound to have a reaction in the House of Bishops ere long. He is not the remotest bit cocky, he is totally unafraid and knows the risks. You can read the full report from this meeting.

In the DIOCESE OF MASSACHUSETTS the conservative Anglican congregation of St. Paul's, Brockton, lost an appeal to recover its church building, previously seized under court order by the liberal Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and its bishop, Tom Shaw.

The congregation, which earlier left the diocese mainly because of its pro-homosexual stance and has been worshipping in rented space, evidently expected the loss, as it broke ground for a new facility several months ago. The parish is now aligned with the Anglican Missionin America.

And then there is news that two new ANGLICAN MISSION IN AMERICA parishes opened for business this week - one in Colorado and the other in North Carolina. The Church of the Apostles in Raleigh, NC has drawn off orthodox laity in surrounding ECUSA parishes and an AMIA parish has begun. Moses Tay the former Primate of South East Asia will officially open the parish this weekend. They started in a home now they have their own building.

On Sunday, November 2nd, Church of the Apostles of Evergreen, CO will begin worshiping in the original (now outgrown) church building of the Lookout Mountain Community Church (Evangelical Presbyterian). They are looking for 100 new or used prayer books (1979). The Rev. Dennis Garrou is the new rector.

And at TESM, the Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry there is nothing but good news. The latest Seed and Harvest magazine reports that of the 11 Episcopal seminaries in ECUSA, Trinity is the largest in total enrollment, though not the largest in M.Div. students. The school ended the year in the financial black and this year's beginning (junior) class had 60 new students; a record for Trinity.

There are strong shafts of light in the dark tunnel of ECUSA. Sooner of later the most revisionist of bishops will have to allow these seminarian graduates into their dioceses because they won't have anyone else who will or can take dying parishes and bring them back to life with the gospel. Waiting out the revisionist nightmare looks better with every passing moment.

AND IN THE DIOCESE OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA two motions were passed in which the Synod reaffirmed its commitment to the authority of Scripture and recognized that the Anglican Communion has traditionally maintained its adherence to that authority and that of the 39 Articles of Religion.

It notes the departure from biblical authority in the actions of (a) the Synod of the Diocese of New Westminster by agreeing to bless same-sex unions, and (b) the Diocese of New Hampshire, endorsed by the Convention of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America, in electing as bishop a person engaged in homosexual activity.

The Synod also commended its Archbishop, Peter Jensen for his public comments on these issues and for standing with other leaders of like mind in their desire to maintain the truths of Scripture.

In a second motion the diocese brought greetings to biblically orthodox Clergy and Laity in the Diocese of New Westminster and sent Christian greetings to the Rev David Short, and the congregation of St John's Shaughnessy, and to the other clergy and laity of the Diocese of New Westminster who have stood firm on the teaching of scripture concerning human sexuality.

The Synod also expressed its support for those sections of ECUSA who are struggling to preserve biblical standards in their denomination and encourages them to stand firm in the face of pressure to conform to policies that are contrary to biblical teaching.

THE CONSECRATION of The Rev. John Howard as Bishop Coadjutor of the DIOCESE OF FLORIDA will take place on Saturday, November 1, at 10:00 a.m., at St. John's Cathedral, 256 E. Church St., Jacksonville. This is the date that was previously planned for the consecration. Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold, has asked The Rt. Rev. Charles Jenkins, Bishop of Louisiana and President of Province IV, to serve as Chief Consecrator of Bishop-elect Howard. Griswold was asked not to come by the current Bishop of Florida Stephen Jecko and the local Roman Catholic Bishop. Both men are offended by the thought of sodomy and same-sex blessings.

AND OUT OF SAUDI ARABIA comes Arab news of the great agitation in the Anglican Church caused by the election of an avowed homosexual to the post of bishop. You can read the full story. The repercussions in the Muslim community doesn't seem to worry Gene Robinson. His sexual needs will only be fully satisfied when he is wearing a miter.

AMONG THE STORIES TODAY is a section from C.S. Lewis's book The Great Divorce. It seems apropos with what is going on in the Communion today. There are a number of other stories posted for your education and enlightenment.

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I know exactly which section of The Great Divorce David Virtue is referring to. It's the Clerical Ghost, an apostate bishop.

Portrait of Frank the Heretic.

If you have not read this great book, run out and buy a copy quick. It was the first book by Lewis that my daughter read after the Narnia books - she loves it and it is her favorite now. (She says Screwtape gives her the creeps.)

The congregation, which earlier left the diocese mainly because of its pro-homosexual stance and has been worshipping in rented space, ... is now aligned with the Anglican Missionin America.

This seems to be happening all over. Our rector reports that he will be moonlighting as a "supply priest" for a new APCK parish being formed in Idaho by now-former Episcopalians, until such time as the Archbishop can provide them with a full-time priest.

I know exactly which section of The Great Divorce David Virtue is referring to. It's the Clerical Ghost, an apostate bishop.

I first read that book sometime around 1960; a great book. But it's been decades since I last read it. I guess I better dig it out...

Funny, these revisionists talk about understanding and acceptance as the proper approach to "our Muslim brothers and sisters" yet their eco-lesbo-homo agenda has done nothing but drive the Muslims away.

Excerpt is here.

The Ghost nodded its head and beamed on the Spirit with a bright clerical smile-or with the best approach to it which such unsubstantial lips could manage-and then turned away humming softly to itself "City of God, how broad and far."

It is even more right on the money than I had remembered.

You wrote "This seems to be happening all over. Our rector reports that he will be moonlighting as a "supply priest" for a new APCK parish being formed in Idaho by now-former Episcopalians, until such time as the Archbishop can provide them with a full-time priest."

Well that *is* Good News! I wonder if any of the other Anglican/Episcopalian freepers know of new parishes forming because of the current crisis? Also, just to put things in perspective, you could tell your priest about a clergy shortage in western Canada a few years ago which resulted in one Anglican priest being assigned to cover 10 small rural parishes...I believe the situation was known locally as something like "Fr. Tom's mini-diocese" or some such...:-)

you could tell your priest about a clergy shortage in western Canada a few years ago which resulted in one Anglican priest being assigned to cover 10 small rural parishes...I believe the situation was known locally as something like "Fr. Tom's mini-diocese" or some such...:-)

Ah yes, the circuit-riders. :-) We know about the shortage of clergy; it's one of the biggest impediments to our growth.

It's also the reason the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada has a parish not in Canada but in Sequim, WA (as noted in the Directory). Sequim (pn. "skwim") is fairly accessible by ferry from Canada but a long haul from Redmond, so when they originally formed, some 20+ years ago, their supply priest came from Victoria, B.C. They now have their own clergy but remain affiliated with Canada.

I wonder if any of the other Anglican/Episcopalian freepers know of new parishes forming because of the current crisis?

I think the answer is "yes." I'd be happy to include such in the directory too.

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