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The Episcopal Church moved Monday toward affirming their acceptance of gays and lesbians for all roles in ministry, despite pressure from fellow Anglicans worldwide for a decisive moratorium on consecrating another openly gay bishop. Bishops at the Episcopal General Convention in Anaheim, Calif., voted 99-45 with two abstentions for a statement declaring "God has called and may call" to ministry gays in committed lifelong relationships. Lay and priest delegates to the meeting had comfortably approved a nearly identical statement, and were expected to adopt the latest version before the meeting ends Friday. Leaders of the Anglican Communion have been pushing...

I believe very strongly that one of the many tragic aspects of this whole Episcopal Church debacle in the last five years is that not only was the decision in 2003 wrong (and the way it was made wrong) but that nearly every major decision made by the TEC leadership since then has made it worse. The hard part about this is that when you keep failing to offer a sufficiently radical solution to a problem, the next time you face it it requires an even more radical solution. I certainly wish to salute what the Presiding Bishop said in...

The canon Missioner for the Diocese of Colorado who is in charge of congregational development for the diocese, says that as many as 12 parishes will close with three already having made the decision to shut down. He calls it "holy dying." He also blames it on "National Church issues". Lou Blanchard, known unaffectionately as the "Grim Reaper of Church Growth" by an orthodox priest in the diocese, announced this week that St. Francis, Colorado Springs has made the decision to close after declining over several years for many reasons including National Church Issues. Their final service will be on...

I’m going to get off Newark soon, but Louie Crew keeps giving me stuff to work with. He has reset his General Convevtion clock to the 2009 meeting. For those of you hoping to get some great advanced travel deals, it is 1107 days away. And it’s in Anaheim. Yes, Disneyland! Perfect! In fact a map on the Convention Center website puts the meeting place adjacent to the fantasy park. General Convention 2006 was a fantasy land. The one in three years will be worse. The elite of the Episcopal Church—the senate of bishops and the house of choice Deputies...

Anglicans should welcome a schismhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/06/20/do2002.xml http://tinyurl.com/gfwwa By Damian Thompson (Filed: 19/06/2006) After a wretched couple of decades for the Church of England - catfights over the ordination of women and homosexuals, the tumbling of weekly church attendance to below a million - there is finally a glimmer of hope in the headlines. The Anglican Communion seems to be falling apart. As The Daily Telegraph's religion correspondent, Jonathan Petre, reported yesterday, the election of a woman bishop as leader of the American Anglican Church "could hasten the break-up" of the worldwide body. For this relief much thanks, to quote the sentry...

COLUMBUS, OHIO (6/20/06)-The House of Deputies of the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church today overwhelmingly refused to even consider a resolution that affirmed Jesus Christ as the "only name by which any person may be saved."

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Episcopal clergy and lay delegates Tuesday rejected a demand from fellow Anglicans that they temporarily stop electing gay bishops, leaving little chance the proposal could be revived at a national church meeting. Anglican leaders, angered by the 2003 consecration of an openly gay Episcopal bishop, had asked the Episcopalians pass a moratorium — at least for now — on homosexuals leading dioceses. But in a complex balloting system, a majority of the Episcopal House of Deputies voted against the measure, which church leaders had seen as critical to keeping the embattled Anglican Communion together. The critical debate...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Episcopal General Convention approached another defining vote Monday in the wake of electing its first female presiding bishop: whether the church should temporarily bar gays from becoming bishops to preserve Anglican fellowship. Delegates began considering a moratorium at the request of world Anglican leaders, who remain angry over the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop — V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The Rev. Frank Wade opened debate by asking delegates not to view the request from Anglican leaders as an ultimatum, but as a request for peace. "No one is being asked...

Episcopal boredom http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50644 http://tinyurl.com/p3s8y Posted: June 15, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Hans Zeiger Let me see if I can capture the mood at the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio. The main thing about it is the generation. It is a gathering, chiefly, of baby boomers on the older end of their cohort. If they preceded the boom, they at least participated in the '60s. I half expected the long hair and dope to flow with the crowds that came yesterday to hear the debates about homosexuality and the consequently precarious relations of the Episcopal...

Anglican split 'has become necessary' The Communion has become 'two religions' says Bishop Nazir-Ali A split in the Anglican Communion is inevitable the Bishop of Rochester has said, as issues such as gay and women bishops continue to divide the global Church. The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali's comments came as the US Episcopal Church - which ordained the first openly gay bishop in 2003 - chose Katherine Jefferts Schori as its first female head. Here, two church members for and against such issues, give their views on a split. REV DAVID PHILIPS, THE CHURCH SOCIETYThe Reverend David Philips believes a...

ANGLICAN COMMUNION NETWORK AND FORWARD IN FAITH RESPOND TO SCHORI ELECTION By David W. Virtue www.virtueonline.org COLUMBUS: OH (6/18/2006) The Anglican Communion Network and Forward in Faith UK have issued statement concerning the Election of the Bishop of Nevada to be the 26th Presiding Bishop. Wrote: Network Moderator Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh: "I want to assure Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop Elect, of my prayers for her, for her husband Dick, and for their family, as Katherine assumes the impossible task now assigned to her." "As to the implications for the Episcopal Church and for the Anglican Communion,...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori became the first woman to lead any church in the global Anglican Communion when she was elected Sunday to be the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. The choice of Jefferts Schori may worsen — and could even splinter — the already difficult relations between the American denomination and its fellow Anglicans. Episcopalians have been sparing with many in the other 37 Anglican provinces over homosexuality, but a female leader adds a new layer of complexity to the already troubled relationship. Only two other Anglican provinces — New Zealand and Canada —...

COLUMBUS, OH: Gay Eucharist attracts 1,000+ By Hans Zeiger VirtueOnline Correspondent COLUMBUS, OHIO (6/16/06)-Over 1,000 homosexual and pro-homosexual clergy, bishops, and laymen of the Episcopal Church celebrated Eucharist Friday evening at Trinity Episcopal Church, just blocks from the site of the 75th Episcopal General Convention. "This is a small taste of what heaven must be like," said the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire, as he began his sermon to the prolonged cheers of the adoring congregation. Then Robinson was brought to tears as he thanked his homosexual partner Mark, three years after the Episcopal Convention at...

Conservatives (I mean evangelicals, traditional anglo-catholics, and just plain conservatives) will lose the battle at General Convention. There never really was any doubt, but some events drive the point home.And let me say that the connotation of “conservative” to me relates to the root “conserve.” Conservatives are usually slow to change, but the motive is often (not always) to conserve something valuable.The official Episcopal News Service is easily seen to be an organ for promoting the institutional cause of ECUSA. Significant news highlighting the conservative cause is often ignored, as is news that reflects poorly on the liberal cause. I...

I'm very grateful that Sarah Hey sent this reminder yesterday to her mailing list about the failure of the House of Bishops at the 2003 General Convention to affirm that “Holy Scripture (contains) all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation,” as set forth in Article VI of the Articles of Religion established by the General Convention on September 12, 1801." Sarah writes: During...

Episcopal Church Debate Grows More Heated http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/14611673.htm http://tinyurl.com/rrwgw Thursday May 18, 2006 7:46 PM By RACHEL ZOLL AP Religion Writer Kendall Harmon has to monitor his blog these days, so he can delete insults and offensive language from the comments section. His topic: the Episcopal Church. As a critical church meeting on homosexuality nears, the debate online and in public comments has grown so intense that one publication has dubbed it ``blood sport.'' ``I think people are dreading possible outcomes and when you're dealing with the unknown, fear kicks in in a big way,'' said Harmon, a minister and conservative...

THE FUTURE of the U.S. Episcopal Church (ECUSA) and its standing within the Anglican Communion now appears set to be determined chiefly by the June General Convention’s decisions on compliant-sounding resolutions that, as presently written, would nonetheless leave ECUSA “pointing in the same direction.” This, after the Diocese of California averted a second major convention struggle—and probable schism in the Communion—by passing up the chance to elect another actively gay bishop on May 6. The election of a second such prelate would have presented an opportunity for considerable drama: Some claimed—and some did not believe—that the House of Bishops would...

Please note: this article is a follow up to a piece Father Estes wrote last fall–KSH There are two visions competing for the heart and soul of the Episcopal Church. They are separate and distinct. They are irreconcilable. The two cannot be brought together in unity, because at the very heart of each reside fundamental assumptions and principles that are radically opposed to one another. In order to merge the Progressive vision with the Orthodox vision, a compromise would be required of such a serious nature that either vision would cease to exist. Since General Convention 2003, the proponents of...

Two months from this date, on June 21, the Episcopal Church's General Convention will be ending. The Episcopal Church will have a Presiding Bishop, and, more importantly, the General Convention will have taken action on the Windsor Report. The Episcopal Church has before it the recommendations of a special commission that was called to study the relationship of the Episcopal Church to the Anglican Communion, and to begin the process of crafting a response from the General Convention to the Windsor Report. StoryReport It's possible to read into this report that it's a good start. Ha! Before you get your...

There are two regular, official publications in the life of the Episcopal Church which today stand in the most stark, and most revealing, contrast. One is the smartly-edited national church monthly newspaper, Episcopal Life, which sports aggressively upbeat headlines about Episcopal laypeople involved in racial reconciliation, young adults' ministries, investment in Palestine, and the growth of church publishing. The other is the dour national church yearbook, the Episcopal Church Annual, which publishes detailed break-outs of diocesan statistics, clergy listings, the Episcopal succession list, and similar matters so leaden that the front-matter advertising is usually the most interesting part of the...

THE Episcopal Church in the United States should slow but not halt its push for gay bishops and blessings, a report from a special commission recommends. The report prepared by the Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion offered 11 resolutions for consideration in response to the recommendations of the Windsor Report and the Primates’ Dromantine Communiqué.It recommended the Church “exercise very considerable caution” in electing bishops “whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church,” but stopped short of the moratorium on gay bishops demanded by overseas and traditionalist church leaders. The Commission also...

Maundy Thursday, 2006 An Open Letter To The Delegates To General Convention From The Diocese Of Connecticut. Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I write to you as a member of the Convention of the Diocese of Connecticut. This Pentecost I will be celebrating twenty- five years as a priest in the Episcopal Church. I have been canonically resident in our diocese for the last sixteen years and for fifteen years was a parish rector in Stamford. I have served the diocese in a number of ways, including a term as president of the Standing Committee. I am gravely concerned...

Be very afraid: The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) will present the 75th General Convention with a series of prayers and liturgies for life transitions, alternative rites for celebrating new ministries, and alternative burial rites. The commission will ask the convention for permission and money to continue to develop resources for multi-sensory worship compatible with Anglican liturgy. ECUSA's going to have "rites" for practically everything. The collection of rites of passage was developed in response to Resolution 2003-A092 which, among other things, called for such rites. The SCLM’s Blue Book report offers an explanation of the theology and...

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: As your Presiding Officers we appointed the Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion late in 2005. The Special Commission was asked to prepare the way for a consideration by the 75th General Convention of recent developments in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion with a view to maintaining the highest degree of communion possible. They have admirably discharged this very weighty task. With our deep thanks to them we commend their report to you. Here we would like to make three observations. First, though this document is a beginning...

NEW YORK — An Episcopal Church panel studying the furor over the denomination's first openly gay bishop proposed Friday that dioceses use "very considerable caution" from now on in electing bishops with same-sex partners, but stopped short of the moratorium critics demanded. The commission also recommended that the American church offer "apology and repentance" for the turmoil its actions caused within the global Anglican Communion, and said dioceses should stop creating blessing ceremonies for same-gender couples, at least temporarily. (Snip) On May 6, the Diocese of California is scheduled to elect a new bishop and three of the seven candidates...

A discussion and Prayer starter…. Thousands wait with baited breath to see what will occur at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in mid-June 2006. Within the small but active Anglican Communion Network of ECUSA-based dioceses and parishes, it is commonly asserted that, if there is no real and obvious U-turn on matters relating to sexuality by the General Convention in June 2006, then the plan of the Network is certainly NOT to depart (and become, for example, like the AMiA) but to stay in place with the claim, “We have not left the ECUSA, the ECUSA [as an...

More and more, it appears that the long-awaited Anglican tipping point will arrive this June: The Bishop of Exeter, Michael Langrish, has delivered an extraordinary speech to ECUSA bishops which makes me believe for the first time that schism might actually be a possibility. Fundamentally, he has told the US bishops that if they consecrate another gay bishop or authorise same-sex relations, the Anglican Communion will break apart, ARCIC will be finished and inter-faith dialogue with the Muslims will be at an end. Two things give this speech added weight. One is that Langrish was speaking at the episcopal retreat...

General Convention Outlook - by Auburn Faber Traycik Liberal Factions Compete, Second Gay BishopAmong Possible Convention Wild Cards Report/Analysis By The Editor The Christian Challengehttp://www.challengeonline.org WASHINGTON, DC (March 6, 2006)--IF ONE BELIEVES the most common wisdom about it, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and his liberal allies will seek to avoid losing their place in the Anglican Communion or deserting their pro-gay agenda when they gather at the June 13-21 Episcopal General Convention in Columbus, Ohio. Of course, the Episcopal Church (ECUSA) cannot have it both ways, if conservative Anglican primates have anything to say about it. Their patience has already...

The Episcopal Diocese of Washington voted yesterday to approve same-sex blessing ceremonies at its annual convention at the Washington National Cathedral, while the Diocese of Virginia, meeting in Richmond, passed an omnibus resolution that touted unity.     The Washington diocese has unofficially allowed same-sex ceremonies for years, and it has had a same-sex rite on the books since June 2004.     However, that rite has been put on hold until a meeting of the Episcopal General Convention in June in Ohio, when the denomination's future stance on homosexual clergy and same-sex blessings will be decided.     The Virginia diocese's resolution, passed in the...

Too many Episcopalians are being purposefully kept in the dark about what is going on in ECUSA and the Anglican Communion. Too many clergy, revisionist and orthodox alike, feel like it is better to keep their parishioners in the dark about what is really going on for fear of dividing their parishes and losing members and contributions. Well, that is not true for three parishes in the Diocese of Southern Virginia! The clergy and vestries at Messiah, Chesapeake; Christ Church, Emporia; and Grace Church, Purdy not only keep their own people well informed, they want to get the word out...

Average Sunday attendance at Episcopal churches declined for the third consecutive year, a situation which Kirk Hadaway, director of research in the mission program office at the Episcopal Church Center, described as “worrisome and troubling.” Average attendance declined from 823,017 in 2003 to 795,765, a 3.4 percent decline. Active membership also declined by 2 percent to 2.25 million. Although there was encouraging news that almost one third of all Episcopal churches grew by 10 percent or more during the past five years, and that the average annual pledge increased church wide by nearly 5 percent to $1,881, Dr. Hadaway said...

Contact: The Rev. Phil Ashey (o)703-961-1983 (M) 703-963-3185Mr. Paul Branch(H) 703-327-3318South Riding Church Disaffiliates from the Episcopal Church, Joins Anglican Province of Uganda South Riding Church, established in 2000 as a new church plant in Fairfax, Virginia, has ended its affiliation with the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) and the Diocese of Virginia. The church is now under the jurisdictional authority of Bishop Kisembo in the Diocese of Rwenzori, Anglican Province of Uganda.South Riding is a biblically faithful church committed to the authority of Scripture, traditional Christian teaching and the historic faith and practice of Anglicanism. The decision to disaffiliate with...

An Episcopal group has a doomsday plan that calls for ousting conservative bishops and seizing church property if they attempt to break from the denomination over its increasingly liberal position on homosexuality. The so-called "Day After" plan could kick in as early as June, when the Episcopal Church USA holds its General Convention in Columbus, Ohio, according to minutes from a closed steering committee meeting of the group Via Media. Joan Gunderson of Aspinwall, who served as recording secretary for committee meeting in late September, said nothing from the strategy session has been approved by the group's leadership. "The minutes...

Why are we getting thrown out of the Anglican Communion? It is a night to remember. We celebrate ours as the most advanced of cultures. We speed across time as through uncharted waters. But it is dark, and the air of the Anglican Communion is chilled. We are the Titanic. Only 100 feet ahead is the twin-peaked iceberg – General Convention 2006 and Lambeth 2008. In charity, may I tell you why we’re getting thrown out of the Anglican Communion, so long our home? The framework of love and truth that is that Communion requires our expulsion. In America, someone...

In February of this year, the Primates of the Anglican Communion suggested that the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) ask “representatives” of ECUSA to “set out the thinking behind the recent actions of their Province”, “in accordance with paragraph 141 of the Windsor Report”.   This paragraph, in turn, had asked that ECUSA “demonstrate to the rest of the Communion why [proposed rites for same-sex blessings] meet the criteria of scripture, tradition and reason” and “how public Rites of Blessing for same sex unions would constitute growth in harmony with the apostolic tradition as it has been received”.  Kenneth Kearon, whose office...

ECUSA's Executive Council appears to have agreed to the Anglican primates' request that it withdraw its members from the Anglican Consultative Council:We are unanimous in our desire to do all that we can to preserve and further the bonds of affection in the "new humanity" created by Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:15). This in our view constitutes the very essence of our life together as Anglican Christians. We firmly believe that the only way to address the things that divide us is for "Christians of good will ... to engage honestly and frankly with each other" (Windsor Report, paragraph 146). We are therefore heartened...

Judging from the following press release in response to the House of Bishops' statement, Integrity is pretty clear about a couple of things: 1. If everyone can't get on board with its agenda, then everyone should be made to suffer.2. There will be no moratorium on same-sex blessings.In other words, they no longer wish to remain part of the Anglican Commuinion.The Windsor Report and the Dromantine Communique make it crystal clear: The Anglican Communion requests that ECUSA, in the interest of maintaining unity in the communion, cease developing or performing same-sex blessings. It's unlikely that a lady as smart as...

Virginia Episcopalians, who at 89,000 make up the country's largest Episcopal diocese, will meet tomorrow and Saturday in Reston to discuss finances and whether the denomination needs to stop ordaining homosexual clergy. [snip]However, several of the diocese's largest — and most conservative parishes — are withholding contributions to the diocese because of the Episcopal Church's decision in August 2003 to ordain a homosexual bishop.     A majority of the Diocese of Virginia's delegates agreed with that vote when it was taken at the church's General Convention.     "The decisions that will be made in the next couple of months will determine...

[I think I need to issue a caution on this, particularly if you click on through to the comments which are clearly from "across the aisle." I will also note that this does not take into account those who have already left ECUSA, and that the poll of "leaders" is assumed to reflect the opinions of the "led." --sionnsar] The Christian Century magazine published an article last August, written by Bill Sachs of the Episcopal Church Foundation entitled The Episcopal middle: listening to congregations and subsequent correspondence was published in November under the heading Episcopal decisions … The article makes...

When I first saw this, I thought it was a joke. Alas, no. Though I'm sure it has no chance to pass, a resolution that's been submitted to the 210th Annual Council of the ECUSA's Diocese of Virginia speaks volumes about the far left of that denomination: R-1 Affirmation of General Convention 2003 Whereas, General Convention 2003 affirmed the right of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgenderpersons to be ordained and/or consecrated; and Whereas, Justice demands a fair and open society; and Whereas, The Episcopal Church has always been a discovering community appreciate of new learning; and Whereas, Individuals have no...

Williams foresees 'huge crisis' on homosexual issue - By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent (Filed: 18/10/2003) The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said yesterday that the worldwide Anglican Church still faced "a huge crisis" over homosexuality, despite the consensus reached at Lambeth Palace this week. He forecast that conservative areas of the Church would split from the liberal American Episcopal Church when Anglicanism's first openly active homosexual bishop was consecrated in 16 days. Although an immediate collapse of the worldwide Church was averted at the two-day primates' meeting, some of the more hard-line provinces could walk out over the next...

Lanny Geib Speaks out Dear faithful members of St. Paul’s and our Lord Jesus Christ; It is with much sadness and also with much hope that I am writing this letter, in response to the brokenness that hap-pened at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church at the beginning of August. As John Gibson reminded me, this is not about a liberal vs. conservative situation or misunderstanding – what took place was heresy. The Church threw aside 2000 years of bedrock Christianity on both the sanctity of holy marriage and “the two shall become one” truth of the Bible and...

<p>An overflow crowd of Episcopalians gathered at Virginia Theological Seminary last night and clashed with bishops and lay leaders of the Diocese of Virginia over the recent election of an openly homosexual bishop.</p> <p>Hundreds of parishioners from around Northern Virginia, the most conservative part of the 86,527-member diocese, crammed into an auditorium at the Alexandria seminary.</p>

Report from Today's Meeting in Winchester Tennessee I arrived 30 minutes early at Trinity Church in Winchester, TN, a small town not far from the University of the South, an Episcopal liberal arts school and seminary. I drove down from outside of Nashville as a member of a fairly orthodox parish, established about 8 years ago in an area that has seen phenomenal growth. While average attendance in Episcopal churches is around 37, ours is over 200 each week, when all services are added together. I was eager to hear the points of view from the deputies that attended and...

Report from Today's Meeting in Winchester Tennessee I arrived 30 minutes early at Trinity Church in Winchester, TN, a small town not far from the University of the South, an Episcopal liberal arts school and seminary. I drove down from outside of Nashville as a member of a fairly orthodox parish, established about 8 years ago in an area that has seen phenomenal growth. While average attendance in Episcopal churches is around 37, ours is over 200 each week, when all services are added together. I was eager to hear the points of view from the deputies that attended and...

Diocese of Tennessee General Convention Report/Discussion Meeting – September 6, 2003 There was an informational meeting held this past Saturday in the Diocese of Middle Tennessee at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, Tennessee. There is another (similar) meeting scheduled for this Sunday, September 14 at 3 p.m. at Trinity Church, Winchester. I took detailed notes, but other than the bishop, Bertram Herlong, I am not going to name names. St. George’s is a large church located in Belle Meade, a silk stocking section of Nashville. The meeting followed a Diocese Leadership Conference and there were a lot of people...

Beloved in Christ, By the time you hear these words you will be well aware of the actions of the 74th General Convention which met in Minneapolis July 30-August 8, 2003. While the Convention dealt with a great many issues and opportunities facing the church, the media attention was focused on issues of human sexuality. All of the mail and calls I have received also centered on those issues. And while I hope we will have opportunities to highlight the Convention actions on which most of us would agree, this letter is written to address the two major "hot button"...

<p>For St. Andrew's Church on Woodmont Boulevard, the Episcopal Church may as well be dead.</p> <p>''We have draped our signs in black and covered the word Episcopal as a symbolic way of disassociating ourselves from the actions of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church,'' said the Rev. James Guill, the church's rector.</p>

Heresy? What's that all about? Oh, boy, old Derb has really gone off the deep end now! Not really. I understand of course that "heresy" is not a word bandied about much in the public square nowadays. It's not one I have much use for myself. Scanning my shelves, I see only one book on the topic: Hilaire Belloc's The Great Heresies, which a militant-atheist friend gave to me some years ago in a jokey spirit (I guess) after I had praised Belloc's poetry, and which I have never actually got around to reading. Looking into it now, I think...

Episcopal Church (search) leaders gave final approval Thursday to a measure on blessing same-sex couples that its drafters said affirmed the ceremonies as "an acceptable practice in the church."'