Honorary Oxford degree for TEC PB
“Six leading figures from the worlds of science, the arts and religion are set to receive honorary degrees from the University of Oxford this year… on Wednesday 25 June 2014.”
– Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, is one of them. (h/t Anglican Mainstream.)
‘ECUSA has no rule against Dioceses withdrawing’
“We have a decision from the trial court in Quincy: Adams County Circuit Court Judge Thomas J. Ortbal entered on September 9, 2013 his Findings, Opinion and Order following a bench trial that stretched over three weeks last April and May. The opinion is about as thorough an analysis as we have to date of the ‘hierarchical’ polity of ECUSA when it comes to matters involving its member dioceses.”
– A S Haley (The Anglican Curmudgeon) looks at a decision involving TEC’s legal action against its former Diocese of Quincy.More at Stand Firm.
Photo: Former Bishop of Quincy Keith Ackerman, under whom the diocesan Synod voted to leave TEC and join the Province of the Southern Cone.
Diocese of Fort Worth: Living with litigation
Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth reflects on the lengthy legal battle imposed on his diocese.
“Living with litigation has become a way of life for us as members of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. For the past 4 ½ years, we have been under the cloud of a lawsuit brought against us by The Episcopal Church and its local supporters, seeking to deprive us of our buildings and assets. Read more
“A non-theistic Christian”
“I describe myself as a non-theistic Christian.”
– Mark Tooley at The American Spectator takes a look at the new Dean of The Episcopal Church’s National Cathedral in Washington, DC.
(Photo: Washington National Cathedral.)
TEC National Cathedral special service to cheer gay marriage
“The National Cathedral is pealing its church bells, along with some other Washington churches, to celebrate the Supreme Court’s decisions on gay marriage.” – CBS News.
“Dean Hall has also issued an invitation to all LGBT couples and families to attend a special service tonight, Wednesday, June 26, at 7 p.m. A diverse group of faith leaders will speak out in support of marriage equality at a press conference preceding the prayer service at 5 p.m.”
– Washington National Cathedral. (Image: Washington National Cathedral.)
Calling the demonic ‘holy’
TEC Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, last Sunday, on Acts 16:16-40 –
“Paul is annoyed at the slave girl who keeps pursuing him, telling the world that he and his companions are slaves of God. She is quite right. She’s telling the same truth Paul and others claim for themselves.
But Paul is annoyed, perhaps for being put in his place, and he responds by depriving her of her gift of spiritual awareness. Paul can’t abide something he won’t see as beautiful or holy, so he tries to destroy it. It gets him thrown in prison.”
Read it all via The Episcopal News Service. Another copy here.
From the category of “You couldn’t make this up if you tried.”
(h/t “The Worst Sermon Ever? The Presiding Bishop Explains Away Paul and the Female Slave.” from Not Another Episcopal Church Blog, where there is more on this sermon.) Photo: ENS.
American Anglican Council calls on Presiding Bishop to retract her ‘over the top’ remarks
The American Anglican Council has called on TEC Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to retract statements made in her sermon in South Carolina on the weekend.
See Canon Phil Ashey’s comments – and the sermon to which he refers.
See also A S Haley’s analysis of the South Carolina ‘continuing‘ Episcopalians’ Convention. (Image: ENS.)
Annual Litigation Summary for TEC
“It is a fact well known to certain Episcopalians — both those who have left the Episcopal Church (USA) and those who have remained — that ECUSA and its dioceses have followed a pattern of suing any church that chooses to leave for another Anglican jurisdiction. But the full extent of the litigation that has ensued is not well known at all, either in the wider Church, or among the provinces of the Anglican Communion…”
– The Anglican Curmudgeon (AS Haley) has posted quite a list.
Related: National Cathedral to Perform Same-Sex Weddings.
Open Letter to the Bishops of TEC
“To the Bishops of the Episcopal Church:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This is a painful letter. It is painful because it concerns un-canonical (and perhaps even unlawful) actions on the part of our Presiding Bishop and her associates. These actions, detailed in the attached appendix and summarized in the bullet points below, have already undermined the good order and spiritual health of our church. We write to you our Bishops because of your responsibility for that good order. …”
– An Open Letter from the Anglican Communion Institute. Also in PDF format.
South Carolina — time to turn the page
The Special Convention of the Diocese of South Carolina has just concluded. Bishop Mark Lawrence summed it up:
“We have spent far too many hours and days and years in a dubious and fruitless resistance to the relentless path of TEC.”
Confusion or clarity in South Carolina?
From a ‘pastoral letter’ to South Carolina from TEC Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori:
“Katharine, a servant of Christ, to the saints in South Carolina.
May the grace, mercy, and peace of Christ Jesus our Savior be with you all. …
As the confusion increases, I would like to clarify a number of issues which I understand are being discussed…”
A S Haley, The Anglican Curmudgeon, offers some commentary on the Presiding Bishop’s letter:
“mimicking the style of one of St. Paul’s epistles… This is boilerplate for 815… The mantra about dioceses needing the ‘consent’ of General Convention to disaffiliate is based on no language in the Church’s Constitution or Canons whatsoever.”
And in his own ‘Message to the the People of South Carolina‘, Bishop Mark Lawrence writes:
“As I have stated at various deanery and parish forums in the diocese this present crisis was brought about through the convergence of three dimensions of our diocesan life and the national church’s leadership—theology, morality and polity. All three have undergone and continue to undergo revision within The Episcopal Church (TEC). This Diocese of South Carolina for well over a quarter of a century has steadfastly resisted these revisions as it has sought to remain faithful to the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this Church has received them.
…you need to know that the national leadership of TEC is taking steps to undermine this diocese. What we are faced with is an intentional effort by the ill-advised TEC organization to assume our identity, one that we have had since 1785. …
My reason in mentioning this last point, just days before our Convention, is to protect our parishioners and parishes from deception and confusion.”
Presiding Bishop backs ecclesiastical coup in South Carolina
“Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has declared the ecclesiastical authority of the Diocese of South Carolina vacant and has backed a faction within the diocese that is seeking to fill the ‘vacuum’ created by the suspension of Bishop Mark Lawrence.
The loyalist ‘Transitional Committee’ has also declared the South Carolina Standing Committee to be vacant and has formed a ‘steering committee’ to act in its place.
On 11 Nov 2012, the steering committee announced that it had taken charge of the diocese…”
– George Conger at Anglican Ink has the latest.
And from lawyer A S Haley, The Anglican Curmudgeon:
“…the Diocese of South Carolina is organized as a corporation under South Carolina law. That fact guarantees its own independent, legal identity in the State’s courts and before all of its executive and legislative bodies, officers and agencies. For the Bandit Bishop and her minions to try to appropriate that identity for their own nefarious purposes is fully akin to what would be called ‘identity theft’ in any other context.”
(Photo: TEC Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams last week in Auckland. ACNS, via ENS.)
Fake e-mail sent to South Carolina clergy
“The Diocese of South Carolina reports that an email fraudulently bearing the name and seal of the diocese was sent to its clergy inviting them to attend a clergy conference. … Sources in the diocese also report that members of the clergy are being pressured not to attend the diocese’s 17 November 2012 special convention…” – Report from Anglican Ink.
Read the Diocese of South Carolina’s statement here.
“The sender intentionally impersonated the diocese with an unauthorized use of our Diocesan seal and by stating that the sender was the Diocese of South Carolina…”
FAQs on South Carolina and TEC
The Diocese of South Carolina has posted an FAQ to get you up to speed on what’s happening – with a timeline of events.
South Carolina speaks out on TEC General Convention
The Bishop of South Carolina, Mark Lawrence, has requested that a letter be read aloud to all congregations in his diocese today, following landmark votes at the TEC General Convention during the week –
“Given these changes in the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Episcopal Church the question that is before us is: ‘What does being faithful to Jesus Christ look like for this diocese at this time? How are we called to live and be and act? In this present context, how do we make Biblical Anglicans for a Global Age?’”
Read the text of his letter below – Read more
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…