Support for Bishop Duncan flows in
From Archbishop Mouneer Anis:
…It is with great joy that I welcome you alongside the ranks of St. Athanasius who, as Bishop of Alexandria, was deposed and exiled from his see. St. Athanasius did not waver and stood firm. History proved that his stance for orthodoxy was not in vain. I trust it will do the same for you! So please count it as honor my brother.
I don’t know what to call it, a tragedy or comedy, for the faithful to be disciplined by those who tear the fabric of our Anglican Communion. …
– Read the full letter from Archbishop Mouneer Anis – along with messages Archbishop Peter Jensen and Archbishop Robinson Cavalcanti – at the Diocese of Pittsburgh website.
Archbishop Peter Jensen’s statement on the deposition of Bishop Duncan
Statement from the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, on the deposition of Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh by the Episcopal Church House of Bishops.
“The unfolding tragedy of the Episcopal Church starkly reveals the folly of the original decision to break with the Bible and centuries of historic Christianity on the issue of human sexuality.
We grieve for Bishop Duncan but are encouraged by his courageous witness.
I welcome the statements of the many significant figures in the Anglican world who have expressed grave concern at this act towards a man who remains in good standing with the majority of the communion.”
– 19th September 2008.
See also Network, Common Cause Leaders offer Support for Bishop Duncan…
Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth:
“In spite of the sham deposition of Bishop Robert Duncan by the House of Bishops, he remains the formidable leader of traditional Episcopalians and loyal Anglicans in North America. Bishop Duncan continues to have the respect of a majority of the primates and bishops of the entire Anglican Communion, including the Archbishop of Canterbury. In an effort to silence him, the House of Bishops has only given him greater creditability as the leader of the realignment movement.”
Archbishop Akinola’s address to the General Synod of Nigeria
From Archbishop Peter Akinola’s Opening Address at the 9th General Synod of the Church of Nigeria –
We called Gafcon because we refused to ‘succumb to the turmoil in our Communion and simply watch helplessly. We have found ourselves in a world in which Anglican leaders hold on to a form of religion but consistently deny its power. We have a situation in which some members of the Anglican family think they are so superior to all others that they are above the law, they can do whatever they please with impunity.’
– Read the full address at the Church of Nigeria website.
Bp Duncan’s Statement on his ‘Deposition’
It is a very sad day for The Episcopal Church. It is also a sad day for me, a faithful son of that church.
Nevertheless it is also a hopeful day, hopeful because of the unstoppable Reformation that is overtaking the Christian Church in the West. It is also a hopeful day for me personally as I am unanimously welcomed into the House of Bishops of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, an act applauded by Anglican archbishops, bishops, clergy and people all around the world.
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh will move forward under its new Ecclesiastical Authority, its Standing Committee. That body will carry the diocese through to our realignment vote on October 4. With the success of that vote, it will be possible that we be joined together again as bishop and people.
I offer my deepest thanks to the company of saints all around the globe who have sustained me, my wife and all who are dear to me in these days.
Robert Duncan. September 18, 2008
(Source: Diocese of Pittsburgh.)
See also the statement released by the Pittsburgh Standing Committee.
Diocese of Pittsburgh maintains course
The House of Bishops purported deposition of Bishop Robert Duncan will not change the agenda for the Oct. 4 Diocesan Convention or change Bishop Duncan’s status as a bishop in good standing within the Anglican Communion.
The action of the House of Bishops, which was taken in a closed meeting on September 18 in Salt Lake City, Utah, contravenes numerous canons of The Episcopal Church.…
– Read the full statement at the Diocese of Pittsburgh website.
Retired bishops wheeled in to depose Bishop Duncan
The Episcopal Church House of Bishops today passed a resolution formally requesting that the Bishop of Pittsburgh, the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan be deposed from the Episcopal Church for abandoning the communion of the church.
By a vote of 87 to 36 with four abstentions the HOB overwhelming moved to have the evangelical catholic bishop removed as a bishop from TEC. It is now up to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to officially depose him. She is expected to do that before The Diocesan Convention in 2 weeks. …
Springfield Bishop Peter Beckwith described the debate for deposition as “shallow”.
“They were blaming Bishop Duncan saying he needed to be deposed because he said terrible things about the House of Bishops. I have never seen so many retired bishops at a HOB meeting. The majority voted for deposition. The hypocrisy was incredible.…”
– Report from VirtueOnline. See also this update from Sarah Hey at Stand Firm.
Welsh Bishops pledge pastoral care – but no flying bishop
“The Bishops of the Church in Wales today promised to provide continuing care for those opposed to the ordination of women, following a decision not to appoint a new assistant bishop.
They stressed there was still a place in the church for those unable in conscience to accept the ordination of women and emphasised their commitment to sensitive pastoral care for all people and parishes in each diocese.
The announcement follows the retirement last June of Bishop David Thomas who came to be known as the Provincial Assistant Bishop. He was appointed in 1996 when the church decided to ordain women as priests…”
– Statement from the Church in Wales.
Forward in Faith UK has expressed its disappointment: Read more
‘Breakaway Anglican group uses Jensen’s postbox’
“The Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, is helping to organise a breakaway faction of the global Anglican Church that is opposed to same-sex blessings and the consecration of gay clergy from his diocesan headquarters at St Andrews House.
The controversial move has angered moderates in the Australian church. …
[Yet] … The diocese denies that Dr Jensen’s new position means the GAFCON movement will be administratively headquartered in Sydney.”
– Another story mentioning controversy, subversion, that ‘breakaway faction’ and ‘strict literal interpretations of the Bible’ – from The Sydney Morning Herald.
See also An invitation from the [GAFCON] Primates Council.
St Clair Anglican celebrates 25 years
St. Clair Anglican Church has come a long way since its first service was held in the lounge room of its minister’s home on September 25, 1983.
The Archbishop of Sydney, Reverend Dr Peter Jensen, will be among the guests who will celebrate the church’s 25th anniversary this coming Sunday, September 21. …
– Report from the St. Mary’s – Mt. Druitt Star.
See also the church website. (Photo: St Clair Anglican.)
Latest North West Network available
The newest issue of North West Network – the magazine of the Diocese of North West Australia – is now available. It includes reflections on GAFCON as well as the latest on gospel ministry in the North West.
It’s a good resource to help you pray for our brothers and sisters in the largest diocese (by area!) in the Anglican Communion. 500kb PDF (direct link).
Prayers requested for Bishop Bob Duncan ahead of TEC HoB meeting
“Bishop Don [Harvey – Anglican Network in Canada] is asking for special prayer this week – and particularly on Thursday – for Bishop Bob Duncan, bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh and leader of the Common Cause Partnership, for his diocese and for the Episcopal Church (TEC) house of bishops.
As anticipated, TEC Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori has written TEC bishops informing them of her plan to have Bishop Duncan deposed at their meeting on Thursday of this week (Sept 18) in Salt Lake City. She will be charging Bishop Duncan with abandoning the communion of the church.…”
– from Anglican Essentials Canada. (Photo: Bishop Don Harvey of the Anglican Network in Canada at St Mary of the Incarnation, Metchosin.)
Peter Jensen confounding expectations
“Peter Jensen, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, has an image problem.
His reputation among many secular Australians – those who have heard of him at all – is of a stuffy, hidebound old churchman. Among self-styled progressives, including some from our more liberal churches, his name is synonymous with reactionary religious cant.
These lazy and unfair misconceptions say much more about 21st-century Australia than about Jensen. But for public figures, image is important. I must confess that in 2005 I paid insufficient attention to Jensen’s Boyer Lectures, which have been republished here with ‘minor updates and adaptations’.
The Future of Jesus is not the book I expected it to be.…”
– Roy Williams reviewed Archbishop Peter Jensen’s The Future of Jesus in Saturday’s Australian.
(The book is available from Matthias Media.)
Church Society Council endorses Jerusalem Declaration
Press Release from Church Society
15 September 2008
At its recent meeting the Council of Church Society endorsed the fourteen point Jerusalem Declaration produced at the Global Anglican Futures Conference (GAFCON) in June.
The Council welcomed the attempt by GAFCON to respond to the false teaching that has engulfed parts of the Anglican Communion. They were also pleased that the Declaration upholds the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion “as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God’s Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today”.
The Articles are a clear statement of Reformed Protestant doctrine and a standard for the teaching of clergy and for discipline. They must be understood in their plain historical sense. As such they affirm, and we affirm, that salvation is only to be found through faith in Christ Jesus, and that the Church has no authority to teach or establish anything that is contrary to Scripture. The Articles likewise deny unbiblical inventions such as transubstantiation and that Christian ministers are priests who may ‘offer Christ’ for the living and the dead.
Our hope and our prayer is that with a clear commitment to the doctrinal standard of Anglicanism the partners in GAFCON will help provinces to resist the doctrinal corruption that has infected many western churches and bring fresh impetus to the attempts to reform such churches under the Word of God.
– from Church Society.
Schori’s memo planning Duncan deposition
Greg Griffith, at Stand Firm, has published a memo allegedly by TEC Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, detailing her plans to depose Pittsburgh bishop Bob Duncan. …
September 12, 2008
Memorandum to the House of Bishops
Subject: Bishop of PittsburghSisters and Brothers:
As has been widely reported, at the forthcoming business meeting of the House in Salt Lake City on September 18, I shall present to the House the matter of the certification to me by the Title IV Review Committee that Bishop Robert W. Duncan has abandoned the Communion of this Church within the meaning of Canon IV.9. In this memorandum, I layout the background of this matter and what I see as the procedural and substantive issues that are raised by it. …
– Read it all – and a related memo from the Task Force on Property Disputes (PDF file – direct link).
(Photo: Episcopal Life Online / Richard Schori.)
Pastoral Letter from Bishop Robert Duncan
13th September, A.D. 2008
St. Cyprian of Carthage
TO THE CLERGY AND PEOPLE OF THE DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH:
Beloved in the Lord,
In a letter to the House of Bishops yesterday, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori made it clear that there will be a vote this coming Thursday on whether to depose me from the ministry of the Episcopal Church. The charge is abandonment of the Communion of the Church, a charge initiated by five priests and sixteen laypeople of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Much of the “evidence” in the case is put forward by the House of Bishops Property Task Force, drawn directly from the Calvary litigation. We have long suspected that a principal purpose in the Calvary litigation was to have me removed, by whatever means, before the realignment vote. Whatever the purported evidence, I continue to maintain that the House of Bishops “vote” will be a gross violation of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.
There are two things I would say, and one thing I would ask.
First, whatever happens on Thursday as to my status, the Diocese will carry forward under rules long-ago established. If I am “removed,” the Standing Committee will be the Ecclesiastical Authority. Together with all the leadership presently in place, both appointed and elected, the Standing Committee will carry us through to our October 4th Annual Convention and beyond. We as a Diocese will not be intimidated or turned from our over-riding commitment, which is faithfulness to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ within the mainstream of Anglicanism.
Second, I want to share with you the text of a letter I wrote to the entire House of Bishops on August 24th. It addresses my situation as yet one more manifestation of the moral collapse of the Episcopal Church in recent years. Whatever is decided on Thursday, this is a tragic moment for the Episcopal Church.
Third, I ask you to pray, to pray for me, for Nara, for all our leaders, for our Diocese and, above all, for whatever will best serve our Lord’s purposes. Today is the eleventh anniversary of my “seating” as diocesan bishop. No one could have imagined that we (or I) would be facing this unprecedented trial without a trial. But at the beginning I asked you all to pray. You said you would. As a result, God has done remarkable things with and through us all. So fear not. It is confidence in our faithful God that will carry us all through to a better day, to the other side of the vote on September 18th and the other side of votes on October 4th. I expect that God will still grant me many years of service to the people and the place I have come to love so much.
“[Because of the storm] they were frightened. But Jesus said to them: ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’” [John 6:19b-20]
Faithfully in Christ,
+Bob Pittsburgh
See also: Bishop Robert Duncan’s August 24 letter to the House of Bishops (pdf).
Source: Diocese of Pittsburgh.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…