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.
Canadian primate seeks faceoff with ‘rival leader’
“The head of the Anglican Church of Canada wants a face-to-face meeting with his South American counterpart, who earlier this year claimed jurisdiction over 10 Canadian congregations in a growing split over same-sex marriage blessings. …
Archbishop Gregory Venables of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, however, says he would find it ‘difficult’ to attend such a meeting.”
– Report from The Toronto Star. (Photo: Joy Gwaltney.)
Fort Worth Standing Committee recommends joining Southern Cone
“On Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008, the Executive Council of the diocese adopted and endorsed – with only one dissenting vote – the following report and recommendation of the Bishop and Standing Committee. …
…that this Diocese affiliate with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone as a member diocese, on a temporary, pastoral basis, until such time as an orthodox Province of the Anglican Communion can be established in North America.”
– Read the full report from the Bishop and Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.
Letter from the Trustees of 4 Vancouver churches
“As Trustees and members of ANiC, we have repeatedly invited the diocese and its representatives to sit down and negotiate a resolution with us on the matters in dispute. We have sought alternative resolution methods through the House of Bishops in Canada and again with all the dioceses involved. Every attempt has been refused…”
– The trustees of St. John’s Shaughnessy, Good Shepherd Vancouver, St. Matthew’s Abbotsford, and St. Matthias & St. Luke’s Vancouver write to their Congregations. Read it all at the St. John’s Shaughnessy website.
Canadian Primate aims to stop Venables
Canadian Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, has asked Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to facilitate a meeting between him, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil Archbishop Mauricio de Andrade and Anglican Province of the Southern Cone Archbishop Gregory Venables to discuss cross-border interventions. …
Hiltz, Andrade and Jefferts Schori have repeatedly asked Venables to stop intervening in the internal affairs of their provinces.…
– Report from Episcopal Life Online.
Related: This 35 minute video: Conversation with Archbishop Venables, from August 2nd, is worth watching.
Vancouver parishes ask for clarification
Four Vancouver-area Anglican Network in Canada parishes are asking the courts to clarify their trustees’ responsibilities in response to hostile action taken by a diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada.…
– Press release from the Anglican Network in Canada – via VirtueOnline.
Irondequoit church, Episcopal diocese clash in state court over property
“Lawyers for an Anglican church in Irondequoit and for the Episcopal diocese of Rochester differed before the state’s highest court Tuesday on whether an agreement made between the two parties carries the force of law in New York.…”
– More court action over who owns property – this story from the Democrat & Chronicle in Rochester, New York.
Canberra & Goulburn prepares to elect new bishop
After the retirement of Bishop George Browning last month, the Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn is preparing to elect a new bishop. The Election Synod begins on October 31st.
The diocesan website has details on what’s involved – and at least one parish (Gungahlin) has issued an invitation (PDF file) to join them in prayer.
Bad news overshadows good news for Chinese Christians
A popular house church leader and his wife were released from government custody in China recently, but that good news was overshadowed by the fact that countless other Chinese Christians still are imprisoned, including bookstore owner Shi Weihan who has been described as ‘unrecognizable’ following his poor treatment in detention.
Zhang ‘Bike’ Mingxuan, chairman of the Federation House Church, and his wife Xie Fenglan were released from Public Security Bureau custody Aug. 29 but were told they could not return to Beijing until the end of the Paralympics Sept. 16, according to the human rights group China Aid Association.
– A report from Baptist Press.
‘Good Saint Sarah’
“A week ago the media could not break away from Barack Obama. Today Sarah Palin is dominating the discussion. …
Interestingly, while feminists have been asking whether Palin can care for her nation and her family, Christians have been wondering the same. Is it right for a woman to take on a position of such responsibility?…”
– Canadian Andrew Challies comments on (and provides links to) varied reactions to Sarah Palin’s nomination as John McCain’s running mate for the US Presidency.
(Photo: johnmccain.com)
GAFCON leaders say Communion can never be the same again
The Anglican Communion has been broken and it is an “illusion” to believe things can ever be the same again, the archbishops of the Gafcon movement said last week following their first organizational meeting in London. …
George Conger writes at Religious Intelligence about the recent GAFCON Primates meeting.
Photo: Archbishops Peter Akinola, Emmanuel Kolini and Valentino Mokiwa at a press briefing after the closing session of GAFCON 2008 – by Joy Gwaltney. (hat tip Anglican Mainstream)
Anglican Network in Canada: Open letter to Primates
5 September 2008
Open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates of the Anglican Communion
After consulting with my Primate, Archbishop Gregory Venables, I report with great sadness that two Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) churches under my jurisdiction – St Matthews (Abbotsford, BC) and St Matthias and St Luke’s (Vancouver, BC) – received letters on 26 August 2008, informing them that the Bishop of New Westminster had taken action on 10 July 2008 to seize control of those parish properties. The letters also notified the wardens, trustees and parish councils that Bishop Michael Ingham had dismissed and replaced them and ordered the clergy to vacate the church buildings by mid-September. It is clear that our other two ANiC parishes in Vancouver, St. John’s Shaughnessy and Church of the Good Shepherd, will receive the same action in the near future.
This is the fourth Canadian diocese to act in this way against ANiC churches which have come under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. …
– Read the full letter from Bishop Don Harvey, Moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada as a 48kb PDF file (direct link).
See also our earlier stories –
New Westminster takes steps against Southern Cone clergy.
New Westminster moves to seize control of ANiC parishes.
St. John’s Shaughnessy responds to New Westminster.
New Westminister letters to parishioners.
Bishop Jack Iker urges period of prayerful discernment
As the date approaches for our momentous Diocesan Convention vote in November, many parish clergy have attempted to make certain that their parishioners understand the issues surrounding the proposal that we separate from the General Convention of The Episcopal Church. …
As your bishop and chief pastor, I am inviting and urging that every congregation in this Diocese enter into an intentional 40-day period of prayerful discernment to be concluded the week prior to our Convention on November 14 and 15. …
– Bishop Jack Iker writes to all clergy, vestry members, and convention delegates in his Diocese of Fort Worth.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…