The Dennis Canon Dead in Texas
“With its denial of certiorari (review) this morning to two of the Episcopal Church in the USA’s (“ECUSA’s”) groups in Fort Worth, Texas, the United States Supreme Court has put to rest the multiple adverse claims made for the last twelve years against the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.
All of those various claims, and the stages of their ups and downs, have been chronicled on this blog, which began just before the legal disputes emerged.
It is gratifying, therefore, to report that this blog has managed to outlive, along with (retired) Bishop Jack Iker and his faithful flock, the Machiavellian intrigues of the schemers at 815 Second Avenue to hound and intimidate them into surrender of their properties…
The success in Texas leaves just one long-standing ECUSA dispute still festering: its pursuit of Bishop Mark Lawrence and his Diocese of South Carolina.”
– Read it all at The Anglican Curmudgeon, the blog of Christian lawyer A. S. Haley.
And much earlier, on our website …
Diocese of Fort Worth: Living with litigation – Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker, September 2013.
“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.”
Also, most of these post are relevant to Fort Worth.
And on South Carolina, most of these posts are relevant.
Dr Kendall Harmon and Hell and the Episcopal church
The GAFCON media team have been posting interviews recorded at GAFCON 2018 in Jerusalem.
In this 5 minute clip, Dominic Steele speaks with Dr. Kandall Harmon, Canon Theologian for the Diocese of South Carolina, and the man behind the TitusONENine blog.
‘Secretary General of the Anglican Communion rebukes Nigerian primate for boycotting meeting’
“Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion has told Premier it is “sad” that the leader of Anglicans in Nigeria has decided to not attend a meeting called by The Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Rev Justin Welby.
The meeting scheduled for next month in Canterbury is for the Primates from the 39 provinces.
But Most Rev Nicholas Okoh Primate of All Nigeria has refused to attend because of what he deems as a lack of progress on the issue of sexuality.
The last meeting of its kind was in January 2016 where there was much disagreement about the Church’s view on sexuality.
Archbishop Josiah disagrees with the primate’s stance.
He told Premier: “At their meeting in January 2016 the Primates agreed to walk together.
“The primate of Nigeria was present at that meeting. In effect, he is now reneging on this decision which is very sad. …”
– Report from Premier UK. Photo: Abps Justin Welby and Josiah Idowu-Fearon.
However, Archbishop Okoh’s reasons are much more serious: (emphasis added)
“The only difference between the present and 2008, when Gafcon was formed, is that we have a different Archbishop of Canterbury. Everything else is the same or worse.”
“I attended the Canterbury Primates Meeting held in January 2016 because I believed it might be possible to make a new start and change the pattern of repeated failure to preserve the integrity of Anglican faith and order. I was disappointed.
The Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Lusaka the following April neutered the Primates’ action to distance The Episcopal Church of the United States (TEC) from Communion decision making. TEC has not repented, and continues to take aggressive legal action against orthodox dioceses. For example, the congregations of the Diocese of San Joaquin are currently having to turn over their places of worship to TEC, which has no realistic plan for filling them with worshippers. At the same time, the Diocese of South Carolina is now facing the potential loss of many of its historic buildings.
My disappointment was shared by the other Global South Primates who gathered in Cairo last October and we concluded in our communiqué that the ‘Instruments of Communion’ (which include the Primates Meeting of course) are “unable to sustain the common life and unity of the Anglican Churches worldwide” and do actually help to undermine global mission.
The only difference between the present and 2008, when Gafcon was formed, is that we have a different Archbishop of Canterbury. Everything else is the same or worse. There is endless debate, the will of the orthodox Primates is frustrated and misrepresented, false teaching is not being corrected, and nothing is being done to halt orthodox Anglicans in North America (and maybe soon elsewhere) being stripped of the churches that have helped form their spiritual lives.
In these circumstances, I have concluded that attendance at Canterbury would be to give credibility to a pattern of behaviour which is allowing great damage to be done to global Anglican witness and unity. Our energies in the Church of Nigeria will be devoted to what is full of hope and promise for the future, not to the repetition of failure. …”
– Read all of his Pastoral Letter for September 2017.
Archbishop Welby, What will you do about it?
“I’m not fond of litigation. I take our witness to the world very seriously, and the damage to that witness from Christians suing each other is serious. And even though my former profession as a criminal prosecutor put me in the position of litigating daily in the courts, I would much prefer followers of Jesus Christ being able to follow 1 Corinthians 6 and work out their disagreements within the Church, through church or secular sponsored arbitration services and negotiated settlements.
I cannot, however, let the injustice pass that occurred in the oral arguments before the South Carolina Supreme Court, between the Diocese of South Carolina (Bishop Mark Lawrence) and The Episcopal Church (TEC.)…”
– The American Anglican Council’s Canon Phil Ashey is disturbed by the latest legal action in South Carolina, and wonders what the Archbishop of Canterbury will say to the TEC Presiding Bishop at the Primates’ gathering in January.
AnglicanTV Interviews Bishop Mark Lawrence
45 minutes, here. And a good reminder to pray for the people of the Diocese of South Carolina.
Bishop Lawrence writes about Disciplinary Board Decision
“For now given no more allegations from anonymous sources within the diocese it is my hope we can all get back to focusing our full attention on proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and to Glory of God the Father that the Church here in the Diocese of South Carolina may add daily to its number those who are being saved.…”
– Bishop of South Carolina, Mark Lawrence, writes to his diocese about the dropping of ‘Disciplinary proceedings’ against him.
Earlier: Allegations of ‘abandonment’ against Bishop of South Carolina
An ecclesiastical coup d’état?
Bishop David Anderson, President of the American Anglican Council, writes further in his weekly newsletter about TEC’s expected moves against South Carolina –
“Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
I want to continue my comments on the dire state of affairs in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and draw upon some expert legal and procedural analysis by the “Anglican Curmudgeon,” which we have included in this Update.
I would like for you to stop here at this point, and read the Curmudgeon article titled “Bishop Henderson: It’s ‘business as usual’ in the church.” When you are finished, come back to this analysis of what happens next. Read more
A curious document from Charleston
In his weekly e-mail update, Bishop David Anderson, President of the American Anglican Council, wonders about the allegations against South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence –
“When one sees the incredibly detailed and ridiculous document comprising the list of charges that was supposedly submitted by a group of loyal (to the Revisionists) people in South Carolina, it certainly doesn’t look like something a group of casual Charlestonians threw together while preparing shrimp and grits on the side.”
The die has been cast
“With my perspective as a canon lawyer, I cannot believe that ECUSA is barely four months away from precipitating a wholly unnecessary constitutional crisis, which can only weaken it further, and drive its constituent pieces yet further apart.
My appeals to the other canon lawyers who drafted the changes to Title IV, to explain what they thought they were accomplishing, and where they derived the authority to transform the Presiding Bishop of ECUSA into a metropolitan, have gone completely unanswered. At the same time, I see zero inclination on the part of those actually in control of the Church to avoid this donnybrook — so be it. It must be what they want — so that is what they will get.”
– A S Haley, The Anglican Curmudgeon, reflects on why the Diocese of South Carolina has moved to ‘spell out that the Canons of the national Church are no longer recognised as binding’ in their Diocese.
A matter of Trust(s)
Here’s an excerpt from the weekly update from Bishop David Anderson, President of the American Anglican Council –
Beloved in Christ,
As we went to press last week there was breaking news of the decision of the Supreme Court of South Carolina, finding in favor of the local parish of All Saints’, Pawley’s Island and against the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and The Episcopal Church (TEC). Among the findings of the court is that the so-called “Dennis Canon” is illegal in SC and has no effect. The basis for this is that one person can’t establish a trust on someone else’s property. It is the person who owns the property that is the one to establish a trust, if they wish to. Makes sense, doesn’t it? As the court stated in the finding, “It is an axiomatic principle of law that a person or entity must hold title to property in order to declare that it is held in trust for the benefit of another or transfer legal title to one person for the benefit of another.” Read more
‘He just slipped away, our noble prince’
Canterbury, England
I am glad I came here for this Lambeth and worshipped one last time in the Cathedral home of Augustine and Dunstan, Anselm and Becket, Cranmer and Laud, Temple and Ramsay. I had come to speak a word of hope and perhaps to intervene on behalf of our beloved, but in the last resolve the family refused the long needed measures. So he just slipped away, our noble prince, one dreary morning in Canterbury with hardly even a death rattle.
The new prince was born last month in Jerusalem. I was there—arriving late, departing early. I was never quite sure what I was witnessing. It was an awkward and messy birth. He hardly struck me as I gazed upon him there in the bassinet as quite ready to be heir to the throne. I even wondered at times if there might be some illegitimacy to his bloodlines. But that I fear was my over weddedness to a white and European world. May he live long, and may his tribe increase—and may he remember with mercy all those who merely mildly neglected his birth.
As for me my role for now is clear, to hold together as much as I can for as long as I can that when he comes to his rightful place on St. Augustine’s throne in Canterbury Cathedral he will have a faithful and richly textured kingdom. …
– From Bishop Mark Lawrence of South Carolina.
(See also, from March 2008, Bishop Mark Lawrence upholds the uniqueness of Christ.)
Photo: Bill Murton, Diocese of South Carolina.
Bishop Lawrence: GAFCON is heir apparent
The Global Anglican Fellowship Conference (GAFCON) is the heir apparent to assume leadership of the Anglican Communion, said three bishops during an informal media briefing this afternoon at the Lambeth Conference.
Bishops Mark Lawrence of South Carolina and Keith Ackerman of Quincy were joined by Bishop Hector Zavala of Chile from the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone on the campus of the University of Kent, Canterbury, shortly before Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was scheduled to deliver his final presidential address of the conference. …
– Report from The Living Church. (Photo: Bill Murton, Diocese of South Carolina.)
Bishop Mark Lawrence upholds the uniqueness of Christ
After last week’s visit of the TEC Presiding Bishop to the Diocese of South Carolina, video files from the clergy day have been released. They are available on YouTube.
In parts 1 and 2, Bishop Mark Lawrence graciously but clearly speaks of the problems many in his diocese have with the direction of the Episcopal Church. In part 4, he turns to Colossians chapter 1 and the absolute supremacy of the Lord Jesus. (The other files are no longer available.)
See stevewood.cc for links to the video files. (With thanks to Standfirm for the link.)
Audio files here.
A Church that sues itself?
“The highly litigious Episcopal Church in the United States of America (“ECUSA”) has settled a lawsuit with itself, according to a press release from its rump group (which cannot legally be called a “diocese”) in South Carolina.
Shall we run that one by our eyes again? ECUSA has settled a lawsuit which it brought against itself…”
– AS Haley (The Anglican Curmudgeon) looks at the latest legal twists and turns in The Episcopal Church.
Beyond the Elizabethan Settlement
Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth delivered this address on Friday at the Mere Anglicanism Conference in Charleston, South Carolina –
“Have you noticed how nearly everything we speak of in today’s world is global? …
The consecration of a partnered homosexual bishop in the Diocese of New Hampshire impacts the life of the Diocese of Jos in Nigeria. The blessing of same-sex unions in a growing number of North American dioceses send shock waves throughout the Anglican world. To speak of Global Anglicanism is to speak of fragmentation, division and schism… ”
– Read his full address at the Diocese of Fort Worth website.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…