Doug LeBlanc reports in the Living Church: AAC Official: Canterbury’s Recognition Unlikely
The Anglican Church in North America is unlikely to be recognized by the See of Canterbury, a leader of the American Anglican Council said on April 1.
“We do not believe that Canterbury will recognize us, at least while the current archbishop is still in office,” said the Rev. J. Philip Ashey, the AAC’s chief operating officer and chaplain, in a brief speech in the suburbs of Richmond, Va…
And Fr Ashey also said this:
6 CommentsAsked during a discussion period about the AAC’s relationship to Anglican Communion Partners, Fr. Ashey said the AAC had proposed collaboration more than once.
“We have been politely turned down,” he said. “We are two very different organizations.”
Fr. Ashey compared the AAC to the Special Forces of the U.S. military.
“Like Special Forces, we go behind the scenes and we blow up things,” he said, adding quickly that what the AAC blows up is principalities and powers.
Geoffrey Rowell writes in The Times about The ride to salvation in lowly pomp on a donkey.
David Monkton writes in the Guardian that The events of Palm Sunday remind us that spin is no modern invention.
Savi Hensman writes at Ekklesia about Resisting the urge to scapegoat.
Paul Vallely writes in the Church Times that The light of spring symbolises hope.
The Church Times leader is about changing the Act of Settlement and the Royal Marriages Act: The insults of the past.
Earlier in the week, before the announcement of the appointment of Vincent Nichols to be Archbishop of Westminster, Andrew Brown wrote Can we build a society without myths? in response to Britain has sold its soul to pursuit of ‘reason’ over religion, Catholic Archbishop warns in the Telegraph.
In connection with that appointment, Andrew Brown wrote A new combative style in the Catholic church. (See also here, and here.)
2 CommentsThe Church Times carries a report by Pat Ashworth BNP puts Jesus on its poster.
There have been several strong responses recently to the BNP, including:
Jonathan Bartley at Ekklesia has been critical of those who sometimes take a different tack, such as the Archbishop of York. See his piece on Ekklesia Responding to the BNP over ‘What Would Jesus Do?’.
…The advert asks: “What would Jesus do?”. Of course the BNP don’t have a clue about the answer, but the answer from John Sentamu’s office, as recorded by the Daily Telegraph seems to be that perhaps Jesus wouldn’t say anything. “A spokesmen for the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu and for the Church of England refused to comment saying the BNP was mounting a ‘publicity stunt’ designed to give the party the ‘oxygen of publicity’” the paper said…
…Silence certainly hasn’t been the response of other churches. The Methodists. Baptists and United Reformed Church all put out a statement condemning the adverts. Indeed, Christian denominations and church groups have been making strident denouncations of the BNP ahead of the impending elections. On the same day as the BNP launched its advert, the major church denominations in West Yorkshire issued a press release announcing resources to combat the threat from the British National Party at the 4 June European elections. In fact there isn’t a church to my knowledge that has failed to condemn the BNP.
So what is really behind the Archbishop of York’s reticence to be quoted (which many in the Church of England might mischievously suggest is a rarity!)
There is a tactic employed by many, to try and freeze the BNP out in the hope that they will be marginalised. This is what the Archbishop’s office was perhaps attempting to do. But such tactics don’t seem to be working as Hazel Blears amongst others has recently suggested.
And there is another dimension to this issue which makes it increasingly hard for the church to engage in the way that it has done previously – and that is that the BNP has put the Archbishop and many others within the Church of England in a rather awkward position. The BNP is now using exactly the same rhetoric about ‘persecution’ and defending ‘Christian Britain’, that John Sentamu and others within the Church have been using…
The Telegraph report on which his criticism rests is here: BNP uses Jesus in advertising campaign.
A forthright response to Ekklesia appeared in the unlikely venue of the Archbishop Cranmer blog, in the comments to The Church of England and the BNP. Arun Arora who is Archbishop Sentamu’s press officer wrote:
4 Comments…As the spokesperson for the Archbishop of York may I correct you on your assertion that:
“A spokesman for the Archbishop of York said: ‘Jesus wouldn’t say anything’.”
That particular inaccuracy is being propagated by the Director of the Ekklesia think tank who was rather put out that I refused to comment on a story that only came to the media’s attention through his press release.
The BNP themselves did not press release the billboard and in fact have admitted that they have put up “only one or possibly two” such posters.
Unfortunately in their haste to promote their own comment on the issue, Ekklesia effectively effectively acted as the BNP’s PR agency through their naive promotion of the BNP’s campign, which has given the poster the kind of media attention they could otherwise never have hoped (or paid) for.
Ekklesia unfortunately compounded this basic PR blunder by misquoting my response to their story.
In fact the comment I gave to the Press Association was: “this is clearly designed to seek the oxygen of publicity. We refuse to provide it”.
There is clearly a big difference between refusing to engage with a poster campaign (providing publicity) and taking every other opportunity to reiterate that the BNP is an odious and racist organisation against which the CofE stands firm.
Certainly for any organisation, such as Ekklesia, to question the Archbishop of York’s commitment to racism from the safety and security of their own offices is quite absurd when one considers that when he was vicar in South London John Sentamu’s house was firebombed by the National Front.
Whilst we can all share in a common united opposition of the BNP, the cause is not helped by the basic errors of “think tanks” which seem to be keener on self-promotion than working together against fascism.
Updated Friday evening
ACNS announces Top Anglican legislative body Anglican Consultative Council to meet in Jamaica.
The Anglican Consultative Council, made up of lay people, clergy and bishops from the 38 Anglican Provinces of the Communion, meets in Kingston Jamaica May 1 – 13, to consider among other things, mission in the 21st century, the future structure of the worldwide Church, and theological education.
The ACC meets approximately every three years under the presidency of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who will give a presidential address on May 11.
Foremost on the agenda for this, the 14th meeting of the Council, will be consideration of a Covenant for the Provinces of the Anglican Communion and reception of the final report of the Windsor Continuation Process. Both of these documents are key to discerning a way forward for the Anglican Communion in light of recent stresses cause by differences over matters of human sexuality…
ENS reports Design Group works on Anglican covenant revision.
The group charged with “designing” a covenant that could be used as a unifying set of principles among the provinces of the Anglican Communion met March 30-April 3 in Cambridge, England to work on a new revision of the text.
“A completed revision of the proposed covenant has been finished, along with a commentary explaining our work,” the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, one of two Episcopal Church members on the Covenant Design Group, told ENS at the conclusion of the meeting. “We have taken seriously the array of responses received from the provinces and from around the communion and larger church.”
The latest incarnation of the Anglican covenant, along with the design group’s commentary, is expected to be “posted on the Anglican Communion website sometime next week,” said Radner…
And also ENS has Windsor process, covenant to top Anglican Consultative Council agenda.
The Windsor Continuation Group has been charged with addressing questions arising from the 2004 Windsor Report, a document that recommended ways in which the Anglican Communion can maintain unity amid diversity of opinions, especially relating to human sexuality issues and theological interpretations. Its report calls for the development of a “pastoral council” and supported Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams’ plan to appoint “pastoral visitors” to assist in healing and reconciliation within the communion.
The continuation group also addressed the moratoria on same-gender blessings, cross-border interventions and the ordination of gay and lesbian people to the episcopate. “If a way forward is to be found and mutual trust to be re-established, it is imperative that further aggravation and acts which cause offence, misunderstanding or hostility cease,” the group’s report states. At their February meeting, the primates called for “gracious restraint” with respect to such actions.
The final report of the WCG is available here, as a PDF.
Further background material:
16 CommentsFollowing the conclusion of the G20 summit, we now resume our regularly scheduled programmes.
Living Church GAFCON Primates Invite Bishop Duncan
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) primates’ council will meet in London April 13-18. The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh in the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone and Archbishop-designate of the Anglican Church in North America, has been invited to attend as a guest, according to the Rev. Peter Frank, director of communications for the diocese.
Pat Ashworth Church Times Dr Nazir-Ali steps down to work in persecuted Church
THE BISHOP of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, has announced his resignation. He is leaving to undertake a new global ministry in places where the Church is under pressure and Christians are in a minority. The Archbishop of Canterbury has described his move as “a courageous initiative and a timely one”.
The news, which was announced in a statement on Saturday, appears to have come as a complete surprise to many. Dr Nazir-Ali has been increasingly outspoken on the threats posed by the rise of radical Islam — something he believes is filling a moral and spiritual vacuum left by the loss of Christian faith and the fall of Communism…
…The Bishop will effectively stand down at the end of June, when he has completed his diocesan visitations. His farewell service will be held at Rochester Cathedral on 12 September.
Anglican Mainstream Be Faithful! July 6, Central Hall Westminster. Book online
UK LAUNCH OF FELLOWSHIP OF CONFESSING ANGLICANS
JULY 6, 2009, WESTMINSTER CENTRAL HALL, LONDON
THE launch in the UK and Ireland of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA), an orthodox Anglican movement for mission at global and local level, is to take place on July 6 in London…
… Speakers at the July 6 gathering, where around 2,300 bishops, clergy and laity are expected, will include contributors from across the Anglican Communion, including Bishops Keith Ackerman (President of Forward in Faith International), Wallace Benn (Bishop of Lewes), John Broadhurst (Chairman of Forward in Faith UK) and Michael Nazir-Ali, Dr Chik Kaw Tan plus Archbishop Peter Jensen (secretary of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans www.fca.net)…
Anglican Mainstream Bishop Nazir-Ali – a Christian Public Intellectual
9 Comments“We wish to express warm appreciation for the ministry of Bishop Michael Nazir Ali as a senior Bishop in the Church of England, and in and beyond the Anglican Communion. He has exercised a ministry as a ‘Christian public intellectual’ and apologist for the Christian faith in our public life which has made a very significant contribution to our national life. Our prayers and good wishes are with him and his family for God’s blessing on the new ministry to which he is being called to strengthen and encourage Christians and churches in minority situations.”
Dr Philip Giddings Convenor, Anglican Mainstream
Canon Dr Chris Sugden, Executive Secretary
Updated again Friday evening
Dave Walker is providing comprehensive coverage of G20 events, and you can follow his reports at the Church Times blog and on Twitter.
For more details see his post here.
Some transcripts:
Archbishop of Canterbury Interview with Radio 4 ‘Today’ programme ahead of G20 summit
Gordon Brown PM’s speech at St Paul’s Cathedral
Friday updates
Bill Bowder in the Church Times has Agencies question G20 ‘triumph’
THE TRIUMPHAL end of the G20 leaders’ meeting in London, and its pledge of $1.1 trillion of fiscal support, was questioned by aid agencies yesterday (Thursday).
The leaders agreed that, besides fresh plans to stimulate the global economy and action to close tax havens, at total of $750 billion would be made available to the International Monetary Fund to support struggling economies. A key element of the plan was to increase the funding available to developing countries hit by the global downturn.
Who will benefit from the new plan, and how, will not be clear for some time, campaigners were saying yesterday. The Put People First Coalition, a group of 160 organisations, including the TUC, Oxfam, Christian Aid, Tearfund, ActionAid, World Vision, and Friends of the Earth, asked whether the package was enough of a break from the “failed policies that brough about the global crisis”.
Dave Walker wrote earlier: Thoughts on the final communique and has now added G20 Blog: Christian development agencies disappointed by G20 communique.
The full text of the communiqué can be found here (scroll down for links to the two annexes).
3 CommentsUpdated Tuesday morning
George Conger Religious Intelligence Bishop of Rochester’s surprise resignation
…Details of Bishop Nazir Ali’s new work have not been finalized, the diocese noted, leading to speculation that the 59 year old bishop might be preparing for another role in the Anglican Communion in light of his high profile stance within the conservative wing of the church.
However, the General Secretary of the Church of Pakistan, Humphrey Peters tells The Church of England Newspaper the news of the resignation came as a surprise. “So far we have no idea nor have we heard anything from Bishop Michael Nazir Ali. But, in case he feels like working for Church in Pakistan in these most critical times, the Church will be more than happy to welcome him.”
A spokesman for the Gafcon movement, stated while its leaders were generally aware of Dr. Nazir Ali’s wish to move on, they had no specific knowledge about his Saturday announcement.
Speculation that Dr. Nazir Ali might take a leadership role in the third province movement in the US was downplayed by its leaders, who noted that there was no shortage of bishops in the breakaway group. Dr. Nazir Ali had sought out posts in the US in the past, and in 2004 explored becoming dean of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, however US sources expect the conservative leader to lend his considerable talents to the church in the developing world…
Andrew Brown Comment is free Belief What next for the Bishop of Rochester?
12 Comments…His position within the diocese of Rochester had become a difficult one. A lot of his clergy were unhappy with his decision last year to boycott the Lambeth Conference, which was meant to be a gathering demonstrating the unity of the Communion’s 800 bishops around the world. In the event, something like 230 stayed away but the only English heavyweight to do so was Nazir Ali.
Signing up for a declaration that describes the Archbishop of Canterbury as an apostate for his tolerance of liberal views on homosexuality was not a way to endear himself to his colleagues, who already regarded him as vain and ambitious. But he is also consistent about his beliefs and prepared to act on them and suffer for them. As a young man in Pakistan, the son of a convert from Islam, he became the youngest Anglican bishop in the world, in a back-country diocese from which he had to be rescued, after local fundamentalists threatened to kill him and his family.
That kind of experience shaped his view of Islam in general and Pakistani peasant Islam in particular. It lay behind his claim last year that there were already “no go” areas in British cities, although he never specified where they were. It also shaped his curiously fierce monotheistic criticism of the religion. The last time we had a serious conversation, he wanted to talk about how Sufistic Islam was corrupted by its veneration of saints. He has also been unfashionably fierce in his view of Roman Catholicism as a corruption of pure Christian virtue.
I will miss him because he was one of the few principled conservative intellectuals in the House of Bishops; while I thought he was wrong about almost everything, he spoke from a lot of knowledge and a real sense of tradition…
Dave Walker has published a comprehensive report on Saturday’s events, at the Church Times blog. He concludes his report with this:
…Overall, a worthwhile event. I personally was disappointed by the turnout at the service, but it didn’t really surprise me given the lack of interest there seemed to be from Christians on blogs and social networking sites in the week leading up to it (feel free to disagree or twll me why that is in the comments below). However, the ‘Put People First’ event as a whole seemed to be well reported in the Sunday papers and appears to have done well in terms of getting its message out. Let’s hope that the G20 leaders, meeting this week, heed that message. I will be blogging from the G20 meeting – more about that in another post.
See Report from the ‘Put People First’ service and rally.
Lambeth Palace has published a communiqué from a wide range of religious leaders in Britain. See G20 leaders must not forget promises to the poor – Religious Leaders Communiqué:
3 CommentsWe write as religious leaders who share a belief in God and the dignity of human life. We wish to acknowledge with realism and humility the severity of the current economic crisis and the sheer complexity of the global and local challenge faced by political leaders. We pray for the leaders of the G20 as they prepare to meet in London this week. They, and we, have a crucial role to play in recovering that lost sense of balance between the requirements of market mechanisms that help deliver increased prosperity, and the moral requirement to safeguard human dignity, regardless of economic or social category…
Updated further on Monday morning
Ruth Gledhill The Times Bishop of Rochester steps down early
Jonathan Wynne-Jones Telegraph Bishop of Rochester is stepping down
Ruth Gledhill The Times Bishop of Rochester to resign a decade early
Jonathan Wynne-Jones Telegraph Michael Nazir-Ali steps down as Bishop of Rochester
Press Association via the Guardian Controversial bishop quits Rochester diocese
Damian Thompson Telegraph The resignation of Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali is a victory for Islamism
Kent Online Bishop of Rochester resigns
BBC Bishop of Rochester stands down
Jonathan Wynne-Jones Sunday Telegraph Bishop of Rochester resigns to become defender of persecuted Christians
Ruth Gledhill Sunday Times Radical bishop quits early for new mission
Sunday Times leading article A troublesome priest in a timid church
Mail on Sunday Church of England’s most outspoken and only black Bishop is to quit
Note This headline was changed some time after 8 am Sunday, but here is the evidence of the earlier version.
The new headline is Bishop Nazir-Ali, scourge of Church liberals, steps down.
Independent Bishop of Rochester retires
United Press International Pakistani bishop in England resigns
Sunday Mirror I quit: Islam row bishop headline changed to Islam row Bishop of Rochester to step down.
Associated Press of Pakistan Bishop Ali to quit his post: a report
George Pitcher Telegraph Bishop Nazir-Ali retires; a rebellion fizzles out
Riazat Butt Guardian Michael Nazir-Ali steps down to focus on helping persecuted Christians
Ekklesia Anglican bishop resigns and announces plan to support harassed Christians
Melanie Phillips Mail When a bishop has to leave the Church of England to stand up for Christians, what hope is left for Britain?
and a Mail Comment article, We’re losing our faith in a desperate bid to appear inclusive and tolerant
There was still no sign of this release on the Rochester diocesan website at 6.00 pm Saturday, last website update was on 20 March, it says.
Monday lunchtime
A copy of the press release has at last appeared on the Rochester diocesan website, as a PDF file.
——
PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT EMBARGOED UNTIL 10 a.m. 28 MARCH 2009
Bishopscourt, Rochester, Kent ME1 1TS
01634 814439 / 07791 968819
Bishop Michael announces his intention to step down as Bishop of Rochester
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali has announced his intention to step down as Bishop of Rochester as from 1st September 2009. He will have been Bishop in the Diocese for nearly 15 years and during this time has played a major part in the life of the church.
Bishop Michael is hoping to work with a number of church leaders from areas where the church is under pressure, particularly in minority situations, who have asked him to assist them with education and training for their particular situation. Details of this arrangement are still being worked out.
Bishop Michael, who will be 60 in August, is the 106th Bishop of Rochester. He is originally from Asia and was the first non-white Diocesan Bishop in the Church of England. He was appointed to Rochester in 1994. Before that he was the General Secretary of CMS from 1989-1994 and before that Bishop of Raiwind in Pakistan and theological Assistant to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Since 1999 he has also been a member of the House of Lords where he has been active in a number of areas of national and international concern.
Bishop Michael says, “We thank God for his blessings and for friends we have made in the Diocese in the past 15 years. I am so grateful to God for the friendship and loyalty of those around us and ask for people’s prayers as we take this step of faith ‘not knowing where we are going’ (Heb 11:8).
7 CommentsJonathan Sacks writes in The Times that Darwin pointed the way to an unselfish evolution.
Oliver Rafferty writes in the Guardian that: The ideas that led to George Tyrrell’s excommunication still confront Christianity.
For extra measure, Catherine Robinson writes in the same paper that Tim Berners-Lee’s invention symbolises Unitarian desire to foster communication.
In the Church Times John Packer argues in The West needs to understand faith that there is a dangerous ignorance of religion in the West’s foreign policy.
Giles Fraser writes there about Philip Blond, in Behind the allure of the Red Tory.
The best comment I saw about the parliamentary debate yesterday on the Royal Marriages and Succession to the Crown (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill 2008-09 was the Channel 4 News interview with David Starkey. There is a link to the video clip from this page. (For the best background briefing paper see this – H/T Ruth Gledhill.)
15 CommentsThe U.S. Religious Landscape Survey is available on the web in a variety of formats.
From the Summary:
An extensive new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life details statistics on religion in America and explores the shifts taking place in the U.S. religious landscape. Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older, the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey finds that religious affiliation in the U.S. is both very diverse and extremely fluid.
One of the key findings is that:
More than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion – or no religion at all. If change in affiliation from one type of Protestantism to another is included, 44% of adults have either switched religious affiliation, moved from being unaffiliated with any religion to being affiliated with a particular faith, or dropped any connection to a specific religious tradition altogether.
Another of its findings is that Most Mainline Protestants Say Society Should Accept Homosexuality.
3 CommentsMembers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, two mainline Protestant denominations, are considering whether to allow the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians as members of their clergy. The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, finds that majorities of both denominations say that homosexuality is a way of life that should be accepted by society. Among mainline Protestants overall, 56% say homosexuality should be accepted, compared with only about one-in-four evangelical Protestants and four-in-ten members of historically black Protestant churches.
First, several British churches, but not the Church of England, published a statement this week, in advance of the G20 conference meeting in London next week.
Churches challenge G20 leaders on real leadership:
Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Church leaders have challenged the G20 heads of government, meeting in London next week, to show real leadership and ensure that solutions to the current economic crisis lead to action on global warming. They want the G20 nations to grasp the opportunity for investment in new technology, which will save energy and reduce carbon output. In particular, they are urging the richer nations to agree generous support for developing countries, so they can afford the initiatives they need to take.
Second, in connection with the Put People First rally in central London for jobs, justice, climate, there will be a Church Service at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster on Saturday 28 March at 11 a.m. Speakers include Richard Chartres, Bishop of London.
Church Times blogger Dave Walker will be reporting on the day’s events.
Third, Archbishop Rowan Williams delivered the Ebor Lecture earlier this week in York Minster, on the subject: Renewing the Face of the Earth: Human Responsibility and the Environment. Full text and audio here. Press release here.
Dave Walker reported it as Religious communities “failing profoundly” in climate change response. and he has comprehensive links to secular press coverage of the lecture, which was extensive.
Jim Naughton criticised the archbishop in The Archbishop of Canterbury’s own shortcomings on climate change:
4 Comments…Until he states clearly that powerful people in his own Communion don’t believe human activity contributes to global warming, and that he appeases these people so that they won’t split the Communion over the issue of homosexuality, he has little credibility on this matter.
If one examines the funding sources of the organizations behind the attempted Anglican schism, and the funding sources of the organizations that deny human activity contributes to climate change, one finds that they are sometimes one and the same…
Inclusive Church is delighted to announce its next residential conference on Monday 5th – Wednesday 7th October 2009.
“Word on the Street – reading the Bible inclusively” will be a three day conference at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire to help us see how Holy Scripture does indeed:
With Workshops, Bible studies, Worship, Plenary, Meals and Bar
The keynote speakers are:
The cost is £195. Students and those on low income £130. Residential ordinands and stipendiary curates £90.
For a flyer and booking form follow this link. Book early to avoid disappointment!
2 CommentsInclusive language is a contentious issue still. Inclusive Church and WATCH (Women and the Church) jointly organised a day conference on 9th Feb 2009. The speakers were
Links to their presentations and related materials can all be found here, or as follows:
Speak to us of liturgy – Lucy Winkett
Speak to us of prayers, by Steven Shakespeare
Elisabeth Baxter – Inclusive Language for a therapeutic church – handout (PDF)
June Boyce-Tillman – Hymns for today’s church – handout (PDF)
0 CommentsA press release from the Church of England announces the full list of names of those who will constitute the Revision Committee for the draft legislation enabling women to become bishops in the Church of England.
Press release: Women in the episcopate draft legislation: Revision Committee announced
We already knew the names of the members of the Steering Committee:
And we already knew the name of the Chair of the Revision Committee:
What is new is the names chosen by the Appointments Committee:
Updated again Thursday morning
Thursday morning update
Colorado Springs Gazette Judge orders Anglican parish to vacate Grace church by April 3
A judge on Wednesday ordered the Anglican parish that’s been meeting at Grace Church, 631 N. Tejon St., to vacate the building by April 3 at 5 p.m., setting the stage for the exiled Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal parish to hold its first service in the gothic church on Palm Sunday.
Judge Larry Schwartz also ordered the Anglican parish priest, Donald Armstrong, to vacate the rectory, where he lives on Electra Drive in the Skyline Way area, by May 8. This revised the original order issued on Tuesday, which stated that Armstrong would have to vacate by April 1.
——-
Earlier report:
The property dispute in the Diocese of Colorado over Grace and St Stephens parish property has been resolved in favour of the diocese. Many members of the congregation have affiliated with CANA.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports it this way: Armstrong camp loses Tejon Street church report written through extensively and new headline is One group leaving Grace church, one moving in — but when?
From the earlier version:
According to a press release issued by the Rev. Alan Crippen II, a member of the breakway group, Judge Larry Schwartz issued a 28-page ruling that concluded , among other things: “The Diocese over most of its 135 years existence demonstrates a unity of purpose on the part of the parish and general church. … The trust created through past genereations of members of Grace Church and St. Stephen’s prohibits the departing parish members from taking the property with them.”
Crippen said the group is considering an appeal, but is already preparing to move from the historic property.
“We will meet at a new location,” he said in an interview.
Because of the ruling, the congregation’s leader, the Rev. Donald Armstrong, is also losing his rectory, and the church loses its name because it’s so similar to the Episcopal congregation, Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal.
Martin Nussbaum, attorney for the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado, expects the move to go quickly.
“We will be in possession of the property no later than next Wednesday,” he said.
The press release from the Diocese of Colorado is available here as a PDF. The content as a web page can be found here at Episcopal Café:
The Bishop and Diocese of Colorado, and the more than 500 members of Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church rejoice today that the members of the Episcopal parish will be returning to their church home as a result of a decision issued by District Court Judge Larry Schwartz. In that ruling, Judge Schwartz found that the historic property is held in trust for the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church and ordered the breakaway congregation that wrongfully took possession of the property two years ago to leave…
There is also a press release from the continuing parish.
The full text of the judgement is on the website of the continuing Episcopal parish as a PDF file.
The website of the CANA-affiliated congregation has its press release here as a PDF file:
“For two years we have been praying for justice in this case, and the Court has now ruled. Judge Schwartz is a fair and honorable man and we appreciate his own sacrifice and considered effort in hearing our case. Our congregation will take some time to review his ruling with our attorneys before we make a formal response.
There is much yet to be settled even with this significant ruling now issued,” said Father Donald Armstrong, rector of Grace Church & St. Stephen’s.
“As to the future of our congregation, it’s the people and not the building that is at the heart of our life in Christ,” Armstrong said. “This decision is one major step out of the ambiguity in which we have lived these past two years and will allow us to more readily refocus on gospel work and service. At the very least this is an occasion for renewal and recommitment to the essential things of gospel work. Our Plan B is well-developed, exciting, and will be announced shortly.”
and:
31 Comments“This is a new beginning for Grace Church & St. Stephen’s in its partnership with CANA,” said the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, missionary bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA).
“Grace Church has a glorious heritage and an exciting future ahead of it. Although this decision is disappointing, the congregation and its leadership in Don Armstrong are strong in their commitment to gospel work and the renewal of Anglicanism in Colorado Springs and beyond. I fully expect that its members will quickly recover
from the sad loss of their historic place of worship. Knowing the people of Grace Church and their buoyant optimism, I anticipate that the parish’s best days are yet ahead.”
Two documents are available from the Scottish Episcopal Church.
The bishops have published a response to the letter issued in February by the meeting of Anglican primates in Alexandria.
College of Bishops Respond to Anglican Primates’ Letter of February 2009 is available as a PDF file.
The Faith and Order Board has responded to the St Andrews Draft of the proposed Anglican Covenant.
A Response from the Faith and Order Board of the Scottish Episcopal Church is also available as a PDF file.
20 CommentsComment is free has an article No change in attitudes by Davis Mac-Iyalla.
CANA and ACNA both have press releases about the Nigerian response to the latter:
The matter is also referred to in this report from the Living Church ACNA Expects at Least Five Inaugural Dioceses.
There is no mention on either of these websites of the support given by the Church of Nigeria (and other Christian churches) to the proposed Nigerian Same Gender Marriage (Prohibition) Act. Do CANA and ACNA support the Church of Nigeria’s position?
The story is attracting comment from secular sources in Africa, see for example:
Lagos Guardian Homosexuality and the lawmakers
afrik.com What has Africa done to organised religion to deserve this…
IHEU Leo Igwe condemns Anglican Archbishop’s homophobic outburst
11 CommentsThe Standing Committee meeting on which previous reports have been made, has yielded a further document Standing Committee Meeting:Pastoral Letter signed by Archbishop Peter Akinola. It concludes:
45 CommentsWe are especially concerned about those who are using large sums of money to lure our youth to see homosexuality and lesbianism as normative. We must consistently and faithfully teach about God’s commands on this ungodly practice and help those with such orientation to seek deliverance and pastoral counsel.
It was also our great delight to welcome to our meeting, the Rt. Rev Bob Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh in the USA, and Moderator of the Common Cause Partnership which is a fellowship of about 11 Anglican groups that are determined to maintain the Biblical and historic convictions of our faith, including CANA (also represented at this meeting by our own Bishop Martyn Minns). We have declared ourselves to be in full communion with the emerging province of the Anglican Church of North America, praying that they will remain solidly rooted in the foundations of our faith.
We have expressed our grave concerns over the relentless aggression against Christians in the North of Nigeria and have again drawn the attention of our governments to this unhappy scenario. We are calling for a national conference of all stakeholders to deal with the issue of religious intolerance and guarantee a peaceful and just future for our beloved country. We especially call on our members in the National Assembly to keep alert to this threat to our corporate existence. Most of all we call on our churches to pray earnestly about the future of our nation.
