There were prayers for the Very Rev. Philip C. Linder and his family Sunday and a call for members of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral “to seek out God in prayer” as the congregation gathered for the first time since the extraordinary suspension last week of its longtime leader.

“The events of this past week have brought us to a place where we never expected to be,” the Rev. Charles M. Davis Jr., who was named interim dean, told the packed congregation gathered in Averyt Hall for the 10 a.m. service.

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Bishop Allison is a mesmerizing speaker. To add emphasis to his sermon at Trinity 28 years ago, he utilized the distant roll of thunder, which gradually got louder as he eased into the Sermon on the Mount.
I listened intently, especially to his interpretation of the part that says “Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your eye ”” even if it is your best eye ”” causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. Better for part of you to be destroyed than for all of you to be cast into hell”¦”
The bishop in essence said that most men who had ever been to the beach in the summer would probably going around without eyes if the law was strictly obeyed.
He said we shouldn’t give the Pharisees such a hard time because it’s virtually impossible to obey the spirit of the law. He noted this was the gist of what Jesus was trying to say.

Read the whole thing.

A letter from the Bishop of Upper South Carolina may be found here and a resolution from the parish vestry may be found there. Read them both.

The top leaders of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral were preparing to oust their now-suspended dean, the Very Rev. Philip C. Linder, triggering a chain of events that led to the dramatic intervention by the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, the bishop said in a statement Friday.

“Those of you who are puzzled or angered by my decision to suspend the Dean are asking many questions, some of which can only be answered with replies we are unable to give you for privacy reasons,” Bishop W. Andrew Waldo said in the letter posted on Trinity’s website.

“What must firmly be said, however, is that your wardens and chancellor came to me with a call for a special vestry meeting, signed by themselves and 16 vestry members, to consider the dissolution of the pastoral relationship between the Cathedral and Philip Linder.”

Waldo said he ordered Linder, 50, not to speak to parishioners of the historic downtown congregation while the dispute was under mediation, an order Linder violated, Waldo said. The root causes of the conflict between the vestry and Linder have not been made public and remain unclear.

Read it all.

O Lord, who in a time of turmoil and confusion didst raise up thy servant William White, and didst endow him with wisdom, patience, and a reconciling temper, that he might lead thy Church into ways of stability and peace: Hear our prayer, we beseech thee, and give us wise and faithful leaders, that through their ministry thy people may be blessed and thy will be done; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

In his message, which will be broadcast Sept. 12 over our 200-station network, President [Jimmy] Carter had this to say:

All people of faith who take the Bible seriously — both the New Testament and the Hebrew text–very much agree that God’s heart is with the poor and the vulnerable. Jesus proclaimed at the beginning of his early ministry that he had come to “bring good news to the poor.” The Bible includes several thousand verses on the poor and on God’s response to injustice.

This eminent Sunday school teacher (he still teaches two or three Sundays a month at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga.) is the special capstone speaker for our “Day 1” series on “Faith & Global Hunger.” The first four episodes in the series aired on consecutive Sundays from June 13-July 4 (for transcripts, audio, and video of the series, visit http://hunger.day1.org).

This series features notable church leaders discussing the issue of global poverty and how the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MGD) can address that issue….

The Right Rev. Michael Curry, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, issued a passionate call to serve the poor individually and corporately in his sermon “Can I Get a Witness?” …

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When the Rt. Rev. Edwin F. “Ted” Gulick, Jr., announced his decision to retire as Bishop of Kentucky, he was clear about the timing and his destination. He would leave by August 2010 and move back to Virginia, where he was a rector in Newport News for 11 years before being elected a bishop.

Bishop Gulick will not pause from episcopal duties for long. He will begin visiting parishes Sept. 12 as one of five “guest bishops” who agreed to assist the Rt. Rev. Shannon Johnston, Bishop of Virginia, during 2010. On New Year’s Day in 2011 he will become assistant bishop.

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More allegations of child sexual abuse against the late Bishop Donald Davis of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania have surfaced since the current bishop revealed four cases on Sunday and urged other victims to come forward.

“I now know about the possibility of more than five additional complaints,” Episcopal Bishop Sean Rowe of Erie said in a statement released Tuesday. “In the days to come, I may hear from more.

“All of these women are in my prayers, and I ask that you include them in yours. I am going to spend the next several weeks talking with women who come forward, and working with them on how best to foster their healing and reconciliation.”

What was originally known as the Diocese of Erie split from the Diocese of Pittsburgh a century ago. Bishop Davis presided over the 13-county diocese from 1974 to 1991.

Read it all.

Complaints of sexual abuse by Episcopal Bishop Donald Davis have climbed to at least nine.

Read it all.

Read it all.

A former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania sexually abused at least four girls while he was leader of the Erie-based diocese.

The abuse by the Rev. Donald Davis was made public today by the diocese’s current bishop, the Right Rev. Sean Rowe, who learned of the abuse earlier this year from one of the victims.

“Our first goal is to tell the truth,” Rowe told the Erie Times-News today.

Davis, who was bishop of the diocese from 1974 to 1991, died in 2007.

In a pastoral letter read today after services in each of the 13-county diocese’s 34 churches, Rowe apologized for what Davis did.

Read it all.

A local group representing the national Episcopal Church has hit a legal snag in its attempt to take control of the property of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.

The 2nd Court of Appeals ruled Friday that the group’s attorneys, who filed a lawsuit on behalf of “The Corporation” and “The Fort Worth Diocese,” cannot represent those entities because the entities are also associated with Bishop Jack Iker, the defendant in the lawsuit.

The appellate court noted that there is only one corporation and diocese, which both sides are staking claim to.

Read it all.

Received via email–KSH

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Much has happened these last two weeks in and around the Diocese. The 142nd Diocesan Convention (June 11-13th) went very well. Approximately 900 clergy, lay deputies, visitors and youth attended the Convention. We began Friday evening with Evensong, led by Dean Vang, followed by the Bishop’s Address and the Opening Business Session. A copy of the Bishop’s Address will be posted on the Diocesan Website. Very appreciative of all that so many people have done throughout the Diocese, I spent a great deal of time (as those who attended can attest) recognizing people and offering special thanks for their efforts and many contributions. While I firmly believe it is important to recognize and thank people for a job well done, it is hard to identify everyone in a timely manner in the context of the Bishop’s Address. As recommended by many of you in your evaluations, at next year’s Diocesan Convention the much deserved recognition and thank you’s will be offered in various ways other than during the Bishop’s Address.

Each of the five resolutions presented were approved overwhelmingly:

R1 – Trinity Church, Rensselaerville was assigned to the Metropolitan Deanery;

R2 – Endorsement of the Anglican Communion Covenant;

R3 – The diocesan recommended standard clergy stipend schedule was increased by 2.5% along with a $5 recommended increase to the standard supply clergy compensation amount;

R4 – Approval of the 2011 Diocesan Budget of $1,657,546;

R5 – Approval of the Reduced Standard Assessment Formula for Parish Assessments for 2011

The resolution most heavily debated was Resolution #2 which stated: “RESOLVED, that the Episcopal Diocese of Albany endorses the Anglican Communion Covenant (final text, approved for distribution December 18, 2009) and recommends its adoption by all the Provinces of the Anglican Communion.”

The resolution passed by a 4 to 1 margin: 314 (yes) to 76 (no). Each canonically resident clergy present and lay deputy was allowed to vote. As I have stated on earlier occasions, by endorsing the Anglican Communion Covenant, The Diocese of Albany is sending a strong message and signal to the rest of The Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion that we greatly value our Anglican heritage and relationships throughout the world, and that we intend by the grace of God to honor that which is asked of us in the Anglican Communion Covenant, worshipping and serving our Lord Jesus Christ, sharing the Gospel in cooperation and close relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Communion Covenant does not ask us (the Diocese of Albany) to do anything that we are not already doing, nor does it ask the Diocese of Albany to be anything other than who we are.

In other Convention related news, the following individuals were elected to their respective offices:

Deputies to General Convention (4 Priests / 4 Laity): The Very Rev. David Collum, The Rev. Scott Garno, The Rev. Canon Robert Haskell, The Very Rev. John Scott III, Richard Carroll, Deborah Fish, Sue Ellen Ruetsch, Elizabeth Strickland

Ecclesiastical Trial Court: The Rev. Laurie Garramone-Rohr, Sue Armstrong and Lawrence Norville. The Rev. Mark Michael is the clergy Alternate.

The Standing Committee: The Rev. Lynne Curtis, The Rev. Derik Roy, Jennifer Dean and Ray Rockwell.

I am very appreciative to everyone who allowed their names to be nominated and congratulate those who were elected. May the Lord bless you and the Diocese in your ministry.

In addition to the above elections, the Convention approved my nomination of The Very Rev. David Collum and the Very Rev. Christopher Brown as Archdeacons, assisting me in better ministering to the people of the Diocese of Albany and the wider community, particularly in the metropolitan area and the North Country.

The rest of the Convention Weekend was filled with a variety of wonderful workshops (approx. 67), Spirit-filled worship, fellowship, food, entertainment, Vacation Bible School and the Youth Rally. I am very appreciative to every one who attended and helped make this year’s Diocesan Convention such a success. I am also very appreciative to our guest speakers: Archbishop Drexel Gomez (Retired Archbishop and Primate of the West Indies), and the Rev. Michael Chapman (Bishop Suffragan-Elect of Peru). We were very blessed by their presence and the message the Lord gave them to share.

No sooner had the 142nd Diocesan Convention come to an end, then we began planning for next year’s 143rd Diocesan Convention. I want to thank those of you who filled out the evaluation forms from Convention. Your thoughts and recommendations are greatly appreciated and help us as we continue to try to make the Diocesan Convention the best that it can be.

On Saturday, June 19th, The Venerable David Collum was installed as the 20th Dean of the Cathedral of All Saints. The Service was well attended with members from the Cathedral and the wider diocese. Incorporating much of the installation service designed by Bishop Doane (1st Bishop of Albany), the service was very moving and quite beautiful, (despite a few occasions when I could not get my eyes and mouth to cooperate with the page in front of me). I am very excited for Dean Collum and the Cathedral of All Saints as they begin their new ministry together worshipping and serving God, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and ministering to the people in the metropolitan area as well as throughout the Diocese.

This past Monday, June 21st, I traveled to Philadelphia to ordain the Rev. Kyle Tomlin to the priesthood. Fr. Tomlin was sponsored by the Diocese of Albany for ordination and has been called as rector of St. Alban’s, Philadelphia. May the Lord bless him in his new ministry.

In between everything else going on, we have had a number of confirmation services and parish visitations the past two weeks to include: St. Stephen’s, Delmar; Christ Church, Duanesburg; St. Hubert’s, Lake Pleasant, each of which was very enjoyable and a blessing to be a part of.

Today, I am off to Troy to attend the final team meeting and planning session for the upcoming mission trip to Peru (July 19-31). Later this evening I will be heading up to the North Country in preparation for parish visitations and confirmations tomorrow at Grace Church, Canton and St. Philip’s, Norwood.

I pray that the Lord blesses each of you richly this week in your worship together and as you go forth boldly into the world in His name.

Faithfully Yours in Christ,

–(The Rt. Rev.) Bill Love is Bishop of Albany

Dear Friends,

Some of you may have heard that on a recent visit to England, +Katharine Jefferts-Schori was asked to verify her orders of ordination and asked not to wear her miter. As you know, I am here on a partnership visit in the Diocese of Gloucester. Attached is a greeting and explanation from Bishop Michael regarding our own correspondence with Lambeth Palace, hopefully clarifying a policy that has been in place but not enforced. The incident with +Katharine was of course exacerbated by +Rowan’s Pentecost letter and +Katharine’s response. I must say that I have not met anyone here that is happy with +Rowan’s letter and the actions that it announced; but…rather many are embarrassed and upset.

As you will see from an update that Celeste Ventura and Channing Smith will send shortly, we are having a wonderful time in Gloucester being treated very well and shown great hospitality. There are no major issues regarding the wearing of my miter or being a woman bishop, although of course there are those who do not approve of women’s ordination. It is a very live issue here and there are lots of feelings and emotions as the Church of England approaches another vote, hopefully towards women in the episcopate, in just a few weeks.

Read it all and read the letter from the Bishop of Gloucester also.

…the Chief Pastor of the Church is a workman–working for God, working with God, working under His eye, and for the welfare of the immortal souls committed to his charge.

The Bishop then is a workman. This accords with what St. Paul wrote in his 1st Epistle to Timothy, when he said “If a man desireth the office of a Bishop, he desireth a good work,” His life and duty may be summed up in one word–work.

This implies that his life is not a rest, or a state of ease. That he is not to be a cloistered theologian, or dwell in ecclesiastical quietism. That he is not to be a mere dignified functionary of grace and power to be dispensed only in a perfunctory manner. That he is not to be the mere figure-head of a Diocese, placed there as a simple presiding officer, and machine-like to impart the grace of confirmation and orders, in the laying on of hands.

So far from this, the Bishop is to be instinct with life and work. He is to be the Shepherd and leader of the flock–the wise ruler–the diligent teacher–the faithful counsellor–the prompter and supporter of all Churchly activities; ever holding himself ready for labor, or for sacrifice. In the New Testament the office of a Bishop, to which we shall confine ourselves at this time, is represented under various similitudes, but it is to be noted that each one of them involves the idea of work. Is he called a Fisher of Men? He must work, in casting his net, and drawing it to land; and even when, at times, he ceases to throw the net, in order that he may mend it, or wash it, even then, he is working in private that he may perfect his implements of labor, and more ffectively launch out into the deep, and let down his net for a draught.

Is he called a Builder? He must work, not only in building up himself in the most holy faith, but also seek to excel to the edifying of the Church, building it up of lively stones, on Christ the living corner-stone, so that as a wise master builder, the structure which he erects, may become the Temple of the Holy Ghost.

Is he called a Steward? He must work in administering the trust, that deposit of truth and faith, committed to him, so that he shall rightly divide the word of truth, give to each of his Lord’s household his portion in due season, and bring forth, out of his treasured mysteries, things new and old.

Is he called a Herald; a Preacher? He must work in preparing and proclaiming the good tidings which he is commissioned to make known. The command of Jesus is, “Go preach the Gospel;” the injunction of the Apostle is, “Preach the Word;” “be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all Long-suffering and diligence;” but to do this, demands work of the [7/8] severest and most wearing kind, so that he may not, after having preached to others, be himself a castaway.

Is he called a Shepherd? He must work in tending the flock; now gathering them into folds, now leading them to green pastures, now seeking out the straying, now taking up the lame, now guarding from wolves, and now resting with them at noon beside the still waters. In the words of good Bishop Hall, “he must discern in his sheep between the sound and the unsound; in the unsound between the weak and the tainted; in the tainted between the nature, qualities, and degrees, of infection; and to all these, he must know how to administer a word in season.”

Read it all but before you do, please try to guess the diocese and the date–KSH.

As followers of Christ, our lives have the same cruciform pattern. We embrace the cross, confident of the new life that comes to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We know that God’s love of us is shown forth most clearly in those situations where we are most needy; those situations where we are revealed to have no power of our own and are most reliant on God. So when we are weak, we are actually strong (2 Cor. 12:10), because we rely on God who gives the strength. In our poverty, we actually become rich (2 Cor. 5:9), because it is God who gives abundance. It’s paradoxical but also true.

What’s true in our lives is also true in the life of the Church. When things go well in the life of the community we begin to think that perhaps we are the source of the blessing; can begin to think that it’s our own cleverness or faithfulness or strength that has brought about the increase. So it’s precisely in times of deprivation that the power of God is shown forth; precisely in times of death that the triumph song of resurrection sounds forth: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

This final service at St. Bernard’s vividly illustrates the Church in deprivation, our weakness and our need. The life of the Church, however, runs far beyond the life of any single congregation. Because Jesus is the source of our life, the Church is stretched out in time and space, rooted in the past and growing into the future, in every place where the Gospel is preached. There is new life for God’s People, always and everywhere (as we say at the Eucharist). God’s praises are sung, not just in one place, but in all places and at all times. Our song of praise, the ceaseless “alleluia” that ever goes up, is never extinguished or obscured.

Read it all.

Incense, candles and joyful singing filled St. Mark’s Cathedral last weekend as the Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish celebrated one of her last official acts as Episcopal bishop of Utah: the ordination of five new deacons, four of them bound for the priesthood next year.

It’s almost an embarrassment of riches for the small diocese, and one that Irish, who is retiring in the fall, takes as a sign of the church’s health.

“We are poised in the best possible way,” Irish says, “to engage those who want to think their way through their faith.”

And yet even as an increasing number of Utah Episcopalians feel called to the ordained ministry, the church has fewer paid positions to offer. Two of the four new deacons who hoped to land paying clerical jobs have not found one.

Read it all.

The Episcopal News Service has announced that Bishop Ian Douglas of Connecticut was elected by the Executive Council on June 18 to succeed Bishop Catherine Roskam as the episcopal representative from TEC on the Anglican Consultative Council. In addition, a presbyter, the Rev. Gay Jennings, was elected to the clerical seat on the ACC formerly held but since vacated by Bishop Douglas.

We note that until recently Bishop Douglas also held a presbyter seat on the Executive Council as well but he formally resigned that position in February in light of his anticipated consecration to the episcopate. He noted in his resignation letter that:

The reason for my resignation is my “translation” to a new order as a result of being elected to the episcopate in the Diocese of Connecticut. I thus can no longer serve as a presbyter elected by the General Convention to the Executive Council.

Although there has been public confusion on this issue, Bishop Douglas has stated that he did not send a similar letter to the ACC, notwithstanding his recognition that he “can no longer serve as a presbyter” and the confirmation now by Executive Council that his presbyter seat on the ACC is vacant and needed to be filled. Indeed, today Bonnie Anderson described both seats as “open.”

This recognition by the Executive Council that Bishop Douglas’s clerical seat has been vacated and the attempt to elect him to the episcopal seat have clear consequences under the ACC’s constitution and rules. The point at which Bishop Douglas’s clerical seat was vacated was his consecration to the episcopate in April, and accordingly he ceased to be a member of the ACC’s standing committee at that time. Restoration of the ACC’s credibility requires recognition of these facts notwithstanding TEC’s determination to flout the ACC rules.

Read it all.

The Episcopal Diocese of Western New York is leaving its Delaware Avenue home of almost 60 years and relocating to one of its churches in the Town of Tonawanda, the diocese announced Tuesday.

The diocesan office will be moved to the former St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church at 1064 Brighton Road.

It was a difficult decision, because the building at 1114 Delaware Ave. has been home to the diocese since 1951.

“This move signals a shift in perspective and a new vision for our ministry in the 21st century,” Bishop J. Michael Garrison said. A split at the former St. Bartholomew’s Church left a very small congregation, and its members eventually decided to attend services at other parishes, said Laurie Wozniak, a diocesan spokeswoman.

Read it all.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has admonished warring Anglicans for creating “recrimination, confusion and bitterness” all round.

He has punished those who have broken the rules by removing them from the body that deals with dialogue with the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and other churches, and the body that decides matters of faith.

In his Pentecost letter, Dr Williams called for Anglicans to pray for renewal in the spirit of God.

And he bewailed the failure by liberals to stand by moratoria imposed on the consecration of gay bishops and on same-sex blessings, and the failure by conservatives to observe that on boundary crossing.

Read it all.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has described the decision by Lambeth Palace to remove Episcopalians serving on international ecumenical dialogues as “unfortunate … It misrepresents who the Anglican Communion is.”

Jefferts Schori’s comments were made during a June 8 press conference at the Anglican Church of Canada’s General Synod 2010 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Before the sanctions were imposed on the Episcopal Church as a consequence for having consecrated a lesbian bishop, Jefferts Schori said she had written a letter to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams expressing her concern.

“I don’t think it helps dialogue to remove some people from the conversation,” she said shortly after addressing General Synod. “We have a variety of opinions on these issues of human sexuality across the communion … For the archbishop of Canterbury to say to the Methodists or the Lutheran [World] Federation that we only have one position is inaccurate. We have a variety of understandings and no, we don’t have consensus on hot button issues at the moment.”

Read it all.

The Anglican Communion has suspended U.S. Episcopalians from serving on ecumenical bodies because of the election of a lesbian as a bishop in California.

The U.S. church opened a rift in the global communion, and within its own ranks, seven years ago by electing a gay man, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire. Conservative African Anglicans have taken a lead in opposing moves in the United States and Canada to promote gays and to bless homosexual relationships.

Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, had called for a moratorium on appointing homosexuals to leadership positions. He asked for action against the Episcopal Church after the Rev. Canon Mary Glasspool was made an assistant bishop of Los Angeles.

Read the whole thing.

Now the Archbishop of Canterbury is being hammered from both liberal revisionist and orthodox conservative quarters. At the bottom of all this is a lack of previous leadership effort on his part, so that both revisionist and orthodox Anglicans see much of the present Anglican mess as his fault. Scripture says something about letting your yes be yes and your no be no, and really, when you do that, it is so much easier to remember what you said, and to act on what you said.

Dr. Williams has danced around the issues and we can think of only two reasons for that, and whatever the real reason is in a sense doesn’t matter, since the bottom line is, he has no track record of really leading. He favors the Hegelian approach of letting both sides battle it out, and then the result will be a compromise that represents a best way forward. That could be the reason for what looks like no leadership skills.

Alternatively, he could actually have no leadership skills, and an internal inability to stand up and deliver.

Other than satisfying those of us who always want to know why things work out the way they do, it is really a distinction without a difference; no leadership is no leadership.

Read it all.

After they elected their next bishop Saturday morning, Episcopalians in the Diocese of Kentucky had a short delay in contacting him with the good news.

That was because the Rev. Terry Allen White was busy at the cathedral that he pastors in Kansas City, Mo., serving as master of ceremonies for a ceremony of ordinations of new clergy.

“He’s having a very rich day,” Bishop Ted Gulick, who is retiring later this year, said after delegates elected White on the second ballot from among four nominees.

Read the whole article.

In essence, [Rowan] Williams and [katharine] Jefferts Schori are having a very old argument over local autonomy and central authority, Butler Bass said ”” two extreme and perhaps irreconcilable interpretations of Anglicanism.

“He’s trying to find coherent Anglican identity and enforce it in a top-down way, and she’s saying we’ve always been democratic, local, grass-roots.”

That argument seems to have reached a breaking point, the historian said.

“Scholars will look back on these letters in 150 years and say, ‘This is it. This is when it all went away,'” [Diana] Butler Bass said. “The Anglican Communion is not going to make it.”

[David] Hein agreed, saying, “A path has been chosen. It seems (Jefferts Schori) has prepared to pack her bags and go off on her own.”

Read it all.

Government leaders in Nigeria have chastised Archbishop Nicholas Okoh and the Church of Nigeria over the consecration of Mary Glasspool in Los Angeles. The Governor of the Rivers State in the Niger Delta this week told the Archbishop that the consecration of a lesbian bishop by the Anglican Communion diminished the moral authority of the Church in Africa and weakened its spiritual and social witness.

Enthroned as Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Communion’s largest province earlier this year, Archbishop Okoh has begun a tour of the national Church, meeting with Diocesan leaders and local officials. During the Archbishop’s meeting in Port Harcount with government officials a spokesman for Governor Rotimi Amaechi said the Glasspool consecration was a symbol of western moral decadence.

The governor told the new Archbishop, “Primate, you have a lot in your hands; the times are not good and the challenges are daunting.” By adopting the standards of the world and turning a blind eye to “moral laxity” the church was in danger of losing its prophetic voice, he said.

Read it all.

Archbishop Rowan’s Pentecost letter shows him to be continuing on a course that is creating a different kind of Anglicanism, more like the centralized, doctrinalized polity of the Roman Catholic Church. Added to this, the exercise of control by the Archbishop lacks the straightforwardness of the Roman polity.

For example, the Lambeth Conference was explicitly advertised as a non-legislative meeting; indeed we voted on nothing. However, lo and behold, through a non-transparent “consensus building” process, the bishops present (and so, in Archbishop Rowan’s thinking, the Communion) have affirmed the three moratoria put forward by the Windsor Report.

Here it is also important to note that the Windsor Report itself has been reified and given the status of a central Anglican document of faith and order, not by the test of time and use, but by the Archbishop and those who agree with him saying so.

When an Empire and its exponents can no longer exercise control by might, an option is to feint, double-talk, and manipulate. Such tactics have been in the fore with Archbishop Rowan since the confirmation of Gene Robinson as the Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003….

Read it all.

From here:

The coastline of Louisiana is under attack again this time from oil. The former Bishop of Louisiana is in the UK and will tell us about how Louisianans are coping with this latest disaster and how he was personally effected by Hurricane Katrina.

Click on the “listen now” audio link at the link above and go approximately 13:55 in; note that one question is asked about the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Pentecost letter–KSH.

Anglicans who flout the wishes of the worldwide Church should be sidelined from official doctrinal committees, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

In his Pentecost letter to Anglicans worldwide, Rowan Williams says there is still “painful division” in the Church.

He cites the consecration of a lesbian bishop in the US, and Church leaders organising in each others’ areas.

If his call is heeded it would be the first time such sanctions have been imposed on dissident Church members.

The archbishop added that dissident Anglican provinces should not take part in formal dialogues with other Churches.

Read it all.