Stand Firm has posted them
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/4741/

The Theological Statement was just voted on, accepted unanimously by all dioceses present:
Albany, Central Florida, Dallas, Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy, RioGrande, San Joaquin, Springfield

and the Convocations:
Mid-Atlantic, Mid Continental, NorthEast, SouthEast, Western, FiFNA
and the Anglican Global Mission Partnership

— South Carolina is not present.
— Pittsburgh noted a reservation on their vote to accept the Theological Statement re: the issue of women’s ordination.

There is also more on the ACN website, Common Cause page.
http://www.acn-us.org/common-cause-partners/

It lists the Common Cause Partners, and also lists the 4 Covenant Declarations that are referred to in the Common Cause Articles that are now being
discussed.

============
Update:

The Common Cause partnership articles are NOT being voted on today. The discussion just completed was to give people a chance to raise questions and suggest proposed revisions. It is this elf’s understanding that these articles will be voted on tomorrow afternoon.

IMPORTANT UPDATE:
The speech is now on the ACN website, and there you can watch the two videos that were shown as part of Bishop Duncan’s remarks.

hat tip to Stand Firm:

ADDRESS of the Right Reverend Robert Duncan, Moderator of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes to the Fourth Annual Council at Bedford, Texas, 30th July, A.D.2007.

I will save my flock, they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them and be their shepherd. [Ezekiel 34:22-23]

David Anderson, John Guernsey, Andy Fairfield, Dave Roseberry, Martyn Minns, Dan Herzog, Alison Barfoot, Bill Cox, John Yates, Bill Attwood, Bill Cobb, Valarie Whitcomb, Dwight Duncan, Ron Jackson, Dave Bena, Bill Murdoch, Don Armstrong”¦ What do these believers all have in common? ”¦Great leaders, all. Yes, of course. One other thing, at least”¦ Each was a priest or bishop (four bishops in fact) of the Episcopal Church at the Network Council one year ago”¦ None is a leader of the Episcopal Church today. This seismic shift is the context in which we meet for this fourth Annual Council of the Anglican Communion Network.

One of the young, creative staffers in our Pittsburgh office, Chad Whittaker (many of you will know his Dad, who teaches New Testament at Trinity Seminary), produced a brief video last Holy Week. It begins with words of a written prophecy I was handed at Hope and a Future (November 2005) and then it shifts to early April 2007. I want to show it to you now.

[Good Friday Video Clip]

Ever so many of us have found ourselves living through an extended Good Friday. None of us, of course, have lived through anything like our Lord’s excruciating and singular Passion, but the emotional and spiritual depths of the present season have, for most of us, been like few other seasons of our lives. I shall never forget the darkness of the days and weeks beginning with last March’s House of Bishops Meeting. It was during those days at and after that Camp Allen meeting that I truly came to grips with the unavoidable fact that the denominational Church that had ”“ from infancy ”“ raised me, captured me, formed me and ordained me, no longer had any room for me, or any like me. How bitter the rejection! How total my failure!

Yes, we are all at different places on the Calvary journey as concerns our ministries in the Episcopal Church. But I suspect I can speak for all when I say that where we are is not where we had hoped to be. God, in His wisdom, has not used us to reform the Episcopal Church, to bring it back to its historic role and identity as a reliable and mainstream way to be a Christian. Instead the Episcopal Church has embraced de-formation ”“ stunning innovation in Faith and Order ”“ rather than reformation.

In whatever way God’s call on our lives is to be lived out in the months and years ahead, few in this hall anticipate that the Episcopal Church will turn around in the last days before September 30th, or that the Episcopal Church has any intention of leaving room for those of us whose commitments to “the Faith once delivered” created the Anglican Communion Network and have sustained its vision and its witness. Because our sense of order is such that we have always sought to be Christian first and Episcopalian next , we find ourselves on this present Way of the Cross. Such is the increasing de-formation of the denomination whose priests and bishops, whose laity and deacons, we have so faithfully been, whose vision once upon a time was like the one we still hold, of a Church that is truly evangelical, truly catholic, and truly pentecostal. This is the context in which we meet for this fourth Annual Council of the Anglican Communion Network.

[Video Clip on Network Mission]

Our Work in This Council

Since the earliest days of the Network, God has given us a clear vision of who we are to be: A biblical, missionary and uniting presence in North America. At last year’s Annual Council in Pittsburgh we focused on the first of the three words of our oft-rehearsed vision: biblical. Our theme was “A Reformation of Behavior,” and we looked at personal holiness as a hallmark that must come to characterize our life as faithful North American Anglicans. At the first Bedford Council two years ago, we focused on the second of the three words of our vision: missionary. We gave most of our time at that meeting to our Anglican Global Mission Partners and to the Anglican Relief and Development Fund, and we accepted a special partnership with the Diocese of Singapore for evangelization of some of the most unreached areas on the globe. This year our work in Council ”“ Bedford II, if you will ”“ has much the same focus as our very first Council at Plano, three and a half years ago. We focus on the third of the three words of the vision our God gave us from the beginning: uniting. Much of the work of this Fourth Annual Council focuses on our call to unity with other orthodox fragments ”“ virtually all of whom were once, like ourselves, mainstream Episcopalians. Proposals are before us to formalize, to ratify, a series of relationships that have come to be known as the Common Cause Partnership.

Three decades of fracture and disintegration characterized the life of orthodox Anglicans up until the Plano Council of January, 2004. None who were present at that organizing Council will ever forget the unity that permeated the decisions of that assembly. Every article of the Charter was unanimously approved. None of us had any expectation that anything like that would be possible. It was all God-given and God-breathed. None will forget the moment when a respectful way forward on the ordination of women emerged ”“ surely the high-point of God’s grace in that Council ”“ and we stood to sing the Doxology.

The charism God bestowed on us in that Plano Council has not departed. Thanks be to God! It has, of course, been sorely tried from time to time, not least in the crisis of Good Friday. But the charism has not been just for us. (God’s gifts never are “just for us.”) Confident that it was central to the vision of the Network ”“ and deeply moved by the blessings of the Council that chartered the Network and encouraged by my Episcopal colleague Ed Salmon ”“ I invited conversations with other jurisdictional and organizational leaders beginning in March of 2004. In June of 2004, six leaders pledged, in a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, “to make common cause for a biblical, missionary and united Anglicanism in North America.” Initially six in the United States, Common Cause now has ten Partners in the U.S. and Canada. Five leadership roundtables have met and a first-ever Council of Bishops has been called. Key documents have been developed between the partners. Most of the partners have already approved the documents. Now it is our turn. The proposals do not yield jurisdictional autonomy, but they move us into more intentional federation. They move us closer to the longed-for day of a biblical, missionary and united Anglicanism in North America, to the kind of “new ecclesiastical structure” called for by the primates of the Global South, and yearned for by the faithful Anglicans of this continent.

Last summer the Pittsburgh Council had a first look at the Theological Statement of the Common Cause Partnership. Here at Bedford II the Steering Committee has placed that document and the Articles of the Common Cause Partnership before us for ratification. I heartily endorse these documents. They are not perfect, but they do take the next step. It has been the particular privilege and challenge of your Moderator to serve as Chair of the Common Cause Partnership since the beginning. A Common Cause Roundtable V in March the partners asked me to continue in that role, and I agreed to do so, with God’s help.

The Articles we are being asked to approve create a federation. None of our jurisdictional autonomy is ceded. The primates of the Anglican Communion have asked the American Episcopal Church to make an answer concerning the Windsor Report and the Dromantine Communique. What the Common Cause Partnership does together is some part of this response. The Episcopal Church is walking apart. We propose to walk together. Little better communicates our message, and the reality that there is a recognizable and uniting partnership of mainstream Anglicans in North America, than the actions we are being asked to take.

In this context a word about the Windsor Bishops Coalition also seems appropriate. Again, in fulfillment of the Network’s vision, I asked Ed Salmon, after last year’s Network Council, to do what he could on the Network’s behalf to build a larger coalition of Episcopal Bishops, in hopes that the Episcopal Church might be turned back at the eleventh hour. During this past year, the Network Bishops have done everything we could to work with a broader Windsor Coalition within the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops. In order not to abandon the wider coalition in its one last stand, the Network Bishops have agreed to take part in the upcoming meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury and members of the primates Steering Committee and Anglican Consultative Council. We do so, some of us at least, without any implied recognition of or submission to the American primate, without any diminishment of our appeal for Alternative Primatial Oversight, and without any expectation that the Episcopal House of Bishops will turn from the course so unequivocably embraced at their March meeting.

Achievements and Failures

So where are we?

Anyone reading the minutes of the Pittsburgh Council [included in your packets] will recognize that many of the hopes we expressed for the nature of our work this past year were not realized. Some of what we imagined the Steering Committee might do in peopling committees to look at liturgy and discipleship and such routine matters of normal church life was predicated on a hope for more ordinary times. Transitions in jurisdiction ”“ like those described as I began ”“ were among the factors that made this past year among the most tumultuous for our movement. Financial challenges ”“ largely occasioned as our most generous parish supporters faced their own challenges in transitions, lawsuits and loss of facilities ”“ were constant. Similar financial challenges have affected all our AGMP agencies. Many of us also found ourselves just worn down and worn out by the continuing struggle. As the Deans are fond of quipping: “It is good that we don’t all want to quit on the same day.” But we didn’t quit. As always, we helped each other. God helped us. Even in the darkest times, the work went forward.

A Finance Committee was organized during the course of the year and senior statesman Bill Roemer of Pittsburgh became our Treasurer. At last there are budgets and audits to look at together. Anglican Relief and Development Fund was spun off and has become the Relief and Development agency of most of the Common Cause Partners. Succeeding Dr. Peter Moore, its Chairman is now an Anglican Mission priest, Mike Murphy. Can. Nancy Norton remains its Director.

In the spring, the weekly meeting of the Moderator’s (Network) Cabinet was suspended in favor of a Common Cause Cabinet meeting, necessary to preparations for the September Common Cause Bishops Council. The Steering Committee has continued to meet, though most often without my presence. The stretching for us all is tremendous. Strains, more than ever, affect the workings of the Network Bishops, though we are not divided in our assessment of a failed Episcopal Church. The Network Deans have continued their extraordinary leadership, though as we end this year between Councils only one of the six ”“ the Forward in Faith Dean ”“ remains within the Episcopal Church.

The staff in the Pittsburgh office, like the staff assistants in the Convocations, have done extraordinary service. Can. Daryl Fenton, who has kept me and countless others in good humor and on track in the toughest of times deserves, with all the others, our deep gratitude. The ministry initiatives in Children and Youth, in Evangelism, in International Mission and in Church Planting have been the best of works in the worst of times. New churches continue to be planted. The Children and Youth initiative has developed a cutting edge program for training lay workers on-line with Cambridge University. The evangelism initiative has presented three regional conferences, already helping hundreds to better share the good news in daily life, with seven more conferences ”“ coming to a neighborhood near you ”“ this fall and winter.

The remarkable thing is, we have had the leaders we have needed for the challenges we have faced. One can only conclude that our God has been in this.

One great triumph of this past year is the provision of a domestic episcopate for the clergy and congregations that have left the Episcopal Church and moved into the Network’s International Conference, now numbering well over one hundred congregations across the United States. Bp. Bill Cox was the first. He serves the congregations of Oklahoma under Southern Cone. Bp. Andy Fairfield was next. He became a bishop of the Church of Uganda in June. He serves those ICon congregations that call on him. More significant still are the decisions of Kenya and Uganda to make new bishops for the work in the United States: Bill Attwood, Bill Murdoch, and John Guernsey. These join the AMiA and CANA bishops in service to what are now several hundred Anglican congregations in the U.S. (and Canada), all of whom will be at the September Common Cause Council. To all of this we expect to see our brother Bill Illgenfritz added. Forward in Faith North America has reaffirmed their nomination of Fr. Bill to serve that constituency as a flying bishop, and I have committed myself to working to find a Provincial ally to make it so. In the choice of these bishops we also see some who are clearly in favor of the ordination of women and some who are opposed to it, and the unity and commitments forged at our first Network Council shapes our ongoing life without reduction.

Another significant development since last Annual Council are the deepening Common Cause regional alliances. I have been privileged to meet with four of these regional groupings since last December. Over and over the message is the same: “We all want to be one again.” A biblical, missionary and uniting vision for Anglicans in North America, by God’s grace, is owned by countless believers and fellow-workers, as well as by those who meet in this hall.

LAST THINGS

I have served as Moderator for three and one-half years. My term ends with this Annual Council. It has been the hardest thing I have ever done. Your efforts and your prayers have sustained me. And our God has been good to us beyond measure.

David Anderson has served as Network Secretary during these same three and one-half years. His term also ends with this Council. None of us will forget, and the history of the movement must record, his leadership in bringing the financial and administrative resources of the American Anglican Council to enable the first eighteen months of the life of the Anglican Communion Network. Few acts of generosity in organizational life have a parallel in this great act of benefaction to birth the Network.

We must also elect a treasurer and one half of our Steering Committee. To all who have served we express our gratitude and appreciation: whether on Cabinet or Steering Committee or in any capacity for the good of the whole. The sacrifice represented in the efforts of those who have served us is remarkable in the extreme. To those who have stood with us as congregations, vestries, dioceses, colleagues, friends, confessors, intercessors, families and especially spouses we express a similarly vast thankfulness.

I began with words from the prophet Ezekiel. God is judging shepherds and is judging between sheep. His promise is to save His flock. His promise is that His sheep will no longer be a “prey,” either to unfaithful shepherds or to fat sheep (or to wolves). His servant David, our Lord Jesus Christ, is the true and trustworthy shepherd. We, in the Anglican Communion Network, propose to follow Him, even through the valley of the shadow of death. For Jesus is our Way, our Truth, our Life. We can do no other.

The concerns I have listed above do not diminish the respect and support I give to the Network and its leadership, of which I remain a member. My concerns, rather,derive from my desire that we hold our witness together, and that we do so in away that not only maintains but garners trust. We have a work and a witness we are called to do together,and I pray it is together that we do it.

But concerns are still concerns. From my own perspective, I cannot see any way through the current disputes and threatened divisions other than persistent and good-willed common counsel on the part of the Communion’s representative leaders done openly and with as wide a reach as possible. If Lambeth cannot meet and agree, then who will listen? If the Primates cannot meet and agree,in conjunction with Lambeth, nothing will be done together. If the ACC cannot consider and respond to the executive desires of the Primates, there will be no common following. If Primates do not take counsel and seek agreement with all their bishops, and bishops with all their dioceses, there is nothing but individual conscience and passion determining all things. And if, in all these things, the Scriptures of Christ are not placed at the center of prayer, discussion, and discernment, there is nothing about which to counsel that will bear the mark of the Spirit’s direction. And other than this last ”“ and most important! ”“ element, we already have the structures by which to carry through with such common decision-making, if we but discipline ourselves to submit ourselves to them in faith, hope, and love. Then perhaps we shall have made room to listen to the Word of God.

As I said, I believe these kinds of concerns need to be aired and debated openly, by those whose names are known, by those who have a stake in the outcome, and by the full gathering of those granted authority to take counsel and make decisions for the church. They should be debated, but they should also and even more be subjected to the wisdom of gathered representatives of our churches, and not pursued by one group or another regardless of the views and decisions of others. The Episcopal Church as a whole has been an egregious model of such brazen disregard, and the model is one to be rejected wholly and utterly.

It is not that the gathering together of traditional Anglicans in North America is not a worthy and evangelical goal. It is, and many of us would welcome and are willing to work for such a goal. The AMiA, for instance ”“ and one can say analogous things about other parties represented in Common Cause — has had for several years now a strong witness in evangelism and church-planting that is needed by all of us, and their full integration back into the Communion would prove a spiritual gift for mission that all of us need and that would do honor to the Gospel. But there are realities on the ground that require serious resolution for this to happen fruitfully, and that resolution requires the engagement of many parties and peoples in honest and common discussion on the basis of shared prayer and humble listening within the context of the Scriptures. What is one to do, for instance, of a long-standing lawsuit between a current Network bishop and a current AMiA bishop? How resolve the disagreements and even bitterness that exists between conservative bishops and AMiA plants and splits within their borders? What of the deep theological and ecclesiological differences that exist between many Network bishops and those of the AMiA, let alone other non-Network traditionalists? And this pertains to North America only, and has not yet touched on the divides and disagreements and misunderstandings that exist, on this matter, around the Communion, and with Lambeth in particular, where a trail of bitter denunciations cannot simply be papered over. It is not enough for this or that group to formulate position papers and declare their views and commitments apart from the whole (this includes the Network, ACI, Camp Allen, Common Cause or anyone else), and then to expect that these views will persuade or bear converting authority. The cause we have in common at present is the cause for common consultation, discernment,decision, and only then, action, so that our work “side by side” for the Gospel is founded on the “common mind” of the Church in Christ (Phil. 1:27).

Read it all.

The wonderful journal First Things has made available online the full version of a feature article by Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, the Primate of the Church of Uganda “What is Anglicanism?”

What Is Anglicanism?
by Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi

Copyright (c) 2007 First Things (August/September 2007).

Few would deny that the Anglican Communion is in crisis. The nature of that crisis, however, remains a question. Is it about sexuality? Is it a crisis of authority””who has it and who doesn’t? Have Anglicans lost their commitment to the via media, epitomized by the Elizabethan Settlement, which somehow declared a truce between Puritan and Catholic sentiments in the Church of England? Is it a crisis of globalization? A crisis of identity?

I have the privilege of serving as archbishop of the Church of Uganda, providing spiritual leadership and oversight to more than nine million Anglicans. Uganda is second only to Nigeria as the largest Anglican province in the world, and most of our members are fiercely loyal to their global communion. But however we come to understand the current crisis in Anglicanism, this much is apparent: The younger churches of Anglican Christianity will shape what it means to be Anglican. The long season of British hegemony is over.

The preface to the Book of Common Prayer states, “It is a most invaluable part of that blessed ”˜liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,’ that in his worship different forms and usages may without offense be allowed, provided the substance of the Faith be kept entire; and that, in every Church, what cannot be clearly determined to belong to Doctrine must be referred to Discipline.”

And yet, despite this clear distinction, contemporary Anglicans are in danger of confusing doctrine and discipline. For four hundred years Anglicanism represented both the theological convictions of the English Reformation and the culture of the Christian Church in Britain. The sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Anglican divines gave voice to both: English Reformation theology (doctrine) and British culture (discipline). The Anglican churches around the world, however, have ended the assumption that Anglican belief and practice must be clothed in historic British culture.

Take, for instance, the traditional Anglican characteristics of restraint and moderation. Are they part of doctrine, as Anglican theology, or discipline, as British culture? At the recent consecration of the fourth bishop of the Karamoja diocese, the preacher was the bishop of a neighboring diocese whose people have historically been at odds with the Karimajong (principally because of cattle rustling). At the end of his sermon, the preacher appealed for peace between the two tribes and began singing a song of peace. One by one, members of the congregation began singing. By the end of the song, the attending bishops, members of Parliament, and Karimajong warriors were all in the aisles dancing.

The vision of Christ breaking down the dividing walls of hostility between these historic rivals was so compelling that joy literally broke out in our midst. At that point in the service, I dare say, we were hardly restrained or moderate in our enthusiasm for the hope of peace given to us in Jesus Christ. Did we fail, then, in being Anglican in that moment? Was the spontaneity that overcame us a part of doctrine or of discipline? Surely, African joy in song and dance is an expression of discipline. Yet our confidence that the Word of God remains true, and our confidence that it transforms individuals and communities””all this is part of doctrine: the substance of the Faith that shall not change but shall be “kept entire.”

In the Church of Uganda, Anglicanism has been built on three pillars: martyrs, revival, and the historic episcopate. Yet each of these refers back to the Word of God, the ground on which all is built: The faith of the martyrs was maintained by the Word of God, the East African revival brought to the people the Word of God, and the historic ordering of ministry was designed to advance the Word of God.

So let us think about how the Word of God works in the worldwide Anglican Communion. We in the Church of Uganda are convinced that Scripture must be reasserted as the central authority in our communion. The basis of our commitment to Anglicanism is that it provides a wider forum for holding each other accountable to Scripture, which is the seed of faith and the foundation of the Church in Uganda.

Read it all.

Here is an excerpt from the Presidential address today by the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, to the Church of England General Synod:

As a church, we need to learn once again to become risk-takers, people who take risks for the Gospel, who take risks for Christ, who take risks in the service of God and one another. We have to take risks, in order to make the journey. We discover courage by doing courageous, God-like actions. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son”. An act at a particular time and place. It is the sin of the world that Christ takes away. Action!

So what are we afraid of? And what are the consequences of our fearfulness? The result of fear can be dangerous, fear itself can create its own risk. Because often when we’re reacting out of fear we don’t behave with courage and determination and grace, we become defensive, we behave badly.

And this Bad Behaviour doesn’t only afflict us as individuals but at every level, as churches, as nations. The language of fear has become the language of international relations; worldwide, a new book on terrorism is published every 6 hours!

Fear has begun to shape the minds and the decisions of those who take counsel for the nations. As Jim Wallis has noted, “The politics of fear can have disastrous results in both foreign and domestic policy. To name the face of evil in the brutality of terrorist attacks is good theology, but to say simply that they are evil and we are good is bad theology that can lead to dangerous politics. The threat of terrorism does not overturn Christian ethics.” It’s mercy, loving-kindness, deeds of mutual charity, reciprocal solidarity, walking in God’s ways of love and justice.

And our fear of terrorism can lead us to false conclusions about our Muslim neighbours.

The challenge we face isn’t about moderate Muslims versus so-called radicalised Muslims; the challenge is about Islam being used for quasi-political ends at whose heart is getting into paradise now by suicide bombing propelled by a hatred of the West and its way of life. Attempting to avenge past hurts by piling them on present problems.

Therefore the question is in fact about our discernment between those Muslims who, being loyal to the holy Qur’an, are dedicated to a vision of Allah who is merciful, holy and kind – in contrast to those who tendentiously make Allah vengeful, violent and merciless ”“ promising paradise now through acts of brutality and mass murder. In remaking God in their own image, they commit the ultimate act of blasphemy.

In the same way we Christians must beware of taking the holiness of God to imply that his wrath and judgement are out to destroy sinners instead of redeeming them, loving them and forgiving them. For those who follow the man of Galilee who was crucified, self-righteousness must die at his Cross. It’s from the Cross that the light of God shines forth upon the world in its fullest splendour. And as David Bosch has said (in Transforming Mission) “The Church is an inseparable union of the divine and the dusty.”

We are still human and the chorus to the song ”˜Anthem’ by the Canadian writer, Leonard Cohen reminds us that there can be a point to our lack of perfection:

“Ring the bells
That still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.”

We must resist the temptation to abandon Christian principles of justice to those who suggest that fear is a better teacher than Christ Himself. For us, the opposite of fear isn’t courage, but the gift of wisdom, knowledge, discernment and insight from the Holy Spirit.

Sin harms the individual believer. Heresy (the wrong understanding of God) harms the Church. Idolatry destroys both the believer and the Church and is the cause of both sin and heresy. Our mission, like that of Jesus, is to confront idolatry.

So, what are we afraid of? Are we afraid of the loss of identity? Of a diminished sense of who we are and what it means to be us? You might think so, given the amount of time our society at present devotes, in its public conversation, to the question of what it means to be British.

And as a church, are we afraid of the future? Are we afraid of change? Are we privately content with the comfortable certainties of decline?

Or are we afraid of the public square? Of the public conversation about faith and society, difference and identity? In a space which we once confidently thought belonged to us as of right, how do we preach the words of life afresh in our communities of diverse ethnicities, cultures and peoples of other faiths present; and in a generation that is sceptical, cynical, fearful?

The full text is here (Church of England website)

=======
Update: The audio of this speech is here:

I speak to you as the Primate of a separate and autonomous Province of the Anglican Communion; it is one which takes great pride in its distinctiveness, and yet also in being part of the Catholic Church, finding its particular expression through the Anglican inheritance which it received from the Church of England. So I speak to you as someone who both sees and upholds a proper independence for my Province, but one which is rooted also in connectedness; which could not survive in isolation, and which would never wish to do so.

There can be little doubt that I am speaking to you at a time of great tension within the Anglican Communion. The “bonds of affection” which once held our fellowship together are strained; indeed some would say broken. A state which has been described as “broken or impaired” already is declared between some of our Provinces. Suspicion is rife, as well as accusations of heresy, bad faith and of theological and ecclesiological innovation. Rumours abound that there are plots to carry forward in some provinces a bold agenda on gay marriage, and to require toleration of it across the Communion. Other rumours inform us that the primates are plotting to impose a “collective papacy” on the Anglican Communion. Bishops and archbishops are taking over the care of churches outside their own provinces; new jurisdictions are being erected and bishops are being consecrated and set up in a spirit of competition. People are taking up more and more extreme positions and then defending them; no matter how well founded or sincere the objections.

In the three years since the Windsor Report was published, positions across the Communion have, if anything, polarised and there is less trust now between different parties and between different provinces that there has been for a long time. Everyone claims to be the defender of the true spirit of Anglicanism, and to describe that spirit as orthodox, mainstream, comprehensive or inclusive. The language has become more strident, and quite frankly, scaremongering is commonplace.

In a situation which is becoming increasingly overheated, we need to hear a voice of calm. We need to identify the fundamentals that we share in common, and to state the common basis on which our mutual trust can be rebuilt.

This is essentially all that the covenant proposal is ”“ no more and no less. It is not intended to define some sort of new Anglicanism, or to invent some new model of authority, nor to peddle a narrow or exclusive view of what Anglicanism is. It is intended to state concisely and clearly the faith that we have all inherited together, so that there can be a new confidence that we are about the same mission.

The initial draft covenant text which has been prepared by the Design Group which I chair represents a first attempt to describe Anglicanism in a way which we intend to be true to the best and highest of all the Church of England and the other 37 provinces of the Anglican Communion, wish, under God, to be. But this first draft is the beginning of a process, and not its end: the text which exists now is only at the beginning of a long period of analysis and testing.

The draft which has been developed by the Covenant Design Group looks like this. In spite of some idiosyncratic numbering the draft falls into three main sections: first, a description of the common Anglican inheritance ( numbered section 2); second, a description of our common Anglican Mission ( numbered section 4); and third, a description of our Communion life ( numbered section 5). In each of these three sections the Design Group has sought to draft an affirmation of what is already inherited and agreed in the life of our Communion.

So Section 2 states the historic basis of Anglicanism, and draws largely for its words on either the Lambeth Quadrilateral or the Declaration of Assent used here in the Church of England.

Section 4 describes our Anglican vocation, using the Five Marks of Mission developed in the Communion by an Anglican commission on evangelism and mission building on the work of the Anglican Consultative Council and widely recognised across all Provinces.

Section 5 offers a description of the instruments of Communion which have developed over time in our common life, and sets out straightforwardly the way in which they function to support the life of the Communion.

In the Design Group, we hoped that we had done this task of description accurately and clearly. We believe that all Anglicans reading these affirmations should be able to recognise a statement in these sections of the Anglicanism which they have already been practising and living out in our 38 provinces.

From the basis of these affirmations, however, the text goes on to articulate three sets of commitments, which flow from the affirmations. These say basically:

Ӣ If this is the faith we have inherited, then we as Anglican churches commit ourselves to living out this faith together in a particular context of mutual respect and shared exploration (Section 3)
Ӣ If this is the mission with which we are charged, then this is the way we will engage in mission together (Section 4b)
Ӣ If these are the instruments of our common life, then this is the way we will use them in developing the Anglican Communion, and for each church to live up to its commitment of interdependence with the others.

I personally stand by the draft we have developed. But I already know from discussions at Dar-Es-Salaam in the Joint Standing Committee and amongst the primates themselves that there are points where we will be asked to look at our work again. Reservations centre largely on section 6 of the current draft, where the Design Group seeks to articulate the sort of commitments which arise out of an affirmation of the instruments of Communion.

The feeling amongst the primates for example, was that the role of the primates in this draft has been overemphasised and the voice of the laity under-represented. The Joint Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council and of the Primates felt similarly. It is a section that will clearly have to be revisited in detail.

And the intention is to take a very critical look at the draft in the light of comments received from the process of reflection and debate going on around the Communion. The task of the Design Group shall be to produce at least two more drafts in a process which is designed to listen to all the points made and which will finally meet the criteria that I set out earlier: that is to describe the Anglicanism that we already hold in common, as a basis for greater trust and less suspicion in the future. It is fundamentally based upon a vision where all 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion can meet as autonomous but independent equals, offering mutual accountability to our Anglican sisters and brothers on the clearly articulated basis of common expectations.

The need for such a common basis is pressing. I have no doubt that it would be lovely to go back to a day when we relied on no more than the affection generated by our mutual inheritance and care. But I’m afraid that those days have gone: at present, Anglican leaders are seriously wondering whether they can recognise in each other the faithfulness to Christ that is the cornerstone of our common life and co-operation. While some feel that there will be inevitable separation, others are trying to deny that there is a crisis at all. This is hardly a meeting of minds. Unless we can make a fresh statement clearly and basically of what holds us together, we are destined to grow apart. Do we Anglicans have a clear and shared identity? It is a question that our ecumenical partners are increasingly asking of us?

For decades, Anglicans have been wondering whether increasing diversity might force the Provinces apart, and asked what holds us together. The days of undefined affection are sadly over, yet this is also not a time when proposals which are brand new would win a broad consensus across the Communion. I believe that the Covenant can only succeed if it can accurately describe a sufficient basis to hold us together, and for us to want to stay together, based upon what we already hold and believe. This stresses the importance of getting the text of the covenant right.

I dismiss the idea that this represents somehow an attempt to chain any Province into submission before a powerful centralisation as a chimera: every Province I know, every Primate I know, values autonomy. But there is a real question as articulated by Archbishop Rowan: Can we recognise sufficient of our Anglican inheritance in each other to lead us to want to renew our commitment to live as a world communion?

Now I have also heard the opinion expressed that the idea of a covenant is alien to Anglicanism. I would not accept that charge.

First of all, we are a Covenant people. In his first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 11, Paul wrote: “ For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.” In so many ways, these words at the centre of our faith not only speak to us of the sacrifice of our Lord, and the celebration of the Eucharist which stands at the heart of every Christian community, but they also speak to us of God’s covenant with us.

That covenant is an unbreakable covenant, founded in God’s gracious attitude towards us. It is God who has called us to him: it is God who has made us his people. As it is written in the first epistle of Saint Peter: “Once you were no people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” When we talk about covenant in the Anglican Communion today, some people speak of it as if the concept is strange to our life. But I have to say that if we are Christians, Christian life is born in covenant, is nurtured in covenant, and finds its destiny in God’s covenant that he will bring us to eternal life. We are a covenant people.

We celebrate covenants in many contexts of our Christian life already ”“ in Holy Communion, in the baptismal covenant, and the covenant whenever two persons are joined in Holy Matrimony. We live and breathe as Christians in the context of covenant. In all these cases, covenant is the joyful embracing of a common life ”“ as members of the Church, as man and wife, as participants in the Body of Christ. Are we as Anglicans not able to be joyful any more about our interdependence in Christ?

Many Anglican churches have already covenanted with their ecumenical partners. The Church of England- Methodist covenant will be the subject of debate at this synod. If we can covenant with our ecumenical partners, and find enough in common to recognise a shared faith with them, it seems to me to be a pretty pass indeed if we Anglicans decide we cannot covenant with each other. (It may be said here that a clear statement of our Anglican identity would reassure our ecumenical partners that we know ourselves what our identity is!)

And if truth be told, there is some sense that we have been living by an implicit covenant together already; loosely based upon the Lambeth Quadrilateral. But these limits have never been quite so agreed and recognised. Even so, it was said in the 1920 Lambeth Conference:

“The Churches represented (in the Communion) are indeed independent, but independent within the Christian freedom which recognises the restraints of truth and love. They are not free to deny the truth. They are not free to ignore the fellowship.”

Today we are not being asked to commit the Church of England to any specific clauses of a covenant, nor to mortgage yourselves to any particular aspects that may appear in the current draft. We are still a long way from a definitive text, in a process which will need the sustained wisdom and feedback of all the Provinces and all the Instruments of Communion before it is mature. What I understand you are on this occasion to consider is this: Are you willing to engage in principle with a process which seeks to find a common basis for the Provinces of the Anglican Communion to move forward together?

I said at the beginning of this address that in the West Indies we are proud of our autonomy lived in communion. This is as it should be. It is true of every Province of the Anglican Communion, even if some of those Provinces struggle with poverty, illness and injustice. But we also value our relationship with you, our first Province, the Church of England. I very much hope that you will be able to express your care for us, and your valuing of us by saying that we have a future together; by affirming “Yes, let us explore what holds us together. Yes ”“ let us covenant to walk in a shared faith and shared hope ”“ in Communion, as surely God intends us to be.” After all, did not the Apostle Paul write that no-one can say of another member of the body: “I have no need of you”? (cf 1 Corinthians 12.21-23).

(From Anglican Mainstream)

I know Kendall already posted the link to this speech in his post on the passage of the Covenant resolution (2 entries below), but now having read Bp. Michael Nazir-Ali’s speech, I wanted to post it in full to ensure wide readership. The text is from Anglican Mainstream:

Bishop Michael Nazir Ali’s (Rochester) speech to synod on the Anglican Covenant.

I speak as the Chair of the House of Bishops Theological Group which has the task of preparing the response to the Draft Covenant sent out by the Primates.

I shall vote for this motion when the time comes. It seems to have some rules for living together and if a Covenant is to embody them, then so be it, even if the nature and extent of it have still to be determined. But a Covenant “imposed from above” will not answer every question we have about our Church and Communion.

The Church becomes ”˜church’ by the working out of the Faith ”˜once and for all delivered to the saints’ (Jude 3). Our common mindedness has to do with having the mind of Christ (Phil 2:5) and the Spirit, leading us into all truth, continually reminds us of the words and things of Jesus and glorifies him (John 15.26, 16: 12-15). The ministry of truth and unity is grounded squarely on the word of God (”˜Consecrate them in the truth, your word is truth’ John 17.17) said Jesus and such a ministry makes sure that the Apostolic Teaching is passed on from person to person, community to community and down the ages.

The self-organising power of the Gospel produces a truly evangelical church. Those who are called to preaching and teaching have the positive task of bringing the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) to their people. But they also have a negative task which is to maintain the Church in its indefectibility, so that the gates of hell do not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). They must make sure that the Church does not lose the core of the Gospel.

We have to ask, whether this ”˜self-organising power of the Gospel’ has ever been allowed full expression in the Anglican tradition. Philip Turner and Ephraim Radner, two American theologians, have said that Anglicans have always been compromised by ”˜unsanctified council’. Their Erastian tendencies have allowed the State and the culture to constrain the freedom of the Gospel in forming the Church. The tendency to capitulate to culture has been exported to other parts of the world. Both here and elsewhere the idea of the national Church has obscured the primacy of the local and the universal. But the logic of catholicity has also been retained and the question is now whether it will be allowed full expression in its own integrity.

Will the instruments of Communion be effective and united in their gathering and working? Will decisions made by the Primates be upheld or repudiated immediately afterwards? If the Lambeth Conference is not a council or synod of Bishops, what is it and why should anyone come to it? What kind of authority does it have? We are looking here not so much for juridical or legislative authority but for spiritual, doctrinal and moral. We should want our leaders to lead and for spiritual leaders to lead spiritually.

It may be that Anglicanism is not a confessional body but it certainly should be a confessing one: upholding, proclaiming and living the Apostolic Faith. Its weaknesses need to be recognised and it should be strengthened in its vocation. We are looking then for a covenant which will express the Apostolic Faith, enable us to come a common mind which is that of Christ, and free us to proclaim the good news of salvation to the world. The Covenant may be the first step in recovering our integrity, but it cannot be the last word.

Kendall was very quick to get out the news of Ruth Gledhill’s interview with Archbishop Peter Akinola, posting the news the evening of July 3rd. When we saw the post the following morning, we added the update indicating that there was more info available on Ruth Gledhill’s blog.

We never, however, mentioned that there were several video portions of Ruth’s interview with Archbishop Akinola available. So, for those who might have missed them, or might not have had time to watch them yet and would appreciate a reminder, here are the links:

The videos
Archbishop Akinola talks about Lambeth 2008 (6 minutes)
Dr Peter Akinola, Primate of Nigeria (4 minutes, he talks about his call to ministry)
Archbishop Peter Akinola and a threat of ritual sacrifice (2 minutes)

The articles
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article2026348.ece
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2007/07/peter-akinola-w.html

[thanks to Scott at Magic Statistics for the nice roundup post which reminded us about the videos]

Bishop Tony Burton of the Diocese of Saskatchewan in Canada has written his clergy following Canada’s General Synod. Here’s a key section:

We talked a lot at the General Synod about the implications of baptism, that Christ has grafted us into a whole new set of complicated relationships in his body to which we needed to respond. Nobody was in doubt that the body is fevered and disoriented at the moment. Our place in the Anglican Communion was never very far from our minds.

From one perspective this was a General Synod at which nothing happened””at least nothing of obvious consequence, blazing illumination or historic moment. The Synod tidied and tweaked and consolidated earlier initiatives, rekindled some old missionary loves, and decided, somewhat grudgingly, to give its troubled marriage to the Anglican Communion another chance. A few trial balloons were floated and referred away to committees. We elected an honorable man as Primate in a vote for continuity. We welcomed a new National Indigenous Bishop as a harbinger of good things to come but he had already been with us for a while and was already a much-loved member of the family. We had lunch with our Lutheran relatives. No nettles were grasped, no Rubicons were crossed, no sacred cows were slain, no blood was left on the floor, nobody stormed out.

In short, it was a miracle.

It takes only one match to begin a conflagration in a dry forest. [1] Our Communion has been drying out for a long time. In Winnipeg, we were all smokers, and a few of us lit up, but we went home with the old growth intact, hoping for rain.

This was a disappointment to many people for a variety of reasons. On the left and the right, there were plenty of people who wanted to witness the final rupture, the definitive apostasy, the moment of liberation, the beginning of a new world, clean and free from that bearded old wood.

It came close. After having passed a much-amended procedural motion which ended up stating the obvious (that same-sex blessings are not in the Creeds), the bishops defeated by two votes a motion to allow local dioceses to authorize the blessing of committed same-sex unions. Whether one agreed with this decision or not, there is no question that it bought time for the Anglican Church of Canada to find a way to walk together with the Anglican Communion. Encouragingly, from the beginning of this debate to the end of it, there was nothing but good will shown to Anglicans with same-sex attractions. Their full membership and inclusion in the Church, which derives from baptism, was simply not at issue.

Our condition as a Church and Communion remains grave. The doctors quarrel among themselves. We agree on neither diagnosis nor cure. Can the doctrine of Christ be separated like a yolk from its egg? Perhaps on our knees, in fear and trembling, in a theological environment galaxies away from the aridities of this present generation, but surely not by a vote of hands in a political forum.

The full letter is here.

From a July 5th entry on the Inclusive Church blog

The growing number of bishops created by African provinces for “pastoral oversight” in North America (and potentially in other provinces), the attempts to create a Covenant that defines Anglican doctrine and ethics, and the apparent intention to organise an alternative to the Lambeth Conference in London next year all point towards one thing. The strategy to destabilise the Anglican Communion is moving into another phase.

The creation by the provinces of Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria of extra-provincial Bishops is against the expressed wish of the Windsor Report and the post Lambeth ’98 process of listening and reconciliation. It is more evidence that the Primates of those provinces and their supporters in the US and Britain profoundly misunderstand the nature of the Communion. We very much regret that the Chair of the Covenant Design Group, the Archbishop of the West Indies, has welcomed these appointments.

Inclusive Church’s aim is to support and celebrate the traditional breadth and generosity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it has been received and passed on through Anglican history and lived out in the Communion. This creates challenges when there are fundamental disagreements. But the way to respond to disagreements is not to walk apart, nor to create separate structures, nor to seek to impose one particular point of view on the Communion. It is to engage, to communicate, to speak, to listen and to learn.

Clearly there are outstanding issues over how the Communion should respond to the reality that many Provinces include lesbian and gay Christians who live with partners in loving, faithful relationships. But the extraordinary way in which this issue has been allowed to dominate the life of the Communion over the past ten years is not coincidence.

There can be little doubt that the issue is being used by some, mainly conservative, Christians as a lever to try to change the Communion into something it is not; from a conciliar church into a confessional one. From a praxis-based Communion where the bonds between us are the bonds of fellowship and love to a codified Communion where exclusions are legally determined and legally enforced, and where the Communion defines itself not by who it includes but by who it excludes.

The Covenant process has been moved, by this group, away from its original intention which was to affirm the bonds of fellowship which exist. The way in which the draft was received by some at the Primates meeting in Tanzania is indication that, whatever the intention, it will be used to enforce a particular interpretation of the Scriptures to the detriment of the life of the Communion. We do not need a Curia, and the process of drafting a Covenant is already giving more power to the Primates than is justified by our history, by our life and by some of their actions to date.

The full text is here.

ACNS has posted the response of Dr. Idris Jones, the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, to the Glasgow airport terrorist attack.

You can read it here.

To: Clergy, Members of Diocesan Council and Standing Committee
From: The Rt. Rev. Geralyn Wolf
Re: The Rev. Dr. Ann Holmes Redding

As many of you know, The Rev. Dr. Ann Holmes Redding is an Episcopal priest who has recently professed her faith in Islam. Dr. Redding is canonically resident in the Diocese of Rhode Island, though she has not served here for over twenty years.

After meeting with her I issued a Pastoral Direction giving her the opportunity to reflect on the doctrines of the Christian faith, her vocation as a priest, and what I see as the conflicts inherent in professing both Christianity and Islam. During the next year she is not to exercise any of the responsibilities and privileges of an Episcopal priest or deacon. Other aspects of the Pastoral Direction will remain private.

I am sending this e-mail to you because the continued web-site coverage suggests that I be as clear as possible with those exercising leadership in our diocese.

====
Update: The Living Church has an article with the news here.

In spite of what Western church leaders fear, he has no ambitions to lead a breakaway church. “That has never been on my mind. This is the media thing. You see we have scripture. We have our traditions. We have not broken the law. It is your churches that are breaking the law. You are the ones breaking the rules. You are the ones doing what should not be done with impunity. We are saying you cannot sweep it under the carpet. Maybe in the past you could get away with it, but not any more. We have aged. So we are not breaking away from anybody. We remain Anglicans. We are Anglican Church. We will die Anglicans. We are going nowhere.”

Read it all.

UPDATE:
Ruth Gledhill has more on her blog

There have been so many statements about the various newly-elected bishops that they all seem to merge together. For the record, here are two new AAC statements of support:

AAC Supports Kenya’s Appointment of U.S.-based Bishop
AAC Enthusiastically Supports Ugandan Appointment of U.S.-based Bishops

And please, before some wag starts in trying to compare the level of enthusiasm in those two headlines, the first line of the Kenya statement says: The American Anglican Council (AAC) fervently applauds the sound decision by Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of the Anglican Province of Kenya in appointing a suffragan bishop…
So we can assure you. The support is enthusiastic for both actions. 😉

Earlier today we posted Bp. Terry Buckle’s (Yukon) clergy letter in response to the Canadian General Synod. One of our commenters very helpfully let us know that Felix Hominum blog is tracking other bishops’ statements.

Here’s the link: http://joewalker.blogs.com/felixhominum/2007/06/victoria-matthe.html

Bishop letters are posted for:
+ Victoria Matthews, Bishop of Edmonton
+Colin Johnson, Bishop of Toronto,
+Derek Hoskin, Bishop of Calgary,

Great work Joe. Thank you.

Scott at Magic Statistics blog has the full text of Abp. Terry Buckle’s post-General Synod letter to Yukon clergy. Here’s an excerpt:

There were resolutions dealing with the blessing of same sex unions. These resolutions brought about much debate from General Synod Delegates. A resolution was passed that stated:

“That this General Synod resolves that the blessing of same sex unions is not in conflict with the core doctrine, in the sense of being creedal, of the Anglican Church of Canada.”

However a resolution failed to be passed which stated:

“That this General Synod affirm the authority and jurisdiction of any diocesan synod, with the concurrence of its bishop, to authorize the blessing of committed same sex unions.”

Another resolution coming out of this discussion was passed in relation to the Marriage Canon of our church. This resolution as passed states:

“That this General Synod request the Council of General Synod to consider a revision of Canon 21 (On Marriage) including theological rationale to allow marriage of all legally qualified persons and to report back to General Synod 2010.”

The passing of these resolutions has now affirmed that the blessing of committed same sex unions is doctrine but not in conflict with the core or creedal doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada. This means that the blessing of committed same sex unions is considered doctrine of importance but not of the greater importance of creedal (core) doctrine: (Like the Divinity of Christ for example)

The above mentioned resolution that failed to pass has prohibited dioceses from proceeding at this time with the blessing of same sex unions.

The passing of the resolution on the revision of Canon 21 on Marriage has requested the Council of General Synod to consider a revision of the Marriage Canon and to provide a theological rationale to allow marriage of all legally qualified persons. The Council of General Synod is to report back to General Synod 2010.

The resulting consequence of the voting results of these resolutions leaves many with a sense of confusion and uncertainty as we seek to keep together and work together as a church over the next three years until General Synod 2010. Our church is hurting, it feels torn, people are weary of the matter and in the days ahead we will see how the rest of the Anglican Communion reacts to these resolutions of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Read the full letter at Magic Statistics

In response to the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Honourable Rowan Williams, inviting the bishops to the Lambeth Conference 2008, the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church of Rwanda, who met in Kigali on 19 June 2007, resolved not to attend the Lambeth Conference for the following reasons:

1. Our Primates represent the bishops, clergy and laity from their Provinces. Therefore what they decide as representatives cannot be taken lightly when it engages the faith of the churches they represent. The invitations to Lambeth 2008 have been issued in complete disregard of our conscientious commitment to the apostolic faith once delivered.

2. The manner in which the invitations to the bishops of Rwanda were issued is divisive as some of our bishops were not invited. The bishops that provide oversight to the Anglican Mission (AMiA) are not “Anglican Mission bishops,” but rather bishops of the Province of Rwanda given the responsibility to lead Rwanda’s missionary outreach to North America. We are a united body and will not participate in a conference which would divide our number.
3. The invitations to Lambeth 2008 not only contravene the Lambeth 1998 Resolution 1.10 but also the positions taken in the communiqués that have been agreed upon in previous Primates’ meetings and in the “Road To Lambeth” document prepared for and accepted by the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) bishops.

The following are issues of great concern:

1. This Lambeth 1998 Resolution has not been respected by the Episcopal Church of America (TEC), the Anglican Church of Canada, and other like-minded Provinces, which are now violating the resolution as well as holy orders by making the decision to ordain and to consecrate practicing homosexuals.
2. The leadership of Canterbury has ignored and constantly taken lightly the resolutions from the Primates’ meetings and the statement in the “Road to Lambeth” document prepared for, and accepted by, CAPA which agreed that the crisis of faith in the Anglican Communion needed to be resolved before Lambeth 2008.
3. From his actions and decision to invite TEC, a province which is violating holy orders, biblical teaching and the tradition of the church, and his decision not to invite the bishops of AMiA and CANA, the Archbishop of Canterbury has shown that he has now taken sides because the Primates have asked TEC for repentance in order to be in communion with them. In several meetings and in its response to “The Road to Lambeth”, TEC has continually rebelled against the position and counsel of the Primates.
4. In a letter sent to Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini on 18 June 2007, the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote, “You should know that I have not invited the bishops of AMiA and CANA. This is not a question of asking anyone to disassociate themselves at this stage from what have been described as the missionary initiatives of your Provinces”¦. I appreciate that you may not be happy with these decisions, but I feel that as we approach a critical juncture of the life of the Communion, I must act in accordance to the clear guidance of the instruments of the Communion”¦.” We would like to know if there are instruments in the Communion more important than the Primates and Provinces themselves. The Archbishop of Canterbury also refers to the consecration of the AMiA and CANA bishops as irregular. We would like to know why their consecrations are considered irregular when the actions of TEC are not considered irregular. We feel that the words of the Archbishop are tantamount to a threat, and we cannot accept this.

Therefore, in view of the above, in good conscience, the bishops of the Province of the Episcopal Church of Rwanda have resolved not to attend the Lambeth Conference 2008 unless the previously stipulated requirement of repentance on the part of the TEC and other like-minded Provinces is met, and invitations are extended to our entire House of Bishops.

These Resolutions are from the Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Sydney, held in the Chapter House of St Andrew’s Cathedral from 6.00pm to 10.00pm, Monday 25th June

1. Consecration of Canon Bill Atwood
Canon Atwood is well known to and respected by many diocesan leaders in Sydney. He was a friend to many during the episcopate of Archbishop Harry Goodhew; he has maintained these relationships since the election of Archbishop Peter Jensen and is especially highly regarded and respected by Archbishop Jensen.
The Standing Committee voted as follows:

“Standing Committee requests the Diocesan Secretary to inform the Rev Canon Dr Bill Atwood of the deep pleasure of the Diocese of Sydney at the news of the announcement by Archbishop Nzimbi, Primate of Kenya, of the forthcoming consecration of Dr Atwood as Suffragan Bishop of All Saints’ Cathedral Diocese, Nairobi on 30 August 2007. We assure Dr Atwood of our continuing prayer for his ministry as he supports Kenyan clergy and congregations in North America.”

2. Invitations to Lambeth.

Being aware that Archbishop Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney, and his five Regional Bishops – The Rt Rev Robert Forsyth, Bishop of South Sydney; The Rt Rev Glenn Davies, Bishop of North Sydney; The Rt Rev Peter Tasker, Bishop of Liverpool; The Rt Rev Ivan Lee, Bishop of Western Sydney; and The Rt Rev Alan Stewart, Bishop of Wollongong -had all received personal invitations from Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury to attend the Lambeth Conference to be held in 2008;
and also being aware that Archbishop Williams had requested a reply to the invitation by 23 July, 2007,
Standing Committee engaged in a lengthy discussion about Lambeth 2008 with the Archbishop and Bishops of the Diocese.

Archbishop Jensen commenced the discussion by commenting on the present situation of the Anglican Communion as he observed it and the implications of the invitation to most Bishops in the Episcopal Church, including those who had agreed to or participated in the consecration of the Bishop of New Hampshire, but excluding Bishop Gene Robinson and also Bishop Martyn Minns.

In response to the discussion, the Standing Committee resolved the following advice to the Archbishop and Bishops:

“Standing notes that disregarding the clear requests of many bishops, the Archbishop of Canterbury has issued invitations to attend the Lambeth Conference in 2008 to the bishops of the Episcopal Church of the USA who agreed to and/or participated in the consecration of the Bishop of New Hampshire.

“Standing Committee therefore –
(a) respectfully requests the Archbishop of this diocese to communicate to the Archbishop of Canterbury our dissatisfaction at the attempt to maintain union with the unrepentant while continuing to refuse fellowship to faithful and orthodox Anglicans such as the Church of England in South Africa,

(b) respectfully requests the Archbishop and bishops of this diocese not to accept the invitation to Lambeth without making public in protest, speech and liturgical action, both prior to and at Lambeth, our diocese’s principled objection to the continued participation of those whose actions have expressed a departure from the clear teaching of scripture, and who have consequently excluded orthodox Anglicans from their fellowship, and

(c) respectfully requests the Archbishop and bishops of this diocese to approach other orthodox bishops of the communion with the purpose of meeting in England at the time of the Lambeth Conference for Christian fellowship and the planning of joint action within the Anglican Communion to contend for the faith of the Apostles once delivered to the saints.”

The Archbishop supports the decision of the Province of Kenya to provide resident Episcopal oversight for the clergy and congregations in the United States who placed themselves under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Kenya after they had arrived at the conclusion that the Episcopal Church no longer offered them the assurance of continuity with “The faith once delivered to the saints.” The provision of adequate pastoral care and episcopate oversight constitutes a deliberate and intentional effort to provide stability in an environment in which Anglicanism is being severely tested and challenged.

The Primates of the Communion at their meeting in Tanzania in February produced a communion response to the embattled state of Anglicanism in the United States in their offer of a provisional pastoral arrangement which provided space for the participation of all the major Anglican entities in the United States. Unfortunately, the unanimous offer of the Primates was rejected by the House of Bishops and the Executive Committee of the Episcopal Church. In the face of this unequivocal rejection, the Instruments of Communion must determine the most appropriate response to this unfortunate spectacle of a fragmented Anglicanism within the United States of America.

In this context, the decision of the Province of Kenya signals a willingness on the part of that Province to act responsibly to provide care for persons already under its jurisdiction. In addition, the selection of the Rev’d. Canon Bill Atwood as Suffragan Bishop is highly commendable. Canon Atwood is well suited for this particular ministry given his long association with Kenya and some of the other Provinces in CAPA and his unquestionable knowledge and appreciation of the ecclesial situation in the United States.

Finally, the willingness of the Province of Kenya to collaborate with the other orthodox Anglicans in the United States could serve the point towards a creation of a viable, stable and orthodox Anglican presence in the United States.

Certainly one of the most difficult items for our discernment will be the question of how to proceed on the issue of same-gender relationships. Related to it are other questions. One is the deeper question of how Anglicans receive and understand Scriptures in the light of modern scholarship and contemporary experience. Another is how our decisions will impact our sister churches in the Anglican Communion. And beside that is a question as to the nature of the Communion, and the appropriate relationship between provincial autonomy and global interdependence.

Another way of putting that is, how do we wish authority to be exercised or limited within our family of churches? And perhaps most important, how will our decisions witness to the Good News of God in Jesus Christ for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters within the Church and outside it. There are of course many other questions to consider in the hard work of discernment over this issue. We are taught that the first principle of moral theology is obedience to conscience, and I ask each of you to embrace that principle, and with it the ethic of respect for the conscience of those who disagree with your own. The second principle of moral theology is to inform your conscience to bring it, if possible, into line with the teaching of the Church. And here careful listening using the Anglican approach of Scripture, Tradition and Reason will be helpful.

At the end of the day, when decisions are made, they will not be unanimous. Differences will remain, but the unanimous opinion of the Theological Commission (and of many other sources) is that the question of same-gender blessings should not be a communion breaking issue. So the alternative to that is that in keeping with a long Anglican tradition, we make room at the table for those whose views we do not share. For the table is the Lord’s and not our own. And it is He who invites us to share the life that is offered there for the sins of the whole world.

Read it all.

The adversarial relationship between this Diocese and the leadership of The Episcopal Church was
exacerbated by two decisions made by the Executive Council of TEC at its meeting last week.

I. The Council’s refusal to participate in the Pastoral Scheme developed by the Dar es Salaam Primates’
Meeting has deepened our sense of alienation from TEC. Instead of “waging reconciliation,” the Council
has failed to respond to the expressed needs of those dioceses appealing for Alternative Primatial
Oversight, pushing us further apart from TEC. They have claimed that the Pastoral Council proposal
violates the polity of TEC, but they have been unable to substantiate this by citing any constitutional or
canonical provisions to that effect.

II. Claiming an authority that our polity does not give, the Council has declared certain amendments to
our Diocesan Constitution “null and void.” To this, we respond, first, that it is not within the scope of
duties assigned to the Executive Council to render findings as to the legality or constitutionality of
actions by the several dioceses of The Episcopal Church; and second, that resolutions adopted by the
Council, or even by the General Convention, are non-binding. Therefore, this resolution is nothing more
than an opinion expressed by those individuals who issued the statement. It is itself “null and void“ ”“
unenforceable and of no effect. This action is another example of the heavy-handed tactics being used by
those who do not have the right to interfere in the internal constitutional process of the dioceses.
While the Council’s resolutions on a range of subjects may excite debate, that does not guarantee their
opinions are consistent with the Faith, the law of the land, or the Constitution of The Episcopal Church,
much less that they establish precedent. That the Council would attempt to interfere now, nearly 20 years
after this diocese first amended its Constitution, is evidence of an illegitimate magisterial attitude that
has emerged in the legislative function of TEC. Sadly, the one thing the resolution does show is that there
is no desire on the part of the Council for reconciliation with those alienated by the recent actions of
General Convention.

The Council’s threats may continue, but we will continue to stand for the historic biblical faith and our
Lord Jesus Christ’s call to extend His Kingdom. We regret that a further deterioration in our relationship
with TEC has been effected by these decisions.

The Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker
Bishop of Fort Worth

The Very Rev. Ryan S. Reed
President, Standing Committee
June 19, 2007

I am extremely pleased that the Anglican Church of Kenya has named Canon Bill Atwood as a Bishop Suffragan. Bill has served as my chaplain and is therefore well known to me both as a colleague and a good friend. He is a Christian priest of character and faithful service. In the painful circumstances of the Anglican Communion I deeply appreciate the bonds which link many primates together. I welcome the prospect of congregations under my care and protection working more closely with those of Kenya and other provinces. In the absence of even a tiny indication of willingness from the Episcopal Church to address the crisis, those who wish to remain orthodox within the US cannot be abandoned. Collaboration among Provinces working in the States and the Network is helping build a unified future for those who share the historic Biblical faith.

–The Most Rev. Gregory Venables is Primate of the Southern Cone

From a diocesan press release:

I am delighted with the news today from the Primate of Kenya that my good friend and colleague, Canon Bill Atwood, is to be consecrated as a missionary bishop and will be ministering to those here in the States who have been alienated from The Episcopal Church in recent years. He has the heart of an evangelist and has been the key, pivotal figure in the realignment of worldwide Anglicanism.

The rejection of the Dar es Salaam proposed pastoral scheme by the TEC House of Bishops will lead to further extraordinary efforts such as this to extend episcopal care to faithful Anglicans who believe they have no alternative but to separate from the church they have loved and served for so many years.

God bless Bishop-elect Atwood and this exciting new ministry.

The Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker
Bishop of Fort Worth

from the Anglican Communion Network website

The leadership of the Anglican Communion Network welcomed news that the Anglican Province of Kenya has elected The Rev. Canon Bill Atwood Suffragan Bishop of the All Saints Cathedral Diocese in Nairobi. Among other duties, Bishop-elect Atwood will be initially supporting Kenyan clergy and congregations in North America. He joins Bishop Bill Cox of the Southern Cone as another domestic bishop cooperating in ministry with the Network, which has strong links with many international congregations under overseas jurisdiction through its International Conference. The Network welcomes Archbishop Nzimbi’s actions which also support its “Biblical, Missionary and Uniting” work.

“Anglicans around the world continue to make clear their support for Christ-centered Anglicanism in America in both their words and their actions. We are deeply thankful for this step by the Anglican Church of Kenya. As Archbishop Nzimbi said in his announcement, Canon Atwood’s election and consecration is ”˜part of a broader and coordinated plan with other provinces,’ to provide unity and pastoral care for those who have left or been forced out of The Episcopal Church,” said Bishop Robert Duncan, moderator of the Network.

The Anglican Communion Network remains committed to its International Conference representing parishes in relationship with the provinces of Kenya, Uganda, Southern Cone, and Central Africa as it also remains committed to working with its partners in CANA, AMiA and the broader Common Cause Partnerships. Following its mission to be a uniting force in the ongoing Anglican realignment, the Network continues to build relationships among all faithful Anglicans, those that have left the Episcopal Church and those within.

The full text is here (including Abp. Nzimbi’s letter)

From here:

I have received news of the proposed consecration of Canon Bill Atwood as Suffragan Bishop of All Saints Cathedral Diocese, Nairobi, in the Anglican Church of Kenya, to serve Kenyan related congregations in North America. Canon Atwood has worked tirelessly throughout the Communion for the sake of the Gospel and is well known to many of us in the Church of Nigeria.

This action demonstrates a growing recognition by Anglican provinces in Africa that the situation in North America continues to deteriorate because of the intransigence of the leadership of The Episcopal Church. This was made most evident by the response of their House of Bishops to the carefully crafted Primates’ Dar es Salaam Communiqué. We cannot sit quietly by while those who continue steadfastly in the ”˜faith once delivered to the saints’ are denied adequate pastoral care and made the targets of pernicious lawsuits.

We look forward to working with Archbishop Nzimbi, Bishop-elect Atwood and this new pastoral initiative from the Anglican Church of Kenya. We pledge our ongoing prayers and enthusiastic support and cooperation through CANA ”“ a missionary initiative of the Church of Nigeria already established in North America.

It should be noted that there are now more than 250 congregations in North America related to Global South provinces through a growing number of missionary and pastoral initiatives.

Our heartfelt desire continues to be that the Anglican Communion will find a way to move forward together. This can only happen, however, with a Common Faith lived out within the context of an agreed Communion discipline. We continue to pray that The Episcopal Church will heed the call to repentance and make a positive response to the request of the Primates’ in Dar es Salaam.

We continue to offer our prayers for all leaders in the Communion during these challenging times.

Signed

+Peter Abuja

June 13, 2007

From the Anglican Church of Uganda:

Statement from the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi,
Archbishop of the Church of Uganda

The Church of Uganda welcomes the announcement of the consecration of The Revd Canon Dr. Bill Atwood as Suffragan Bishop of All Saints Cathedral Diocese in the Anglican Church of Kenya. Canon Atwood is a long time friend and partner of the Church of Uganda. In these difficult days in the Communion, we recognize that measures must be taken to provide for the care of those orthodox Anglicans in America who remain faithful to the Bible.

The Most Rev. Benjamin Nzimbi, Primate of Kenya, has announced he will consecrate the Rev. Canon Bill Atwood as a suffragan bishop to oversee the U.S.-based congregations of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK).

The Aug. 30 consecration of Canon Atwood as “Suffragan Bishop of All Saints’ Cathedral Diocese, Nairobi” is “part of a broader and coordinated plan with other provinces,” Archbishop Nzimbi said on June 12, to “support the international interests of the Anglican Church of Kenya, including support of Kenyan clergy and congregations in North America.”

An undisclosed number of Global South primates are expected to participate in Canon Atwood’s consecration in Nairobi and are expected to work with the Kenyan Church in forming a “North American Anglican Coalition.”

The coalition will “provide a safe haven for those who maintain historic Anglican faith and practice, and offer a way to live and work together in the furtherance of the gospel,” the statement said.

Read it all.

Update: The Telegraph also has an article. Readers are cautioned not to leap to conclusions, to think for themselves, to sift through the evidence, and to consider multiple sources when a situation like this “breaks”–KSH.

A further Update: the following is in the morning email:

FROM THE ARCHBISHOP OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF KENYA

RE: CONSECRATION OF THE REVD. CANON DR. BILL ATWOOD AS SUFFRAGAN BISHOP ON THURSDAY 30TH AUGUST, 2007

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ.

God in His mercy has granted us a great salvation in Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit. The foundations of that faith have been celebrated and shared through many centuries and cultures. In particular, we rejoice in the godly Christian heritage of this faith that we have received in the Anglican Communion.

Now, the fabric of the Anglican Communion has been torn by the actions of The Episcopal Church. The damage has been exacerbated by the failure of the House of Bishops there to provide for the care called for in the Windsor Report and to reject the Pastoral Council offered through the Primates in their Communiqué from Dar es Salaam.

Tragically, the Episcopal Church has refused to provide adequate care for the faithful who continue steadfastly in “the faith once delivered to the saints.” Following months of consultation with other provinces, the Anglican Church of Kenya is taking steps to provide for the care of churches under our charge.

As a part of a broader and coordinated plan with other provinces, the ACK will consecrate The Revd Canon Dr. Bill Atwood as Suffragan bishop of All Saints Cathedral Diocese, Nairobi of the ACK to support the international interests of the Anglican Church of Kenya, including support of Kenyan clergy and congregations in North America.

Our goal is to collaborate with faithful Anglicans (including those in North America who are related with other provinces). A North American Anglican Coalition can provide a safe haven for those who maintain historic Anglican faith and practice, and offer a way to live and work together in the furtherance of the Gospel.

Yours sincerely,
The Most Rev. Rev. Benjamin Nzimbi
ARCHBISHOP OF KENYA &
BISHOP OF ALL SAINTS CATHEDRAL DIOCESE

Turning now to a concern that is weighing heavily upon many of us, bringing with it great anxiety and confusion. As we all know, the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion is going through a very difficult time right now. It is easy to get caught up in the belief that this is unique to our generation. Unfortunately, as you study Church history, you will discover that the Church in every generation has had it trials and struggles. The issues might change, but the attack doesn’t.

My brothers and sisters, we are in the midst of a major spiritual war, one that has been raging ever since the fall. Knowing our vulnerability to SEX and MONEY, Satan is using these two areas of our lives to bring division and chaos into the Church, causing us to take our attention off the mission of the Church, and redirect it to attacking one another, dividing and weakening the Church. As Jesus himself said, a house divided against itself cannot stand.

If the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion are to survive, it is essential that we recognize what Satan is up to, and stop cooperating with his battle plan. I am all too aware of the great diversity in theological views concerning the appropriateness or inappropriateness of homosexual behavior in the Church today. Emotions are raging on both sides of the issue, and as a result, Satan is succeeding in turning what once were friends into enemies of one another. As a lifelong Episcopalian and Anglican, my heart is grieving over what I see happening to the Church.

Ultimately, each one of us will have to decide how we are to respond to Satan’s attack, and that is exactly what it is ”“ Satan’s Attack. We can cooperate with his battle plan and continue to rip ourselves apart, OR we can focus our attention on Christ, joining in His prayer, that We may be ONE, as He and the Father are ONE. In so doing, I am not suggesting that we compromise our faith, but rather that we keep Christ and the mission of the Church as our central focus, as we work through our differences, seeking God’s will in all that we do.

It is only in and through Christ that we can be one with one another and one with the Father. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father, but though me. It is for that reason, that we must keep our focus on Christ, and not be distracted by the storm that brews around us. When Peter stepped out of the boat, in response to our Lord’s call, he did the impossible ”“ he walked on water. It wasn’t until he took his eyes off of Christ and focused on the wind and the waves around him, that he began to sink. Focused on Christ, we can walk through the current storms threatening the Church, apart from Christ, we will sink.

As your Bishop and brother in Christ, I am asking each of you to join me as we move forward, and ask, “What would Jesus do?” in determining how best to address and deal with the issues before us and those who disagree with us. He will guide and direct us, if we humble ourselves and trust him and are obedient to his command ”“ “Love one another, as I have loved you.” I caution us not to become pharisaical in our dealings with one another. As we heard in this evenings passage from Luke, it is easy to fall into the trap of pointing out the sins of our neighbor, while conveniently ignoring our own sins. While we are busy condemning others, the Lord is reaching out in love to those very same people, inviting them into relationship with Him, ministering to them, healing them and giving them His peace.

We are Episcopalians and we are Anglicans, but first and foremost we are Christians. It is my hope and prayer, that by the grace of God, everyone of us will be able to continue to serve our Lord and His Church as Episcopalians and Anglicans. I pray that the Lord will cleanse and purify His Church of anything that is not of Him, and strengthen and bless that which is of Him.

As many of you know the House of Bishops will be meeting in September. High on the agenda will be the Bishops’ response to the Tanzania communiqué from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates concerning the Episcopal Church and the Windsor Report. The Archbishop has accepted the House Of Bishop’s invitation to join them in September. I will be at that meeting and will participate in all the discussions. The Diocese of Albany has been a strong conservative voice in the larger Church, upholding the traditional and orthodox teachings of the Church. We will continue to do so. At the same time, by God’s grace, I will work to ensure that every parish in our Diocese is welcoming and loving to ALL people, reaching out and ministering to everyone who seeks God’s love and a closer relationship with Christ.

I ask your prayers that the Holy Spirit will be present at the HOB meeting in a mighty and powerful way, and that He will guide and direct all conversation and all actions taken by the House of Bishops. I pray the Holy Spirit will guide and direct the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates as well, in their response to the Episcopal Church.

If the Episcopal Church or the Wider Anglican Communion takes any action that would threaten our continued relationship with either, then I will call for a Special Convention of the Diocese to come together as a Diocese to deal with whatever confronts us. It is my hope and prayer that there will never be a need to do so. This Diocese since its founding in 1868 has always been part of the Episcopal Church and as such has always been part of the Anglican Communion. We need one another and by the grace of God will always be part of one another. I hereby call upon the House of Bishops and the Archbishop of Canterbury and all the Primates of the Anglican Communion to heed the Lord’s call as revealed in II Chronicles 7:14 ”“ “”¦if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” God have mercy on us, if we choose any other path.

(The full text is below).

The 139th Annual Convention of the Diocese of Albany

Bishop’s Address By
The Rt. Rev. William H. Love, D.D.

My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ ”“ Welcome! The 139th Annual Convention of the Diocese of Albany is now in session. Let us pray. (BCP pg 818).

By the end of this weekend, we will have approx. 900 faithful men, women and children join us for the Convention, workshops and Youth Rally, in addition to several hundred more for tomorrow’s ordination service, representing each of the 122 parishes and summer chapels, located throughout the 19 counties or 20,000 square miles that make up the Episcopal Diocese of Albany.

In addition, we are blessed to have several special guests with us from outside the Diocese. Please join me as we welcome:

n The Rt. Rev. Bruce MacPherson, Bishop of Western Louisiana, President of Province VII and President of the Counsel of Advice to the Presiding Bishop. Bishop MacPherson will be the guest Preacher at Saturday’s Ordination Service.

n Ms. Christy Speer, Vice President North America Equipping for Crown Financial Ministries. Ms. Speer is one of our keynote speakers and will be addressing the Convention a little later this evening following my address.

n Also with us from Crown Financial Ministries, is Mr. John Harper, District Director of the Northeast Seaboard. Mr. Harper will be leading several workshops, sharing Crown Financial Ministries with us.

n A dear friend of mine, Mrs. Edwina Thomas, National Director of SOMA (Sharing of Ministry Abroad) will address the Convention tomorrow morning on the ministry of Mission. In addition, she will also be speaking to the kids.

n The Rev. Dr. Grant LeMarquand and his wife, Dr. Wendy LeMarquand, will be joining us. Fr. LeMarquand is the New Testament Professor and Acting Academic Dean of Trinity Episcopal School For Ministry. He will be leading two Bible Meditations this weekend during morning prayer, as well as teaching a Bible workshop with his wife.

n The guest speaker at this year’s Youth Rally is Pastor Adam McLane, Associate Pastor of Romeo Church, Romeo, Michigan, and President of Youth Ministry Exchange. He will be teaching and ministering to our middle and senior high kids this weekend and will be the guest preacher at Sunday’s Youth Rally.

n As most of you know, for the last several years we have been greatly blessed to have Bishop Harold and Liz Miller with us from our sister diocese, the Diocese of Down and Dromore, in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, Bishop Harold had another engagement that he was not able to change and is therefore not able to be here for the Convention, but will be visiting the Diocese later this summer. In the meantime however, we are most blessed to have a few of our friends here visiting from Down and Dromore: The Rev. Rodric West and his wife, Joan, The Rev. Simon Richardson, and Philip Holland, a lay person from Port ”“ A – Down.

n Last, but not least, it my honor to welcome back, the Rev. Cecil Wilson, the head of the Church Mission Society “CMS” Ireland, and his assistant, David Gough. This will be Cecil’s last time with us in his current capacity as head of CMSI due to retirement. Cecil on behalf of the Diocese of Albany, we want to thank you for your years of faithful ministry throughout the world and especially your helping us to reach out to our Christian brothers and sisters in the Sudan.

I would also like to extend a special welcome to Bishop Ball, retired Bishop of Albany, and to Mother Miriam and the Sisters of St. Mary. As always, we are blessed by your presence and your prayers. We also welcome our two Assistant Chancellors, Tom Bell and Raymond Dague. Thank you for your wise counsel.

In addition, I feel very blessed to have my wife Karen, and our daughter Catie with us this weekend. Unfortunately, our son Chris, is away on an Air Force ROTC commitment and can’t be here. As many of you know, Karen has served our nation proudly for 27 years in the Air Force and Air National Guard. As a result of all the changes in our life this past year, she has decided that it is now time to retire from the military and return to teaching. While not officially retiring until November, she will step down at the end of the summer as Mission Support Commander at the 109th ANG Base, in order to begin teaching high school math at Hadley Luzerne in September. Please join me in thanking Karen and all the brave men and women who have and continue to serve our Nation in the military, fighting to protect our freedom.

Canon Bob Haskell and Margaret, would you please stand. As most of you know, I have asked Fr. Haskell to serve as my Canon to the Ordinary. He has taken on most of the ministries previously carried out by Bishop Bena, minus those duties unique to the episcopate, and is doing a superb job. In addition to Fr. Haskell, Margaret is a also a real blessing to me and the Diocese. She is one of our chief volunteers, helping out a couple of days each week in the Diocesan office and with a variety of other things. Fr. Bob, and Margaret, we thank and appreciate you!

At the recent Sunday School and Religious Ed. Conference, Mother Laurie Garramone-Rohr, who did an excellent job by the way along with her dedicated team, stressed the importance of saying “Thank You,” something we often fail to do enough of. Inspired by her example, I would like to take a few moments this evening to say thank you to some extraordinary folks throughout the Diocese.

First, I would like to say a very special thank you to three highly gifted ladies, without whom this Convention Weekend would never have been possible. Carol Drumond, Convention Coordinator, and her assistants Micki Thomas and Sue Ellen Ruetsch Workshop Coordinator, have been instrumental in planning, organizing and carrying out hundreds of details involved in putting on this weekend. Fr. Shaw Mudge, Secretary of the Diocese, also played a key role in organizing the business aspects of the Convention. Stephen Hasslacher designed the Convention Logo. You did a great job. As hard as they all worked, they didn’t do it alone. Would everyone who has any part in organizing, planning or carrying out the various aspects and ministries of the Convention please stand. Thank You for all that you have done.

If I could ask all the Diocesan Staff, both South Swan Street and the Spiritual Life Center, (paid and volunteers), to please stand. We are blessed to have a very dedicated, hard working, committed and professional staff, working day in and day out, often behind the scenes carrying out and supporting the administration, business and ministry of the Diocese. Canon Jerry Carroll and all the folks at South Swan Street and Canon Matt Baker and his staff at The Spiritual Life Center are all doing an outstanding job. It is with great joy, that I report to you, that the Audit for 2006 is complete and without exception ”“ meaning everything was found to be in order with no mistakes. Loren, Kriss, Carol, and Joan, you are to be commended for an outstanding job. Thank you and all the staff for all your hard work, tireless dedication, and sacrificial giving of yourselves in so many ways. You are a blessing to all of us in the Diocese.

I would like to say a special thank you to Canon George Marshall for his valuable work as editor of The Albany Episcopalian and as Administrator of Episcopal Charities. Special thanks also goes to Maggie Hasslacher and Chris Copeland for their excellent work in the various other diocesan publications and communications, not to mention the multitude of other duties and responsibilities. Chris’ ministry and that of his staff, to the young people in our Diocese is such a blessing. Thank you.

Just a note concerning one of our modes of communication, the PDU or Priest and Deacon Update, while it started out as just that, it now reaches beyond the priests and deacons. As such, the PDU is going to be renamed the Diocesan Update. If you are not already receiving the PDU and would like to start getting the Diocesan Update, please contact Maggie at the Diocesan Office.

Would the ordinands please join me on the stage. It is my honor to introduce the soon to be newest transitional deacons in the Diocese of Albany: Jacqueline Jones, Teri Monica, Bruce Mason, Tom Ortung, and Beau Wagner. They will be ordained tomorrow afternoon, as transitional deacons. Thank you for all your hard work and obedience in answering God’s call to the ordained ministry. May God use you mightily in His service and always to His glory.

Please bear with me, for there are several other folks who need to be recognized and honored this evening.

Would all the priests of the Diocese and those licensed to serve in the Diocese, please stand. Thank you for joining me in serving as pastors, priests and teachers, loving and caring for the people of this Diocese, preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments.

Would all the deacons of the Diocese please stand. Thank you for joining me as fellow servants of the Lord, sharing the Gospel and ministering to the needs of God’s people. I give thanks for your strong witness and example.

Would all the clergy spouses and children of the clergy please stand. I know all too well the demands placed upon you and your families. Thank you for your patience when family events get changed because of pastoral emergencies, and for all the sacrifices you make on behalf of the Church and for your strong witness in the community.

Would all the members of the Standing Committee, Trustees, Diocesan Council, Commission on Ministry, CTK Oversight Committee, DDF Committee, Great Chapter, and any other Diocesan Committees that I failed to mention, please stand. Thank you for giving of your time and talent, not only in your parishes, but at the diocesan level.

Would all the church wardens, vestry members, treasurers, clerks of the vestry, parish secretaries and parish administrators, please stand. Thank you for your faithful leadership.

Would all the Religious Education and Sunday School teachers, Bible Study leaders; Youth Group leaders, nursery and child care leaders, please stand. Thank you for your willingness to teach and care for God’s children, young and old alike.

Would all the kids and youth group members please stand up. Thank you for your faith and love for the Lord. May God give you the courage to share your faith with all your friends.

Would all the Altar Guild Members, Acolytes, Lay Readers, and Eucharistic Ministers please stand up. Thank you for your service to our Lord and His Church.

Would all the ushers, welcome team members, parish home visitors, hospitality and sunshine committee members, and parish sextons please stand. Thank you for your kindness and gift of hospitality.

Would all the Convention Music Team Leaders, parish organists, parish musicians, choir members, music and praise team members from all around the Diocese please stand. Thank you for sharing your incredible gift of music, adding to the beauty and majesty of the liturgy and our worship time.

Fr. Nigel, would you and Lynn and all your volunteer prayer team members and everyone else involved in the Christian healing ministry throughout the rest of the Diocese, as well as our parish nurses and all medical personnel, please stand. The healing power of Jesus Christ is real. Thank you for your faithfulness and offering of yourselves as instruments through which our Lord Jesus can and will work.

Peter Minucci and his dedicated staff at the Episcopal Counseling Service are also to be thanked for their dedicated and professional service, ministering to the emotional and psychological needs of those they are called to serve. Just a quick plug, Counseling Service Sunday is coming up on Father’s Day. That would be a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate your thanks by a financial gift in support of the Counseling Service.

Torre and Jean Bissell, would you and all your diocesan intercessors, and would all the Daughters of the King and parish intercessory prayer teams from around the Diocese please stand up. I can never thank you enough for all your many prayers for me and my family, for this Diocese, for the Church at large, and for all those countless individuals who request and are in need of our prayers. God bless you in this extremely important and invaluable ministry of prayer.

Would all the ECW members from around the Diocese please stand. You are the backbone of the Church. Thank you for all that you do in support of the life and ministry of the Church.

Would all the Brotherhood of St. Andrew members and other men’s ministries please stand. Thank you for your faithful witness and ministry to the men in the Church. May God bless your efforts mightily. It is my hope and prayer that every parish in this Diocese will soon have an active Men’s Ministry. We need to bring men back into the Church in greater numbers.

Would all the members of Cursillo and Happening, associate members of the Order of St. Francis, the Sisters of St. Mary, or any other religious order, please stand up. Thank you for your faith and for being a channel through which the Holy Spirit has come into the Church in an exciting and powerful way, touching and transforming lives.

Mother Eileen, would you and all the members of the Diocesan Mission Committee, and all those from around the Diocese who have gone on or supported mission trips domestically and overseas, please stand. Thank you for your faithful witness in answering the Great Commission, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all who will receive it.

Would all the Deputies to Diocesan and General Convention please stand. Thank you for faithfully representing our parishes and the Diocese of Albany.

Will all who faithfully say your prayers, attend Church regularly and give generously of your time, talent and treasure to God and His Church, please stand. Thank you for your faithfulness and your generosity. Without you, the Church would close its doors.

Will all sinners in need of God’s love and redeeming grace, please stand up. May the Lord give us the grace we need to humble ourselves and come before Him, confessing our sins and seeking His forgiveness.

Last, but most important of all, would all who love God and accept and proclaim His Son, Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, please stand up. I thank you my brothers and sisters, for you are the Church, the Body of Christ. May God Bless You this night and always, using you mightily in His service and always to His glory and the benefit of His Church.

Is there anyone here who has not stood up or raised your hand at least once or twice this evening? If so, you are probably wondering what the heck you have gotten yourself into, but stick around, by the grace of God, you’ll be converted by the end of the weekend.

Do you know what we just witnessed? Besides for offering a well deserved thanks to some wonderful folks ”“ we just witnessed a sampling of the wide variety of ministries being carried out by fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (clergy and laity, from all different theological and churchmanship perspectives) here in the Diocese of Albany. When we are obedient to God’s call, and keep our focus on Christ, there is no limit to what the Lord can and will do in and though us.

We are the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion in the 19 counties and 20,000 square miles that make up the Episcopal Diocese of Albany. The Holy Spirit is alive and present and doing wonderful and mighty things in and through us. Every individual, every parish family, every group just mentioned is vitally important to the life and ministry of our Diocese and to the wider Church. I give thanks to God for you, and I am humbled and honored to be your brother in Christ and your Bishop.

The other thing we just experienced — is tonight’s exercise class. Hopefully all that standing up and sitting down, and clapping and waving of hands helped work off dinner and get your circulation flowing, so you can stay awake for the rest of my address.

In all seriousness, I thank you for taking time out of your busy and demanding schedules to come and be a part of this diocesan family reunion and to carry out the business required of us at Convention. As you look at your schedules, you’ll see there is a lot planned. By the grace of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, everything that is suppose to happen, will happen.

The most important thing we will do this weekend, is spend time together as the Body of Christ, worshipping and serving our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and being fed, nurtured and empowered by the Holy Spirit, to carry out the life and ministry our Lord calls us to.

The theme of this year’s Convention, is “Transformation” and is centered on Jesus’ promise found in Revelation 21:5 “Behold, I am making all things new.” Everything planned for this Convention is intended to help pave the way for the Lord to make us into that “new creation” that He is calling us to.

As I was preparing the sermon for my Installation Service as IX Bishop of Albany, back in February, I was particularly struck by a passage from the 47th Chapter of Ezekiel. In that passage, Ezekiel was given a vision of water flowing out from under the threshold of the Temple ”“ living waters, cleansing and blessing and bringing new life to everything it touched. As I read that passage, the Lord gave me a vision of His “Living Water” flowing forth from the doors of every parish in the Diocese of Albany, His Holy Spirit cleansing and purifying, comforting and strengthening, quenching the spiritual thirst of all those longing for His love and presence, bringing healing and peace into our communities and the broken and hurting world in which we live.

This is the vision the Lord has given me for the Diocese of Albany, a vision that I believe God wants to lay the ground work for this weekend. For it to happen, we must keep our eyes and focus on Christ. Everything we do, must be Christ-centered. The writer to the Hebrews states, “”¦Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (Heb. 12:1-2).

To help us “run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” keeping our eyes on Christ, I believe the Lord is calling us to concentrate on four key areas this weekend. I have shared these with many of you, leading up to the convention.

First, recognizing that the Lord has already been working in and through us to varying degrees, there is much more that can and needs to be done, if only the obstacles that tend to limit us, are removed. It is important that we acknowledge and invite Christ into the wounded and brokenness that exists within our individual lives, our parishes and the Diocese, in order that we might be healed and set free of that which is not of God and that which gets in the way of our ability to serve God and carry out the ministry of His Church. Each parish has its own history, much of which glorifies and honors God, but some of which doesn’t. We are being called by our Lord to take an honest look and identify as best we can those things that are a detriment and hindrance to the life and ministry of our parishes and the Diocese and then offer them up to our Lord, asking Him to cleanse us and set us free. I want to thank those of you who have already begun this process in your parishes. If you haven’t, please give it serious thought and prayer tonight. During the offertory at tomorrows Ordination Service, a representative from each parish will be invited to come forward and nail the sins of the Church on a large cross that will be placed on the stage. Later tomorrow evening, during the Healing Service, we are going to pray for the healing and empowerment of each of our parishes throughout the Diocese. If your parish delegation has not yet had a chance to compile your list of the sins and impediments of the Parish, there is paper and envelopes available up front. Feel free to take what you need before leaving this evening.

Second, and related to the above, there seems to be a spirit of poverty and fear that has come over much of the Diocese, negatively impacting our ability to serve God and His people. Far too many parishes are in a survival or maintenance mode, due to limited finances and fear. That is not what God wants for us. Satan knows all too well our human vulnerability when it comes to money and material possessions, and he is using it against us, to limit our effectiveness in serving God and growing the Kingdom. What many regard as a financial issue is really a spiritual issue. With rare exception, most of the financial struggles in our individual lives and our parishes are self imposed, not because the expenses aren’t real, but because we have failed to trust God with our money, which in fact, is really His money on loan to us. Later this evening, Ms. Christy Speer, from Crown Financial Ministries, will help us to take a new and more Godly view of our finances. Crown Ministry workshops will also be offered tomorrow. Martin Luther once said, the last part of a person to be converted is their wallet. That is very true. For those who have come to trust God with their money and material possessions, they have been set free of the huge financial albatross that drags so many people down, wreaking havoc and misery in their lives. True financial freedom can only occur when God is in control of our finances. It is time to get out of the drivers seat and turn it over to the Lord. If you are not yet tithing, there is still work to be done. Even with the tithe, we still sometimes have trouble letting go. May the Lord give us the grace and faith to do so.

Third, as baptized Christians, we are all called by our Lord, through the Great Commission, to be missionaries, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all who will receive it. We have a growing and dedicated group of missionaries in the Diocese, but far too many in our parishes are fearful of venturing forth and sharing their faith. While overseas mission trips are extremely import, we must never forget that we live in one of the largest mission fields in the world. Everyone of us knows someone in our own backyard, who is un-churched and has not yet come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. There are more un-churched people in our communities, than there are churches enough to hold them all. Tomorrow, Edwina Thomas, national director of SOMA, a wonderful mission organization, will share her faith story and speak to us about the mission ministry. Countless unsaved souls are dying everyday. You may very well be the one chosen by God to introduce His Son, Jesus Christ, to someone who has not yet come to know Christ. We have no greater gift to share, than the love and Good News of Jesus..

The fourth area we will be focusing on is Holy Scripture. Unfortunately, this is one area the Church has far too often dropped the ball. If we are to grow in our relationship with God and knowledge and understanding of His Word, it is imperative that we get more serious about reading and studying the Bible. Fr. Grant LeMarquand, from Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, is here to help us do just that. In addition, you should find in each of your bags a wonderful daily Bible meditation resource called “Discovery.” I encourage you to use it as part of your daily Bible study and prayer time. Taking time to pray and study God’s Word is absolutely essential for our spiritual health and well being. It is important that every parish have an active ongoing Bible Study. If your parish doesn’t have a Bible Study, I ask the clergy and lay leaders to start one. There are a variety of ways to go about this, and it will the subject of our upcoming Religious Ed. Conference later in August. It is in saying our prayers and studying God’s Word, that we are best able to come to know the Lord and discern His will for us and how we are to live our lives.

Moving forward in these four areas, I believe is vital to the life and ministry of each of our parishes and the Diocese, and in so doing will help to lay the foundation for the “Living Water” of Christ to flow forth, transforming our hearts and minds and those we are called to minister to.

Turning now to a concern that is weighing heavily upon many of us, bringing with it great anxiety and confusion. As we all know, the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion is going through a very difficult time right now. It is easy to get caught up in the belief that this is unique to our generation. Unfortunately, as you study Church history, you will discover that the Church in every generation has had it trials and struggles. The issues might change, but the attack doesn’t.

My brothers and sisters, we are in the midst of a major spiritual war, one that has been raging ever since the fall. Knowing our vulnerability to SEX and MONEY, Satan is using these two areas of our lives to bring division and chaos into the Church, causing us to take our attention off the mission of the Church, and redirect it to attacking one another, dividing and weakening the Church. As Jesus himself said, a house divided against itself cannot stand.

If the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion are to survive, it is essential that we recognize what Satan is up to, and stop cooperating with his battle plan. I am all too aware of the great diversity in theological views concerning the appropriateness or inappropriateness of homosexual behavior in the Church today. Emotions are raging on both sides of the issue, and as a result, Satan is succeeding in turning what once were friends into enemies of one another. As a lifelong Episcopalian and Anglican, my heart is grieving over what I see happening to the Church.

Ultimately, each one of us will have to decide how we are to respond to Satan’s attack, and that is exactly what it is ”“ Satan’s Attack. We can cooperate with his battle plan and continue to rip ourselves apart, OR we can focus our attention on Christ, joining in His prayer, that We may be ONE, as He and the Father are ONE. In so doing, I am not suggesting that we compromise our faith, but rather that we keep Christ and the mission of the Church as our central focus, as we work through our differences, seeking God’s will in all that we do.

It is only in and through Christ that we can be one with one another and one with the Father. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father, but though me. It is for that reason, that we must keep our focus on Christ, and not be distracted by the storm that brews around us. When Peter stepped out of the boat, in response to our Lord’s call, he did the impossible ”“ he walked on water. It wasn’t until he took his eyes off of Christ and focused on the wind and the waves around him, that he began to sink. Focused on Christ, we can walk through the current storms threatening the Church, apart from Christ, we will sink.

As your Bishop and brother in Christ, I am asking each of you to join me as we move forward, and ask, “What would Jesus do?” in determining how best to address and deal with the issues before us and those who disagree with us. He will guide and direct us, if we humble ourselves and trust him and are obedient to his command ”“ “Love one another, as I have loved you.” I caution us not to become pharisaical in our dealings with one another. As we heard in this evenings passage from Luke, it is easy to fall into the trap of pointing out the sins of our neighbor, while conveniently ignoring our own sins. While we are busy condemning others, the Lord is reaching out in love to those very same people, inviting them into relationship with Him, ministering to them, healing them and giving them His peace.

We are Episcopalians and we are Anglicans, but first and foremost we are Christians. It is my hope and prayer, that by the grace of God, everyone of us will be able to continue to serve our Lord and His Church as Episcopalians and Anglicans. I pray that the Lord will cleanse and purify His Church of anything that is not of Him, and strengthen and bless that which is of Him.

As many of you know the House of Bishops will be meeting in September. High on the agenda will be the Bishops’ response to the Tanzania communiqué from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates concerning the Episcopal Church and the Windsor Report. The Archbishop has accepted the House Of Bishop’s invitation to join them in September. I will be at that meeting and will participate in all the discussions. The Diocese of Albany has been a strong conservative voice in the larger Church, upholding the traditional and orthodox teachings of the Church. We will continue to do so. At the same time, by God’s grace, I will work to ensure that every parish in our Diocese is welcoming and loving to ALL people, reaching out and ministering to everyone who seeks God’s love and a closer relationship with Christ.

I ask your prayers that the Holy Spirit will be present at the HOB meeting in a mighty and powerful way, and that He will guide and direct all conversation and all actions taken by the House of Bishops. I pray the Holy Spirit will guide and direct the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates as well, in their response to the Episcopal Church.

If the Episcopal Church or the Wider Anglican Communion takes any action that would threaten our continued relationship with either, then I will call for a Special Convention of the Diocese to come together as a Diocese to deal with whatever confronts us. It is my hope and prayer that there will never be a need to do so. This Diocese since its founding in 1868 has always been part of the Episcopal Church and as such has always been part of the Anglican Communion. We need one another and by the grace of God will always be part of one another. I hereby call upon the House of Bishops and the Archbishop of Canterbury and all the Primates of the Anglican Communion to heed the Lord’s call as revealed in II Chronicles 7:14 ”“ “”¦if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” God have mercy on us, if we choose any other path.

I have gone on much too long, but there is one final thing I must touch upon. God has blessed our Diocese richly with and through Christ the King Spiritual Life Center. What has been accomplished there in the past couple of years is nothing short of miraculous. Canon Matt Baker and his highly dedicated staff and all of you who have given so generously and often times sacrificially of your time, energy and money are to be commended for helping to make the Spiritual Life Center the blessing that it is, not only to our Diocese, but to the larger Church. I have lost track of the number of brothers and sisters from other denominations who have come up to me and said thank you for the gift of the SLC.

In less than a month, the new retreat lodge, know as The King’s Inn will be open and ready for business. It will enable us to greatly expand our ministry at Christ the King, by providing added overnight accommodations, something we have desperately needed. Again, I thank everyone who has given so generously toward the building of The King’s Inn.

I realize that not everyone in our Diocese was thrilled with the creation of the Spiritual Life Center. For some it was seen as competition to the local parishes or other ministries in the Diocese; for others it was seen as too costly and a financial risk or drain; some were angered and upset by the selling of the original Beaver Cross and Barry House whose ministry by the way has not stopped, but was simply relocated to the SLC where it is growing and better able to meet the needs of the Diocese. I hope and pray that those who were not originally happy about the Spiritual Life Center, will now be able to see and appreciate it, for what it truly is ”“ a blessing and gift from God, entrusted to us for the building up of the Kingdom. If you have not yet been there, I encourage you to go at your earliest convenience. I realize it is a long and expensive trip for some of you, but I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

I will spare you the statistics of all the thousands of people (men, women and children) who have come to Christ the King. The bottom line is that the Lord is doing a mighty work at the Spiritual Life Center, not in competition with the local parishes, but in cooperation with them ”“ touching, healing, refreshing, educating, empowering, transforming thousands and thousands of lives, young and old, from all different parts of the Body of Christ, from all over the world, sending them back out into their parishes and communities, better able to live out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission ”“ Disciples making Disciples sharing the love and Good News of Jesus Christ with all who will receive it.

God Bless You! May this weekend be just the beginning of our transformation as the Lord makes all things new in our Diocese and throughout the Church. Amen.

(1) Do you think an Anglican Covenant is necessary and/or will help to strengthen the interdependent life of the Anglican Communion?

I don’t feel that a Covenant is necessary, but I am aware that there are many who do, and I am fully prepared to commit to one, provided it does in fact “help to strengthen the interdependent life of the Anglican Communion.” It is hard to answer this question in the abstract, however; the details of any such Covenant””and much more detail than this Draft provides””must first be considered.

(2) How closely does this view of communion accord with your understanding of the development and vocation of the Anglican Communion?

It is close enough, though I think we do well to remember that the Anglican Communion is an historical accident: the spread of Anglicanism globally and the emergence of the Anglican Communion as we know it was not the result of a comprehensive strategy or clear intention. To acknowledge this in no way contradicts the assertion that this Communion is a gift given to us through the grace of God; it simply recognizes the newness, unevenness, and elements of surprise present in our becoming who we are; it should also incline us to an abiding openness to change, flexibility, and a willingness to experiment. It may be that this Communion is still on its way to become something yet unimagined.
I appreciate this section’s reference to mission.

Read it all.

In the battle to capture the soul of Anglicanism, the great loser -after the Anglican Communion itself–would seem to be the Archbishop of Canterbury, who in a desperate attempt to preserve the unity of the Communion has submitted to the machinations of an anachronistic evangelicalism which pretends to “complete” the English Reformation by imposing a monolithic uniformity on the manner in which we interpret Scripture and carry on the contextual ministry that our culture requires.

When he was appointed by the Crown to the See of Canterbury, the gentle Rowan Williams tried to ingratiate himself with the radical evangelicals in the Church of England, who did not find him congenial to their subversive plans to take over the soul of the Communion.

The Archbishop was acting in good faith and desirous to extend the hand of friendship to all factions, since he did not have to please anybody, much less those who had nothing to do with his appointment.

Once enthroned, Rowan Williams found himself caught in the web of a plot of international dimensions in which radical British evangelicals, ultraconservative American schismatics and an ambitious African Primate, with his band of assenting minions, had joined forces to capture the soul of Anglicanism, at the same time that they advanced their own particular agendas.

Up until the last meeting of the Primates in Dar es Salaam, the Archbishop of Canterbury tried to woo the leaders of the conspiracy by yielding to the majority of their wishes. As was to be expected, the ringleaders took Rowan Williams’ acquiescence for weakness, and redoubled their efforts to make him sanction an American schism.

Although he has not fully submitted to their demands, I do not understand why is it that he does not put a stop to Peter Akinola’s grandiloquent harangues, or to his incessant interventions in the Episcopal Church, or respond accordingly to his bullying threats, such as “We will definitely not attend any Lambeth Conference to which the violators of the Lambeth Resolution are also invited as participants or observers.” (2006 report of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa). Neither do I understand Rowan’s reluctance to meet with the House of Bishops.

If the Archbishop of Canterbury allows the conspirators to have their way, they will not only validate an American schism, but alienate the other 21st century Anglican Provinces, and, in effect, render asunder the Anglican Communion by erecting their own ecclesial body where his primacy and moral authority will become superfluous.

Let us pray for Rowan Williams as he faces the greatest challenge of his life.

–Sergio Carranza is an Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles; this article appears in the June issue of Angelus, a publication for clergy in the Diocese of Los Angeles and is reproduced here with permission