In an interview before the sermon, Curry underscored the point that we’re all in this together.

He said the church is emphasizing its commitment to its anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals to reflect the Christian ideal of helping people on society’s margins.

“That’s who Jesus is,” he said.

Curry downplayed his role as the first African-American to head an Episcopal diocese in the South, a position he attained in 2000.

“A lot of the hurdles were overcome before I ever came along,” he said.

Curry was joined by Western Washington Bishop-Elect Greg Rickel and the Rev. Nedi Rivera, bishop suffragan for Western Washington and the first Hispanic bishop in the United States.

Rivera, in fact, was ordained only two years after the first Episcopal woman was ordained to the priesthood in 1977. All three bishops emphasized that the church will continue to grow by becoming more inclusive.

Rickel noted that the church is moving forward after a rift over approving the ordination of gays into the priesthood.

“I’d rather err on the side of love,” Rickel said.

Rivera said the church leaders want to nurture a yearning for shared spirituality and community, even in the “none zone” of the Pacific Northwest. She noted that even though many area residents are not churchgoers ­”” denoted by checking “none” on hospital sign-in forms ”” polls show an overwhelming majority still consider themselves spiritual.

“People are learning that they can’t just do spirituality by themselves,” she said.

Curry agreed.

“The Lord made us here together, and we’re going to discover him together,” he said.

Read the whole article.

Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada, at their regular spring meeting, on April 19 chose four of their colleagues as candidates for the office of primate, or national archbishop: George Bruce of the Kingston, Ont.-based diocese of Ontario, Fred Hiltz of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Bruce Howe of the London-Ont.-based diocese of Huron and Victoria Matthews of Edmonton.

In a three-hour closed session, the 39 bishops voting began with a slate of eight nominees. They did not release the names of the other candidates and there were no additional names proposed from the floor, said Bishop Don Phillips of Winnipeg-based Rupert’s Land, secretary of the house of bishops. Voting went to 14 ballots, since under the rules of the election, no names were dropped from the ballot after each round. When a nominee received a majority of votes, or 20, he or she moved to the candidates’ list, in effect releasing those 20 votes to other candidates for the next round. Voting was fairly evenly spaced among the four finalists, with each taking about three or four ballots to attract a majority. Bishop Phillips declined to give the order in which the four candidates were chosen.

Bishop Bruce was present for the first half of the session, but had to leave at midday when he received news that his daughter-in-law, Margo, had died after a long battle with cancer.

After four names, the bishops voted to end the balloting. The new church leader is scheduled to be elected on June 22 by the 300 delegates at the triennial General Synod governing convention, which will meet in Winnipeg from June 19-25. The primate will be officially installed in office on June 25.

Read the whole article.

Two new ways to view the blog, especially for those using mobile phones or hand-held devices.

Headlines only: http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/mobile/
Print-Friendly text: http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/print/

Here are two other possibilities for viewing T19:

A “Mobile” Template for those who want to see the latest headlines (with links to full stories) and comment totals at a glance with no text or sidebar.
http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/mobile/

And the Print-Friendly view we linked yesterday. (Note this link is now in the sidebar under Blog Tips & Info). The text of the entries from the main page without the sidebar.
http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/print/

The mobile template especially still may be rough. Comments and critiques welcome.

During the plenary session, [Katharine] Jefferts Schori and [Bonnie] Anderson reported on their activities since the March Council meeting.

Later in the afternoon, Nigerian Anglican Davis Mac-Iyalla, founder of his country’s only gay-rights organization, Changing Attitude Nigeria, met with Council’s International Concerns (INC) and National Concerns (NAC) committees.

During her remarks to the plenary session, Jefferts Schori told Council that recently she has been contemplating how language can be used to allow for “true conversation” — what she called “non-violent language” — or how “violent language” is used instead for “leaping to judgment.”

The church, Jefferts Schori said, must consider how it interacts with the world. “How do we keep the space open so that we can truly learn from each other?” she asked.

Jefferts Schori also outlined her travel schedule and the various groups and people with whom she has met. Most recently she spent time with Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams while she was in Washington D.C. last week to testify on global warming before a U.S. Senate committee hearing. Williams is spending much of a three-month sabbatical at Georgetown University.

Anderson concentrated her report to Council on her experience of the Towards Effective Anglican Mission (TEAM) conference in South Africa in March and her subsequent travel to Livingstone, Zambia to participate in the rollout of an Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) anti-malaria project.

The Episcopal Church’s Chief Operating Officer Linda Watt also gave Council an overview of what she called “the richness of the work” done at the Episcopal Church Center in New York City. She urged Council members to visit the church’s website to access the websites of individual mission and ministry website “where you can really feel the pulse of the work we are doing directly.”

Read it all.

The bill was flawed on its merits. For much of the past three weeks, Americans have had a tutorial on the substance of the immigration bill, and many came to dislike what they saw. From providing permanent temporary visas within the space of a business day to all comers before January 1 – including those from “countries of interest” well-known for their terrorist ties – to the “triggers” that could be largely certified without any meaningful improvement in border security, the bill’s opponents identified the significant dangers and disadvantages hidden in the bill.

Other controversial provisions included the elimination of the EB-1 visa, designed to facilitate the entry to the U.S. of those with exceptional gifts, skills or talents, and (especially for those on the left) the creation of a guest worker program unacceptable to labor unions. In fact, the more its provisions came to light, the more that even long-time self-described “liberals” on immigration like Bill Kristol came to oppose the legislation.

The rollout of the bill was misguided. Like Athena springing full-grown from the head of Zeus, the immigration bill arrived directly on the Senate floor as the product of negotiations between a select group of senators. It bypassed the normal Senate committee system, which allows for both a deliberative and orderly process for the consideration of legislation, and the full airing of amendments. What’s more, it’s been reported that Senator Ted Kennedy admitted that special interest group La Raza was offered a veto over the bill’s provisions – before many other senators even had seen them. The closed-door drafting and special interest input only raised suspicions that the bill was being shoved down America’s throat – concerns that were heightened when the bill’s supporters presented the legislation insisting that it be “debated,” voted upon and passed within the space of a week.

Read it all.

More than 20 Jewish organizations — including many new, Web-based groups — have launched a campaign to get presidential candidates to pay more attention to the domestic concerns of American Jews, saying politicians wrongly view Jews as primarily concerned with Israel and other foreign issues.

The groups’ premise is that the large, older, established Jewish advocacy groups — that have more clout on Capitol Hill — focus too much on foreign issues and don’t speak accurately for the majority of American Jews, who care as much about health care and the environment as anti-Semitism in Europe or Israeli politics.

The coalition’s effort focuses on a survey, conducted online ( http://www.jspot.org) during the past few weeks, in which people were asked to pick their top five domestic issues. Nearly 9,000 people, who were required to include their names, responded, according to results announced yesterday. The top issues picked were health care, the environment, education and civil rights. The coalition will solicit responses to the poll from presidential candidates.

“There is a significant disconnect between the priorities of Jews in this poll and the issues many Jewish groups are working on,” said Mik Moore, spokesman for Jewish Funds for Justice, the New York-based group organizing the effort. Coalition members include popular blogs, a record company, labor and environmental groups and others.

But some longtime Jewish advocates and historians say the campaign is as much about a new generation of activists trying to gain influence and inject their style of social justice work as it is about anything else. The new crop of groups is trying to spread influence through cultural efforts, such as JDub Records and the Jewschool blog, as well as through such traditional grass-roots groups as Jews United for Justice, which focuses on issues such as housing and labor in the D.C. area.

“It’s true that established groups haven’t spoken with one voice on domestic issues, but they have advocated for those things,” said Pamela S. Nadell, professor of history and director of Jewish studies at American University. “What’s happening is these new groups — which are very exciting — are trying to band together to exercise larger political clout.”

Read it all.

The pastor of a Catholic church in Parkville has barred the parish’s Boy Scout troop from associating with elected officials who do not support Catholic moral teaching.

Monsignor James P. Farmer, who came to St. Ursula Catholic Church last year, has told Boy Scout Troop 26 that it cannot let elected officials who supported stem cell research legislation participate in Eagle Scout award ceremonies, nor can the troop visit the legislators at their offices at the State House.

“We were told that no elected official could participate that did not have a record of being pro-life,” said Doug Marquess, the troop’s former committee chairman, who was asked to step down last month after serving three years because of his objections.

The decision has sparked frustration among some members of the troop – and has prompted the Archdiocese Of Baltimore to begin considering how the guidelines should be applied.

“This issue just doesn’t belong with the kids,” Marquess said. “This is about the kids learning to be good citizens and having fun.”

Read it all.

This article dates from 2006–KSH.

After 66 years of life, most of them seeking to follow Jesus Christ through my church, the Episcopal Church, I am now convinced that a majority of the leadership of my church has abandoned the apostolic teachings ”” particularly regarding biblical witness to Christian moral behavior ”” that Bishops are charged to protect and promulgate. It is Palm Sunday, 2006 and we are singing one of my favorite hymns today at worship.

“When I survey the wondrous cross, where the young Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride. Forbid it Lord, that I should boast, save in the cross of Christ my God. All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood” (The Hymnal 1982, Copyright The Church Pension Fund, 1985).

The words leaped off the page and forced some painful memories. The realization struck me that my life in ECUSA is chief among the vain things that charm me most and that I must be willing to sacrifice them to his blood if my Christian sensibilities are ever again to be in order. What is arguably my “richest gain” (after my wife, children and grandchild) I must be willing to count as loss. And, as a life-long Episcopalian, oh how proud I have been of my ecclesiastical heritage, a pride that in the shadow of the Cross is only vanity.

How did I get to this point?

I went back to some journal notes I kept for a time after my retirement as Bishop of Florida. The events and the pain I was experiencing stunned me. Articulate, competent, and compassionate parish priests of sizable congregations were leaving ECUSA for Orthodoxy, for Rome, and for others parts of the Anglican Communion (with or without my blessing). Despite what the books say about the Episcopate, much of my ministry was to oversee investigations into financial and sexual misconduct among clergy and laity of the diocese ”” leading to more interaction with lawyers, insurance companies, private investigators, and the Law than I ever dreamed possible. I spent inordinate time mediating clergy-parish conflicts, disputes that were due mostly to incompetence, or stupidity, or both ”” and all lacking the basic Christian virtue of forgiveness. Some individuals made serious financial attempts to manipulate my voice and my decisions ”” right out of a Hollywood script. Post-retirement, the silence of supposed colleagues and others I thought were friends was bizarre. Happily, I have now put those depressing moments behind me, vowing to reject that victim role so easy for sinners to embrace.

For 37 years, through five parish ministries, a brief service as a diocesan Canon for Ministry, and then ten years as diocesan bishop, I lived through all of the controversial issues affecting ECUSA since the 60s. Once a credible 1960’s liberal, I soured over the liberal twisting of the plain meaning of scripture, the emptiness of liberal solutions, and the hypocrisy of liberal power grabbing schemes in ECUSA. And, more importantly, I discovered a personal relationship with Christ Jesus I’d never had in seminary. As priest and bishop, I tired of constantly having to defend the apostolic faith ”” not to the world ”” but increasingly to those persons, lay and ordained, who were supposed to be fellow defenders on the journey. For years, I have trusted the plain meaning of the parable of the wheat and the weeds while proclaiming the gospel. The Church’s traditional interpretation is clear: Jesus instructs the servants not to pull up the weeds until the harvest lest they also, accidentally, pull up good grain. Let both grow together until then. “At that time, I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn” (Matt. 13:30). This makes great sense when the harvest is but one season away. In this world, the spiritual harvest has yet to come and the seasons cannot be counted. The Lord is “tarrying,” and from this laborer’s perspective, the weeds are out of control. Leave your garden totally in God’s hands and see what happens! Stewardship of what God has given us is an expectation, and it is so much more than money! We are stewards of the apostolic teaching, the fellowship of believers, the prayers, and the breaking of bread (Acts 2:42). Much is required of us who are so richly blessed.

In the fall of 2004, we left our Florida home by invitation to serve seven months assisting Bishop Stanton in Dallas. The diocese received and welcomed us so graciously that healing of the post-retirement pain could begin. A “recovering bishop” and his wife were suddenly released, free to recover, and we soaked up all the love that laity and clergy alike showered on us. I was preaching, teaching, confirming, and helping wherever the Bishop needed help ”” doing the things bishops are supposed to be doing without diversions for conflict resolution or discipline. With children nearby, and our first grandchild on the way and an invitation to return to Dallas for a nine-month stint on a regular basis, our return to Florida was not to take up residence once again, but to sell our newly built home and move to Texas. “We weren’t born here, but we got here as fast as we could,” as they say in Texas. The healing continues and rational perspectives are returning.

As my thoughts returned to the liturgy, we continued to sing, and all I could hear was a call, a singular and focused call to serve Christ, free of the bondages of the past.

“See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown? Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”

Again my mind began to wander.

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are for.” At my consecration, a friend gave to me a framed version of this verse (without attribution), and it slowly captured my attention and my heart as it hung at the entrance to my office over the years. I believe it captures what must be a classic metaphor for the Church, in safe harbor ”¦ that’s not what ships are for.

The good ship ECUSA has been at sea for some time now. It struck an iceberg 40 something years ago, and the bridge seems still in denial even as the ship continues to list to port. Some crew and passengers are starting to abandon ship, and some are still in the dining room listening to the grand orchestra and thinking they are safe. They are not. Their eternal lives are seriously at risk.

The arrogance and isolation of ECUSA leadership on the bridge has left them incapable of saving the ship.
Thomas C. Oden, Henry Anson Buttz professor of theology and ethics emeritus at Drew University and author of the important, new book, Turning around the Mainline, describes the leadership of American mainline churches, including ECUSA, this way:

“The mainline elite have become so fixated on friendly sentiment, hyper-toleration, and superficial unity that it has tended to brush under the rug all norms except egalitarian political correctness. Much liberal leadership has become so narrowly politicized, and so out of touch with the lay constituency, that the faithful no longer can take at face value any of the facile promises of the leadership. There is serious doubt as to whether that leadership knows how, even if it desired to do so” (p.71).

Paul’s words suddenly come to mind, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ”
(Col. 2:8). And his closing words to Timothy, “Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and opposing ideas of what is falsly called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you” (I Tim. 6:20f).

In my experience, the believing laity of the Church are generally quite healthy. The leadership, however, needs a Physician. Oden believes that truth mandates a “confessing movement” among the mainline churches ”” confessing human sin and confessing Jesus Christ as Lord. While many individual believers do this faithfully from their heart, their confession does not seem to find its way to an adequate expression in the “governing councils, or elite governing boards and politically oriented agencies to which lay believers commit funds and support.” Oden believes at a minimum it will take a “a new seriousness about the Bible as the norm of Christian doctrine ”¦ The theological method of orthodoxy is centered in Scripture, viewed in the light of classical Christian tradition, made plausible through rational argument and the experienced presence of God in our lives” (Ibid). These are the basics of seamanship. Interestingly, I understand that the Archbishop of Canterbury originally suggested, after the 2003 General Convention, that the Americans form a “confessing” network of dioceses and parishes, perhaps with the 1930’s German Church in mind. The Americans changed the adjective to “Anglican Communion” network to appeal to American Anglican sensibilities.

Seamanship (gospel living) requires that the Church navigate by the Great Commission of our Lord in
Matt. 28:16-19, which is a mandate to structure the institution after the expectations of the Owner. That’s what the ship is for! Form follows function in the Church as well as in architecture. The Body of Christ (parish, diocese, or triennial convention) must incarnate itself in a manner that makes the pursuit of the Great Commission a normal function of life, a “second-nature” reflexive response to the world for which He died and rose again ”” not simply a piecemeal part of the annual budget.

I hold no illusions. No ship is perfect. Some, like the Mercy Ships ministry, still know why they exist, where they are going, and how to get there. They know how to navigate. I believe the American Province of the Anglican Communion has an inoperative moral compass and, barring a miracle, is destined to float aimlessly into maritime oblivion. Our distress is not because of the issues around human sexuality, as emotional and important as these issues are. Our distress is the result of a departure from basic seamanship. The Owner loves every member of His crew and passengers. He will do all He can to save them. However, they must cooperate. The decades old failure of a captain and crew in ECUSA to embrace and act upon the divine self-revelation in Jesus Christ and in the Word of God written ”” the reliable compass that the Owner has given us to navigate this world ”” does little to encourage would-be passengers.

We could envision replacing the ship’s crew with those whom the Owner has handpicked, but unless the ship is completely refitted for the Great Commission, as form follows function, nothing will change. For our own good, maritime law and free but costly grace requires that a ship be seaworthy. We know what to do. Will we do it? Unequivocal acceptance of the terms of the Windsor Report would be a sign of good faith to the Owner and to the rest of the fleet, but ”¦ refitting the ship will require much more. “All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood.” Yes. This is the true paradigm. Let’s start “sacrificing” with the ship. After a time for refit in dry dock, let’s set sail in a seaworthy ship with a trained captain and crew and paying passengers seeking their Way, all of whom desire to do true and godly service while at sea.

When captain, crew and passengers understand and practice gospel living on board a ship at sea, it is awesome to behold ”” a voyage worthy of the Owner. They honor the Owner who blesses them beyond belief. I want to be part of such a ship’s crew. I’m looking for a ship that still has a moral compass (I’d prefer a GPS). I’m looking for a captain and crew who know how to use a compass, with all its magnetic imperfections ”” who know how to navigate the world, from culture to culture, from nation to nation, and from heart to heart. The Owner has other ships in the Anglican fleet standing abeam our midship, and they are ready to provide assistance. They have sent instructions. The present bridge party seems blissfully to be ignoring their advice.

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The liturgy is ending. Your Body and Blood now have nourished me for a few more days at sea. Today I believe I have entered Jerusalem with our Lord, perhaps for the first time in my life. I pray that I am prepared for what is to come.

Almighty God, we thank you for the acts of love by which you have redeemed us through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. On this day, he entered the holy city Jerusalem in triumph, and those who spread their garments and branches of palm along his way proclaimed Him as King of kings. Empower us so that we, who hail Him as our King, may follow Him in the way that leads to eternal life. Amen.

Richard Rorty, the American philosopher and social critic who died on Friday aged 75, was a highly influential figure in what came to be known as “postmodernism”.

To his admirers and disciples Rorty was “the most interesting philosopher in the world today” and “one of the most provocative and influential thinkers of our time”.

But his views did not want for opposition. Rorty himself wrote, for his own entry in the Penguin Reference Dictionary of Philosophy: “Although frequently accused of raving irrationalism and unconscionable frivolity by the political Right, and of insufficient radicalism, as well as premature anti-Communism, by the political Left, I think of myself as sharing John Dewey’s political attitudes and hopes, as well as his pragmatism.”

He was certainly unusual among philosophers in being widely read outside his own discipline. In part this may have been because he advised students that they need not bother reading Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel or, indeed, much of the rest of 3,000 years’ worth of accumulated philosophical wisdom. Instead Rorty argued for a moderated form of pragmatism derived from the ideas of Nietzsche, William James and, above all, Dewey.

Read it all.

The Jecko family has requested that donations in Bishop Jecko’s memory be sent to the Anglican Relief and Development Fund or The Ekklesia Society.

Checks should be sent with a note in the memo line “Jecko Memorial” to:

ARDF, 535 Smithfield St., Ste. 910, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

The Ekklesia Society, PO Box 118526, Carrollton, TX 75011-8526

In this wide valley where the twin spires of the Mormon temple dominate the landscape and some neighborhoods have a Mormon chapel every few blocks, Mitt Romney’s bid for president is both a proud sign of progress and a cause of trepidation.

Many Mormons here are rooting for Mr. Romney, a fellow church member whose success in business, Adonis looks and wholesome family tableau seem to them to present the ideal face of Mormonism to the world. Among the Republican front-runners, Mr. Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, recently was the leader in campaign fund-raising; his candidacy is, for many Mormons, a historic moment of arrival.

“He represents the best of what the church can produce,” said Kenneth W. Godfrey, 73, a historian of Mormonism and of this valley about 80 miles north of church headquarters in Salt Lake City.

But even for the many Mormons who support Mr. Romney, the moment is fraught with anxiety because his candidacy is bringing intense scrutiny to their church, and could exacerbate longstanding bigotry.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormon Church is called, has been fighting for legitimacy since its founding 177 years ago in upstate New York. The church’s first prophet, Joseph Smith Jr., was killed by a mob in Illinois and his followers fled from persecution and settled in Utah.

While Mormons are by now successfully integrated and prospering in the American mix, memories of that persecution are still fresh. Many current members can trace their great-great-grandparents to the church’s earliest pioneers, and children grow up reading their ancestors’ original diaries. Many Mormons fear that Mr. Romney’s campaign may reopen old wounds.

“I thought we might get mud thrown at us,” said Lula DeValve, 82, a retired teacher and a Democrat who volunteers with the League of Women Voters.

John Hatch, 30, a history student at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, said, “What most Mormons desire is acceptance.”

“We see ourselves as normal,” Mr. Hatch said. “We struggle with those outsiders who see us as weird ”” the magic underwear stuff,” a reference to the ritual garments that Mormons are supposed to wear under their clothing.

Read the whole article.

Dell, who never backed down even when the United Methodist Church convicted him in 1999 of violating a ban on blessing homosexual unions, is being forced into retirement by his condition. Next Saturday the church will host a farewell event for Dell as he abruptly ends his career two years earlier than planned.

The crippling neurological disease has caused Dell, a pastor for nearly four decades, to question his own words on the power of faith. In frustration, the pastor asked himself: Do you really believe what you’ve been preaching? Do you believe that God is dependable, even in the worst of circumstances?

“This has pushed me in terms of my faith,” Dell said during an interview in his office. “First, this sense of anger and loss. Why is this happening? How dare the universe conspire to take away my last two years? Not God, but the universe! So the challenge for me, then, was to be open to what I’ve said in my preaching for 37 years and that is: God doesn’t cause human suffering. But in the midst of it, God always works to open another door or another window.

“I’m at the end of one rope, but it’s more like a trapeze, letting go of one and looking for the next one that’s coming toward me.”

Part of the struggle in facing the disease, Dell said, is that clergy are usually trained not to be angry or grieve. They are taught that God’s got it all under control. “Well, I don’t see it that way,” Dell said.

“I think anger and grief are signs of how precious life is. Precisely because life is precious and valuable, we should be angry and we should grieve when life is assaulted. I remind myself that there is legitimacy in being angry. But not to get stuck there. To be open to that next door, that next window that might be beginning to open.”

Dell’s 1999 conviction sent repercussions throughout the 8 million-member United Methodist Church, the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination, leading to deeper divisions on homosexuality and talk of schism. He was suspended from ministry indefinitely, but an appeal limited the suspension to one year and he returned to Broadway United in July 2000.

Even after his highly publicized church trial and suspension, Dell continued to allow gay couples to affirm their unions in his church, almost a dozen times in the last seven years.

To abide by church law that bars Methodist clergy from marrying people of the same sex, Dell says he does not marry the couples. Instead, he provides couples who already consider themselves wed an opportunity to share their vows in the church.

“I often talk about ministry of the loopholes,” Dell said. “But it’s not the kind of thing that makes headlines because technically we’re legal.”

Read it all.

The “Amens!” flew like popcorn in hot oil as 120 Christian worshipers clapped and danced and praised Jesus as if He’d just walked into the room. In a country where about 2 percent of the population attend church regularly and many churches draw barely enough worshipers to fill a single pew, the Sunday morning service at this old mission hall was one rocking celebration.

In the middle of all the keyboards, drums and hallelujahs, Stendor Johansen, a blond Danish sea captain built like a 180-pound ice cube, sang along and danced, as he said, like a Dane — without moving.

“The Danish church is boring,” said Johansen, 45, who left the state-run Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church three years ago and joined this high-octane interdenominational church run by a missionary pastor from Singapore. “I feel energized when I leave one of these services.”

The International Christian Community (ICC) is one of about 150 churches in Denmark that are run by foreigners, many from Africa, Asia and Latin America, part of a growing trend of preachers from developing nations coming to Western Europe to set up new churches or to try to reinvigorate old ones.

For centuries, when Europe was the global center of Christianity, millions of European missionaries traveled to other continents to spread their faith by establishing schools and churches. Now, with European church attendance at all-time lows and a dearth of preachers in the pulpits, thousands of “reverse missionaries” are flocking back, migrating from poor countries to rich ones to preach the Gospel where it has fallen out of fashion.

The phenomenon signals a fundamental shift in the power, style and geography of Christianity, the world’s largest religion. Most of its more than 2 billion adherents now live in the developing world. And as vast numbers of them migrate to Europe, as well as to the United States, they are filling pews and changing worship styles.

Churches in countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, South Korea and the Philippines have sent thousands of missionaries to Europe to set up churches in homes, office buildings and storefronts. Officials from the Redeemed Christian Church of God, a Pentecostal church based in Nigeria, said they have 250 churches in Britain now and plan to create 100 more this year. Britain’s largest church, run by a Nigerian pastor in London, attracts up to 12,000 people over three services every Sunday.

Read it all.

There can be no doubting the piety of American society in this, the first decade of the 21st century. It’s old news by now: The powerful influence of conservative Christians on culture and politics. An outwardly Christian president in the White House. Survey data showing the vast majority of Americans pray, believe in God and consider religion important in their lives.

“Pious,” however, means something different than “religious.” While both convey devotion to God and ultimate truth, “pious” also suggests showiness, sanctimony, even hypocrisy ”” a gap between words and action. Such a gap, unfortunately, seems glaringly on display when we survey the social landscape around us. If one is to judge by our care for the common good, American society today is more pious than consistently and truly religious.

Let’s start with violence, a phenomenon hard to square with New Testament teachings about living in peace and Old Testament commandments not to kill one another. For all our virtues, we are beyond doubt a violent society, inundated by weapons, murders and pop culture glorification of violence to a degree unmatched by other First World nations.

The massacre at Virginia Tech this spring might seem an extreme case. Defenders of gun rights warn against overreaction, claiming that mass shootings, however horrific, are quite rare. In truth, Virginia Tech-style massacres happen every day, albeit in less dramatic form. Statistics show that gun violence kills close to 30,000 people a year in America, or about 80 a day ”” more than double the number slain in Blacksburg, Va. Is this what one should expect of a country guided by Jesus, the “Prince of Peace”?

Then there is the violence projected by our government. Here, too, it is impossible to claim that America is a peaceful nation in the image of Christ. Under the Bush administration, the United States has pursued an aggressive foreign policy and a war in Iraq that theologians struggle to justify with Christian doctrines about morally defensible war. Certainly, the case can be made that dangerous forces left our government with no choice but to fight. But the question must be raised again: Is our behavior as a nation consistent with our ostensibly Christian character?

Read it all.

The Episcopal Church broke new ground in Cuba on Sunday by ordaining its first woman bishop in the developing world at a ceremony that mixed incense with rhythmic Caribbean music.

The Rev. Nerva Cot said she will bring a feminine touch to leadership of her church’s small but growing congregation in communist Cuba, where religious worship was freed a decade ago.

A dozen bishops from North, Central and South America and Europe attended the consecration of Cot and Ulises Aguero as suffragan, or auxiliary, bishops at Havana’s Episcopal Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. The Cuban church is part of the Worldwide Anglican Communion.

“This is an important date for the Anglican Communion because there are so few women bishops among us, only 11,” said Canada’s Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, who headed the ceremony.

“There is a vitality and a deep enthusiasm in Cuba that is an important gift to a church that has too often been very conservative,” Hutchison told reporters.

Christian Cubans are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, and the Episcopal Church has only 5,000 baptized followers in the country.

Cot, who favors allowing gays to become priests, said she hopes her role will encourage other Latin American countries to broaden diversity in the Episcopal Church.

Read it all.

Anglican Church Diocese of Enugu, at the weekend, said it was in support of the nationwide industrial action planned by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), adding that Nigerians have had hard times over the past eight years of the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Speaking to newsmen in Enugu, Bishop of the Church, Rt. Reverend Emmanuel Chukwuma, said labour needs the support of Nigerians in the planned strike, explaining that this was the only way to be part of the condemnation of the bad policies of Obasanjo’s administration.

Chukwuman said protesting against bad policies was the only way to ensure that such policies do not continue, adding that “as far as I am concerned, Obasanjo’s administration made many bad policies in the past eight years. Time is coming when Nigerians will resist evil policies of our leaders. Whatever the NLC wants to do, the Anglican Church will support it as a Church to reduce the sufferings of our people. We cannot continue to suffer like this. Time has come for us to heave a sigh of relief. It is human to cry out.”

Read it all.

The posts from June 4 – June 10 which received the most comments.
Comment totals are as of June 11, 13:30 EDT / 17:30 GMT

Bishop Sergio Carranza: The Soul of Anglicanism (69)
Bishop Richard Randerson Profiled: A devil for the detail (55)
3 Democratic candidates talk of their faith (54)
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori speaks to Bill Moyers (52)
They Really Saw Him: A look at Richard Bauckham’s Most Recent New Testament Work (47)
Bishop Jack Iker on the March Meeting of the American House of Bishops (45)
Did you Know? (43)
The religious left lifts its voice in campaign 2008 (41)
Today’s Question from the Elves (38)
Today’s Quiz (38)

Hey, we elves made the top 10 list with one of our posts! Woohoo! 🙂

The Rev. Sean Rowe smiles often and exudes a boyish charm.

The first glimpse of him in clerical garb, of this young man cloaked in authority, is likely to prompt a second look, borne of mild surprise.

That subsequent glance, however, reveals a gravitas belied by appearances and gifts that transcend chronological age.

The Episcopal Church has been swift to recognize Rowe’s abilities.

When he joined St. John Episcopal Church in Franklin seven years ago at the age of 25, fresh out of college and seminary, the newspaper carried the headline, “Episcopal Church gets youngster in pulpit.”

When he was ordained Dec. 2, 2000, he was the youngest priest in the Episcopal Church.

Recently elected the eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania, Rowe, at 32, will be the youngest Episcopal bishop in the world following his Sept. 8 consecration at Grove City College’s Harbison Chapel by the presiding bishop of the church, the Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori.

He will likewise be the youngest member of the church’s House of Bishops ”“ by about 13 years.

Rowe’s rocketing to positions of prominence leads one to wonder if he has always been on the fast track ”” or if he is an old soul in a young man’s body.

A look at his journey to the threshold of the House of Bishops would seem to indicate that both explanations apply.

Read it all.

Read it all.

We expect it will be a much quieter week in terms of blog information from us elves. One important question remains: making sure the blog is readable for hand-held users. If you read T19 via handheld (Blackberry, etc.) please read the following and chime in with your comments.

This elf has a busy week ahead for her “real” job, and doesn’t expect to fiddle too much with TitusOneNine design or features for a few days. We’ve still got a number of things on our ToDo list, but nothing to our knowledge that urgently affects blog design and readability or features for most readers using laptops or desktops.

We have, however, received several comments from handheld users that the current design is not working well for handheld access. Before we make any major changes, it would help us to ask some questions of those who read the blog via handheld device:

1) Please describe whatever difficulties you are currently having. What we are hearing at the moment is that there is too much text and that perhaps we should reduce the number of entries on the main page. (Currently set to 50 entries. On the old blog it was usually set at 20).

2) Does using the calendar to view a day’s entries solve your problem? Usually there will be no more than 20 entries per day on a given date, so using the calendar would be similar to the amount of text that used to appear per page on the old blog.

Try viewing all the entries for June 10 and let us know how that works.
http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/2007/06/10/

3) We’ve also heard that the sidebar may be a problem for handheld users, since it displays first and it is a lot of info to scroll through. The “Print-Friendly” format we’ve set up may help as it will display articles without the sidebar. Please try the links below and let us know if they work for you.

To view all the articles on the main page in print-friendly format WITHOUT comments: http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/print/

(Currently the print-friendly WITH comments format does not work for viewing more than one article at a time. We can try to work on that.)

NOTE: You can also view a single day’s entries in print-friendly format without the sidebar by inserting the word “print” in the daily archive link between “t19” and the given date. Example:

The normal daily archive view for June 11 uses this link: http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/2007/06/11/
The link for the Print Friendly view for June 11:
kendallharmon.net/t19/index.php/t19/print/2007/06/11/
(note: we’ve removed the intial http://www. in the link above so it would display the rest of the link properly with bolding of the word “print”)

Please try out these options and let us know if they make reading the blog via handheld easier. If there are still problems, we’ll be glad to try something different.

Note: We’ve now added a link in the “printer-friendly” view that makes it easy to get to the comments for each article so those reading all entries in print-friendly mode can leave a comment on articles of interest. Let us know if this works ok. Obviously the print-friendly view was originally designed for printing, not for commenting, and so it doesn’t have a lot of blog-navigation links.

Amidst rising tensions in the Anglican Communion over the issue of homosexuality, the Windsor Report strongly advised its member churches to adopt a worldwide Anglican Covenant in order to restore the bonds of trust and affection within the Communion. The Report also presented a detailed draft covenant for discussion. That covenant proposed a sweeping transfer of authority from individual provinces to the four central structures of the Communion, the ”˜Instruments of Unity’, two of which are composed wholly of primates and three exclusively of bishops.

Despite these ominous first steps on the way to an Anglican Covenant, subsequent documents and public statements from the Instruments of Unity gave reason to hope that the Covenant process would be an inclusive exercise resulting in an inclusive agreement. These hopes were shattered, however, by the Report of the Covenant Design Group (CDG) and by the communiqué of the Primates’ Meeting at Dar es Salaam. The draft Covenant of the CDG report gives the Instruments of Unity veto power over change within the provinces on ”˜essential matters of common concern’, as well as exclusive authority to declare a member church in breach of the Covenant and therefore no longer in covenant relationship with other churches. Furthermore, instead of envisaging an unhurried, comprehensive process of consultation in provincial synods, the CDG report urges the immediate acceptance of this Anglican curia across the Communion, offering a patently question-begging argument for doing so. The primates’ communiqué from Dar es Salaam exceeded the presumptuousness even of the CDG, not only crediting the primates with the authority to issue ultimatums to member churches and impose sanctions for non-compliance, but also demanding that a member church violate its own canons and constitution. Far from restoring trust throughout the Communion, the Covenant process has thoroughly undermined it.

It might be replied that, while of course the process of agreeing a Covenant must be a collaborative dialogue with neither content nor purpose of the Covenant fixed at the outset, the only way forward is a more centralised Anglican Communion, with a central tribunal for vetting change in the Communion on controversial matters. But such a tribunal would only be reasonable if it could be more reliable at ”˜tracking the truth’ than the traditional polity of the Anglican Communion””and that is not the case. Moreover, at present and in the foreseeable future, no international Anglican tribunal could begin to approach the standard of reliability required, for it would be unduly vulnerable to pressure from hardliners on the issue of homosexuality. Hence the CDG draft Covenant’s proposals for concentrating power in the Instruments of Unity violate the Covenant’s own commitment to the open, communal pursuit of truth.

Read it all.

Despite Payne’s counsel, the reality is that in the nation’s bedrooms and churches, bridges across the class divide are increasingly rare: most Americans worship with and marry people who are just like them. In public schools, though, class divisions are a frequent part of daily existence, sometimes within the student body but also, and more significant, between teachers and students.

The passage of the No Child Left Behind law in 2002 brought a new urgency to the issue of poverty in the classroom. For the first time, schools were required not only to report their overall test results but also to calculate the scores for various “subgroups,” including racial minorities, students for whom English is a second language and students whose parents’ income is low enough to qualify them for a free or reduced-price lunch. It soon became impossible to ignore that there was a problem: poor students were scoring well behind their wealthier peers. And schools suddenly had a powerful incentive to try to address that disparity. Even otherwise well-performing schools could be labeled failures if their poor students weren’t catching up.

Payne believes that teachers can’t help their poor students unless they first understand them, and that means understanding the hidden rules of poverty. The second step, Payne says, is to teach poor students explicitly about the hidden rules of the middle class. She emphasizes that the goal should not be to change students’ behavior outside of school: you don’t teach your students never to fight if fighting is an important survival skill in the housing project where they live. But you do tell them that in order to succeed at school or later on in a white-collar job, they need to master certain skills: how to speak in “formal register,” how to restrain themselves from physical retaliation, how to keep a schedule, how to exist in what Payne calls the “abstract world of paper.”

At the Jekyll Island seminar, I met Steve Kipp, a science teacher at Brunswick High with a ponytail and a jumpy, eager energy. He looked as if he might be the kind of guy whom the other teachers would call when they couldn’t get their computers to work right. Kipp sat in the front row, dead center, and at the break he was the first person to come up and ask Payne for advice.

In 10th grade at Brunswick High, Kipp told me later, the advanced students usually take chemistry, and the other students, the ones who are more likely to wind up in technical college, take Kipp’s class, which is called General Physical Science. And each year it’s the same, Kipp said: the rich and middle-class kids are tracked into chemistry, and he gets the kids from poverty. Kipp grew up in the middle class, and in the past, he said, before he read Payne’s book, he would get frustrated by his poor students. They seemed unwilling or unable to learn; they laughed when he tried to mete out discipline. And so he found it hard to keep exerting himself. What was the point in teaching them, he thought, if they weren’t going to make an effort?

But after he immersed himself in Payne’s work, about five years ago, Kipp’s ideas changed. “I realized, these kids aren’t dumb,” he said. “They just haven’t had the enriching experiences that I had growing up.” So he pushes himself harder now to provide more experiments in the classroom, more hands-on learning to help his students develop the same kind of instinctive understanding of nature that he got running around in the woods as a boy.

Payne’s work in the schools has attracted a growing chorus of criticism, mostly from academia. Although Payne says that her only goal is to help poor students, her critics claim that her work is in fact an assault on those students. By teaching them middle-class practices, critics say, she is engaging in “classism” and racism. Her work is “riddled with factual inaccuracies and harmful stereotypes,” charges Anita Bohn, an assistant professor at Illinois State University, in a paper on Payne’s work. Paul Gorski, an assistant professor at Hamline University in St. Paul, writes that Payne’s central text “consists, at the crudest level, of a stream of stereotypes and a suggestion that we address poverty and education by ”˜fixing’ poor people instead of reforming classist policies and practices.”

Read the whole thing.

Local ministers are working to find new ways to spread their message not only within their local community, but the global community provided by the World Wide Web.

“We have to take the words and put it out for as many people as possible,” Chip Lee, minister at St. John’s and St. Matthew’s Episcopal churches in Deer Park and Oakland, said. “This is one more way in which to spread the good news.”

Lee, who had a background in marketing and broadcast before becoming a minister at three Garrett County churches, including the log church on state Route 135 in Altamont, helped to guide his churches into the age of the Internet, and now reaches more than 15,000 people with the church’s podcasts, weekly broadcasts done available for download on iTunes.

He said that it took some persuasion to convince the churches that this was a natural step toward a more technological age, but also a way to draw new members into the church, even if they technically didn’t set foot in any of the three. However, much of the technology necessary, he said, was awarded through various grants within the diocese.

“Churches have recognized that they should have a good Web site because it’s good at attracting new families to the area,” Lee said. “The Internet has become almost a staple of daily life.”

He still emphasizes the biggest way for a church to get members remains the traditional method of invitation by friends or family, but since the podcasts have begun, he has gotten e-mail from people all over the world, including soldiers in Iraq and people living in Europe.

He added that the Web site currently has live feeds of the churches services as well as streaming audio from each service.

Read it all.

America is facing its worst summer drought since the Dust Bowl years of the Great Depression. Or perhaps worse still.

From the mountains and desert of the West, now into an eighth consecutive dry year, to the wheat farms of Alabama, where crops are failing because of rainfall levels 12 inches lower than usual, to the vast soupy expanse of Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida, which has become so dry it actually caught fire a couple of weeks ago, a continent is crying out for water.

In the south-east, usually a lush, humid region, it is the driest few months since records began in 1895. California and Nevada, where burgeoning population centres co-exist with an often harsh, barren landscape, have seen less rain over the past year than at any time since 1924. The Sierra Nevada range, which straddles the two states, received only 27 per cent of its usual snowfall in winter, with immediate knock-on effects on water supplies for the populations of Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

The human impact, for the moment, has been limited, certainly nothing compared to the great westward migration of Okies in the 1930 – the desperate march described by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath.

Big farmers are now well protected by government subsidies and emergency funds, and small farmers, some of whom are indeed struggling, have been slowly moving off the land for decades anyway. The most common inconvenience, for the moment, are restrictions on hosepipes and garden sprinklers in eastern cities.

But the long-term implications are escaping nobody. Climatologists see a growing volatility in the south-east’s weather – today’s drought coming close on the heels of devastating hurricanes two to three years ago.

Read it all.

Read it all.

Can we similarly find God already at work, and choose not to hinder that within our own lives and our own faith communities? “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) Can we see the full inclusion of blacks as not “the Black Agenda” but rather “the Gospel Agenda”? Can we see God at work in the lives and ministries of women, and support it, recognizing “the Gospel Agenda” rather than “the Feminist Agenda”? Can we recognize holiness of life and the working of the Spirit in the lives of gay and lesbian Christians, and welcome their presence and their ministries as part of “the Gospel Agenda” rather than “the Gay Agenda?”

It’s not an easy place to be, in many ways. Many still accuse women of having a “Feminist Agenda” when we exercise our equality in Christ. How fortunate I am that I have so many faithful Christian men speaking out on behalf of that equality for me. They help the world hear my ministry as “Gospel Agenda.” They allow me to strive to be known as a “good priest”, and not just a “female priest.” They allow me to be a minister of the Gospel. But, in doing so, they have been the target of scorn and rejection themselves, from those who cannot see my ministry as being of God.

Now it is time for me, as a straight person, to speak up. I can bear witness, like Peter, to seeing the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those whom the church has traditionally said were “unclean” and “unfit” for consideration as members of Christ’s body. I can bear witness to seeing and experiencing in my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters lives of repentance, forgiveness, and transformation through Jesus. (And “transformation” does not mean that Gentiles become Jews, blacks become whites, women become men, or gays/lesbians become straight!) I can speak out for “the Gospel Agenda” and in doing so, I hope that the gay and lesbian members of our church can be recognized as being a part of that Agenda as well. I pray that our bishop can focus on his Gospel ministry, being a “good bishop” rather than just a “gay bishop. ” It is up to you, and to me, to be like Peter and not hinder God but to welcome God’s grace in the lives of others. That, my friends, is the good news of the Gospel. That is the Gospel Agenda.

Read it all.

It is a political world turned upside down. Republicans running away from religion and Democrats acting like evangelists.

Last night in New Hampshire, Republican presidential candidates were long on conservatism and short on compassion. On immigration, on Iraq, on virtually every issue, the consensus was that America hasn’t been tough enough. No compassion for anyone ”” particularly those 12 million Americans who got here illegally.

When it came to the hungry ”” or, more precisely, those the Bush Administration has categorized as “food insecure” ”” there was silence. So, too, on issues like poverty and youth violence and the epidemic of the uninsured. There was, in short, no evidence of the compassionate conservatism George W. Bush once promised would be his governing philosophy.

And Jesus made only the briefest appearance ”” first from Wolf Blitzer’s lips in a question to Rudolph Giuliani and then from Mormon Gov. Mitt Romney, who declared his love for Jesus.

Romney doesn’t really want an in-depth examination of his Mormon faith. Ex-mayor Giuliani certainly doesn’t want to explain his penchant for marrying in a religious context. And Sen. John McCain, who once called religious right leaders “agents of intolerance”, isn’t leaping at the chance to play pastor, either.

How differently the Democrats are behaving. Monday night, the progressive religious organization Sojourners hosted the three leading Democratic presidential candidates at a forum on “faith, values, and poverty.” It was a Jesus fair.

Read the whole thing.

Listen to it all from the BBC Sunday Programme (starts about 34:20 in).

“Bishop Jecko was my friend and Bishop in the Diocese of Florida. I knew him for at least 20 years; then was privileged to chair the Search Committe of the diocese which called Steve to be our Bishop. He was a champion of the faith at all times. Later he became chaplain to the Daughters of the King in the Fourth province and then National Chaplain of the Daughters of the King. His teachings inspired and strengthen the Daughters in their lifelong vows of prayer, service and evangelism. God blessed hiim in shortening the agony of cancer. And God blessed each of us who knew Bishop Steve. Dear God, strengthen Joan and the family and all of us.”

–Jean Marani, Holy Cross Anglican Church, Tallahassee, FL

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.