By margins of more than three-to-one, the annual convention approved nine significant changes to the constitution and canons in the Diocese of Fort Worth. Convention met Nov. 16-17 in Fort Worth.

Attendance in the visitor’s gallery outnumbered the 206 clergy and lay delegates registered to vote. Debate was extended and cordial on most of the proposed legislation, which removed the diocese from the authority of General Convention. Separately, convention unanimously approved by voice vote a resolution endorsing an invitation to affiliate with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. There were several abstentions from that resolution, however.

At a press conference at the conclusion of convention, Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker said the decisions made at this convention are preliminary and will require ratification by another convention before they take effect.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury is preparing to target individual bishops whose pro-gay policies threaten to derail his efforts to avert schism, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

In a high-risk strategy, Dr Rowan Williams may even snub them by withdrawing their invitations to next year’s Lambeth Conference.

He has told friends he will challenge any bishop he believes is coming to the conference with an agenda “very much at odds” with his attempts to maintain unity in the worldwide Church.

Dr Williams sent invitations in May to most of the Anglican Church’s 880 bishops around the world for the once-a-decade showcase gathering in Canterbury.

He withheld invitations from only a handful of particularly divisive figures, including Bishop Gene Robinson, who became Anglicanism’s first openly gay bishop in 2003.

But he has now indicated that he is prepared to scrutinise controversial bishops he had already invited if there is evidence that they are unwilling to compromise their views.

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In a gaffe late Friday, a private meeting of ministers from the 12 members of the cartel was mistakenly broadcast to journalists, revealing a spat between Saudi Arabia and anti-US members Iran and Venezuela about the waning US currency.

Journalists witnessed Iran request that the final declaration to be issued by OPEC leaders at the end of the summit on Sunday express the concern of member states about the falling US currency and its impact on oil revenues.

Reacting to the proposal, which was backed by Venezuela, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal warned against mentioning the US currency.

“There are media people outside waiting to catch this point and they will add to it (exaggerate) and we may find that the dollar collapses,” Prince Saud said.

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In the foreclosure crisis of 2007, thousands of American families are losing their homes without ever missing a payment. They are renters in houses whose owners default on their mortgages ”” a large but little noticed class of casualties.

Some live in big apartments, others in houses owned by small investors who got in over their heads.

There are no exact figures for how many renters have been evicted because of foreclosures, but a survey taken this year by the Mortgage Bankers Association found that one in eight foreclosures was non-owner-occupied. This figure probably underestimates the problem, according to the association, because buildings receive tax benefits if they are registered as owner-occupied. More than one million properties are expected to enter foreclosure this year.

Many renters say they never even knew their buildings were heading for foreclosure.

“This is an explosion,” said Judith Liben, a lawyer at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. “This isn’t business as usual. These are investors that overleveraged themselves, and the renters are collateral damage in the mortgage crisis.”

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It appears that the powers-that-be in TEC are determined to prevent any existing parish or diocese claiming to be part of the Anglican Communion unless it remains within TEC. The theological and ecclesiological argument that is being put forward is that of the tradition of only one episcopal jurisdiction within a territory. This is clearly incredible – it only makes sense when there is a commitment to shared common counsel and shared understanding of the faith and the point is that for those parishes and dioceses and for the provinces taking them into their polity this no longer exists with the structures of TEC. Furthermore, the willingness to allow other denominations to take over property does not fit with this understanding.

In trying to understand the real rationale behind this I was reminded of part of the biography of Gene Robinson (Going to Heaven) which I read recently. At one point (p209), his predecessor as Bishop of New Hampshire – Bishop Doug Theuner – is reported recalling part of his early training as a bishop

He told an amusing story from his early days as a bishop, when a group of bishops were invited to spend time with the American Management Association in New York over a period of several months. The AMA had never worked with a group of religious leaders before, and the man in charge finally told them, “We’ve tried to tailor a program specifically for you, and we’ve tried to match it up with our normal experience in the business world, and we’ve determined that the category you come closest to, in terms of what we’ve done before, is “regional managers of a small corporation”

This business and management model gives, I think, the best explanation of what is going on. In the American religious market place, TEC’s niche has been that in being Anglican/Episcopalian it offers a mix of historic church tradition (liturgy, bishops, vestments, historic buildings etc) and wider international bonds through the Communion. That, particularly in recent decades, has been combined with a particular “inclusive” stance on key social and ethical issues. In offering this profile it is only now “a small corporation” but one of its claims is that it is – in this understanding – also the sole recognised national branch of a genuine and large multi-national. Its “market share” and “franchise” will, therefore, be greatly threatened if parishes (and now dioceses) escape the legal and constitutional structures of TEC and are able to continue to offer the Anglican combination of historic church tradition (not just in terms of ecclesiological order but also catholic faith and morals) and being part of an international communion within the church catholic. That is why the central offices of the “small corporation” at “815” are doing all they can to prevent their “regional managers” either departing (as in Pittsburgh etc) or allowing their parishes to depart amicably with their property (as in Virginia etc).

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Retired bishop Don Harvey agrees his religious convictions are stronger than they’ve ever been.

In fact, Harvey says they’re so strong he’s prepared to lead some Canadian Anglicans away from the national church, in which he’s worshipped and served as a clerical leader for decades, if it continues to steer away from the gospel.

Harvey, who retired as the bishop for the Anglican Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador (Avalon and Labrador) three years ago, is a well-known orthodox Anglican senior in St. John’s who has been the subject of debate by active bishops, some concerned over his activities within the Anglican community.

In particular, he’s been vocal over the issue of same-sex union blessings in the church. In 2002, the Diocese of New Westminster in B.C. tacitly condoned the ceremonies with its parishes. Meanwhile, the national hierarchy voted that such blessings did not conflict with doctrines of the church.

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It has been affirmed that the Lambeth Conference is definitely going ahead and that prior to the Lambeth Conference there will be a mini-Lambeth in each diocese, where hospitality will be offered throughout the UK dioceses to the arriving bishops from overseas. Many bishops of course from overseas have indicated that for many reasons they cannot currently accept the invitation to Lambeth. This has to do with the impossibility for them to have fellowship with those who have blatantly defied the counsels of the Lambeth Conference and the wishes of the Communion over the last 10 years. Some have mentioned their concern at the possibility of being subject to protests over their orthodox stances.

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At issue in this Convention today are constitutional and canonical decisions about how we shall chart our course as a Diocese for the next 25 years and beyond. We are preparing a future for our children and our grandchildren. As you know, by way of background, the chancellor to the Presiding Bishop, wrote my chancellor on Oct. 19, 2006, declaring that certain provisions in our diocesan Constitution and Canons were contrary to those of the Episcopal Church and needed to be changed, or else the Presiding Bishop would “have to consider what sort of action she must take in order to bring your diocese into compliance.” The following month, on Nov. 15, the Executive Council of the General Convention received a task force report identifying Fort Worth as a “problem diocese” that needed to be monitored. On June 14, 2007, this same Executive Council declared certain constitutional and canonical amendments in this Diocese to be “null and void.” Our Standing Committee and I replied by pointing out that such declarations exceeded the authority of the Executive Council, which is responsible for the program and budget of the General Convention, and that they had no legislative or judicial authority to make such a pronouncement. The Council’s declaration about the legitimate legislative process in this Diocese is, in fact, null and void.

And then just last week, the Presiding Bishop sent me an open letter, that she quickly posted on the internet, threatening disciplinary action against me if I did not prevent this Convention from acting on certain legislative proposals. I believe all of you have seen my reply. What you may not have seen is the Episcopal News Service story saying that if I did not heed her warning it would (and I quote) “force her to take action to bring the diocese and its leadership into line with the mandates of the national Church.” Now hold on there a minute. I don’t want to force her to do anything, but I must object to the claim that the Presiding Bishop has any canonical authority in this Diocese or any legitimate power over the leadership of this Diocese. She has no authority to bring Fort Worth into line with the mandates of a so-called “national Church.” There is no such thing as “the national Church.” We are a confederation of Dioceses, related to each other by our participation in General Convention. From the earliest days of the beginnings of the Episcopal Church in this country, including the formation of dioceses and eventually the creation of the General Convention itself, there has been a strong mistrust of centralized authority that is deeply rooted in our history as Episcopalians. We do not have an Archbishop in this Church, who has authority over other Bishops and their Dioceses. Instead, we have a Presiding Bishop, with very limited canonical responsibilities, mainly administrative in nature. We must object to the tendency in recent years in this Church to create some sort of central bureaucracy at the top that holds power and authority over the various Dioceses of this Church. We do not have a Curia that dictates policy and dogma in this Church. We do not have a Presiding Bishop with papal authority over us, nor do we believe in the infallibility of any Bishop or any council or, indeed, of any General Convention. If I may be so bold to speak on your behalf, dear friends: the leadership of this Diocese does not need to be brought into line with the mandates of some mythical “national Church.”

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The exploration of the human genome has long been relegated to elite scientists in research laboratories. But that is about to change. An infant industry is capitalizing on the plunging cost of genetic testing technology to offer any individual unprecedented ”” and unmediated ”” entree to their own DNA.

For as little as $1,000 and a saliva sample, customers will be able to learn what is known so far about how the billions of bits in their biological code shape who they are. Three companies have already announced plans to market such services, one yesterday.

Offered the chance to be among the early testers, I agreed, but not without reservations. What if I learned I was likely to die young? Or that I might have passed on a rogue gene to my daughter? And more pragmatically, what if an insurance company or an employer used such information against me in the future?

Read it all from the front page of yesterday’s paper.

A seismic shift in the way Canadian Anglicans are treating same-sex blessings has made its way to the Diocese of Niagara.

In a historic weekend vote, Anglicans in the diocese moved overwhelmingly to adopt the so-called local option, allowing clergy “whose conscience permits” to bless the marriages of gays and lesbians.

The Right Rev. Ralph Spence said he will allow same-sex blessings in the Niagara diocese, which includes Hamilton, Burlington and Guelph as well as the Niagara Region, once a protocol has been worked out.

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Delegates to the Fort Worth Episcopal Diocese’s annual convention took the first step Saturday to cut ties to the Episcopal Church, a move driven in part by the diocese’s opposition to the ordination of women and gay men and the blessing of same-sex unions.

More than 200 clergy and lay delegates voted at the Will Rogers Memorial Center, with an overwhelming majority rejecting on first reading an amendment assenting to the authority of the Episcopal Church.

The church’s 2.1 million members constitute the U.S. body of the Anglican Communion, but the national church has taken more liberal stances than the worldwide communion in the past 30 years.

Delegates also adopted on first reading an amendment affirming membership with the Anglican Communion, which has 75 million members.

They rejected on first reading an amendment stating that church and mission property within the 24-county diocese are held in trust for the Episcopal Church. Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker and his followers say property owned by parishes and missions is held in trust for the diocese through a corporation.

Read it all.

I always feel like …[we are] on the front lines, and we’re in combat, and we’re receiving fire and returning fire. And we’re running out of bullets, and we’re running out of guns, and we’re running out of food, and we’re running out of water. And supply lines had better advance.

You need to guess the context and identity of the speaker before you look.

If you balance your episcopal throne on the fence, you will look rather silly when the fence is knocked down. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams looks silly all right as he contemplates the collapse of the boundaries that structured the Anglican communion, the group of notionally 80 million (actually, perhaps 50 million) Christians that he notionally leads and actually just exhorts, like a rugby referee without a whistle whom the scrum ignores. But looking silly is not his most serious problem.

Two statements by conservative primates in Africa and South America have made it clear that they mean to continue with the policy of planting and extending their churches in the US. The Americans, meanwhile, though they are for the moment prepared not to elect any more open, practising gays as bishops, certainly don’t think they were wrong to do so before and reserve the right to do so in the future.

Read it all.

I will consider posting comments on this article submitted by email only to Kendall’s E-mail: KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com.

From here:

Jerry Bowyer thinks conservative Episcopalians in Pittsburgh are disobeying God by taking steps to leave the national Episcopal Church. Mr. Bowyer’s commentary last Sunday ( “The Pittsburgh Schism,” Forum) suffers from selective amnesia of certain facts salient to the position of the Diocese of Pittsburgh majority.
Mr. Bowyer misses the point repeatedly made by Bishop Robert Duncan. The Diocese of Pittsburgh is going nowhere. We are, have been and will remain a constituent member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, a church that is not hierarchical “all the way up.” Clergy do vow obedience to their bishop; bishops, however, make no such pledge to other bishops but instead are to be in free and affectionate communion with each other and their people. More than half of Anglican bishops worldwide have declared themselves to be in broken or impaired relationship with the Episcopal Church. It is the Episcopal Church, not the Diocese of Pittsburgh, that is schismatic.
In further accusing conservatives of litigiousness contrary to the biblical injunction against suing in the secular courts, Mr. Bowyer conveniently overlooks the reality that of the two contestants in any litigation, only one appears voluntarily. The Diocese of Pittsburgh, for instance, is involved in litigation over its property — brought, against its will, by one of its liberal member parishes. It is those initiating litigation, not conservative Episcopalians, who are disobeying the biblical commandment.
Mr. Bowyer would do well to inform himself more thoroughly concerning the merits before using his public persona to attempt to discredit a movement with which he says he largely agrees.

REV. DR. DENNETT H. BUETTNER
Oakland

The man is a real hero.

Update: There is more here also.

Many Americans insist that everyone have a positive attitude, even when the going gets rough. From the self-help bookshelves to the Complaint-Free World Movement, the power of positive thinking is touted now more than ever as the way to be happy, healthy, wealthy and wise.

The problem is that this demand for good cheer brings with it a one-two punch for those of us who cannot cope in that way: First you feel bad about whatever’s getting you down, then you feel guilty or defective if you can’t smile and look on the bright side. And I’m not even sure there always is a bright side to look on.

I believe that there is no one right way to cope with all of the pain of living. As an academic psychologist, I know that people have different temperaments, and if we are prevented from coping in our own way, be it “positive” or “negative,” we function less well.

Read it all.

Marie Manor was a “cradle” Episcopalian. The Scottsdale woman was born into an Episcopal family, but she said today’s Episcopal Church is not the one she was raised in, that it has moved away from historical truths about the authority of Holy Scripture and the divinity of Christ. So, she and her family have defected.

They are part of about 175 who left en masse from Christ Church of the Ascension Episcopal Church in Paradise Valley and last month started Christ Church Anglican, which now meets in a rented church building in Phoenix. They formed their first vestry, or 12-member church board, Tuesday night.

They represent about 40 percent of the average weekly attendance of about 420 at the historic Paradise Valley church where the late U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater had donated the land for the church, regularly worshipped and where his remains are buried, said Jane Allred, who handles the new church’s communications. Bishop Kirk Smith, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, disputes those numbers, saying it was a “small group of about 75 people out of a 1,000-member parish” who left in what he calls a “drastic step.”

Allred sticks to her numbers and said other Episcopalians from Phoenix and Scottsdale churches, plus some Lutherans and Catholics, have joined since their first service on Oct. 7.

The 2.1 million-member mainline denomination has seen a wave of departures for Anglican communities, citing actions by the House of Bishops to allow gay Episcopal bishops and same-sex union blessings. They say the American church contrasts with other parts of the global Anglican Communion, where, they say, tradition and adherence to Scripture remain strong. The Episcopal Church has experienced a 9 percent loss in membership since 1996.

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We should have known something was strange. The banks were doing a lot better than they should have been doing.

When the history of the financial excesses of this decade is written, that will be a verdict of financial historians. There were signs that banks were either lying about their results or were taking large risks that were not fully disclosed, but investors were oblivious.

What were the signs? Consider how banks make money. They pay low rates on short-term deposits and charge higher rates on long-term loans. So they love what are known as positively sloped yield curves. And they like to see big credit spreads, where risky borrowers are charged much more than safe ones. Put them together, and banks should clean up.

By that light, nothing was going right in 2006 and early this year. The yield curve was inverted, or at best flat. And credit spreads were at historic lows. Risky loans, whether to subprime mortgage borrowers or junk-rated corporations, were readily available at rates that seemed to assume there was only the slightest risk of default.

And yet the bank stocks were buoyant, and so were reported profits.

“We should have been suspicious from the get-go,” said Robert A. Barbera, the chief economist of ITG. “There was financial alchemy at work.”

Read it all.

Via email from a participant:

I’m not sure where I can post this, but here are the results of the various votes at Convention today, where I was a delegate: we basically approved all the constitutional amendments put forward by the Diocese (its Committee on Constitution and Canons), by a majority of about 80% in each case. In more
details:

Article 1, Authority of Gen Con, amendment to repeal to qualification to the accession clause, was defeated by 83% of clergy, 80% of lay delegates (71 and 99 votes respectively).

Article 14, Title to Church Property, amendment to say all property is held in trust for TEC, defeated by 88% of clergy, 87% lay (75,107).

Preamble, removal of reference to TEC and geographical boundaries, adopted by 83% clergy, 79% lay (71, 97 votes).

Article 1, Anglican Identity, instead of accession to TEC, approved by 83% clergy, 77% lay (69, 95 votes).

Art. 12, Delegates to Extra-Diocesan Conventions or Synods, approved by 83% clergy, 80% lay (69, 98 votes).

Art. 18, Canons, removing “consistent with Constitution and Canons of TEC”, approved by 83% clergy, 78% lay (69, 96 votes).

We also approved by 88% clergy, 82% lay to amend our Canon 32, Controversy between rector and vestry, to add controversies between a parish and the diocese, to provide an amicable way for a parish to leave the diocese.

We also approved a resolution to express our thanks for the welcome extended by Southern Cone, and asking our Bishop and Standing Committee to create a report on the implications and means of accepting such an invitation. And a resolution thanking the Panel of Reference for its report about the permissive rather than mandatory nature of ordination of women.

Update: An ENS report is here.

The southern Ontario diocese of Niagara, meeting at its annual synod, on Nov. 17 voted to allow civilly-married gay couples, “where at least one party is baptized,” to receive a church blessing.

Bishop Ralph Spence, who had refused to implement a similar vote three years ago, this time gave his assent, making Niagara the third diocese since the June General Synod convention to accept same-sex blessings.

Of the 294 clergy and lay delegates, 239 voted yes, 53 said no and two abstained. In 2003, out of 319 delegates, 213 voted yes and 106 said no.

Read it all.

First, the local high school football team, which some of you may remember started their season with a big loss televised on ESPN, won huge in the playoffs and is headed to the state semifinals. Second, the College of Charleston basketball team overcame a 25 point first half deficit to Temple to win and achieve the biggest comeback in C of C history.

The Bowdoin College field hockey team completed the seventh perfect season in Division III history, capturing the school’s first-ever NCAA Championship with an 4-3 victory over Middlebury on Saturday at Ursinus College.

Wow. Great stuff.

QUESTION IS CALLED
Request by three members to vote by clergy and laity – granted
Vote on Motion CLERGY:
In favour: 82
Opposed:13
Abstained:
Vote on Motion: LAITY
In favour: 157
Opposed:40
Abstained: 2
Motion carried – by 81% of combined houses 18% opposed.
Bishop Comments: He and Michael will discuss this with the primate later today. Implementation will be looked at in the days ahead.

Read it all.

Please note the text of the motion posted yesterday in case you missed it–KSH.

The Anglican Network in Canada stands with the millions of Anglicans ”“ in Canada and throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion ”“ who are hurt and distressed by the decision of the Niagara Synod and Bishop to proceed at a time of the bishop’s choosing with the blessing of same-sex marriages. The Ottawa and Montreal Synods approved similar motions in October but their bishops have withheld consent to proceed.

“We are grieved that the synod and bishops of Niagara have chosen to walk away from centuries of Christian teaching and defy the consensus within the Anglican Communion,” says the Right Reverend Donald Harvey, Moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada. “There is clearly a growing momentum within the Anglican Church of Canada to ignore biblical teaching, disregard the views of the global Church, and even ignore the principles upon which the Canadian Church was founded. These actions have ‘torn the fabric’ of the Communion at its deepest level just as the Primates warned in October 2003”

By proceeding with these decisions to bless civilly married same-sex couples, the Diocese of Niagara is separating itself from the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide and deepening the divide within the Anglican Church of Canada and the global Communion.

In its rush to discard its heritage and conform to current culture, the Anglican Church of Canada has abandoned biblically-faithful Canadian Anglicans who, increasingly, feel they no longer have a home within that church. Ironically, while traditional Anglicans are marginalized within the Canadian church, they remain among the vast majority of global Anglicans, upholding historic Anglican and Christian teaching and tradition.

We are grateful for the support of Archbishop Gregory Venables and the Province of the Southern Cone who, at their Synod last week, expressed their willingness to provide a safe haven and Communion connection for these biblically faithful people. The Network is holding a conference ”“ Building on the Solid Rock, in Burlington, Ontario, on November 22-23 ”“ to discuss this option.

The Anglican Network in Canada is committed to remaining faithful to Holy Scripture and established Anglican doctrine and to ensuring that orthodox Canadian Anglicans are able to remain in full communion with their spiritual brothers and sisters around the world.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen any fighting. I can’t remember my last shootout: it’s been months. The nightmare is ending. Al Qaeda is being crushed. The Sunni tribes are awakening all across Iraq and foreswearing violence for negotiation. Many of the Shia are ready to stop the fighting that undermines their ability to forge and manage a new government. This is a complex and still delicate denouement, and the war may not be over yet. But the Muslims are saying it’s time to come home. And the Christians are saying it’s time to come home. They are weary, and there is much work to be done.

Read it all.

This is well worth the time.

Update: This related post is interesting also.

Too few people know about this wonderful ministry. They held their recent summit in South Carolina and kindly asked me to preach. I went early and had dinner with them and listened to their first session and was completely blown away by the deidcation, spiritual seriousness, and energy of these young leaders. We do not deserve them, they shouldn’t be there, but God is raising them up any way–KSH.

Read the whole thing.

Read it all.