Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh has written to every member of the House of Bishops informing them that he will not attend the special meeting of the House of Bishops in Salt Lake City next week.
“One of the previously announced reasons for your gathering is to consider a charge brought against me by five priests and 16 lay people,” Bishop Duncan wrote. “The proper forum to determine whether I have violated the constitution and canons would be a church trial, as I am a bishop of this church.” He added that by instead pursuing “the abandonment shortcut,” “even the specific protections of that course of action have been ruled not to apply.”
Bishop Duncan has challenged the PB’s claim that the Constitution and Canons of TEC prevent a Diocese from separating from General Convention. The response is to depose him for his interpretation. However, that does not settle the issue.
+JLI
Bishop Iker, will you be going to the HOB meeting?
Gee, I suppose Duncan will miss any indabas.
Blacksmithing the canons is what TEC does best. Since TEC can’t stomach the Gospel it only makes sense that they beat the rules into whatever shape they need at the moment.
oops, take back No. 2 question. Fingers ahead of brain. Shouldn’t have asked. Sorry to all.
If the grace of Jesus Christ is lost, then all that remains is law.
Remember that it was law that permitted crystalnacht(sp?).
Do not minimise the effect of those following the law.
But it is up to us to excercise mercy and grace within the law. If this were fair then Jesus Christ would not have gone to the cross – but we will not see fairness.
God help Bishop Duncan and all who need to make wise decisions.
Don
Krystallnacht.
Danke!
Bitte und Grüß’ Gott.
I actually found the Krystallnacht reference appropriate, historically and legally. The implied parallel is whether to “get out now” or “wait for better days”.
What a fantastic letter by Bp. Duncan. I hope many bishops seriously and prayerfully consider his words and will find strength from the Lord to take a bold stand against the travesty of justice that the PB and others are trying to ramrod through.
I certainly hope and pray that any vote will be a roll call vote. Let this see the light of day and be shown for what it is.
Finally, I was wonderfully stunned to read the news in Bp. Duncan’s letter about the clergy conference in Pittsburgh next week:
[i]The Clergy Conference of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh will be meeting from the 17th to the 19th of September. Our focus will be on addressing the apologetic and missionary challenge posed by Islam to the Christian Church here in America.[/i]
How awesome to read that in spite of everything, Bp. Duncan and the clergy of Pittsburgh are continuing to so clearly focus on the mission and ministry of the Gospel and to look to moving ahead to find new ways to reach out to Muslims, instead of being consumed with the TEC crisis. If anything, that speaks volumes about why Pittsburgh is on the brink of disassociating from TEC. There are two different Gospels being proclaimed. It is time to choose and to take a stand as to which Gospel one follows.
May the Lord pour out His grace and wisdom upon all in Pittsburgh in these momentous days.
Shall this HOB meeting turn out to be the real watershed moment for the Episcopal Church? Will there be a recognition that the liberals have gone too far, or will they prove to have the votes to succeed and so show the future of all who continue to defy the almighty zeitgheist? Who will make a stand against them? Howe, Stanton, Lawrence? For them there will be no way to avoid taking a stand. They will either mark themselves as rebels, perhaps successful rebels in being able to lead a majority of bishops away from Schori’s fascist madness, or they will mark themselves as collaborators. There is no middle ground for those who stand for the Gospel.
Praise God for the clarity of choice that Schori is giving the church!
The course of action being taken by Schori and associates is canonically faulted and disingenuous.
Not all members of the House of Bishops are radical revisionists. Indeed, many of them have made it clear that they are remaining in ECUSA because they believe that maintaining the hierarchial INTEGRITY of the episcopacy of ECUSA comes first.
Well, Schori’s deposition of +Duncan is a direct attack on the hierarchial integrity and on the canons of ECUSA.
Will the bishops who are not radical revisionists have the decency and intestinal fortitude to stand up to Schori and say NO to this deposition?
Chris H., and Anglican First, I totally agree with you both in that orthodox bishops who may have been hoping to quietly work from within will now be called to take a clear bold stand, and that not to do so will be a stand. Here’s what I just posted at SF along the same lines.
——-
I note, as several other commenters already have done, that the combination of Schori’s memo being made public, and Bp. Duncan’s letter to the HoB will put enormous pressure the remaining orthodox bishops in the HoB for whom working from “inside†has been important.
Even though I will be traveling, and thus not able to join my colleagues in posting prayers at Lent & Beyond this week, I will be praying specifically for a number of orthodox bishops, including +Bruce MacPherson, +Mark Lawrence, +Bill Love, as well as +John Howe, +James Adams and +Jim Stanton.
All of these bishops to some degree or another have been committed to staying within and working for reform from inside TEC. That choice becomes more and more difficult when faced with a situation like this.
I truly hope and pray the Lord will strengthen these bishops and that they will be bold in standing clearly for the Lord and His Word. In the past, the “Windsor Bishops†claim to have been “surprised†or caught off guard†by various parliamentary procedures with no time to respond or organize. This time, they no longer have that excuse. The PB’s tactics and plans have been made public. Even if she were somehow to back down, I believe the public disclosure of her plans, along with the call for integrity and justice from Bp. Duncan will demand a clear response from each and all of the orthodox bishops who claim to stand for the faith once delivered. The gauntlet has been thrown down. I don’t presume to claim that the inside strategy is no longer an option nor do I believe that staying inside is denying Christ. But I do believe those planning to stay inside TEC need to stand boldly and publicly for Christ, His Truth, justice and sound doctrine. That is likely to be VERY costly. May the Lord help them, and each of us to be faithful in counting the cost and taking up our cross daily and following our Lord.
Chris,
Those same bishops had an opportunity to stand at New Orleans. They had an opportunity to stand with GAFCON. Over the last 5 years, they have chance after chance to stand for the Gospel in ways other than carefully worded, yet meaningless, statements. They did nothing to oppose the election of KJS. None of them have taken [b]action[/b] to stop her fascist leadership.
I pray that they will stand up, but thus far they have seemed less than up to the challenge.
For those who plan to join in praying for orthodox bishops in the days ahead and for courage for them to take a stand, my [url=http://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2008/09/14/the-windsor-bishops-and-walking-in-the-light/]latest post at L&B;[/url] tonight may be helpful.
The post includes a list of Windsor & Common Cause bishops (diocesans only) remaining in TEC, as well as several Scripture verses I find shaping my prayers tonight. Here is that portion of the post:
Here is a list of the bishops, for whom I am praying for by name. (Note this list includes both the Windsor Bishops committed to working within TEC, as well as several bishops who have already taken a stand for realignment and support the Common Cause movement’s “outside†strategy)
+Robert Duncan, Pittsburgh (of course!)
+Keith Ackerman, Quincy
+James Adams, W. Kansas
+John Bauerschmidt, Tennessee
+Peter Beckwith, Springfield
+John Howe, Central Florida
+Russell Jacobus, Fond Du Lac
+Mark Lawrence, South Carolina
+Gary Lillibridge, West Texas
+Ed Little, Northern Indiana
+Bill Love, Albany
+Bruce MacPherson, Western Louisiana
+Michael Smith, North Dakota
+Jim Stanton, Dallas
+Don A. Wimberly, Texas
+Geralyn Wolf, Rhode Island
And here are three Scripture passages which I find shaping my prayers:
Prov 4:18-19
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.
Matt. 5:13-16
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Eph 5:8-17
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.†Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
#9. Tom,
It is better to get out now. Better days for TEC are unlikely. Worship in CANA is an absolutely holy experience. Since the Hope and a Future Conference, in Pittsburgh, nearly three years ago, I have been praying for +Bob to “get out now.” I feel he has moved too slowly, but he must stay in step with the Holy Spirit. “Now” seems to be his time, so we all need to increase our prayers for him.
— Stan