Worried about the West's vanishing Christian character? Go to church!

Melanie McDonagh writes at The Spectator on the conversation of the decline of the Church of England, but it applies here in the US, too:

So, I have a simple proposal for the cultural Christians who agonise about the rise of Islam and the vanishing Christian character of Britain: go to church. Take the place of Generation A. Turn up for Easter Sunday as well as Christmas; keep Pentecost Sunday, because hardly anyone now knows what Whit Sunday stands for, and Ascension Thursday. There are lots of churches out there, you know: Anglicans in cities are spoiled for choice, and you can’t throw a brick in places like Norfolk without landing on something fabulous from the fifteenth century. Anglicans have, moreover, for those that seek it out, the loveliest liturgy, and you don’t deserve it. There are rubbish clergy, of course, but, you know, it’s possible to separate your feelings about the thing that’s being celebrated from the celebrant (Catholics are quite good at this). So, get out there. The numbers attending Anglican services fell below a million at the beginning of last year; they’re still falling.

It’s kind of Matthew Parris to wish the CofE well from outside, but the institution is not going to survive on the basis of the flying buttresses (to quote Winston Churchill) alone; it needs pillars even more. Go and get stuck in, reader, or else abstain from complaining about the cultural atrophy of the West.

Read it all here.

This Sunday we'll be observing the 90th Anniversary of the dedication of the current Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church of Peoria. It's not from the fifteenth century, but it's still pretty fabulous, with a lovely liturgy, and the clergy... Well, if you're near Peoria, here's a place for you.

Tip o' the hat to Canon Kendall Harmon at TitusOneNine.

Revitalizing the Mainline?

Arrrgh! Why did I not find out about this until just now? Looks like a good conference near Chicago, starting Friday, for those of us who are are not leaving our mainline (oldline, sideline) denominations. Hat tip Mere Comments.

ANSWERING THE CALL - Chicago - Aug 6-8

Conference on Replanting, Revitalizing and Pastoring the Church

Do you believe that God is calling you to reach out to a community with the message of Christ? Do you have an unshakable love for Christ’s church even with all her flaws? Do you desire to transform a church towards being missional in all it does? Does the idea of church replanting intrigue you? Are you interested in reaching new American mission fields with the gospel? Do you long to energize the local church with a passion to reach the world for Christ?

One of the emerging ministry opportunities is open pulpits in mainline^* churches. There is a mainline church at the center of almost everyone town in America. They provide a great opportunity to reach communities with the message of Christ starting from the center of town.

Keynote Speakers:

• Ed Stetzer - Being Missional in your Community
• John Hull - Being a Servant Leader
• Jim Tomberlin - Leveraging Multi-Site concepts for church growth
• John Armstrong - Your church is too small: Missional Ecumenicalism

Practical workshops on the “how to” aspects of church replanting/revitalization

Pre-Conference Church Replanting Bootcamp

• Why Replant Churches
• What Does a Church Replanter Look Like?
• Church Replanting Is Not A Tweak – Setting Vision & Leading Change
• Church Replanting Is Not A Task - Understanding Culture and Working with People

This conference is for pastors, laity and students interested in learning how to minister the gospel in the mainline. August 5-7, 2010 in Chicago, Il at Elmhurst College. This will be a great time to think, learn and discuss how to apply the scriptures to the task of sharing Christ in our communities via mainline churches.

For more details

• Website: www.mainlinecall.org
• Registration: mainlinecall.org/registration/
• Download the brochure

See you this summer in Chicago!

^*Mainline churches typically include the American Baptist, Disciples of Christ, Episcopal Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Presbyterian Church USA, United Church of Christ, and United Methodist Church.

Peace (?) Be with You.

The Episcopal Church is currently meeting in General Convention. You can keep track of what's happening over at TitusOneNine, which is near the top of Pastor Zip's "Blogs for Faithful Churchmen" one the right column of this blog.

The big news there, so far, is that the House of Deputies has approved a resolution that "acknowledges that God has called and may call any individual in the church to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church, in accordance with the discernment process set forth in the Constitution and Canons of the church." This resolution essentially overturns a resolution from the last General Convention to not ordain any more practicing gay Bishops. Next it goes to the House of Bishops, who need to approve the resolution for it to officially go into effect. (Here TEC's General Convention is like the US Congress, where both the House of Representatives and the Senate must approve legislation.)

Early this afternoon TitusOneNine posted this message from Bishop John Howe of the Central Florida Diocese, which begins:

We have reached the mid-point, and I want to give you some impressions. This is a remarkably different General Convention than any of the previous six I have attended as a Bishop. I would characterize all the previous Conventions as highly contentious. This one is not. We still have the same recurrent issues ahead of us, but the "conservative" wing is so greatly diminished that its voice is almost irrelevant.

I made that comment to one person who questioned whether I really meant it, "Irrelevant? Don't you mean "hated?" No, there is no sense of animosity here. The conservatives state their position(s) respectfully and they are treated with respect in return. It is just that they are so hugely outnumbered that it doesn't matter.

At the open hearings on the sexuality questions the "progressives" outnumber the "conservatives" somewhere between six and ten to one. I have been proud of the members of the Central Florida deputation entering into the debate, but often they have been nearly the only ones speaking on behalf of a "traditionalist" position. (Some of our folks have been approached and questioned by members of the "Youth Presence" that is here who seem never to have heard a "traditionalist" position articulated previously.)

Read it all here.

I read this not long after getting off the phone with a friend in the Church of Sweden, where we spoke of recent events. After that, and what I've been reading of TEC's Convention, and thinking of my recent attitude towards our Synod and Churchwide Assemblies, I'm thinking maybe I've become a bit too peaceful.

The Still-Clueless Priest

As we begin the day we celebrate the heavenly birthday of St. Patrick, who used the shamrock to teach the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish, we return to the saga of the Rev. Dr. Ann Holmes Redding courtesy of the Providence (Rhode Island) Journal, who is the subject of this article posted to the paper's web site Sunday afternoon.

Dr. Redding's saga first made Pastor Zip's Blog in July 2007, after the Seattle Times picked up the curious story in the newspaper of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia featuring a priest who claimed to be both Christian and Muslim. Olympia's Bishop didn't seem to think there was a problem. But then it turned out that Redding, while serving in Olympia, is canonically resident in the Diocese of Rhode Island and that Bishop recognized otherwise and quickly suspended her from any priestly activities for a year of "Pastoral Direction," a year that was extended due to the Lambeth Conference. Last October Bishop Wolf inhibited Dr. Redding, giving her a deadline of this month to show why she ought not be defrocked.

Writes the Journal's Richard C. Dujardin,

But these days, as she approaches the 25th anniversary of her ordination as an Episcopal priest on March 25, Redding, who lives in Seattle, faces controversy of a different sort. She is on the verge of being defrocked by Rhode Island Episcopal Bishop Geralyn Wolf because of her insistence that she can be a Muslim and Christian at the same time.

Bishop Wolf, who is Redding's canonical superior, has told Redding that her conversion to Islam through her recitation of Shahada, the basic Islamic creed, constitutes an abandonment of the Christian faith and that unless she recants by March 30, she will no longer be a priest.

The warning, formally issued by Bishop Wolf with the backing of the diocesan standing committee last September, has been among the communications that began in September 2007, soon after Bishop Wolf attended a meeting of the House of Bishops and heard stories about a priest claiming to be both Muslim and Christian.

Bishop Wolf recalls getting up at that meeting and saying such a stand was misguided because the fundamental teachings were incompatible. Only after returning to Rhode Island, she says, did she discover that Redding, a former parishioner at St. Stephen's Church in Providence, had been ordained by her predecessor, Bishop George N. Hunt. Because Redding never shifted her canonical residence, Bishop Wolf is her superior.

"I had her come in because I didn't want to rely on a newspaper story," the bishop recounted. "I said to her, 'This is a spiritual challenge for you to decide where you are in terms of your understanding of the Christian faith, especially Christ's passion, and resurrection and incarnation. I want you to take some time to seek spiritual direction.' "...

When the bishop and priest met again last September, Redding repeated her view that she saw no conflict between embracing Islam and following Jesus. It was then that Bishop Wolf said she would begin proceedings to have her deposed.

In Bishop Wolf's view, the moment that Redding recited the words of the Shahada, the creed that says "there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger," she gave her allegiance to Islam and abandoned the Christian faith.

"As I understand it, Muslims do not believe in the divinity of Christ. They don't believe in the death of Christ or that he is the Son of God, which are cornerstones of the Christian faith. Yes, there are people in every religion who try to stretch the basic tenets of a belief, but if you choose to be a priest within the Episcopal Church you are speaking for the church and its teachings. It demands a commitment."

Reached at her home in Seattle, Redding said Thursday that unless something causes her to radically change her convictions in the next few weeks, she will "continue to be faithful to the call and invitation that God has given to me."

She says that while she had been familiar with some of the teachings of Islam, she began looking at them more seriously after inviting Muslims to speak at the cathedral in the aftermath of 9/11.

But it was a personal crisis, one she does not wish to share, that led her, she says, to a realization that "I needed to totally surrender myself to God. Surrender to God is what Islam is about."...

"It never occurred to me I was leaving Christianity any more than the early disciples of Jesus would have felt they were leaving Judaism by becoming his followers," she said. "It was only after the fact that I recognized it could be very confusing to many people."

And how does Redding place herself between two faiths, one which holds that Jesus is the Son of God and another that regards Jesus as a prophet and forerunner to Muhammad but not God's Son?

Redding, who'd like to be a bridge between the two faiths, insists that the two religions are closer than many think. The Koran, like the New Testament, teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin. She says she finds that Muslims are more firm in that belief than many Christians she knows, who seem not to be sure.

She says she continues to believe that Jesus is divine but goes on to explain that she believes there is an element of the divine in all of us. "We are all children of God."

"When Christians say that Jesus is the only-begotten son of God, we are putting into words an understanding of the uniqueness of Jesus and the unique intimate relationship we have with him and his mission," she says. "But I don't think that the 'only begotten Son' language is to be taken literally."

In a departure from traditional Islamic teaching, Redding holds that Jesus was crucified and was resurrected. She argues that the Koran doesn't explicitly deny that Jesus was crucified but only that the Jews did not crucify him.

However, Imam Abdul Hameed of the Islamic Center of Rhode Island disputes her reading. The Koran, he says, makes clear that Jesus was not crucified or killed, but was "lifted up" to God.

"I think she is a little confused. There is no possibility for one to be both a Muslim and a Christian," Hameed said. "If she doesn't believe that [Jesus] is the son of God, she is not Christian. And she can't be a Muslim if she believes Jesus died on a cross."

Redding says she prefers to stay away from some of the constructs theologians have built to help decide "who is in and who is out, who is going to heaven and who is not."

"The Trinity is a wonderful way of thinking about God. … But will I reduce God to a formula? No.

"To those who say you have to believe in the formula, I say, 'No, God cannot be packaged.' "

Even now, facing the possibility of being defrocked, Redding continues to worship at various Episcopal churches and to receive communion. On Fridays, she goes to recite prayers at the Islamic center....

But even Redding believes she is in an uphill battle. She says her situation might be easier if the the U.S. Episcopal Church itself weren't under pressure from conservative prelates in other countries who want the church to be thrown out of the Anglican Communion for ordaining a gay bishop. She notes that many of the church's sharpest critics are Third World prelates who are competing with Muslims every day.

Bishop Greg Rickel, who became leader of the 33,000-member Olympia Diocese after the controversy started, said he agrees with Bishop Wolf that Redding can't be a member of two faiths.

But he adds: "I also want to say I love Ann Holmes Redding. She has taught me a lot and I enjoy her company. As a person of faith here, she gets a lot of support."...

Read it all here. Tip of the biretta to TitusOneNine.

Follow-up: +Ackerman in Springfield

Posted yesterday on VirtueOnline is a brief report from comments by Bishop Ackerman to VOL regarding his call in Springfield.

"I am an assisting bishop and I have no intention of performing any canonical or sacramental acts in the Diocese of Springfield.... I will do spiritual retreats for clergy but nothing that would interfere with the fact that I have retired from The Episcopal Church. This position does not require consents from the House of Bishops."

Bishop Ackerman told VOL that he and his wife are selling their home and will shortly move to Texas where he plans a ministry revolving around Dove Tracts, writing and spiritual direction.

Doing what he enjoys... His "retirement" will be a blessing to many, though I will very much miss his presence in Peoria.

+Ackerman to Springfield

The Living Church is reporting that Bishop Keith Ackerman, who retired as Bishop of Quincy last month, has been called to serve as an assisting Bishop in the Springfield Diocese.

The Rt. Rev. Peter H. Beckwith, Bishop of Springfield, said the Presiding Bishop’s office had been notified that the new position would become effective Dec. 1....

Appointments to assistant bishop positions require consent from the annual synod of the diocese and a majority of the House of Bishops, but the position of assisting bishop, which is not defined in the canons and constitution of The Episcopal Church, is at the discretion of individual diocesan bishops unless otherwise constrained by local diocesan bylaws.

I'm guessing that this call can be something like my mother's 20-some years of service as a teacher's aide. The holder of a lifetime teaching credential from her teaching days before I was born, the principal at Hamlin St. School several times sought to bring her on staff as a full teacher. Mom wasn't interested. As an aide she got to teach children -- which she loved doing -- while not having to worry about all the other things teachers have become responsible for.

Now Bishop Ackerman can be a Bishop -- preaching, teaching, administering the sacraments, dwelling in the word and prayer -- and leave the administrative minutiae to others. May the Lord bless his new ministry.

QC Times: Episcopal Property Conflict?

From today's Quad City Times:

Episcopal Church split might turn into conflict over property

By Deirdre Cox Baker | Monday, November 10, 2008 11:12 PM CST

Fallout from the weekend decision by the Diocese of Quincy, Ill., to leave the Episcopal Church of the United States may include litigation over millions of dollars’ worth of property and assets.

“We pray there will be no litigation,” the Rev. Ed den Blaauwen said Monday. Den Blaauwen, the rector of Christ Church in Moline, is also the newly appointed vicar general of the diocese that is now aligned with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, based in Argentina.

Church resources would be better used for Christian activities than in the courts, he added.

The Episcopal Church will protect its history and heritage, said the Rev. Charles Robertson, canon to the presiding bishop of the national church in New York City. Church officials will not give away property to a foreign province, he said, adding, “This is our heritage and, more than that, the heritage of those who have not even come our way yet.”

Well, given TEC's recent history, particularly since the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as Presiding Bishop, such a hard line is not surprising.

The Episcopalian [sic] Church still exists in the Quincy Diocese, Robertson stressed. “Our first concern for followers is that they know that our church continues,” he added.

New alignments

Lines are being drawn in the church between liberal or moderate factions and traditional or conservative ones. Arguments center on the national church’s decisions to allow women in the clergy, which occurred in the 1970s, and to promote an openly gay minister to a bishop’s post in 2003.

Well, those are the flash points that reveal a deeper division over the place of the Scriptures and Christian doctrine in the Church's contemporary witness. But what do you expect when describing a debate over fundamental Christian truth in only one or two sentences?

The schism widened when the national church appointed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to the job. The Quincy Diocese, which numbers 24 churches (including those in Moline, Rock Island, Silvis, Geneseo and Kewanee) and 1,800 members, has never allowed women or gays to be part of the clergy.

“We are working to assist in the reorganization of diocesan affairs,” Schori said. It now appears that four churches, including St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Peoria, Ill., the largest in the diocese, will continue to align with the Episcopal Church....

Yes, that fits with some reports I heard. Things are going to get, uh, interesting here in Peoria.

...A new alignment called the Common Cause partnership is working to establish an Anglican province in the United States, according to the Rev. John Spencer, the press officer for the Quincy Diocese. That would include the alignments with the Southern Cone and other U.S. churches that have aligned with an organization including Anglican churches in the African nations of Nigeria and Rwanda.

The timeline for the new organizational structure would involve some kind of provisional recognition in late December or early January, he said. Formal approval of the new North American Anglican Province may come by early February, after the worldwide Anglican council meets in Egypt.

Read it all here. A prayers that cooler heads might be found and prevail.

Quincy Realigns

This is official, from the Diocese of Quincy

PRESS RELEASE
The Diocese of Quincy, Peoria, IL
November 8, 2008

Contact information:
Fr. John Spencer, Media Officer
The Diocese of Quincy
Email: qunews@mtco.com
Cell: 309-264-7489


For Immediate release
November 8, 2008

Diocese of Quincy Realigns With South American Province

The Annual Synod of the Diocese of Quincy’s meeting November 7-8 in Quincy, Illinois, has voted by strong margins to realign itself with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, breaking its ties with The Episcopal Church in the US. On two key votes more than ¾ of the clergy and lay deputies voted in favor of the realignment.

The move came after several years of prayer and discernment about the diocese's relationship with The Episcopal Church. Many in the Quincy Diocese, both clergy and lay people, have been at odds with the national leadership and other dioceses over the authority of the Bible, church order and discipline, and the church's moral standards and teaching on Christian marriage.

On the vote to disaffiliate from the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, 75% of the clergy and 82% of the lay deputies voted in favor. On the subsequent vote to realign the diocese with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone the vote in favor was 92% in the clergy order and 87% in the lay order.

"This decision was not made lightly," said Fr. John Spencer, press officer for the diocese. "We have talked and prayed about this for a very long time. But we take our relationship to the Anglican Communion very seriously. Since 2003, over half the Provinces of the Anglican Communion have been in a state of broken Communion with The Episcopal Church. By realigning with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone, we are now back in full communion with the majority of over 75 million Anglicans around the world."

Canon Ed den Blaauwen, incoming President of the Standing Committee, said the focus of the diocese will remain on mission. "Our churches and our diocese will continue in mission and ministry locally and around the world. We feel much at home under the oversight of Archbishop Gregory Venables, Primate of the Southern Cone, who has warmly welcomed us into affiliation with that Province," den Blaauwen said. "We are once again back in full fellowship with our brother and sister Anglicans."

Shortly after the votes were taken, Canon den Blaauwen, who acted as chairman for the Synod, read a letter from Archbishop Venables welcoming Quincy as a member of the Province of the Southern Cone.

Bishop Keith Ackerman who retired from leadership of the diocese on November 1, spoke to the gathering Friday afternoon just before the synod convened. Quoting the Epistle of Jude, he encouraged them to remain faithful to the Gospel of Christ and the historic faith of the Christian Church as they considered the momentous decisions before them.

"While the votes show there was very strong support for this decision," Fr. Spencer said, "we realize this was not a unanimous decision." By a separate action, the synod made provision for a nine months grace period during which a congregation or member of the clergy might consider withdrawing from the diocese in order to stay in the Episcopal Church. "It is a matter of allowing everyone to follow their consciences in these very difficult times, without recrimination," Spencer said.

- 30 -

Pastor Zip missed the discussion and votes, but from conversations I had with friends after my arrival both pro and con moving from TEC to the Southern Cone, the report on Episcopal Life Online seems accurate:

During the 45-minute debate on the resolution to leave the Episcopal Church, some speakers suggested that they could have a greater witness by "working from within," but the majority of speakers expressed disgust at the Episcopal Church, saying that what they were leaving did not represent the church they had been born into or once joined.

The final speaker, a woman who was not fully identified, said "We need to make a choice. Is Jesus Christ our Savior or not?"

"I don’t feel like I’m leaving TEC, instead I feel like I am moving forward. I am convinced that by not leaving TEC, I will brand myself with the same heretical views of those who are running TEC now. This is the end. Right here. Today," she said.

The resolution said leaders of the Episcopal Church and actions of its General Convention "have failed to uphold the teaching and authority of Holy Scripture, have challenged or belittled core doctrines of the Christian faith, have refused to conform to the agreed teaching and discipline of the Anglican faith, have refused to conform to the agreed teaching and discipline of the Anglican Communion, and have rejected the godly counsel of the leaders of the Communion."

The sermons preached at the Synod -- at Evensong by Bishop Peter Beckwith of the neighboring Diocese of Springfield shortly after the vote and at the Eucharist the next morning by Quincy Bishop-retired Donald Parsons -- wrestled with what the Synod had done, both pointedly lifting up that faithful Anglicans in the US, while deeply opposed to the leadership and direction of TEC, remain divided over staying in vs. leaving the Episcopal Church, at least as long as it remains the province of the Anglican Communion in the United States. Hopes are that a new, more orthodox province will be established fairly soon for North America.

Quincy is the third Episcopal Diocese, following San Joaquin (in central California) and Pittsburgh, to seek refuge in the Southern Cone, which is Anglican province covering Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. The Diocese of Ft. Worth will be voting to join them later this week.

+Ackerman and Forward in Faith

More on Bishop Ackerman's retirement from Forward in Faith, one of the reasserter/traditionalist groups in the Anglican Communion:

Bishop Keith Ackerman will remain as President of Forward in Faith North America
Oct 30, 2008

Further to the announcement yesterday of his retirement as Bishop of Quincy, The Right Reverend Keith Ackerman SSC wishes to make it clear that he will be remaining in office as President of Forward in Faith North America. Indeed, it is his intention during his retirement to devote himself more fully than has been possible hitherto to this ministry.

Stephen Parkinson
Secretary
Forward in Faith International

Bishop Ackerman Retires

Just caught this shocking news a few minutes ago on Stand Firm:

The Right Reverend Keith L. Ackerman, VIIIth Bishop of Quincy, has announced to the Standing Committee his retirement as Diocesan Bishop effective November 1st, 2008. Bishop Ackerman has reached this decision after much thought and prayer. The Bishop and his wife Jo conferred with his physicians, many trusted friends, and the Standing Committee before making this decision.

While Bishop Ackerman is retiring from his administrative duties as executive officer of the Diocese, he plans to remain in the area of the Diocese for some time and will make himself available, under arrangement with the Standing Committee, to perform Episcopal acts and provide spiritual counsel to members of the Diocese, as have Bishop Donald Parsons and Bishop Edward MacBurney, the VIth and VIIth Bishops of Quincy.

Under diocesan canons, the Standing Committee will continue to act as the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese, as they have since the Bishop’s sabbatical began in late August. Day to day operations of the diocese will continue to be handled by the various officers and department heads.

Bishop Ackerman wants to assure everyone that he has no intention of abandoning the diocese but will continue to provide spiritual and pastoral support as asked by the Standing Committee.

According to TitusOneNine, this is a message from Quincy's Standing Committee.

Bishop Ackerman has been on sabbatical since the Lambeth Conference, and has not been in the best of health for well over a year. I won't even begin to speculate on the meanings of this. The Quincy priests I know love and respect him very much and cherish his ministry. How well they have been prepared for this, I don't know -- but there was no hint of anything like this at the Peoria Deanery's pre-Synod convocation a week ago Sunday.

Observers will note that the agenda of the upcoming Synod (the end of next week) includes votes to disassociate from The Episcopal Church and associate with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone until a new, more orthodox Anglican province is established for North America.

As for my personal regard for Bishop Ackerman, click the Quincy category label on the right column. And do join me in prayer for a godly bishop and and a faithful diocese. This is very difficult news. Yet we remain in Christ's care.

Rev. Redding, Still Clueless, Is Inhibited

I last mentioned the case of Dr. Ann Holmes Redding here. She's the woman who, while serving as the director of faith formation at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Olympia, Washington, became a Muslim. As I've earlier reported, the then-Bishop of Olympia seemed to think with was an exciting interfaith possibility. Fortunately, Dr. Redding's own Bishop, Geralyn Wolf of Rhode Island, recognized otherwise and issued Redding a Pastoral Direction "to reflect on the doctrines of the Christian faith, her vocation as a priest, and what I see as the conflicts inherent in professing both Christianity and Islam," and preventing Dr. Redding from acting as an Episcopal Priest.

Now Episcopal Life Online reports that Bishop Wolf has inhibited Dr. Redding, giving her until March 31, 2009, to "reclaim" her Christian faith, If she does not, she will be defrocked. In the article, Dr. Redding is quoted, saying,

“It’s still a mystery as to why, on March 25, 2006, which happens to be my ordination date and the annunciation, I felt called to say the Shahadah with the intention of becoming a Muslim. I’m continuing to explore what it means to be both a Muslim and a Christian, and I expect to be the rest of my life. Being a Muslim makes me a much better Christian, and being a Christian makes me the kind of Muslim I want to be. I see as my calling and privilege witnessing the deep reality of one God.”

“I’m grateful for the chance to meet with Ann twice and to speak with her several times on the phone,” said Wolf. “She’s a very bright person, and I cannot say enough about the depth of her integrity. Hers is not a superficial decision, and this is why I been very deliberate and have taken over a year to talk things through. We’ve been in dialogue since June, 2007.

“However, I believe that Islam and Christianity have enough differences to make it impossible to adhere to them both with integrity. The church wants to be diverse and inclusive, but we’re decidedly Christian. We’re Christ-followers,” said Wolf.

“Despite my respect for and genuine like of Bishop Wolf, I do not believe the canons were written with this situation in mind,” said Redding. “I think the people who wrote them were thinking of other Christian denominations. So my situation gives the church an opportunity to re-examine what it means to be in communion. If we want to survive as a Church, and be faithful witnesses of Christ, I believe all the people of the world must be in communion.”

Again, read it all here. Seems to me that Bishop Wolf is bending over backwards to put a best construction on Dr. Redding's thought process which, if not superficial, is certainly fundamentally confused.

Hat tip to TitusOneNine.

Our Bishop Ackerman on International Stage

There is nothing in the Lutheran church quite like the Lambeth Conference, that once-a-decade gathering of all the Bishops in the entire Anglican Communion. Actually, to follow the news of what has been happening in the Anglican Communion (that TitusOneNine link in my Blogs for Faithful Churchmen is one good place to do that), it looks like there isn't anything quite like the Lambeth Conference in the Anglican Communion, either, as a goodly number chose not to attend as part of the continuing protest over Gene Robinson being Bishop of the New Hampshire Diocese.

For a local angle on this international stage, catch this section of a report from the BBC:

After the service as hundreds of bishops milled around in the cathedral close, I spoke to two.

Keith Ackerman, bishop of Quincy, Illinois, came because, as he put it: "An empty chair can't speak": he thought it important that the conservative view was represented.

He voiced the unease of many traditionalists when he accused liberals, in effect, of trying to rewrite the Bible.

"Why is it that people are determined to change the faith delivered to the saints?"

The conservatives feel the ground shifting beneath them and they find it deeply unsettling.

"The faithful of yesterday have become the dissidents of today," in the words of Archbishop Greg Venables.

He was one of the 200 Anglican bishops and primates who met in Jerusalem a few weeks ago and founded what is, in effect, a breakaway organisation - the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans.

Though he came to Canterbury and participated in the service, he was one of several bishops who did not take communion, arguing that he is no longer in communion with many of his colleagues.

Picnic

Two hours later on the outskirts of Canterbury, the man whose ordination as bishop of New Hampshire helped create the present crisis was at a picnic and open-air service organised by gay and lesbian activists in the Church.

Gene Robinson has explicitly not been invited to the conference itself for fear that his presence would be divisive.

But he was here on the conference fringe, accompanied in a show of solidarity, by many of his fellow North American bishops.

The priest who presided over the service, Colin Coward, was unambiguous in his response when I put to him the traditionalist argument that the Bible explicitly condemns homosexuality as a sin, and that an avowed sinner should not, could not, be a bishop.

"I just don't believe it; we are all men and women, straight or gay, created by God."

Read it all here. Thanks to TitusOneNine for bringing this to my attention.

Update on the Rev. (?) Dr. Redding

It's been about a year since the case of the Rev. Dr. Ann Holmes Redding hit the press. She's the Episcopal priest who, while serving at the Cathedral of the Diocese of Olympia, announced that she was both Muslim and Christian.

While that didn't seem to be a problem for the then-Bishop of Olympia, it was a problem for her own Bishop, Geralyn Wolf of Rhode Island, where Dr. Redding is canonically resident. Bishop Wolf put Dr. Redding under a year's Pastoral Direction, "giving her the opportunity to reflect on the doctrines of the Christian faith, her vocation as a priest, and what I see as the conflicts inherent in professing both Christianity and Islam. During the next year she is not to exercise any of the responsibilities and privileges of an Episcopal priest or deacon."

Over the weekend, Bishop Wolf sent the following:

June 20, 2008
To: Members of the House of Bishops
From: The Rt. Rev’d Geralyn Wolf
Re: The Rev’d Dr. Ann Holmes Redding

In June of 2007, I issued a Pastoral Direction to The Rev’d Dr. Ann Holmes Redding, a priest canonically resident in the Diocese of Rhode Island but living in Seattle. She claimed to be both a Muslim and a Christian. Among other things, she was suspended from all priestly duties for one year, at which time I would review the situation. If it became necessary to take further action the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Rhode Island would be engaged in early July, 2008.

I met with The Rev’d Dr. Ann Holmes Redding on May 22, 2008, and believe that she remains committed to her profession of both Christianity and Islam. As I am leaving for pre-Lambeth engagements on June 28, prior to the end of her suspension, I have extended the Pastoral Direction until September 15, 2008. I do not think that it is fair to make a decision of this nature from afar; without ready access to either Dr. Redding or the Standing Committee.

The decision for extension was not requested by Dr. Redding, nor does it indicate a change in my understanding of the theological conflicts inherent in professing both traditions.

Dr. Redding is a woman of utmost integrity and our conversations remain open and mutually gratifying. I have great respect for her and the process of exploration to which she is committed. I also remain devoted to our Christian faith and the ordination vows taken by those who have entered the sacred priesthood.

The media is requesting an update from me. Recalling the attention this attracted a year ago, I share this communiqué with you.

Looking forward to seeing you at Lambeth.

GW:ec

Cc: the Rev’d Dr. Ann Holmes Redding; Standing Committee; Diocesan Council;
Email: All Clergy; Ms. Neva Rae Fox; Ms. Janet Tu

Thanks to Fr. Scott Gunn who posted the letter on his Seven whole days blog, and linked on Canon Harmon's TitusOneNine.

That Bishop Wolf is being quite gracious to Dr. Redding might be a bit of an understatement -- especially considering how some other Bishops (including the Presiding Bishop) are dealing with more orthodox dissidents to the directions the Episcopal Church is heading. But it is probably salutary that a final decision wait until after the Lambeth Conference.

At least it is still clear that one can't be Muslim and Episcopalian.

More California Bishop reactions

I have added the statement of San Diego Episcopal Bishop Mathes to the end of my previous California Episcopal Bishops React post.

One should note that Bishop Mathes' comment about constitutional amendments is not accurate. The San Diego area Anglican blogger innocent as doves lists rights that have been curtailed by Constitutional Amendment. And since the "right" was created last week by judicial fiat, I don't see how fixing that is legitimately called "removing a right."

As for the ELCA Bishops in California, if any of them has said anything, it's not being reported anywhere I can find. But you can be sure that what they are thinking is more in line with what the Episcopal Bishops, not the Catholic ones, are saying.

California Episcopal Bishops React

And now for something completely different. The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles issued this release Thursday:

A statement from
The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno
Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles

Bishop J. Jon Bruno of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles issued the following statement concerning the California Supreme Court decision regarding same-gender relationships.

May 15, 2008

Today's Supreme Court decision on same-gender relationships is important because it reflects our baptismal vow to "strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being" and our commitment to justice and mercy for all people.

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has been a leader in working for the rights of all people in the State of California, and that work is honored in today's ruling. The canons of our church, under "Rights of the Laity" (Canon 1:17.5), forbid discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, disabilities or age. We affirm equal rights for all.

We will continue to advocate for equality in the future and will do so at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, which will meet in Anaheim in 2009.

I celebrate and give thanks for this decision of the court and look forward with joy and excitement to a future of justice and mercy for all people in the State of California and the Episcopal Church.

To paraphrase St. Paul, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, gay nor straight in Jesus Christ our Lord.

J. Jon Bruno
Bishop of Los Angeles

Then there is this from the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, Bishop of California (San Francisco Bay area):

I welcome the ruling of the California Supreme Court affirming the fundamental right of all people to marry and establish a family. All children of God should be afforded the same rights under the law, and this decision recognizes that all Californians, regardless of sexual orientation, have equal access to one of our fundamental human institutions. This decision gives our church another opportunity to partner with our state to ensure that all families have the support they need to build relationships that strengthen our communities, state and country. Jesus tried to free his disciples from a narrow definition of what it means to be his follower. In Matthew 10:42, Jesus says “whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” God affirms the good in the world outside the boundaries of religious creeds and dogmas. In this spirit, we also affirm and rejoice in this decision by the California Supreme Court precisely because we are Christians. Clearly, this momentous decision will have ecclesial implications for the Episcopal Diocese of California. I intend to be in prayerful consultation with the people of our diocese to see how we can use this decision to strengthen our support of our lesbian and gay sisters and brothers, and our witness to God’s inclusive love. The Diocese of California will issue an appropriate statement in due course.


And then there's Saturday's statement by San Diego Diocese Bishop James R. Mathes:

Bishop Mathes' Statement on CA Supreme Court Ruling
May 17, 2008

While visiting the Diocese of El Salvador, I learned of yesterday's ruling by the California Supreme Court that it is unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the right to receive a California marriage license. With efforts already underway to place a constitutional amendment on November's ballot banning such marriages, it is clear that this issue will continue to permeate our political life.

I support the Supreme Court's decision and oppose the likely effort to amend the constitution. At a federal level, the constitution has only been successfully amended to expand rights, not remove them, and it follows that California would maintain a similar posture.

While supporting the rights of gays and lesbians, I am mindful that our church has not yet made the decision to bless same-sex unions. We are in the midst of a challenging but vital conversation about holy relationships in this diocese and indeed across the communion.

I ask all people of the diocese to hold the court's decision gently. Prayerfully remember that God has placed his children, who share different perspectives on same-sex relationships, next to each other in church every Sunday.

As Archbishop Rowan Williams said, "our baptism puts us in solidarities not of our own choosing." Let us be good stewards of these solidarities and teach each other, and the wider community, how to listen and learn from each other as we accept the Court's decision to allow equal access to the institution of marriage.

The Right Reverend James R. Mathes
Bishop of San Diego

How to Not Grow in the Faith

Each week in the Prayer of the Church at Zion we pray for those called to leadership in the Church and, in a 5-week rotation, we pray by name for our own Bishops, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and our Central/Southern Illinois Synod Bishop Warren Freiheit, the Bishops of the Episcopal Dioceses in which most Zionites live and with whom we are in communion, Bishop Keith Ackerman of the Diocese of Quincy (here in Peoria) and Bishop Peter Beckwith of the Diocese of Springfield (its Northern border is only a couple of minutes away), and the Senior of the Society of the Holy Trinity, Pastor Frank Senn, STS. I have been privileged to have the opportunity to meet with each of these men and to tell them on occasion of our prayers on their behalf as they lead in these turbulent times.

In his monthly message for February, Bishop Beckwith reflects on the promises made at the ordination of an Episcopal priest, which he administered most recently in January, in the context of numerous orthodox priests and bishops being charged for “abandonment of the communion of this church” when departing The Episcopal Church for another part of the Anglican Communion. Near the end of his reflection is this little gem that actually speaks to us at all times, and not only in the midst of our current tribulations:

It’s been said that a persistent and all too common problem in the Christian vocation, whether lay or clergy, is the retardation of spiritual growth. That may very well be our problem. After years of Christian profession, it’s not unusual to find there’s little or no progress from when one first believed, and bishops are clearly demonstrating we are not exempt. Certainly the causes of retarded spiritual growth can be many, and to ascribe the trouble to any one fault would be less than appropriate. Nevertheless, one area appears so widespread that it could be seen as a major cause and we all would do well to take careful note. That cause is a failure to commit oneself to the pursuit of God. Every Christian is strong or weak depending on how effectively he or she is able to cultivate a personal knowledge of and relationship with God. All progress in Christian living is governed by an increasing knowledge of the Triune God gained through corporate and personal experiences as a result of a primary commitment to that task. God can be known only in proportion to the time and energy we commit to knowing Him through worship and the study of Holy Scripture.

Read it all here for Bishop Beckwith's context, but I invite you to ponder just this paragraph by itself.

CaNNet Update

Both Drell's Descants (on his new back-up site) and, now TitusOneNine report the major hacking of CaNNet over the (U. S.) Thanksgiving Day weekend, and The Elves at T19 report:

Mike Daley of CaNNet is still working to restore the blog databases and partitions, and hopes to have the blogs backup as soon as possible, perhaps within a few days.

and offer links for a handful of CaNNet bloggers who've created alternate sites.

Pastor Zip prays for Mr. Daley's success, for not only has CaNNet been a fine vehicle for bringing orthodox Anglicans in North America together, it has been a wonderful resource of theological comment on the crises in the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church in Canada as the ELCA and ELCIC rush down the same tracks of letting our life experience judge the Holy Scriptures rather than the other way around.

The Confessing Reader Creates Back-Up

The Confessing Reader, one of my favorite blogs and one featured in my "Blogs for Faithful Churchmen," has established a back-up blog. He'll be posting there while server problems keep CANNet out of commission.

Why is this a worthwhile blog? Written by an Anglican/Episcopal layman by the name of Todd Granger, The Confessing Reader's special gift is highlighting the Sanctoral Calendar -- that is, the festivals of the Church, as observed (for the most part) in the Episcopal Church. The current entry, for example, is about Nicholas Ferrar, a Deacon in the Church of England whose heavenly birthday is 2 December 1637. Todd has a brief biography, the Collect for the day, and references to the propers (readings, etc.) for worship or devotions.

In addition to very serious theological commentary from an orthodox Anglican perspective (yes, laymen can do that -- and very well, too), The Confessing Reader (that's a link to the long-established site, in the expectation that it will rise again) is also one of very few sources for English-language news of what is happening within the (Lutheran) Churches in the Nordic and Baltic lands. (The other one is Touchstone magazine.) I'm not quite sure how that came to be, but as one with roots in the Swedish Church I'm glad he's been doing that.

With good fortune, all that has been posted on The Confessing Reader these years will soon be recovered. And until then, we have its new back-up available. Tip o' the biretta to The Confessing Reader himself!

What Happened to CaNNet? (with update)

The blogs at classicalanglican.net -- including the excellent Confessing Reader and many other that have been a key part of the faithful voice within the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada -- have disappeared. My WHOIS domain search has the domain expiring tomorrow, but that doesn't explain why the network is no longer accessible. Perhaps traffic crashed the system? Anyone heard anything?

* * * * * * * *

UPDATE: A CaNNet blogger tells me that it "suffered a major attack last weekend" and its Webverger is busy trying to reconstruct things.

I'll note that this is not the first time this has happened with CaNNet, or with other systems -- I've heard what webmasters of 70th Infantry Divison Association and ALPB Forum Online have had to deal with. Between spammers and others always trolling around, it's actually quite amazing that blogs, regular websites, or -- for that matter -- the entire Internet are as stable as they are.

Prayers for Mr. Daley's success. And for everybody else's patience.
                   spt+ at 6:15 PM

The Episcopal Church Crisis...

...and the ELCA Is Rushing to Catch Up

Fr. Jonathan Millard, rector at the Church of the Ascension, Oakland, Penn., offered this diagnosis of the crisis in the Episcopal Church as a defense for the Diocese of Pittsburgh to depart TEC and realign with another province within the Anglican Communion. You can read his entire statement here, but what he describes is all to familiar for those of us in the ELCA since at least the "Call to Faithfulness" free conferences in 1990 and 1991. Lutheran CORE has been founded so we will not have to reach the point of having votes to leave in order to be part of a faithful church body.

Ten examples of how the essentials of the Christian Faith are being eroded, challenged, or contradicted by The Episcopal Church:

1. There is confusion concerning who God is:

Over the past 40 years there has been a drift away from orthodox ways of speaking about God. In some places in TEC instead of God being referred to as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, He is addressed only by function as creator, redeemer and sustainer, and not in personal ways. The problem with this approach is that it makes God more remote and the fact is God has revealed himself to us through the Scriptures not just by function, but in personal terms as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Another example is when the name LORD is replaced with "God." So instead of the Liturgical greeting: "The Lord be with you," you may encounter in some parts of TEC "God be with you" or even "God is in you" with the response: "and also in you." The word LORD apparently is perceived as too male, and too authoritarian. The earliest creedal statement was simply "Jesus is Lord." And yes, it was meant to be authoritarian. I was very sad when I attended the Interfaith service at Calvary last week, to see precisely such a change had been made to the liturgy. When it came to share the Peace, the wording was not: "The peace of the Lord", but rather "The Peace of God."

2. There is a lack of clear teaching about the divinity of Christ:

In answer to a question referencing the divinity of Jesus, in an article published earlier this year, the Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Shori, said this: "If you begin to explore the literary context of the first century and the couple of hundred years on either side, the way that someone told a story about a great figure was to say ‘this one was born of the gods.’ That is what we’re saying. This carpenter from Nazareth or Bethlehem – and there are different stories about where he came from – shows us what a godly human being looks like, shows us God coming among us."

At best that is ambiguous or confusing, and at worst it is false teaching. Jesus was much more than someone who "shows us what a godly human being looks like." And the Church does not say that he was "born of the gods." The biblical witness and the faith of the church is that Jesus is the Son of God: fully God and fully man. The Word became flesh (John 1). We proclaim this truth weekly in the Nicene Creed.

3. There is a lack of clear teaching about Salvation and Sin:

Questioned about selfishness and falleness, the Presiding Bishop said this: "The human journey is about encouraging our own selves to move up into higher consciousness, into being able to be present in a violent situation without responding with violence ..." and in the same interview she went on to say: "The question is always how can we get beyond our own narrow self-interest and see that our salvation lies in attending to the needs of other people."

This is not the Gospel story of sin and redemption. The Scriptures teach that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23). The Scriptures teach that salvation is not through our works, or our efforts to move up to a higher consciousness, or even through attending to the needs of others. Our salvation lies in Jesus, "who while we were still sinners, died for us." (Rom. 5:8); and all who believe in the LORD and call upon his name will be saved. (Rom. 10:13)

4. There is a drift towards universalism:

The Presiding Bishop says of Jesus: "we who practice the Christian tradition understand him as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could not act in other ways is, I think, to put God in an awfully small box" (Time Magazine: July 17,2006). Jesus said: I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6).

When, some years ago, I first heard Bishop Duncan speak of us living in a time of Reformation of the Church throughout the world, I confess I wondered if that was a little grandiose. I now believe, without a doubt, that he was right. This was illustrated for me, once again, just last week. I was deeply saddened to hear Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu deny the particularity of the Christian Faith, mocking the idea that Jesus could possibly be the only way to God, and declaring that all religions are worshipping the same God, just by different names. The archbishop is a great man who has done wonderful work for reconciliation and peace. I salute him for all the good he has done, but I am sad and troubled that he would be so dismissive of the supreme work of love and salvation that our Lord Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.

5. There is a loss of confidence in the Gospel as Good News for all:

The official teaching of the Anglican Church on the issue of human sexuality is that which has been set out by the Lambeth Conference in 1998 (Resolution 1:10). But here’s the key point concerning the Gospel that I want to make:

[The Conference] "recognises that there are among us persons who experience themselves as having a homosexual orientation. Many of these are members of the Church and are seeking the pastoral care, moral direction of the Church, and God’s transforming power for the living of their lives and the ordering of relationships." [emphasis added]. It is that confidence in the transforming power of God that the actions of TEC now challenge. So instead of welcoming and loving all into the church so that they might experience transformation, TEC simply welcomes and affirms people just as they are – denying them the healing and hope and transforming power of God.

6. There is erroneous teaching and practice regarding human sexuality:

Over the past couple of decades there has been a serious rejection of the clear teaching of the Bible and the Church on human sexuality and marriage. The clear teaching of Scripture and tradition and of the one, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church is that sex is for marriage. The only sexually intimate relationships that are good and holy according to Scripture and tradition are those between a man and a woman, within an intended life long, faithful covenant of marriage. That means that pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, gay sex, any sex outside of marriage is all contrary to God’s will. This is the clear teaching of the Bible and of Jesus.

7. There is a seemingly ‘social justice only’ view of the mission of the church:

I have struggled to find any clear statements from the Presiding Bishop about the basics of the faith. From her inaugural sermon through to all kinds of talks and sermons and interviews that I’ve seen or heard extracts from she seems to be concerned primarily with a political and social gospel. She seems to be concerned principally about the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. There is much to be commended about these goals and much to challenge us – but they are by no means the same thing as the message of salvation for those who are perishing. (John 3: 16). If the Millennium Goals are our gospel message it falls seriously short of the message of proclaiming "Christ and him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

8. There is contempt for the Authority of the Bible:

Bishop Bennison has said: ""The church wrote the Bible, and the church can rewrite the Bible." No, that is a serious error.

9. There is failure by Bishops to defend the faith:

The role of a bishop in the words of the 1662 ordinal is: ‘‘to banish and drive away from the church all erroneous and strange doctrine contrary to the Word of God." – Here in the States, the very opposite is true. Rather than drive away false teaching many of the bishops of TEC embrace it, celebrate it and declare to be good and holy that which God declares to wrong. To ordain an openly gay, non-celibate man – when the rest of the world urged TEC not to do this – is not only contrary to Scripture but is also an arrogant display of American intransigence.

10. There is a lack of respect for truth or unity:

There seems to be a cavalier spirit among many in TEC that disregards the mandate for unity with the one holy, catholic and apostolic church. Claims are made by ‘progressives’ that they are putting truth ahead of unity. However the ‘truth’ they claim is that it’s a matter of social justice and Christian virtue to bless same sex unions and permit practicing gay and lesbian people to hold any office within the church. This is, of course, is contrary to the truth as revealed in Holy Scripture. And the only unity they secure is among a tiny minority of the church worldwide.

Sounds an awful lot like the direction the ELCA is being led, doesn't it?

You probably know that the Diocese of Pittsburgh's vote to begin leaving the Episcopal Church passed by a wide margin.

Thanks to Shrimp over at the Shellfish blog for bringing this to my attention.