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"The LORD (God) says to my Lord (the Messiah), Sit at My right hand, until I make Your adversaries Your footstool. The LORD will send forth from Zion the scepter of Your strength; rule, then, in the midst of Your foes." Psalm 110:102 AMP
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Message from Bishop David Anderson
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Bishop Anderson
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus, This last week has seen some interesting developments in the Anglican/Episcopal world. The Episcopal Church's (TEC) Disciplinary Board for Bishops, chaired by retired Bishop Dorsey Henderson, has issued its findings on the charges filed by the "TEC loyalists" in the Diocese of South Carolina against their orthodox bishop, Mark Lawrence. With TEC Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori's backing and support, the SC loyalists certainly had the time and advice to get the charges right against Bishop Lawrence, but since there isn't actually any hard evidence of his abandoning or intending to abandon the communion of TEC, their combined zeal for a hanging apparently caused them to level charges based on their hopes and fears. Rumors have circulated for several months that a growing number of liberal revisionist bishops are having second thoughts about the Canon Law Title IV revisions and the rush to summary judgement and execution desired by the PB and her SC loyalists. The AAC applauds the decision of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops in dropping the charges, but wonders at the TEC loyalists' animosity that led to the charges in the first place. Bishop Lawrence, being the godly bishop that he is, hasn't taken any action against them and probably won't. I'm not sure that many bishops, myself included, would be so restrained. Apparently, from a close reading of the document, the finding that the charges couldn't be substantiated wasn't unanimous. If the charges had been upheld, Lawrence would have been punished for what his Diocese in Convention decided to do, but fortunately enough members of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops saw clearly and declined to go forward. This body seems in some ways to be similar to a Grand Jury in the secular court system, and in this sense, they refused to indict.
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Will Jefferts Schori take her failed indictment attempt directly to the TEC House of Bishops at their next meeting, looking for a second bite of the apple? I don't think so. The recent Diocese of South Carolina Standing Committee's action of giving the parishes in the diocese Quit Claim deeds on their church properties could be seen as an entirely new level of imagined offense, though with the same legal problems for Jefferts Schori to overcome. Bishop Lawrence didn't give the quit claims to the churches as his unique action; the Standing Committee of which he is a part took the action. Additionally, they really didn't give anything of material value away or diminish the fiduciary holdings of the diocese, since a diocesan claim on the titles and properties would have been based on the so-called Dennis Canon. As my readers may recall, the State of South Carolina's Supreme Court has previously ruled that the Dennis Canon is null and void in SC. The SC jurists saw (as few other state courts have) that it isn't legal or proper for a second party to establish an involuntary trust on someone else's property, and especially when it makes the trust in its own favor. Because of the SC Supreme Court's repudiation of the Dennis Canon, it has been evident to the diocesan Standing Committee that there is no actual trust claim by the diocese or national church on SC parish property. A quit claim simply clears the books of what wasn't valid anyway. What is incredible is that highly placed jurists, as recently as a week ago in Georgia, can't see or understand what a five year old on the playground can understand about trust law and what's not fair.
Additionally, the action was by the Standing Committee rather than the bishop alone, and had nothing to do with abandoning the communion of the Episcopal Church. Since that potential charge won't stand, the only other charge would be "wasting" the assets of the church/diocese/national church, and you can't waste by quit claim what the state Supremes say doesn't exist.
One would think that any orthodox Episcopal parishes in the heterodox Upper South Carolina diocese, whose bishop does not have a claim to orthodox Christianity such as
+Mark Lawrence does, might wish to avail themselves of departure opportunities from TEC based on the nullification of the Dennis Canon already established by their courts. Several states have court cases centering on the Dennis Canon claims of the dioceses and national church against local churches that are now ready for appeal to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS). One of them is the Samuel Seabury Church in Connecticut, and another is the Mother Church of all Georgia, Christ Church of Savannah, Georgia. One of the desperate needs is adequate financial support for filing the appeal, called a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to SCOTUS. It is very important to churches all over the United States, not only Episcopal/Anglican but Presbyterian as well, that one of these appeals, or both, be placed before the Supreme Court, and that by the Grace of God one or both be accepted for review.
One of the things that the American Anglican Council has been doing for the last several years is providing additional friend of the court, or amicus briefs, supporting congregations both Anglican and Presbyterian, in their defense of their property against their former denomination.
Meanwhile, we pray that senior bishops with wisdom will dissuade the Episcopal Presiding Bishop from attempting that second bite out of the apple of South Carolina.
Blessings and Peace in Christ Jesus,
+David
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
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Chaplain's Corner
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Canon Ashey
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Canon Ashey is out of the office today and was not able to write an article.
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Anglican Perspective: Advent
| The season of Advent, a time of seeking after the coming Lord, is often forgotten or diminished by the secular pressures of the holiday season. In this week's Anglican Perspective, Canon Ashey encourages us to slow down and seek Christ and enrich our spirits instead of emptying our pocketbooks.
Watch this week's Anglican Perspective here.
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Encompass Newsletter
| For over a decade the AAC has given out Encompass for free but, due to the current economy and decrease in donations, we need to reduce our expenses and are asking our readers to help us do that.
If you would like to receive a printed version of Encompass for the year 2012, please consider a $10 donation to the AAC. You can donate online at AmericanAnglican.org/Contribute. Be sure to designate your donation for Encompass.
The online version of Encompass will remain free and you can sign up to receive it at AmericanAnglican.org/Email.
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| TEC Board Dismisses Case against Bp. Lawrence | Source: The Living Church
November 28, 2011
The Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson Jr., president of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops, writes: "Applied strictly to the information under study, none of these three provisions was deemed applicable by a majority of the Board."
The text of the letter follows:
A Statement by the President of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops Regarding the Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina
On November 22, the Disciplinary Board for Bishops met via conference call to consider whether, based on information previously submitted to the Board by lay communicants and a priest of the Diocese of South Carolina, the Bishop of that Diocese, the Right Rev'd Mark Lawrence, has abandoned the communion of The Episcopal Church.
Based on the information before it, the Board was unable to make the conclusions
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Bishop Mark Lawrence
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essential to a certification that Bishop Lawrence had abandoned the communion of the Church. I have today communicated the Board's action to Bishop Lawrence by telephone, to be followed by an e-mail copy of this statement.
The abandonment canon (Title IV, Canon16) is quite specific, designating only three courses of action by which a Bishop is to be found to have abandoned the church: first, "by an open renunciation of the Doctrine, Discipline or Worship of the Church"; second, "by formal admission into any religious body not in communion with" the Church; and, third, "by exercising Episcopal acts in and for a religious body other than the Church or another church in communion with the Church, so as to extend to such body Holy Orders as the Church holds them, or to administer on behalf of such religious body Confirmation without the express consent and commission of the proper authority in the Church...." Applied strictly to the information under study, none of these three provisions was deemed applicable by a majority of the Board. A basic question the Board faced was whether actions by conventions of the Diocese of South Carolina, though they seem - I repeat, seem - to be pointing toward abandonment of the Church and its discipline by the diocese, and even though supported by the Bishop, constitute
abandonment by the Bishop. A majority of the members of the Board was unable to conclude that they do.
It is also significant that Bishop Lawrence has repeatedly stated that he does not intend to lead the diocese out of The Episcopal Church - that he only seeks a safe place within the Church to live the Christian faith as that diocese perceives it. I speak for myself only at this point, that I presently take the Bishop at his word, and hope that the safety he seeks for the apparent majority in his diocese within the larger Church will become the model for safety - a "safe place" - for those under his episcopal care who do not agree with the actions of South Carolina's convention and/or his position on some of the issues of the Church.
The Right Rev'd Dorsey F. Henderson, Jr.
President, Disciplinary Board for Bishops
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| Christ Church Savannah will give up property Dec. 12 | Source: SavannahNow
December 2, 2011
By Jan Skutch
The breakaway congregation at Christ Church on Johnson Square will return possession of the church to the Episcopal diocese and its local congregation at noon Dec. 12, a diocesean spokesman said Thursday. The agreement, reached in accordance with a Nov. 21 state Supreme Court ruling, will transfer the property to the Diocese of Georgia and
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Christ Church Savannah
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Christ Church Episcopal, the Rev. Frank Logue said....
On Nov. 21, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled with the two lower courts that the local church and its property belonged to the Episcopal Church and not the local congregation.
"Despite the lawsuit, the departing congregation has been very gracious about this, and we want to be as well," Logue said.
Attorney Jim Gardner, chancellor for Christ Church Anglican now in the church, said Thursday the two groups have agreed to "transfer of possession of the church building and real estate on Dec. 12."
"Christ Church Episcopal agreed we may retain possession of the church property through Dec. 11," Gardner said.
Meanwhile, Gardner said the Christ Church Anglican group has decided not to seek a re-hearing of the Supreme Court's 6-1 decision, making that order final at the close of business on Thursday when the filing deadline expired. A decision to seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court remains under discussion, and no decision has been made, he said.
"Issues remain as to title and other matters that have not been specifically resolved in the existing (Georgia Supreme Court) decision," Gardner said....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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Anglican Priest in India arrested for baptising Muslims
| Source: Church of England Newspaper
November 25, 2011
By George Conger
A priest has been arrested in the Indian state of Kashmir and charged with promoting religious enmity and outraging religious feelings after he baptised 15 Muslim young men who had converted to Christianity.
The Rev. Chander Mani Khanna, rector of All Saints Church in Srinigar in the Church of North India's Diocese of Amritsar was jailed on 19 Nov 2011 by police following
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Bishop Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy
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complaints laid against him by a local Muslim leader.
While India does not have a law forbidding religious conversions, a police official told the Hindustan Times Mr. Khanna had been booked for having violated laws against offering "allurements" to converts and for breaching the peace by having baptised the young Muslims.
The Bishop in Amritsar, the Rt. Rev. Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy denied claims lodged against Mr. Khanna. The "allegations were fabricated and no material benefits were offered to anyone desirous of baptism," he said, according to the website Christian Today.
"The Muslim youths were coming to Church for more than one year and they had voluntarily expressed their desire for baptism. The converts in detention have denied the allegation that they were forced to become Christians," Bishop Samantaroy said.
The Christian Messenger reported that Mr. Khanna said he had not proselytized the young men, but would not turn away those who wanted to know more. "It is my responsibility to preach God's Word. I can't refuse anyone. The house of God is open for all."...
The rest of the article may be found here.
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| England: Tory MPs try to stop civil partnerships in places of worships |
Source: Telegraph
December 2, 2011
By Martin Beckford
Prominent Tory backbenchers are trying to stop homosexual couples holding civil partnership ceremonies in places of worship.
The group, led by the Roman Catholic MP Edward Leigh, have signed an Early Day Motion calling for the rule change to be scrapped before it comes into effect on Monday.
They complain that the plan, which will for the first time allow same-sex couples to hold civil partnership ceremonies on religious premises, has not been debated properly in the House of Commons. It was introduced in an Lords amendment to the Equality Act in 2010 and is being made law through a new set of regulations.
Although ministers insist that faith groups will not be forced to host the events if they go against their beliefs, it is feared that activists will take legal action against them on human rights grounds.
Mr Leigh, the Conservative MP for Gainsborough, told The Catholic Herald: "These regulations don't do what the Government promised which is to protect churches that do not want to register civil partnerships. It is an issue of the utmost seriousness. Yet the Commons currently isn't even being given a chance to debate them.
"We've seen all this before. The Sexual Orientation Regulations went through Parliament without proper scrutiny and they closed down our adoptions agencies as a result. If the Government cares anything about the churches, it will withdraw these regulations and think again."...
The rest of the article may be found here.
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How the churches practise what they preach in Africa
| Source: Belfast Telegraph
November 29, 2011
By Alf McCreary
Three days ago I returned to Belfast after an exacting and inspiring journey in Uganda and Rwanda with Tearfund, the London-based Christian international development organisation, which has a regional office in Belfast and wide support throughout Northern Ireland.
As part of a group of Tearfund supporters and staff I was looking at two major projects where the local people were being helped to improve their living conditions and to discover better ways of helping themselves.
In the mountainous and beautiful south-west of Uganda, the Anglican Diocese of Kigezi is running a highly-successful water and sanitation programme. This is providing safe facilities for village communities, many of which are located in remote areas, where many people have died from water-borne diseases.
Trained staff teach the locals about the importance of good hygiene and safe water and the conservation of supplies. Rain water tanks are built, pipes are laid over rugged terrain, taps are installed and springs are protected and fenced off from animals and other predators.
The women and children are thus saved hours of carrying heavy containers of water daily up steep hillsides. Accordingly, the children have more time for school, and the parents have more energy and opportunities take greater care of their families, their land and their livestock....
The Rwanda project was also inspiring. We met people from the Moucecore evangelical organisation in Kigale which provides healing and reconciliation, community economic development and counselling for HIV/Aids care and prevention....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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