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"Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." Psalm 2:10-11 KJV
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Message from Bishop David Anderson
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Bishop Anderson
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Dear Friends of the Anglican Realignment,
The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has said that the Church should not fear conflict, and I actually think he is right. Conflict in its extreme form is war, of course, but in its milder forms it can be debate, heated discussions, pandemonium at vestry meetings or chaos at annual parish meetings. I used to fear conflict until I took a course on conflict resolution and discovered several useful things. Conflict is natural, occurring sometimes even within yourself. There are various ways of dealing with conflict, and generally some are best under certain circumstances and unhelpful under others.
Some people only know the responses of attack or flee, and if you face an overwhelming adversary, like a Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), retreat might be the better option. Depending on the issues, negotiation or mediation might work better than attacking or fleeing. Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese war strategist, in his book "The Art of War" puts diplomacy as an early phase of war and actual hand-to-hand conflict as a very late stage. The Harvard Business School project by authors Fisher, Ury and Patton in their book called "Getting to Yes" has been very helpful to me for dealing with many types of conflict. This book, copyrighted in 1981 and 1991, is still very relevant and useful.
In many, though not all situations, a person will have several wants and a few needs, and ideally they desire to win and have it all. When they meet someone in a conflict situation, the other person will likely have a list of wants and a few needs as well, and they also want to win. In a few situations it is impossible to compromise, especially if the other person wants to destroy you, but in less adversarial circumstances patient work can find some common ground. Each side goes away with perhaps only a few of their wants, but does take home their absolute needs.
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In advising the Church not to fear conflict, Archbishop Welby has in mind what he is calling reconciliation, but I want to flag that term, for he seems to be using it in a manner unaccustomed to many of us. He does not mean Biblical reconciliation, as between God and a sinner, nor as between two Christian brothers necessarily. He appears to have something in mind that I would have to call "Reconciliation Lite." Just as the homosexual community has taken a perfectly sound word "gay" and re-purposed it to mean a male homosexual, that same tendency to appropriate a familiar word and reuse it for something different needs to be flagged. You think initially that you know what the speaker is discussing, but then discover that the meaning of the word has been changed to suit the speaker's purpose. So it is with the new use of the word "reconciliation," and at the end of the day it won't really be reconciliation as we have formerly understood the term, but it will permanently change the usage of the word.
At a recent "Faith in Conflict" Conference at Coventry Cathedral, some people were defining the meaning of reconciliation as "assisted conversation" to help prevent disagreements from exploding or escalating to tear the fabric of the church. Unfortunately, of course, the current disagreements, with the American Episcopal Church (TEC) leading the way in innovation, have already torn the fabric of the church and are tearing it still further while TEC apparently prides itself on its status as the leader of the "progressive" movement.
Assisted conversation can be useful when you are within a community of common faith or a community bound by other relationships which are important. When you are dealing with what is truth and deeply held principles of life, any resolution that restores commonality is unlikely, but what may be achieved is a détente in hostility.
I think that the process being put forward may have some solid ground under it, but it needs a different name. It is not reconciliation, but it is, or could be, mediation. It could be a way of arriving at an Anglican Détente; to facilitate that some things need to be put on the table quickly.
It is apparent to many that the fear of the American Episcopal Church is that they might lose the exclusive franchise as the only American church incorporated directly into the Anglican Communion. To date the Anglican Church in North America has its connectivity through the recognized GAFCON Primates and their respective provinces. CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) is, for example, both a full member of the ACNA and of the Church of Nigeria in the Anglican Communion. The American Episcopal Church can't bear the thought that they might have to endure equal franchise in the United States with the ACNA, and I imagine that the Anglican Church of Canada feels much the same way about the ACNA in Canada. Denying the ACNA their historic church property and suing them for damages and bank accounts is all part of trying to cripple the ACNA's ministry and deny them any perceived legitimacy.
The problem for TEC is that they themselves are shrinking in numbers and the ACNA is growing in members, attendance and churches. If TEC can't destroy the ACNA soon, time will tip the scale. The issue for TEC is that they can't really endure real Biblical reconciliation, nor can they even endure real mediation, so they must destroy the ACNA or be eventually bypassed by them. If TEC loses their exclusive franchise, this slide would be accelerated, so they fight to keep the ACNA out of the Anglican picture at every turn. How then can you have even "assisted conversation" when one of the parties is kept from the table? The ACNA does not need for TEC to lose their Anglican franchise or be cast into the outer darkness in order to prosper; the ACNA only needs a level playing field, fair and simple.
So I want to impress on those really interested in "Faith in Conflict" that if there are to be authentic assisted conversations, whenever TEC is present at the table the ACNA needs to be there, too. All we need is for the playing field to be level, and for there to be fairness all around.
Continue in a Holy Lent.
+David
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
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A Message from Canon Ashey
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Canon Ashey
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In our Clergy Leadership Training Institute (CLTI) here in North America, we are addressing the issues that all leaders must face who wish to help the church develop a culture that is more in keeping with Christ's Great Commission - moving from maintenance to mission. Often this change involves the resolution of competing values. Among the more typical competing values that need to be resolved at the congregational level are the values on the one hand of fellowship and community (keeping the boundaries tight) and evangelism and outreach on the other (bringing people to Christ and opening the boundaries to welcome them into the church). Through our CLTI's we are seeking to impart to clergy leadership skills to stay focused on Christ and His Great Commission while helping people resolve the conflict and changes that come with evangelism, outreach and church growth.
At the congregational level, we are dealing with competing values that are still within
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This CLTI group met at the Billy Graham Training Center in Asheville, NC on Feb. 26-March 1.
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the scope and breadth of God's divine and authoritative word, the Bible. Fellowship and community are genuine biblical values. They are rooted in the Gospel. They can also be loved so much that they make it difficult for us to get out of our comfort zone, to introduce others to Jesus Christ, and to welcome them into his church!
But what of the values driving the unilateral actions of leaders of TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada that have lead to repeated, willful violations of Anglican teaching on holiness of life, in the name of values that are driven by a secular, post-modern and non-biblical agenda (as I have written elsewhere)?
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CLTI group from the Diocese of Ft. Worth which met March 5-7
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As I read the stories about the meetings in Coventry that Canon Chris Sugden has reported live over the last two weeks, I feel a certain frustration about the focus on reconciliation as "assisted/facilitated conversations" to avert more destructive conflict. It seems that the leadership of the Anglican communion is again defaulting to process rather than getting to the competing values that are driving the conflicts within the Anglican Communion. If we did this at the congregational level as an end in itself, and without promising any resolution, we would simply be deferring the anxiety and conflict that would ultimately lead to even worse conflict and division down the road.
There comes a time when a leader needs to say, "No, this is not about competing values that are equally Biblical and well within the tradition of apostolic Christianity. This is about a conflict between values that are biblical on the one hand and values that cannot be reconciled with the Bible on the other." It does no good in this instance to reframe the issue as one needing "assisted and facilitated conversations." Rather, one needs to recognize the irreconcilable values at work, to frame the issue as it really is, and to begin to ask what we do to maintain the faith and order of the church so that it can continue to proclaim with authority the Lordship of Jesus Christ, who alone has not only the skill, but the authority to help us resolve our competing values in a way that is faithful to both truth and grace.
Yours in Christ,
Phil+
The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey
Chief Operating and Development Officer, American Anglican Council Back to top |
| Regrets, Fees for [TEC] Bishops |
Source: Living Church 
March 8, 2013
Bishops who filed amicus briefs in Texas and Illinois have expressed "regret for any harm to the Bishops, clergy and laity of the Dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy" and will help defray expenses incurred by the Episcopal Church in bringing their case to what the canons call conciliation.
The full Accord follows.
As a result of the process of Conciliation under Canon IV.10 of The Episcopal Church, the parties listed below as Complainants and Respondents agree to this Accord on terms which promote healing, repentance, forgiveness, restitution, justice, amendment of life and reconciliation, as provided below:
1. This Accord arises from Conciliation of complaints which alleged that Respondents, purporting to act in their official capacities as bishops of The Episcopal Church, caused to be filed or endorsed for filing an amicus brief with the Texas Supreme Court (Case No. 11-0265) on April 23, 2012 or an affidavit with the Circuit Court of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, Adams County, Illinois (Case No. 09-MR-31) on October 6, 2011, in which they asserted opinions regarding the polity of the church adverse to the interests and legal positions of The Episcopal Church and the continuing Episcopal Dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy, and in support of breakaway factions in that litigation involving disputes over property and funds of the Church, all outside of Respondents' respective dioceses....
4. Respondents express regret for any harm to the Bishops, clergy and laity of the Dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy resulting from Respondents' acts.
5. Respondents agree not to file or endorse any further amicus brief or affidavit in litigation outside of their respective dioceses and against the legal position of The Episcopal Church until the General Convention formally addresses this conduct, either by amendment to the Constitution and/or canons or by formal resolution and to act in accordance with the action of the General Convention.
6. Respondents acknowledge that the 2009 Bishops' Statement on the Polity of the Episcopal Church is likely a minority opinion.
7. Respondents affirm that the authority of a diocesan Bishop is limited by the Dennis canon (Canon I.7.4).
8. In the spirit of reconciliation, Respondents undertake to help defray the costs of the Conciliation process....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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What a Day! ECUSA Loses (Tentatively) Its Summary Judgment in San Joaquin
| Source: Anglican Curmudgeon
March 6, 2013
By A.S. Haley
This has been an unbelievable day for a (long-planned) vacation - church litigation news has virtually prevented me from beginning to relax and enjoy it yet. When the news is favorable, however, I am the last to mind or complain about the burden of sharing it with you.
Thus it is that, as I was working on the immediately preceding post about the new federal case in South Carolina, my office forwarded the tentative ruling from the Fresno Superior Court on the motion for summary judgment which ECUSA and Bishop Lamb (now Bishop Talton) brought against Bishop John-David Schofield to recover all of the property of his Anglican Diocese.
The tentative ruling was to deny the motion - meaning that the case will have to go to trial before it can be finally decided. In short the court held that the plaintiffs failed to meet their burden on summary judgment: they failed to show, in effect, that a Diocese of the Church is prohibited from leaving it as a matter of law.
ECUSA had tried all of its usual "hierarchical" arguments, but the Court indicates it is not inclined to buy them....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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Going Federal in Charleston
| Source: Living Church
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Bishop Lawrence
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March 5, 2013
The Rt. Rev. Charles G. vonRosenberg, the Episcopal Church's provisional bishop in eastern South Carolina, has filed suit against the Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence in a U.S. District Court.
Bishop vonRosenberg asks the court to declare that he is the rightful bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, and to restore the diocese's "marks, names, and symbols" to the reorganized diocese he leads. The lawsuit seeks to override state circuit judge Diane S. Goodstein's injunction that gives control of those marks, names, and symbols to the diocese led by Bishop Lawrence....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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Women's Indaba success will mean similar gatherings across Africa, USA
| Source: Anglican Communion News Service
March 4, 2013
By ACNS staff
The first three-day Indaba process specifically designed for women to discuss the issue of violence has been hailed a success by participants.
Women from both North America and Africa said they were so impressed with the format, they plan to replicate the process in the future. Eleven women travelled to Manhattan, New York, from across Africa's Great Lakes region and America to spend March 1-3 in deep conversation across difference....
Diane Eynon is the Chairperson of the Anglican Women's Empowerment (AWE) group that facilitated the event which was hosted at the Episcopal Church's head office. She said, "We believe this experience will allow us to take our work with young girls and women around the Anglican Communion to a higher and more effective level.
"Indaba potentially provides us with a process and framework to continue what we have been doing and will continue to do in the future: bringing girls and women from around the world together...to learn, understand, collaborate, inspire, and support each other in our work for women's empowerment, wherever that may be."....
The rest of the article may be found here.
Note: the AAC's analysis of the Indaba process as adopted by the Anglican Communion and its sponsors is here.
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Additional Complaints Filed in Tanzania re: Election of Archbishop
| Source: Anglican Ink
March 7, 2013
By George Conger
Three complaints have been lodged with the Anglican Church of Tanzania (ACT) by
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Archbishop elect Chimeledya
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members of the church's general synod alleging misconduct and fraud in the conduct of last month's election of an archbishop.
On 3 March 2013 Dr Dickson Chilongani, Provincial Secretary of the ACT, released a statement announcing the election of the Rt. Rev. Jacob Erasto Chimeledya "as the new Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Tanzania."
He stated "the bishops welcomed the election result, some describing Chimeledya as a 'humble' [servant leader] who will strengthen unity within the Anglican Church of Tanzania and enhance its mission."
The statement said the "election was carried out by a special Electoral Synod which consisted of bishops, pastors and lay people numbering 129 in total. After the election all the 25 bishops present (except two who are studying in South Africa) expressed their support to bishop Chimeledya's election by signing a legal document to endorse the results. Bishop elect Jacob Chimeledya will succeed Archbishop Valentino Mokiwa after his installation on 19th May 2013."
However supporters of the sitting archbishop, Valentino Mokiwa of Dar es Salaam, cried foul. A 27 Feb 2013 complaint seen by AI has alleged eight constitutional irregularities in the voting, including the casting of four more ballots than electors present. The claim put forward by Dr. Chilongani was ingenuous, they added, stating that while the House of Bishops may have endorsed the election, the Lay and Clergy Houses of Synod had not....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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Nigeria: Our stand against same sex marriage
| Source: Nigerian Tribune
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Archbishop Okoh
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March 4, 2013
By Sylvester Okoruwa
The Anglican Metropolitan Archbishop and Primate of Nigeria, Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, has declared that there is no going back by the Anglican Church of Nigeria on its opposition to same sex marriages. He spoke at the consecration of three new Anglican bishops last Sunday, at the Cathedral of St. Jude, Ebute- Metta, Lagos State.
He said that no amount of pressure from any quarter could sway the church on the controversial issue, which he emphasised, was against the scripture.
Okoh warned people to be wary of ongoing campaigns by promoters of the practice which was now in vogue among Anglican priests and others in Europe, stressing that the practice specifically contravened the law of marriage as instituted by God. He also said such sustained campaign in the United States, Europe and some political forces in Nigeria to force "us to accept and approve same sex marriage" was misplaced.
"We are proud to say we stand by our belief in the true word of God, as we will never be part of such unholy practice presently destroying the Church of God in Europe," Okoh said....
The rest of the article may be found here.
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