My Simple Thoughts on the ACI Emails

A PDF file of the emails can be found here:
http://www.washblade.com/2009/errantemails.pdf

BTW, our “worthy” (sic) opponents can no longer scream and howl about the HOBD listserve missives being posted on Stand Firm.  Susan Russell says here
http://tinyurl.com/dkzqsq
that she received the emails from someone associated with Bishop MacPherson and “decided to turn on the light.” 

I never want to hear the revisionist complain that Stand Firm is turning “on the light” to their screeds on HOBD.

YBIC,
Phil Snyder

Hey, all the shrieking comes from a clear statement of truth from a group of Godly bishops, who have been tending to the work in their dioceses IN SPITE of all the non-ecclessial efforts of 815.  So, in essence they release a statement that explains why they have stuck to their knitting in these times and the left wing loonies nearly stroke out.  And the kernal of all this is that 815 simply exists because the Dioceses choose to be in association and 815 is just an administrative construct, not the Center of the Universe, or the address of God!  Damn good for the bishops and as Greg published in my donation letter earlier this week, “I am proud to be serving under Bishop Howe”

A.  The ACI should be thankful for the free publicity. Looks like a lot of folks are paying attention to this document of theirs! 
B.  There is no privacy to speak of in today’s world.  If you put something in an email, you cannot safeguard it.  Once I heard someone say, “If you wouldn’t want it published on the front page of the NY Times, don’t do it/say it.”

My simple take on the uproar—

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS

Perhaps the leak of the draft document itself, and the associated e-mails will turn out to be a good thing.

As already pointed out, this is a great way to get attention to the ACI itself, but it’s also a nice way to get a critical review from the other side.

I’m sure that the folks at ACI are collecting all of the responses being generated by the revisionists, and will use them to tighten up the language of the final, official version.

Ruth Gledhill has discredited herself as a journalist and news *reporter* by using the term ‘conspiracy’ in regard to the statement by the CP bishops.

Ruth Gledhill owes an apology to these bishops and the entire Christian community and to her readers for using her column as a ‘bully pulpit’ to parrot the sexual agenda party line. 

This isn’t an isolated case - she has consistently shown her sympathies with her use of the sexual agenda descriptors and language. 

Ruth Gledhill is not acting a journalist or a reporter, but as an instrument of an evil and destructive cultural sickness and of the cruelest deception ever touted by a Church claiming the Name of Jesus Christ. 

This is the real conspiracy, one that cooperates with the enemy of God and of human beings made in His image.  It is a foul conspiracy of deception that robs human beings of their identities, of the life-giving Truth and of the deliverance from sin and death into freedom, righteousness, peace and joy that was bought by the Blood of Jesus Christ.

Sexual gratification is not a civil right, it is not even the greatest human thrill or fulfillment.  Sex is a poor substitute for Worship.  It is a conditioned response, a transient feeling, and one that has life and death consequences if mis-used…emotional, spiritual and relational, internal and external…consequences that affect and change the individual and all her or his relationships forever.  Actions, thoughts, words, choices, what and who we give ourselves and our hearts, whom and what we serve - all this is worship.  To worship outside of God’s will and moral law is both rebellion, adultery and idolatry.

To worship in the beauty of holiness, to be in the Presence of the Living and Holy God is the greatest thrill a human life can enjoy.  God alone gives abundant life.  There is the no behavior or desire that is exempt from God’s unchanging Word. 

Nothing God forbids is good.  It is blindness, deception, dangerous, deadly to tout evil and call it good. 

The souls of men are at the mercy of her keyboard.  By our words we are justified, by our words we are condemned. 

I pray Ruth Gledhill will consider her words carefully, repent and recant.  May the Lord have mercy upon her and grant her the light of truth.

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Sarah’s exactly right here: the TEC lefties got nuthin’ in response.  Note to Susan+ Russell: calling them ‘cretins’ paints you the fool, not them.  The ACI letter calls TEC on its blatant disregard for the sense (i.e., history) and plain meaning of its canon law.  TEC progressives are taking shelter behind an autocratic PB and authoritarian GC which, had they been directed against them, they themselves would rightly protest.  They need to read a little of their beloved prophet Nietzsche about history writing.

What a wonderful glass house you’ve built.  Careful!  Watch for the broken shards and bits strewn about.  Do not walk barefoot!

I wonder if the rage on the Left concerning the ACI statement will help Forrester collect enough votes to become Bishop of Northern Michigan? That vote would be a way for the Left to express defiance and resolve in response to the ACI/Bishops’ statement.

It is interesting that no one gives a second thought to posting, forwarding, distributing personal correspondence when the format is email.  When we see this sort of thing, we ought to look at it as though someone photocopied a letter and mailed it to thousands of other people.  It is despicable. 

If an attorney inadvertantly receives an email and does not immediately destroy that email, and let opposing council know they have received and destroyed that email, the judge in the case will almost certainly censure that attorney.  If the attorney posted it in a public format, he would get sued. 

What is truly sad is that attorneys now seem to have to meet a higher ethical standard than do clergy.

What is truly sad is that attorneys now seem to have to meet a higher ethical standard than do clergy.

When canons are tossed aside for administrative and political motives by your leader-BeerKat-what other result could you possibly have? Certainly not ethical behavior!
Intercessor

Thing of it is, anyone can type up a claim of an email, type in basic to, sender, subject, etc.. header data, but that doesn’t mean it’s an actual email. Full header, with timestamp information needs to be displayed, otherwise it could very well be a fraud, with individuals email addresses added in to falsely incriminate them. Has there been confirmation?

I slid over to the Wash Blade website, and read thru the emails.  What did I find?  A band of faithful Episcopalians working to preserve their church and its ministry, within the strained and litigious times where we find ourselves.  If there is any “conspiracy,” it is the Pentecost conspiracy, to “continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship.” 
  Thank you Bishops and fellow ministers!

Interesting reading over at Susan’s Blog.  What came out of her mouth originated in her heart.  She said, “Cretins” and she meant “Cretins.” 

Backpedaling is only useful for burning (few) calories, and not much else.

Am I supposed to care what whining or strident revisionists have to say?

#17 - We are supposed to care *about* whining strident revisionists. 

Jesus said, love, do good, pray for, bless, forgive both friend *and* enemy.

We do not listen to the surface of their anger, vituperative vehemence, we hear the pain that brought them to these beliefs.

We do not heed or abide by their arguments and ideas, but we patiently repeat and live the truth in love.

I am as angry as anyone about the Church giving way to the devil…it is the umpteenth such church betrayal in my life…but it is when I worship and come before the Lord in the light of His word, and when look into His eyes and heart that my feelings about those who oppose the Gospel change to love and good will, and desire for their best possible life in Jesus Christ.  Then I am able to pray for them and respond in love with truth.

See God will use anyone, anything, and any means by that of His choosing to shed light in the darkness. We all have known how the opponents operate and work in secret, behind the bushes, in locked rooms, no access websites as well as screened comments that never see the light of day blogging, and a host of many other deceitful avenues they choose. But, none of us can hide from God and this is something they haven’t figured out!  Or maybe they just ignore it and like a spoiled child continue to disobey because “By Golly I want what I want and I will stop at nothing and halt for no one not even God to get it.”

All things are subject to God and He will put things right one way or another….the thing is it is up to all of us to choose to do it right without pain and suffering or we can keep doing it our way and pushing our envelopes until the pain of the work becomes to painful to bare.

But make no mistake…God will see you, hear you and He will bring it out in the open for all to see! You cannot hide from Him.

Folks, the liberals here are engaging in a bit of political theater.  They became aware that the CP/ACI was about to publish a paper which will become a serious threat to two core goals of the PB - her litigation strategy and her strategy to undermine the Anglican covenant.  The liberals know that they don’t have a convincing rebuttal to this paper, and that short of that, this paper is perhaps the biggest threat out there to the PB’s goals.  So what to do?  How can this paper be discredited?

Well, then someone on the liberal side got a hold of some very innocuous letters written by the authors of the CP/ACI document, and the plan was hatched.  You release a bunch of private emails, declare to one and all that these were secret emails pointing to a conspiracy, and then release the paper itself, suggesting that this was all part of the conspiracy.  You can count on the ACI/CP group getting upset that someone published their private emails, and so politically it wasn’t a bad tactic (if unethical and morally, spiritually, and intellectually bankrupt).

In other words, if the ACI-CP had released this paper ON THEIR OWN today, and then, tomorrow, Mark Harris had published the private emails, would ANYONE have cared in the least about the private emails?  No.  They are innocuous.

This was simply a political trick on the part of the PB’s ruling cabal intended to alienate the CP bishops within TEC.  What we conservatives need to do is pay close attention to what this means (what does it say about CP’s future in TEC, what does it say about PB’s litigation strategy, what does it say about PB’s covenant strategy, etc.).  But let’s STOP discussing the “conspiracy” angle, other then to point out what a facile suggestion that it is.

I gave the paper a cursory review (it is detailed and lengthy) then bopped over to Mark Harris’+ site to see what all the excitement’s about. As usual, while begrudgingly acknowledging the legal credentials of atty Mark McCall (who did in all probability author a great deal of the piece) he then questioned McCall’s expertise as a “canon lawyer” while waltzing out one provision of Title IV (the disciplinary canons) which makes reference to “this hierarchical church”. Case closed….TEC is hierarchical! No comment about the volumn of other persuasive argument and authorities cited for the proposition that it is not and that the PB has so far exceeded her Constitutional and canonical authority as to be comical if it were not so grievous. Throws in further unsubstatiated remark about ++RW’s supposedly regretting his statement to +Howe about the authority and autonomy of Dioceses. Cinicism and attempts to demean those with whom he disagrees are Rev. Harris’ trademarks so nothing less was expected. It is evermore apparent why Harris+ became a priest and not a lawyer. I await the day when there is an actual attempted response point by point to the arguments presented by the CP Statement. Sort of reminds one of TEC’s theological response to the Windsor Reprt…can’t remember the name… which has also been “shelved” using Harris’ phrase never to be heard from again.

What’s amusing is that TEC has been crying that the world doesn’t properly understand its polity.  Now the ACI has published a well-researched history demonstrating that the current TEC leadership doesn’t understand its own polity.  Must be embarrassing.

And The Anglican Curmudgeon has published a couple of articles that show the current TEC leadership doesn’t WANT TO understand, or follow its own polity and says this may backfire quite painfully.

What worries me about these e-mails is what in the world will happen to the priest who has just been outed plotting to get conservative oversight in a liberal diocese?

It is simply not going to go well for him, or anyone else who stumbles into this hoped for option to ACNA as it is purported to be in the e-mails.

I continue to be a little mystified by all this, as follows:

First, there is really nothing new in all this.  Not even the e-mails add anything new other than some inside baseball on the legal strategy in Pittsburgh, and I highly doubt the TEC lawyers were unimaginative enough to need to have those things pointed out to them.

Yet the revisionists go name-calling ballistic on the orthodox who are trying to stay in TEC.  And the worst thing they are doing, the absolute worst, according to members of TEC’s executive council, is trying to implement the very tame episcopal visitor program with the consent of the local TEC bishop.

At the same time, people who should know better, including the writer for the Telegraph, are reporting this as though there is something new here, when anyone who has been paying attention to Anglican doings since 2003 knew (a) the position of the ACI on the polity of TEC, and (b) the position of the ACI and the Communion Partners on signing onto the covenant.  I can’t understand how someone can claim there is a conspiracy or plot for something that has been openly discussed and debated for at least 6 years.

So what is the purpose of the revisionists in making such a big deal out of this?  Are they trying to drive the rest of the communion into the arms of the ACNA as the Anglican province in the US so that they can be done with the communion?  It is hardly conceivable the current behaviour of Harris, Russell, et all will have any other effect.  Is it really their desire to depose all of the CP bishops?  Because that is where they seem to be headed.

Well, if there were any doubt among the ACI and CP folks about where TEC and they stood before, this sure brings clarity.  I am very sorry that the ABC did not exercise the leadership to avoid this kind of thing, though.

Man the HOB/D is all a buzz like kids with ants in tjeir pants over this! Eggs don’t get scrambled as good as they are scrambling at the moment! what fun to watch and read…..for a change!

I left an email on Ms Russell’s+ blog, asking her to respond as to what was inaccurate or untruthful about the ACI and CP document.  We’ll see if she puts my email up and responds.

She has a blog of her own? Really?

Let me join in with those scratching their heads in confusion.  Let me get this straight, self-styled Communion Partner bishops were ‘outed’ for ‘conspiring’ to . . . . drum roll . . . . wait for it . . . .
claim individual & diocesan level authority to sign on to a document about . . . staying in Communion with the AC while remaining in ECUSA. 

If staying in communion was so scandalous, I’m a bit confused by all those ECUSA bishops traveling to Lambeth last summer and bemoaning those who chose to stay away.

C’mon, the signatory bishops wanted this on the record sooner rather than later.  With the ACC meeting starting up May 1 with the Anglican Covenant on the agenda and planning for this summer’s GC continuing apace, why not now?

Conspiracy?  Hardly. 

Maybe it was just a special kind of email-based ‘listening process’.

Suggestion for those who cannot abide even considering the argument’s laid forth in the document (personally, I’m still digesting it) - hold your truths about ECUSA polity a bit more . . . lightly. 

Peace,
-miserable sinner

It’ll be a great day when these folks tire of fighting with Kate & Co. and come over to ACNA.

Billy,
Don’t hold your breath…..

Their plan, as the e-mails so clearly reveal, is to undermine ACNA, that’s who they are really trying to undo, but it is nothing more than a diversion from having their bottoms chewed out by Schori…ACI plays into her hand time and again, and in doing so just steps over the bodies they hang out to dry, like this priest in Colorado, poor fellow. Has he been defrocked yet?

#30, she did put my question up and made a response: 
“Thanks for asking. I’m actually working on a piece tentatively entitled “Apples & Oranges” unpacking the many ways what the CP/ACI folks have been up to differs from what folks on our side of aisle are up to. Stay tuned.”  Very respectful of my email as was I of her original message.

Billy can you provide a link? I would like to read the whole thing.

#34, go to http://inchatatime.blogspot.com/ and look at the comments under the Nancy Drew article.

Thank you Billy. I went and read a comment posted by “Lester” and I am assuming that is you, and I have to say that she didn’t really address your comments so much as to tell you that she is working on a piece that will view what they, (the left), is up to compared to what she feels these Bishops have been up to. A comparison by Susan Russell who states she doesn’t do the “Mtr” thingy and Susan is just fine, is well a comparison that I think might be far more biased and leaning in her favor with many things left out than put in. Be careful and smart to not be taken in by Ms. Russell and her biased opinions without the fairness of truth.

#35, don’t worry.  I’ve crossed swords with her before.  I’ve been doing this blog thing with T19 since at least 2004, so I’m pretty up on the players and their MOs.  I’ve read her Good Friday sermons denying the atonement, so I know exactly where she stands.

See Harding’s piece and Mark McCall’s response to Harris.

http://www.leanderharding.com/blog/2009/04/23/on-the-communion-partners-bishop’s-statment/

http://www.anglicancommunioninstitute.com/?p=406

I’m getting a kick out of the idea of being “outed.”  I really find that hilarious!  I’m no camo-con.  I love to get in the ring with the bull, I love a good, clean, contest.  I love tilting at windmills.  I would rather have had the opportunity to learn more about PV, to have a real conversation with these brothers in Christ whom I trust deeply, to talk with my vestry, and my lay and clerical colleagues, and yes, my diocesan, before it became a blogoshpere topic.  And btw, the idea that these guys “outed” me for political gain is just crackers.  We talked because of a multi-year relationship, because CO’s bishop has made certain public statements, and because I’m no novice in this business.
So, the bishop and I enjoyed two long conversations yesterday.  I can say, we love one another with the love of the Lord.  My position with regard to the theological necessity who is my bishop is no secret.  I have published my thoughts on my own blog(http://walkerinthefield.typepad.com), and here at SF.  O’Neill himself calls the change in teaching an “innovation”, and we are in a time of “adaptive change.”  He has publicly stated a commitment to “creating space” for the conservatives in his diocese.  Our conversations get heated, tempers flare, trust is spread thin like too little butter on too much toast, but a connection remains, and we usually manage to push through the emotional static and get to a meaningful disagreement.  Meanwhile, he is completely aware of my full compliance with the Constitutions and Canons of TEC, and my commitment to keeping them.  If I break one, it will be one created around marriage to hunt folks like me down, and that will be a Birmingham Jail moment (may I be found worthy).  All funds are carefully tracked, and even with designated giving, this pastoral sized parish is more generous than many liberal places.  Our by-laws fully comply.  We take great pride in being responsible for ourselves—we don’t want hand outs, or pity.  My position is, succinctly, I will not leave my post.  If I am driven from the parish I am blessed to serve, and if I am driven from this church I’ve given twenty years to, then I’ll go.  I simply will not divide the congregation I serve.  Period.  If I can’t take it anymore, that’s my problem, not theirs.  If they can’t take it anymore, that’s their issue, not mine. 
My aim with the whole topic of PV is simple: an incarnational connection to the church Catholic.  O’Neill is my bishop.  I gain absolutely nothing by making him look bad, by surprising him.  None of my people are interested in nuking the parish.  They do not want me to keep my head down and mouth shut, nor do they want our life taken over by “issues.”  Some in my parish, some clergy and some lay people in the diocese, are interested in fellowship and charismatic gifts of a bishop who stands fully within the stream of catholic Christianity.  PV is a band aid, but band aids can be very effective.
I would caution anyone, left, right, in-between, about reading too much into this.  As has been said, the whole concept is not new, and its no secret.  Meanwhile, strategies get thought through, but aren’t necessarily acted upon.  Ideas are exchanged and considered that may or may not get legs under them.  It would be a wonderful distraction here, let’s focus on the people, rather than on the substance.  Meanwhile, I’ve got teens getting ready for a World Vision 30 hour famine, a building meeting to get ready for, and maybe I’ll watch an episode of Hornblower this evening with my 10 year old son.  That’s the good stuff!
“Outed”.  I really am laughing out loud.  Perhaps now I can stop living a lie and be who I really am, until I’m something else.  Thank you ACI and CP….

Oh Theron Theron—don’t try to deny it now.

You know that you’ve been quiet, and sneaky—never really coming out and saying anything out loud or publicly or on blogs.

Now we all know what you believe—you’ve hidden it for five years but The Dream Of Anonymity Is Over.

#32 Crackers,
You are correct.  They see an alternative to ACNA but there isn’t one, so they are fighting last-ditch battles with Schori & Co. that they will not win.  Their numbers will continue to dwindle and Schori, Inc. will continue to consolidate its power.  The way to prevail is to reform American Anglicanism under ACNA and allow TEC to run itself into the ground.

Even though ACI and ACNA are in different camps, they’re both fighting heresy, just in different ways.  815 must respond to both, simultaneously.  I don’t know, but I wonder if they won’t benefit one another, ultimately.

RE: “It’ll be a great day when these folks tire of fighting with Kate & Co. and come over to ACNA.”

How about when we come over to the EPC and the Roman Catholics?

RE: “They see an alternative to ACNA but there isn’t one . . . “

No, it’s because we don’t see that there’s an alternative in ACNA.

Maybe someday you’ll begin pondering why that might be. Until then, keep maintaining the delusions and weird fantasies, if it makes you feel better.

But there is freedom from the oppression and heresy visited upon us by Schori and Company….and that counts for something, and we didn’t have to wait for another generation to pass before realizing that freedom, as we would if we stayed in TEC!

I understand and agree with you, Cennydd.  Please know that I’m not criticizing yours and others’ choices. I’m just making clear that others won’t be making those choices.

[#32] - That’s what I thought too.

Cennydd,
The work the 4 guys with a website (formerly 3 guys with a website) did will bolster the ACNA dioceses’ case before the courts.  Read Bishop Iker’s comment on the main thread.  Be thankful for that.
Be aware also that something else is happening in TEC- quietly for the most part, but happening.  All of a sudden, the bishops at one end and the laity at the other are getting a real glimpse of the future of their church- a future filled with lawsuits, “Interfaith” clergy, and the internal chaos.
They already see a present where “leaders”  of the church scream that bishops are “cretins”.  They see a present where priests who steal mail are commended by the hierarchy of the church, while those who uphold canon 1.17 (that from memory, but I mean the canon on Holy Communion) are called “fascists”.  They see a present where a man who is open violation of the rubrics of the prayerbook and at least a half dozen canons is “elected” to be bishop, and bishops and standing committees are still “discerning.”
Since when is stealing and publishing private email “respecting the dignity of every human being”?

Re:  “Maybe someday you’ll begin pondering why that might be. Until then, keep maintaining the delusions and weird fantasies, if it makes you feel better.”

“Before you post, please remember Matthew 5:43-45:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”

Sarah,
I’ll leave with this and let you have your way, since it’s your blog:  the deluded are those who believe they can fix TEC.

Bless you Fr. Walker.

RE: “the deluded are those who believe they can fix TEC.”

Scott I completely agree.

Where you got the notion that those of us who are in TEC believe that we can “fix TEC”, I can’t imagine.  Perhaps you haven’t been reading the blog that long.

I don’t comprehend your #48 and so cannot respond.  The only thing I can think of is that my being clear in my belief that you are simply delusional—and persistent in maintaining your delusions, despite repeated assertions otherwise—and my adjuration to please consider why it might be so that so many have no intentions of moving to the ACNA and so many many literally thousands of others have gone to Rome, or a PCA church rather than go to a local ACNA parish—is somehow “unloving.”  And if that’s the case, maybe you haven’t really left TEC as much as you thought, since we certainly have enough bishops and clergy saying that clarity is “unloving and divisive.”

Sorry, Sarah.  I have to agree with Scott.  Maybe some day, the wiser heads in TEC will come together and say ENOUGH OF THIS!, and take action to put things right, but for the forseeable future, I don’t believe that’s going to happen.  I wish it were otherwise, but there it is.

“the deluded are those who believe they can fix TEC…“I wonder if the deluded are not also that think they can find “their” perfect church elsewhere…Lots of delusions to go around it seems.

Cennydd, #51, I have enjoyed your emails on T19 and Virtue for several years.  Being in San Joaquin, you seem very happy and you seem to have faith that you are exactly where our Lord wants you to be and I have no doubt of your faith in that regard.  I can’t speak for my friend Sarah, but I can say for myself, I feel no call whatsoever to leave TEC and join ACNA, and I am absolutely supportive of ACNA and GAFCON in what they are doing.  But I feel a very strong call to stay in TEC and minister in TEC as a “conservative” layperson.  I have no idea what the endgame result will be in all of this, though I can speculate like everyone else that TEC will continue to diminish and ACNA, with the support of
GAFCON, may continue to grow.  Beyond that I really can not speculate.  But my point is, none of this is really in our hands.  It is all in the hands of the Lord and equally important it is all in the time of the Lord.  All any of us can do is to grow where we are planted and be faithful where we find our call to be.  And worrying about who is or is not being faithful is not our calling ... that is for the Lord to determine and deal with.  As has been said so many times, if what any of us is doing is of God, it will grow and prosper; if it is not, it will wither and die.  Bless you in your ministry in CA and in ACNA.  I ask for your prayers for those of us who are called to stay in TEC as “conservatives.”

RE: “Sorry, Sarah.  I have to agree with Scott.”

And so did I, Cennydd.

Some of us who are still in TEC, and have made no escape plans, do indeed disagree most strongly with actions and statements of the TEC leadership. Yet, I have no plans to move to Rome, where…well, I won’t say it.

(I, for one, have been delighted to see these fine folks showing the world what they’re truly like. We’ve seen quite a number of examples of priests who obviously barely met seminary graduation standards, who have little skill with English composition, grammar, or spelling, and who make child-like insensitive and derogatory remarks.)

I disagree strongly with the actions and statements of the current President of the United States, as well as his predecessor. But I have no plans to move to another country where things are worse.

I disagree strongly with the actions and statements of the governor and legislature of my state, but I have no plans to move to another country where things are worse.

I don’t agree with many of the actions and statements of the folks I work for, but I have no plans to change jobs.

Get the idea? There are places in TEC where the diocesan bishop encourages folks to be orthodox, traditional Christians. There are parishes that don’t have Disintegrity chapters. Parishes that don’t do SSBs. Parishioners who go around talking about Jesus, not what they do in the privacy of our bedrooms. Parishes that don’t vary from the BCP except for the occasional parishioner who feels compelled to shout, “It is right to give OUR thanks and praise.”

Do such places have their heads buried in the sand? Maybe so. But until a bishop comes along and raises a sandstorm, we remember that TEC is not hierarchical at a national level, and it never has been. It is most certainly hierarchical at a diocesan level, and such places must thank God that they have a TEC Bishop who knows that, and who supports traditional Christianity.

I think people should go wherever they want.

I think people should go where the Lord sends them, even if it feels like being in Ninevah.

#56
Well said, Ralph.

Thank you Billy, Sarah, Ralph, Ralinda.
You have said it well and better than thousands of us remaining in TEC for the season.  Often, our friends who have “left” think that those of us who “stay” are merely deluded at best, have their heads in the sand, or are less-than-Christian at worst.  I am CALLED to stay.  Maybe we’re like Travis and Crocker at the Alamo.  Who knows?  Praise God for the CP Bishops who are finding a way for us to remain connected to each other in Christ.  God has called us to stay for some reason. Only He can “fix” it.  Hopefully, the followers of ACNA and ACI will realize they are part of the same Body of Christ.  Pray for each other.

It’s always a pleasure for me to be in the company of learned people who have with them the strength of their convictions.  I see, feel, hear, grief and pain and joy and hope and agony and power and determination radiating from this list of bloggers like nowhere else in my life. 

For all of you, I am most thankful.

In this instance, I am thankful for ACI’s position paper, as any formal association of Bishop’s standing up for the true polity of TEC (dioceses collect parishes, dioceses join National, National exists at the behest of the dioceses) has to have value to the battle between BeerKat and the PHIPS, and those who have had enough of living at the corner of Haight and Ashbury, theologically speaking of course.

As for me, were I not a married man with three impressionable children who I am trying desperately to shepherd and discern God’s will for, I would probably still be in the thick of TEC, fighting every bit that I could.  In the end, however, I was unwilling to make for them worship into collateral damage, which I’m convinced is what would have happened.

So I am again grateful for you all, the ones who fight this incipient evil from within (Sarah Hey and Ralph, take a bow) and those who have shifted the battle to without (Cennydd and Fr. Matt). 

I am happy that, despite disagreements about tactics, what unifies us has REMAINED greater than what divides us here at Stand Firm.

God Bless you all, and KTF!!!...mrb

Have any of you seen this as yet? The PB and 815 have a lot more on their plate than they might have thought.
http://www.anglicancommunioninstitute.com/?p=391

I’ve seen it, and I have a feeling that Schori and Company are not going to like the contents.