Be loving in everything you do." - I Corinthians 16:13-14
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"Be on your guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be brave. Be strong. Be loving in everything you do." - I Corinthians 16:13-14 |
Nine bishops have put Andrew Smith on notice, pledging support of St. John's legal actions, and threatening to bring +Smith up on presentment charges if he doesn't back off Father Hansen and St. John's:
Therefore, the diocesans signing this letter have determined to intervene in the case of St. John's, Bristol - and in the cases of the other five parishes should that become necessary - with the following measures:
shaping of a presentment against you for conduct unbecoming [Title IV, Can.1, Sec.1 (j)] a Bishop of this Church;
raising legal and financial support for the six parishes in such civil suits as may be brought by or against you;
providing episcopal care to St. John's and the other parishes in such ways as to give them tangible evidence that we are in full communion together, in compliance with the Windsor Report.
Immediate licensing of the Rev. Dr. Mark Hansen for functions within any of our dioceses to the extent he might have opportunity to function among us.
You have used the unsupportable pretext of inhibition of a faithful priest to take over an orthodox parish. The conflict we face here is about much more than Connecticut, as we advised you back in April. As we asked fourteen weeks ago: "Whatever shall we do to reverse the course of the scandal that besets us?" We would prefer to find some way other than this deepening battle, but we refuse to allow this recent aggression to go unchecked or unchallenged.
Wonderful. Guess there are still leaders who have some testerone.
# Posted by: Prophet Micaiah at July 27, 2005 01:34 PMDear Bishops Adams, Beckwith, Duncan, Herzog, Howe, Iker, Salmon, Schofield, Stanton:
You guys ROCK!
ACTION AT LAST!!!! The sound we just heard was a warning shot fired across ECUSA's bow. Yessss! Lock and load. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. Onward Christian soldiers.
Obviously, I am tickled pink at what has transpired. We should temper our enthusiasm, however, with the realization that this is just the first shot in what may turn out to be a moral victory and tactical defeat of our orthodox forces. We are up against a formidable foe in the revisionist forces of 815. Hope springs eternal, however. Maybe this will finally get ECUSA's attention and they will back away from the precipice. Or not. For now, let us simply rejoice in the fact that someone is finally fighting back.
the snarkster
# Posted by: Michael Ware at July 27, 2005 02:51 PMThe Snarkster might be right, however, I think this is a win-win for us. Either, ECUSA makes it clear that the charge of Abandonment of Communion is being misused in cases like this (which, while I think it is unlikely, would bring a lot of protection for those facing arbitrary removal) or ECUSA bishops publically acknowledge that they will provide no meaningful protection for orthodox clergy in disagreement with their bishops.
# Posted by: Who Cares at July 27, 2005 03:16 PMI am thankful that we have Bishops who are truely willing to stand up for Christ and the word of God and I hope other Bishops will follow their leadership.
I hope Bishop Grey will join them, affirm the authority of Scripture and show Christian love for ALL his parishoners,including those of us who are offended by ECUSA Bishops who deny or belittle the importance of Scripture and offer us, instead, a Unitarian/Episcopalian Religion of Activism in causes that offend us(such as the right to choose abortion and others)and make us wonder what standards our leadership abide by if they do not adhere to Scripture.
I pray that these nine Bishops will be successful in leading our lost Church back to the paths of righteousness.
Every priest and every vestryman and every other member of the laity are owed by their own bishop being told where they stand on this event. To have to live under the cloud of wondering if my bishop will inhibit me, my fellow vestrymen not consulted and every communicant of the parish locked out of our own building because we may have a disagreement with the bishop is intolerable!
# Posted by: David+ at July 27, 2005 08:21 PMI like the support and oversight promise, but the presentment threat is silly and would be a waste of resources, just like the old Righter trial.
Those nine Bishops would lose any presentment effort in ECUSA's House of Bishops. Further, by filing a presentment in the HOB they simply give the HOBs, and its ultimate decision, legitimacy that it doesnt deserve.
Why are we fighting for the right to be identified with ECUSA? Jesus is in their midst, they don't need the Connecticut Diocese.
# Posted by: Barnabas at July 27, 2005 09:42 PMTake heart, Barnabas. I find the nine Bishops' stand a breath of fresh air. Perhaps now we will smoke out some of the stench that has plagued us. If nothing else it may press some other Bishops to take a position that is principled, and not just another little social-justice cop-out. The action in CT was abhorent and deserves any of our resources that we can bring to bear. I cheer on the first nine to display any cujones.
# Posted by: Gulfstream at July 28, 2005 12:10 AMGreg,
Do you have the list of bishops that signed on with this? I would like to email and congratulate them, any show my support.
Your REC brother.
Bro Paul
Paul,
The Rt. Rev. James M. Adams, Bishop of Western Kansas
The Rt. Rev. Peter Beckwith, Bishop of Springfield
The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh
The Rt. Rev. Daniel Herzog, Bishop of Albany
The Rt. Rev. John W. Howe, Bishop of Central Florida
The Rt. Rev. Jack L. Iker, Bishop of Ft. Worth
The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon. Bishop of South Carolina
The Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, Bishop of San Joaquin
The Rt. Rev. James M. Stanton, Bishop of Dallas
Other bishops you might want to encourage and support are:
Keith Ackerman, Quincy
Terrence Kelshaw & Jeffrey Steenson, Rio Grande
Bertram Herlong, Tennessee
all of these signed the original April 2005 letter and have taken strong consistent stands.
You can find e-mail addresses for all of the above on Lent & Beyond here:
http://lent.classicalanglican.net/index.php?p=429
Marty & Karen,
Thanks for the info.
I do want to invite you to worship with us if you are ever in the Jackson area. (St. Stephen's) in Flowood Ms. We are having a few things happening this weekend . Saturday we are basicaly having info on the REC and great food after that , and Sunday we are having Bishop Royal there for an Episcopal visit and great food again!. Please every one come and say hey!
Blessings
Bro Paul
Gulfstream,
I support the stand, but simply believe the threat of a presentment is counterproductive. There is zero chance of winning, and the drawn out presentment process will simply divert resources and take time away from the realignment. At the end, the ecclesiastical court will issue a long opinion upholding the false premise that the Bishop was acting within his authority to depose the Priest based on the state (false) reason that he had taken an unauthorized leave.
Whats the end game? Filing a presentment sounds tough, and will make people feel better only for a season. Why do we want to give ECUSA's leaders an opportunity to give further legitimacy to this act?
No one reasonably believes ECUSA will reform through legislative or quasi-judicial means. The orthadox Priests in Connecticut have no future in ECUSA. Realignment is an ongoing reality, and all resources should be directed toward accomplishing such realignement as soon as possible.
# Posted by: Barnabas at July 29, 2005 10:20 PMBarnabas,
I appreciate your theory, and concede that it might be the eventual outcome. But I feel a need to cheer on at least from the sidelines these nine brave Bishops who have hoisted themselves up off their well larded rumps and taken a position of resistance. The fact that there are only nine of them is sad, but perhaps they can inspire some of their fellow Bishops to re-think their positions. There is going to be a transmigration of the Orthodox from ECUSA, and it will be at the very least, two paths, one to Rome (and a few other parts) and one to whatever is left of the Anglican Communion. The more Bishops we have to lead this transmigration of Orthodox Christians the better, IMHO.
# Posted by: Gulfstream at August 1, 2005 08:37 PM