"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world, rather than on Christ." (Colossians 2:8)

• Archbishop of Canterbury Speaks: Will Visit U.S. Church, Lambeth Will Not Be Canceled
• South Carolina Prepares to Re-elect Mark Lawrence as Bishop

• Update on Litigation in Central New York, Connecticut & Florida Dioceses

• Reminder from the AAC: Save on Taxes with IRA Fund Transfers

Archbishop of Canterbury Speaks: Will Visit U.S. Church, Lambeth Will Not Be Canceled

*Note: Friday news articles reported that the Archbishop of Canterbury's meeting with the House of Bishops has been set for Sept. 20-25 in New Orleans.

Source: Church Times
April 20, 2007
by Pat Ashworth

The talking mustn’t stop, says Dr Williams

THE ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury has announced that he will visit the United States in September, in response to an urgent request from the Episcopal Church there. He has further confirmed that the Lambeth Conference will go ahead as expected in 2008.

The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church wishes to explain its position and the Church’s polity after the Bishops’ rejection of the Primates’ proposals for pastoral oversight of dissenting congregations from their meeting in Dar es Salaam.

The US Bishops argue that the scheme would fundamentally change the character of the Windsor and Covenant design processes, compromise the Episcopal Church’s autonomy, and would violate its founding principles.

Dr Williams told a press conference in Toronto, where he was on a two-day visit this week, that, whatever had been reported, there had never been any suggestion that he should decline the invitation. He told journalists: “I look forward to some sharing of our experiences as pastors, as well as discussion of the business of the Communion.

“These are complicated days for our Church internationally, and it’s all the more important to keep up personal relations and conversations. My aim is to try and keep people together around the table as long as possible on this; to understand one another; and to encourage local churches on this side of the Atlantic and elsewhere to ask what they might need to do to keep in that conversation — to keep around the table.”

Dr Williams reiterated his desire to avoid a split, and his passionate belief in the mutuality of the Anglican Communion. He hoped that the meeting with the US Bishops, to be held in New Orleans, would result in a better understanding, on the Episcopal Church’s part, of what the Primates were trying to communicate; and, on his own part, of the problems the request was causing to the whole Church.

“I’m still waiting to see what the Episcopal Church will come up with as an alternative. The reaction was a very strongly worded protest against what they see as interference; but if not that, then what? I’ve spoken privately to people in the United States, and am waiting to see,” Dr Williams said.

The Anglican Church of Canada will decide at its General Synod in June whether to allow dioceses to make their own decisions on the blessing of same-sex unions. Dr Williams would not speculate on possible outcomes, but commented: “I don’t think it takes rocket science to work out that that would pose some problems.”

He said: “It’s not just about nice people who want to include gay and lesbian Christians, and nasty people who don’t. It is a question on which there is real principled disagreement. What are the forms of behaviour the Church has freedom to bless, and be faithful to scripture, tradition, and reason? That is the question that is tearing us apart at the moment, because there are real differences of conviction.”

Dr Williams further reflected on the inadequacy of extremes when he gave the Larkin-Stuart lecture, “The Bible: Reading and hearing”, to students at Wycliffe and Trinity Colleges in Toronto on Monday.

Some of the present difficulties were compounded by “the collision of theologically inept or rootless accounts of scripture, and it seems an imperative to work at a genuine theology of the Bible as the sacred literature of the Church,” he said. He described both “intensely liberal and ultra-conservative” readings of the Bible as limited in what they could contribute to the life of the Church... Continued here

South Carolina Prepares to Re-elect the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence as Bishop

Source: The Living Church
April 17, 2007

Following a specially called meeting in Charleston, S.C., on April 17, the standing committee announced  plans to begin the process of re-electing the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence as Bishop of South Carolina.

Fr. Lawrence’s election on the first ballot last September was nullified last month by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori because the diocese did not receive a sufficient number of properly verified consents from a majority of diocesan standing committees within the time frame specified by the canons.

“We are fully persuaded that the Holy Spirit spoke in that election and we were reassured that a majority of both bishops and standing committees intended to consent to this election,” the committee stated. “We are determined to carry forward our diocesan mission within the context of the canons which give order to our common life. Accordingly, at our meeting today, we unanimously passed a resolution reconvening the 216th annual meeting of the Diocese of South Carolina, which was recessed.”

The standing committee sought the most expeditious way of moving forward with another election, the Rev. J. Haden McCormick told The Living Church. Reconvening the clergy and lay delegates from the annual meeting last November would save almost six months as opposed to waiting for approval for an election from the annual meeting next November, said Fr. McCormick who noted that the diocesan canons require approval from the annual convention before a special electing convention can be called.

Under the timeline envisioned by the standing committee, the annual convention will reconvene in early June. If a majority of clergy and lay delegates agree to a special electing convention, it would occur as soon as possible after the canonically mandated notification period. The special electing convention would then meet sometime toward the end of the summer. This would permit Fr. Lawrence to be consecrated before Christmas if he receives the necessary consents from both standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction.

Fr. Lawrence received consent from a majority of bishops. The nullification of the South Carolina election was the first in more than 50 years in The Episcopal Church.

Update on Litigation in Central New York, Connecticut & Florida Dioceses

Diocese of Central New York
From an April 17 Living Church report:

A New York state court has rejected a motion filed by the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church (DFMS) to join the lawsuit filed by the Diocese of Central New York against St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Syracuse.

The New York court’s April 10 ruling limits the national church’s right of action in cases involving the Dennis canon. It granted the DFMS the right to observe but not materially participate in the prosecution of the case.

In his order, State Supreme Court Justice James P. Murphy stated the national church had asserted that it had “as a matter of right” the standing to intervene in the lawsuit on the theory that all church property was subject to an “express trust” in favor of the DFMS.

“All real and personal property held by the parishes of the Episcopal Church is held in trust for the benefit of the Episcopal Church as a whole, and the specific diocese in which the property is located,” lawyers for the national church argued.

The court rejected this argument saying the DFMS failed to show it had a legal interest in the property and “only asserts that St. Andrew’s property is held in trust for the benefit of the Episcopal Church as promulgated by certain Episcopal canons, and as such, the court finds its legal interest to be insufficient.”...  Continued here

Diocese of Connecticut
From an April 20 Church of England Newspaper report:

A disciplinary review committee in the United States has dismissed charges brought against the Bishop of Connecticut, Andrew Smith, ruling that although he had broken canon law, he was not liable for presentment before an ecclesiastical court as he did not mean to do it...

The dispute between Bishop Smith and six Connecticut parishes came before the Review Committee after Smith deposed the Rev. Mark Hansen and wrested physical control of his parish, St. John's, Bristol, from its wardens.

Traditionalists in the American church were disappointed by the ruling but not surprised, as many have lost faith in the impartiality of the church's ecclesial court system. One of the complainants, Dr William Witt, a vestry member of St. John's said he was left speechless by the review committee's claims to have interviewed witnesses to the incident, noting that he and none of the other lay members of St. John's who witnessed Bishop Smith's acts had been interviewed...

A civil suit against Bishop Smith in the US Federal Court of Connecticut is ongoing.

( Read Associated Press coverage of Connecticut situation)

Diocese of Florida
From an April 13 Christian Post report:

An Anglican church in Jacksonville, Fla., lost its church property to the Episcopal diocese in a court ruling earlier this week.

Judge Karen Cole ruled that Redeemer Anglican Church belongs to the Diocese of Florida, which put parish members on legal hold until an official report is issued for review.

"We are naturally disappointed that the diocese ignored the appeals of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Panel of Reference," Redeemer's rector, the Rev. Neil Lebhar, told VirtueOnline, a voice for global Orthodox Anglicanism. "We had hoped that the Primates Communiqué would be taken seriously and honored by the Diocese of Florida."

Anglican leaders from around the world had requested in a February communiqué that congregations in the United States back away from property litigation as they wait on a response from the Episcopal Church – the U.S. arm of Anglicanism – to the communion's moratorium on consecrating homosexuals and blessing same-sex unions. More recently, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Anglicanism’s spiritual leader, had recommended in a letter presented last month to suspend litigation over property.

Bishop John Howard of the Diocese of Florida, however, said in response that until Lebhar and his parishioners "are willing to be in communion with the Diocese of Florida and the Episcopal Church, they remain by their own choice outside the Church," according to The Living Church Foundation.

The ruling went forward and Redeemer's 300 members are now preparing to move out...  Continued here

Reminder from the AAC: Save on Taxes with IRA Fund Transfers

Recent federal tax legislation, the Pension Protection Act of 2006, enables individuals to transfer IRA funds directly to charity “tax-free”; that is, there are no additional taxes on the donation, and the amount does not count as reportable income. Although the donation is exempt from being counted as an itemized charitable deduction, the transfer does count toward the “minimum annual distribution” required to be made if the IRA plan holder is over 70 ½  years old.

In order to take advantage of this special opportunity, the three main conditions are:

• You must be over age 70 ½ and transferring from an IRA fund (regular or Roth)
• The charitable donation must be made in 2007
• The maximum amount of charitable gift(s) you can apply this opportunity to is $100,000

Note that withdrawals from other retirement plans, such as 401Ks and 403Bs, do not apply to this opportunity.

The American Anglican Council (AAC) encourages those who meet the above conditions to seize this opportunity for contributing to the mission and ministry of the AAC while also reaping personal financial benefits. If you would like to make a donation under these guidelines, contact the AAC office at 800-914-2000, and we will instruct you on the next steps to take.