"When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees... Otherwise, when you eat and are satisifed...and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God... If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish." (Deuteronomy 8:10-14,19)

• Message from AAC President Canon David Anderson
• AAC Celebrates Installation of Bishop Martyn Minns, New Season for U.S. Anglicanism
• Archbishop Peter Akinola Responds to the Archbishop of Canterbury
• Diocese of Colorado Sues Grace Church and St. Stephen's Parish, Colo. Springs
• Bishop Salmon's Letter to the S.C. Diocese on Re-electing Mark Lawrence

Message from AAC President Canon David Anderson

Beloved in Christ,

Although these Weekly Updates go out to a large number of subscribers, most of whom are supporters of the work of the American Anglican Council (AAC), some individuals of a contrary point of view also subscribe to check up on us, and that's okay. My weekly piece shares my own opinion on the current events, and from time to time, as new information arrives or circumstances change, I will want to recast my analysis. This format provides an opportunity when needed.

To begin with some good news, the AAC is pleased to welcome Nash Nunnery to our Atlanta team. Nash comes to us from Jackson, Miss., and will serve as the Director of Communications for the AAC. You will begin to see his name appear on news releases and articles as the weeks go by. Welcome aboard, Nash! (AAC press release and photo here)

Included in our material this week is a letter from Bishop Ed Salmon to the Diocese of South Carolina concerning the bishop election process. South Carolina is committed to staying inside the lines as it goes forward as a diocese, yet is convinced that their first election chose the right person—so the process outlined by Salmon addresses both priorities.

We have received word that the Very Rev. Dr. Paul Zahl has submitted his resignation as dean to the board of trustees of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pa., and the board has accepted his resignation. I will be sorry to see Paul step down, as he is a personal friend, and I greatly admire his academic and scholarly gifts. We will pray for the best for both dean and seminary.
 
Disturbing news has reached us of the martyrdom of two Christian leaders in Turkey. They were tortured beyond comprehension for their Christian faith by radical Muslim hate-mongers, and the response of the Turkish authorities is not clear to us at this point. Our prayers go out to those who live and worship in such precarious situations.

The Communiqué Compliance Office’s April report has just been completed, and a full PDF format will be released on the AAC Web site next week. The report is best used when you are already connected to the Internet so that all the hyperlinks to original documents work. (A limited quantity of the full-text version that includes the back-up documents will also be available for those who do not have Internet access.)

Last Saturday’s installation service in Virginia of the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns was a glorious event. The Primate of All Nigeria, the Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola, presided over the installation of Bishop Minns as missionary bishop for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), the mission arm in the United States of the Anglican Church of Nigeria. Based on the anxious anticipation of the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church (TEC), as well as that of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams, it appears that the installation is seen as a turning point in North American Anglican affairs. If Jefferts Schori had been paying attention, she would have known of the installation weeks in advance, and yet she waited so late to protest that it suggests that her protest wasn’t really about stopping the event so much as registering her displeasure. Perhaps the same could be said for Dr. Williams’ letter, which wasn’t sent until the Nigerian primate was in New York, en route to Virginia, at which point it was then leaked by Canon Jim Rosenthal (the Anglican Communion Office’s director of communications) to the press. However, the actual copy of the letter to Archbishop Akinola only reached him after the event had taken place. Was this on purpose?

One wag suggested that TEC was investing in a new growth area, lawsuits, by putting together their own TEC-branded law firm franchise, to be called Dewey, Suem, and Howe. Two of the principals were formally in a firm called Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe, but have now moved into liturgical litigation. The new law firm will require proper vestments and will build a company mission statement using the so-called Baptismal Covenant of TEC.

The use of lawsuits by ostensibly Christian organizations such as TEC to terrorize churches, vestry members, and the folks who sit in the pews is unconscionable. The frustration behind TEC’s rage is that they cannot force the laity or clergy to go along with their polytheistic theology and beliefs on homosexuality, and people and clergy are voting with both their feet and purses. If TEC had canon law jails, many of us would be locked up, never to see the light again—but, fortunately, they don’t. Many of the church properties on which they spend millions of dollars to seize TEC will finally have to sell for 10 cents on the $1 because the buildings won’t have viable congregations to keep the properties up and make repairs. The idea in suing vestry members and clergy is to frighten people about losing their own private homes and automobiles to a tyrannical bishop bent on punishing the orthodox Anglicans. Now the Presbyterians’ liberal leaders are joining in the fray in the Anglican world—a macabre ecumenism based on terrorizing their own church members.

The Rev. Don Armstrong, who is currently under attack by the Episcopal bishop and Diocese of Colorado, has now come under harassment and stalking by hate groups affiliated with the homosexual activist agenda. One activist crept into last Sunday’s worship service underway and threw a pie at Armstrong, narrowly missing him as he stood in the pulpit preaching. Another activist for the homosexual agenda took pictures of Fr. Don as he parked his vehicle in front of Starbuck’s to dash in for a quick cup of coffee. Multiple photos of Fr. Don appear on a homosexual activist Web site, where he is shown parking his car, text-messaging on his Blackberry, and drinking his coffee. It makes one wonder, what is the point of this if not to harass him and encourage others to do the same? As the state legislatures hurry to put “hate crime” laws into place, the laws should be crafted to also protect the free speech of the Christian community to name sin as sin, and to protect Christian leaders and clergy from harassment and violence for their witness.

It seems the entire Western world has gone crazy—and the ride isn’t over yet. Remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ should shape the world, not the other way around.
 
Blessings and peace in Christ Jesus,
 
The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson
President & CEO, American Anglican Council

AAC Celebrates Installation of Bishop Martyn Minns, New Season for U.S. Anglicanism

AAC Press Release

May 7, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The American Anglican Council (AAC) joined Anglicans world-wide this past weekend in celebrating the installation of the Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns as missionary bishop for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), the U.S. branch of the Anglican Church of Nigeria and fellow Common Cause Partner with the AAC. Three staff members represented the AAC at the Woodbridge, Va., service, which filled over half of the 3,500-seat Hylton Chapel.

“This weekend’s event was a high point in North American Anglicanism,” said AAC President and CEO the Rev. Canon David C. Anderson, who attended the event with his wife. “We are extremely grateful for the courage and faithfulness of the Nigerian church and its leader, Archbishop Peter Akinola, who formed CANA two years ago.”

AAC Director of Finance and Development Doug Mussey as well as AAC Director of Human Resources Mary Orr were also present to help cover the event for the Council.

In his remarks, Anderson congratulated Minns on this new phase of his ministry and assured that the AAC’s prayers and full support are with him. Minns, an AAC Board of Trustees member, has been very active with the ministry of the AAC in addition to serving as rector of Truro Church in Fairfax, Va., for 16 years.

With over 30 affiliated churches, CANA has experienced tremendous growth since it was formed in 2005 and has emerged as one of the forerunners in the renewal of an orthodox Anglican presence in the United States. The presence of leaders of other orthodox Anglican groups at this weekend's service, Anderson said, was a particularly hopeful sign that there will be a renewed effort to work together and build one another up through shared mission and ministry.

“The energy and zeal of the Church of Nigeria have come to the U.S. through CANA, and we pray that the result will be a re-strengthening of the historic, biblical Anglican faith in this nation after decades of accelerating moral and theological decline in the Episcopal Church,” Anderson said. “Bishop Minns’ installation marked what we hope is a new season for all U.S. orthodox Anglicans.” END

Letter from Archbishop Akinola to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams

Source: The Church of Nigeria

Archbishop of Canterbury
Lambeth Palace, London

Sunday, May 6th, 2007

My dear Rowan,

Grace and Peace to you from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus the Christ.

I have received your note expressing your reservations regarding my plans to install Bishop Martyn Minns as the first Missionary Bishop of CANA. Even though your spokesmen have publicized the letter and its general content I did not actually receive it until after the ceremony. I do, however, want to respond to your concerns and clarify the situation with regard to CANA. I am also enclosing a copy of my most recent letter to Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori.

We are a deeply divided Communion. As leaders of the Communion we have all spent enormous amounts of time, travelled huge distances - sometimes at great risk, and expended much needed financial resources in endless meetings, communiqués and reports – Lambeth Palace 2003, Dromantine 2005, Nottingham 2006 and Dar es Salaam 2007. We have developed numerous proposals, established various task forces and yet the division has only deepened. The decisions, actions, defiance and continuing intransigence of The Episcopal Church are at the heart of our crisis.

We have all sought ways to respond to the situation. As you well know the Church of Nigeria established CANA as a way for Nigerian congregations and other alienated Anglicans in North America to stay in the Communion. This is not something that brings any advantage to us – neither financial nor political. We have actually found it to be a very costly initiative and yet we believe that we have no other choice if we are to remain faithful to the gospel mandate. As I stated to you, and all of the primates in Dar es Salaam, although CANA is an initiative of the Church of Nigeria – and therefore a bonafide branch of the Communion - we have no desire to cling to it. CANA is for the Communion and we are more than happy to surrender it to the Communion once the conditions that prompted our division have been overturned.

We have sought to respond in a measured way. We delayed the election of our first CANA bishop until after General Convention 2006 to give The Episcopal Church every opportunity to embrace the recommendations of the Windsor report – to no avail. At the last meeting of the Church of Nigeria House of Bishops we deferred a decision regarding the election of additional suffragans for CANA out of respect for the Dar es Salaam process.

Sadly we have seen no such respect from the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church. Their most recent statement was both insulting and condescending and makes very clear that they have no intention of listening to the voice of the rest of the Communion. They are determined to pursue their own unbiblical agenda and exacerbate our current divisions.

In the middle of all of this the Lord’s name has been dishonoured. If we fail to act many will be lost to the church and thousands of souls will be imperiled. This we cannot and will not allow to happen. It is imperative that we continue to protect those at most risk while we seek a way forward that will offer hope for the future of our beleaguered Communion. It is to this vision that we in the Church of Nigeria and CANA remain committed.

Be assured of my prayers.

Sincerely,

+Peter Abuja

The Most. Rev. Peter J. Akinola
Primate of All Nigeria

Colorado Episcopal Diocese Sues Grace Church and St. Stephen's Parish, Colo. Springs

Source: Rocky Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson
May 11, 2007

The Episcopal Diocese of Colorado on Thursday made its first move to regain control of the venerable property that was known for much of its history as Grace and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs.

The diocese filed documents in El Paso County District Court declaring it is the rightful owner of the 134-year-old church, which has been renamed by its current rector as Grace Church and St. Stephen's Parish.

"It is a shame that a small, misguided group has forced this litigation by illegally taking possession of the church property," said the chancellor of the diocese, Lawrence R. Hitt II, in a statement Thursday.

The parish is currently under the authority of the Rev. Don Armstrong, whom the diocese has accused of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in parish funds.

Armstrong, and a majority of the parish's governing board, declared in March that they no longer are under the authority of Episcopal Bishop Rob O'Neill nor do they belong to the Episcopal Church, which they believe has strayed from historic Christian teachings on issues of sexuality and scriptural authority.

Armstrong and the board hope to bring the parish property with them into a national network of conservative churches called the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). A parish vote is scheduled for May 20 to determine if a majority of the 1,500-plus-member congregation wants to join CANA.

Last month Armstrong's group sought to formally break its ties with the Episcopal Church. It argued in a complaint filed in district court that the parish exists "free of any claims of ownership by the Bishop and the Diocese of Colorado."

They maintain that the parish is a separate nonprofit corporation founded 14 years before the Episcopal Diocese was in 1887, and that it has held title to the property since the land was donated to the church by Colorado Springs founder Gen. William Palmer.

In its counterclaim filed Thursday, the diocese disputes that Armstrong's group has any authority over the parish.

A Letter to the Clergy of the Diocese of South Carolina from the Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr.

Source: Diocese of South Carolina
May 10, 2007

Dear Friends,

I have just come from a meeting of the Standing Committee where critical decisions were made toward the re-election of the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence as the XIV Bishop of South Carolina. The position of the Standing Committee was that there was an overwhelming consensus that 1) the Holy Spirit had spoken in the election of Fr. Lawrence; 2) that the Bishops and Standing Committees had intended to consent to the election even though technicalities had prevented it; 3) and that we carefully follow our own Canons in order to strongly support the election.

In order to follow our Canons, it is necessary to re-convene the Diocesan Convention of November 2006, which according to the minutes was recessed, not adjourned. This means that the delegates from the November 2006 Convention are still in place. The date for convening this Convention is June 9, 2007. At that Convention, it will be necessary to suspend Rule 21; because it would require an entirely new election process duplicating the process we used in the first election. Rule 22 gives us the authority to suspend the Rule 21 by a 2/3 vote. After its suspension, the Convention can then call for an Electing Convention. This would then require our congregations to elect new delegates for this Convention. The former Electing Convention cannot be re-convened. It was called for the purpose of electing a Bishop for the Diocese, and this work was done.

The re-convened convention of 2006 will also be asked to affirm the appointment of Wade Logan as Diocesan Chancellor as required by the Canons. Due to reasons of health, Mr. Eugene N. Zeigler has resigned as Chancellor of the Diocese. He will remain as Chancellor until the Convention approves a new Chancellor.

This Electing Convention will then be convened later in the summer of 2007 for the purpose of re-electing Fr. Lawrence. This date will be announced when the Electing Convention is created.

Following the election, the Standing Committee will implement an intensive effort to receive the consents during the 120 day period. Since a majority of Standing Committees intended to approve in the first election, the Standing Committee has a clear field in which to work.

This process will allow a consecration date to be set so that when consents are in, we may proceed to consecrate Fr. Mark Lawrence as the 14th Bishop of South Carolina.

Yours faithfully,
Edward L. Salmon, Jr.
Bishop of South Carolina XIII