"So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble."
                                                                  Matthew 6:34 AMP

• A message from Bishop Anderson
• Statement from the Global South Primates Steering Committee
• Call for review after TEC 'flouted church rules'
• Retired Quincy Bishop Faces Church Trial
• San Joaquin Special Convention May Violate Canon Law
• Anglican Communion Network(ACN) Bishops to Meet April 24
• Laity Lead the Way in Southeast Convocation

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A message from Bishop Anderson

Beloved in Christ,

Much of the news this week centers on the recent actions of The Episcopal Church House of Bishops (TEC-HOB) and the Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori (KJS) in relation to a vote to depose retired bishop William Cox and former TEC bishop John-David Schofield (JDS). Dovetailing into these legally questionable depositions are two subsequent issues: the fact that the deposition notice for Bishop Cox misstates his title and the diocese he retired from; and the calling for a Special Convention of the Diocese of San Joaquin to elect a new bishop.

An article in the Living Church states: "In a March 12 press conference, Bishop Schori stated she had not followed rules governing the requirement that the 88-year old retired bishop be granted a speedy trial, that he be informed of the charges against him in a timely fashion, and that the consent of the church's senior bishops be solicited by the Presiding Bishop to suspend him from office pending trial." Additionally, for Bishop Cox and Bishop JDS, the issue of whether there were votes enough to depose is at stake. If the rule of law is at the whim of the chief executive, no one is safe, conservative or revisionist - it's just a case of when KJS will come for you.

Please bear with me and we will go through the details. According to TEC canon law, a quorum to conduct business is a majority of (nearly) all of the bishops in TEC (Article I.2 TEC Constitution), but it is believed that fewer than that number of bishops were present at the officially called meeting. This would mean that no binding business could be lawfully transacted. To have a quorum would have required one half plus one of the whole number of bishops entitled to vote, which includes Diocesans, Suffragans, Coadjutors, and Assisting bishops (Retired bishops and those "In assignment to positions created or endorsed by the General Convention", although having a vote, apparently do not count toward establishing a quorum).

The canonical standard to depose a bishop is harder, and requires a majority vote of (all) the whole number of the bishops entitled to vote (Canon 9:Sec.2). This does include those who are retired or in assignment to positions created or endorsed by the General Convention. The majority required to depose is of the full body as if all were present. This is a "super majority" in actuality, since seldom would the "whole number of the bishops entitled to vote" be present. The problem was that this number of bishops wasn't even in attendance that day. Even if all of those bishops in attendance had voted for deposition (and they didn't) there still would have been an inadequate number of votes. How could the Presiding Bishop and the Chancellor David Booth Beers (DBB) determine that the proceedings were lawful when they violated the canons? Because they believe they can do this and get away with it - and the truth is, in today's Episcopal Church, they may get away with it. The corruption in Christology, Theology, and Moral Discipline in TEC extends into gross arrogance and the use or disregard of Canon Law as is convenient to KJS and DBB.

This disregard for the rule of law by TEC means that KJS and her Chancellor DBB are functioning as police, prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner, and most of the other TEC bishops fall in dutifully behind them. One must ask, "Where are the sometime "Windsor Bishops" in all of this?  We see no protests except from Bishop John Howe and now from South Carolina; have the "Windsor Bishops" lost their voices? "  Speak now or forever hold your peace," would be one way of phrasing it.

Since the legality of the deposition of JDS is in serious doubt at the present moment, the position of Bishop of San Joaquin may not be vacant! How can KJS call a Special Convention for San Joaquin, nominate Bishop Lamb as the next San Joaquin Diocesan, chair the meeting and elect her nominee? This doesn't look like a good government model for the free world, instead it looks like a pogrom against orthodox Anglican church leaders still in TEC as well as those whose departure was recent (and hastened by the abuse to which they have been subjected).

American journalist Steve Levin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Jefferts Schori will begin to poll bishops nationally in April in an effort to move the deposition of Bishop Bob Duncan ahead to May. She has perhaps several agendas at work, one being to depose him soon so that the Archbishop of Canterbury has the excuse to "dis-invite" Bishop Duncan from Lambeth publicly and further undercut the orthodox Anglicans. A second reason is so she can declare the Diocese of Pittsburgh vacant and move her minions into position. The Diocese isn't set to formally decide on staying or going from TEC until the October-November time frame, but without a bishop, she can begin the attempt to undercut the Standing Committee of the diocese.

As preparations for TEC's 2009 General Convention begin to unfold (yes it is coming like an asteroid in Earth orbit), one area of critical note for clergy will be changes in the misconduct canons. The "Title IV Task Force II" is proposing changes which would expand the definition of the chargeable offence "conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy" to include virtually any public criticism that offended someone, including telling the truth about the outrageous conduct of the Episcopal Church or its people and policies. It would cover not only sermons, newsletter articles, and teachings in parish coffee hours, but blogs and online postings. Unless there is massive pushback from those still in TEC, clergy will be disposed of rather easily. As soon as TEC is able to acquire a Mind Reading Machine, they can depose clergy for inner thoughts, too - why wait until they say something? What is next, you ask... perhaps if a priest is found to be reading the AAC's Encompass Magazine, or the Leaders or Weekly Updates, or the StandFirm website, or David Virtue's Virtue on Line, that will be conduct unbecoming and subject to immediate execution. The future inside TEC is going to get hotter after 2009. An inconvenient truth: Ecclesial Warming ahead!

The good news we are hearing is that responses are being received to the Global Anglican Future Conference and Pilgrimage invitations, and although there are limited seats available, there is high interest in filling those spots. The AAC is providing a working team of several of our AAC staff to help with support tasks such as the registration process, etc. Donations for scholarships for bishops needing assistance to attend GAFCON can be made online at the American Anglican Council website or at this link.

Some have jested about the Send-A-Bishop-to-GAFCON funding request: if you like the bishop you can give him a round trip scholarship and let him get home again. Seriously, do give the scholarships to GAFCON some thought and prayer.

Blessings and Peace in Christ Jesus,

The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President & CEO of the AAC
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Statement from the Global South Primates Steering Committee

Source: Global South Anglican
Date: Mar 13-15, 2008

Five Primates - Abp Peter Akinola, Abp Greg Venables, Abp Kolini, Abp Mouneer Anis and Abp John Chew - met together for some heart to heart conversations from 13th to 15th March in London. They released this statement. 

1. We are most grateful to our Lord for enabling us as members of the GS Primates Steering Committee to meet in the midst of busy commitments and schedules.

2. We were greatly encouraged to receive reports of the substantial progress of the three major initiatives undertaken by the Global South at the historic "Red Sea" Encounter (Oct 2005) and further endorsed at the Global South Primates Gathering at Kigali, Rwanda (Sept 2006). They are the Global South draft for the proposed Anglican Covenant, the Anglican Catechism in Outline and the Economic Empowerment Track. We are very appreciative of all the members and voluntary support personnel involved in the various Task Forces.

3.  Following the inconclusive response to the repeated calls for repentance and the specific requirements of The Episcopal Church in the Windsor Report and the various Communiques (Dromatine Feb 2005, Dar es Salem Feb 2007), the undifferentiated invitations to the Lambeth Conference (July 2008) of the un-repenting Bishops who have clearly flouted the bonds of trust and "torn the fabric at the deepest level" of the Communion is causing a significant number of Bishops to be troubled, in deep consternation and dilenma as to their own Lambeth participation.

The controversial visit involving the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the ACC (Oct 2007), without prior consultation with the Primates on its composition, procedure and accountability process, and its un-critical and overly generous assessment of the response of the House of Bishops (TEC) has further weakened the remaining fragile threads of trust in the Communion and severely affected hope for any genuine resolution.

These have caused various deepening negative assessments and cast further doubts on the state, will and ability, of the Communion to continue as a recognizable living and witnessing expression of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. Consequently, initiatives and challenges have emerged which could lead to further fragmentation and disintegration in the Communion, which is already in the nadir of collegial trust and confidence.

It is against this backdrop that we, the Global South Primates' Steering Committee, met to pray, share frankly and converse in collegial accountability. Enabled by the Holy Spirit, we were able to focus in unity on the original spirit, vision and vocation of the Global South in the Anglican Communion which had developed and deepened since the fateful event of November 2003...
 
Read the rest of the statement by clicking here.
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Call for review after TEC 'flouted church rules'

Source: George Conger Blog
Date: March 27, 2008

US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori failed to follow the procedural rules governing the trial of Bishop William Cox for "abandonment of the Communion" of the Episcopal Church, an investigation by The Church of England Newspaper has found.

In a March 12 press conference, Bishop Schori stated she had not followed rules governing the requirement that the 88-year old retired bishop be granted a speedy trial, that he be informed of the charges against him in a timely fashion, and that the consent of the church's senior bishops be solicited by the Presiding Bishop to suspend him from office pending trial. A subsequent investigation by CEN in conjunction with The Living Church magazine revealed an insufficient number of votes to convict were cast also.

The Bishop of Central Florida has called for a review of the proceedings, and the president of the church's appellate court of review for the trial of bishops is understood to have agreed to look into the proceedings...

The entire article may be found by clicking here.
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Retired Quincy Bishop Faces Church Trial

Source: The Living Church 
Date: March 26, 2008
By Steve Waring

A canonical case against the Rt. Rev. Edward H. MacBurney, retired Bishop of Quincy, will be heard by Court for the Trial of a Bishop. It will be the first such case since the canons were amended by General Convention in 2006 to include members of the clergy and laity among the judges in a disciplinary case against a member of the episcopacy.
 
Bishop MacBurney has been served with a presentment, an ecclesiastical indictment. It charges him with violating Article II, Section 3 of The Episcopal Church Constitution and Title III, Canon 12, Section 3 which states: "No Bishop shall perform episcopal acts or officiate by preaching, ministering the sacraments, or holding any public service in a diocese other than that in which the Bishop is canonically resident, without permission or a license to perform occasional public services from the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese in which the bishop desires to officiate or perform episcopal acts."
 
Bishop MacBurney, 80, was Bishop of Quincy from 1988-1994. In June of 2007 Bishop MacBurney confirmed several persons at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in San Diego. An overwhelming number of members of Holy Trinity voted to leave The Episcopal Church and affiliate with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone in 2006. The Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes, Bishop of San Diego, filed the initial complaint against Bishop MacBurney...
 
Read the rest of the article by clicking here.
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San Joaquin Special Convention May Violate Canon Law

Source: The Living Church 
Date: March 24, 2008
By Steve Waring

The Rev. James Snell, rector of St. Columba Church, Fresno, Calif., and president of the standing committee in the Diocese of San Joaquin, said he is concerned that Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and the Rt. Rev. Jerry Lamb, retired Bishop of Northern California, may be violating canon law and may be liable for presentment if they make good on plans to convene a special convention scheduled to be held at St. John-the-Baptist Church in Lodi on March 29.
 
"It's one thing for her not to 'recognize' us," Fr. Snell said. "Acting contrary to the canons of this diocese and of The Episcopal Church is another matter. The Presiding Bishop is not the ecclesiastical authority of this diocese and the canons of this diocese and the national church do not grant her the authority to call a diocesan convention or nominate someone for election as bishop."
 
At the conclusion of the House of Bishops spring retreat on March 12, Bishop Jefferts Schori announced that she had nominated Bishop Lamb to stand for election as provisional Bishop of San Joaquin. She also said she would personally convene the March 29 special convention at which Bishop Lamb's nomination was to be ratified. The agenda for the special convention also calls for undoing the constitutional changes approved during the annual convention last December. The constitutional amendments were used at the convention in December as legal justification to leave The Episcopal Church and affiliate with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone.
 
The new constitution and canons to be proposed for adoption during the special convention on March 29 will be based largely on the constitution and canons of the Diocese of San Joaquin as they existed prior to December 2007. Under Article 5, Section 4 of the San Joaquin constitution, "special meetings of convention may be called by the ecclesiastical authority at any time provided at least thirty (30) days notice be given." A proposed resolution seeks to insulate Bishop Jefferts Schori and other participants from legal action by calling "for the waiver and/or ratification of any potential defects in notice or other irregularities of calling the special convention."
 
Fr. Snell said the controversy surrounding the number of bishops voting to depose Bishop John-David Schofield of San Joaquin raised unanswered questions about the legality of the deposition. If Bishop Schofield was not validly deposed, then he remains the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese. If he has been deposed then under both national church and diocesan law, the standing committee becomes the ecclesiastical authority, not the Presiding Bishop...

Read the rest of the article by clicking here.
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Anglican Communion Network(ACN) Bishops to Meet April 24

Source:ACN website 
Date: April 24, 2008

Bishops of those Episcopal Church dioceses that have formally affiliated with the Anglican Communion Network will meet in Chicago on April 24. The purpose of the meeting is to allow Network bishops to speak frankly with each other about the future.

As the crisis in The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion has deepened, Network bishops and dioceses have been moving in several directions. Some Network dioceses have reaffiliated or are considering reaffiliating with other provinces of the Anglican Communion. Individual Network bishops have left The Episcopal Church to join other communions. Other bishops are attempting to be a voice for orthodoxy within The Episcopal Church.

"I have called this meeting because we need to talk frankly and openly about the future and how we as Network bishops can help the Network best fulfill its mission to build a biblical, missionary and united Anglican witness in the years ahead," said Bishop Robert Duncan, moderator of the Network. "It is clear that the Network has a continuing mission to unite orthodox Anglicans, especially as increasing numbers of Network parishes and now dioceses are exiting The Episcopal Church. We will be talking about how we can work together to accomplish this goal even as we bless the several paths we have chosen as bishops and dioceses," he added.

Dioceses that have made formal decisions to affiliate with the Network are Fort Worth, Quincy, Pittsburgh, Albany, South Carolina, San Joaquin, Central Florida, Dallas and Springfield. (The Diocese of the Rio Grande took a number of steps toward affiliation. However, their status was never completely clear.) With these dioceses, the Network also has 231 individual parish affiliates in five geographical convocations and one non-geographical convocation. Of this group, 105 parishes are under the care of The Anglican Provinces of Kenya, Uganda, or the Southern Cone. The entire diocese of San Joaquin is also under the oversight of The Province of the Southern Cone.
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Laity Lead the Way in Southeast Convocation

Source:Anglican Communion Network
Date: March 27, 2008

Worship, prayer, planning and fellowship. These are the ingredients that some 200 to 250 fellow Common Cause Anglicans from a dozen southeastern states will combine to create a binding relationship in joint mission and ministry among partnership congregations throughout the region. The three-day conference is scheduled for April 17-19 at Holy Cross Anglican Church in Logansville, GA., about 30 miles east of Atlanta.

Anglican Communion Network and Common Cause moderator Bishop Robert Duncan will be keynote speaker at the event's Thursday evening opening session. Bishop Duncan will present participants with the broad vision of the Common Cause Partnership, while Jenny Noyes, Anglican Communion Network Director of Evangelism, will follow with testimonies about the growing number of cooperative grass roots initiatives that are forming across the country among Common Cause Anglicans.

Friday's morning session will feature Bishops Alex Dickson, John Rodgers, and David Anderson, Bishop-designate William Ilgenfritz and other Common Cause leaders in a panel discussion on God's work being accomplished through the gathering – or "clustering" – of Anglican congregations all over the United States. Following the discussion, attendees will have a number of smaller "breakout" sessions to choose from for refining or expanding on ideas generated by the panel discussion. These sessions are expected to include: renewal ministries, youth and children's ministries, summer camp ministries, Daughters of the King, Order of St. Luke, Order of St. Andrew. According to one of the conference organizers, the Rev. Lynne Ashmead, "the workshops and networking time will equip participants with ministry tools to help them play their role in rebuilding God's Kingdom through vibrant Anglican churches." Ashmead emphasized that "the conference itself is already a visible sign of vibrancy among the laity" because of their taking the initiative to hold the conference.

Veteran church-planter, the Rev. Tom Herrick, will lead a pre-conference seminar on Thursday. Herrick is the National Director for Church Planting for the Anglican Communion Network, and Executive Director of the Titus Institute of Church Planting. His Church Planting Foundations Seminar will lead attendees through a series of teachings and guided group exercises that will prepare them to discern God's vision for their church, articulate their congregation's core values, focus their church's mission to achieve that vision, design a ministry plan to carry out that mission, and learn a strategic planning process for establishing realistic goals and objectives necessary for evaluating and modifying planting efforts. This seminar will also be a valuable tool for guiding new churches in developing congregational unity and growth.

Speaking of the coming event, Southeast Convocation Dean, the Rev. Jim McCaslin, noted that "This is really exciting stuff, lay people, led by the Holy Spirit, coming together to strengthen and multiply their efforts in living out the Gospel." McCaslin pointed to other efforts around the country where fellow Anglicans, whatever their Common Cause affiliation, are joining in mission and ministry, heeding, McCaslin said, "the call of God" to rebuild His church from the bottom up. McCaslin added that this working together in mission and ministry is fulfilling "God's Cause that He gave us in Common to take the saving Good News of Jesus to a lost and hurting world."

McCaslin predicted that the conference will "yield practical, fresh initiatives through cross-fertilization of ideas that will in turn lead to new, closer levels of fellowship." (He expects many of the concepts developed at the conference to be published for reference by all members of the Common Cause Partnership.) This true partnering he sees "empowering the laity through the Spirit to perform real mission and ministry together." "Look around," he said, "see what God is doing!"