About the Name

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent The-oph’ilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed. -- Luke 1:1-4

Relax, I know I’m not writing the New Testament here, but I will try to follow a few things closely. — Dick Sandlin

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• The Known Universe
• Will TEC Adopt the Covenant?
• Observatories Explore Galactic Center
• St. Francis Dallas Joins Dio Ft. Worth
• Science and Religion Not at Odds
• Long-term Spacers Return Home
• Pope Offers Olive Branch to Anglo-catholics
• Jon Stryker Funds LGBT Initiative
• TEC’s Diocese of Western Louisiana “Affirms” Covenant
• ABC Says Only Provinces Can Adopt Covenant
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Religion

is a touchy subject, but also an important one. This mostly is about the Church of England or, as it has blossomed worldwide, the Anglican Communion. In the USA, it is currently represented by the Episcopal Church, but there is a controversy.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Will TEC Adopt the Covenant?

The Anglican Communion (AC) has finally released its much-awaited Covenant (on Dec 18th) that sets forth the beliefs of the communion.  The letter of transmission describes the history and significance of the Covenant quite well. At last approved by the Standing Committee of the AC, the Covenant was first proposed by the Windsor Report back in 2004 as a way to pin down increasingly divergent opinions about what the church believes, especially on the subject of homosexuality and the ordination and consecration of openly active homosexuals to the priesthood and the episcopacy.  In typical AC style the transmission letter explains that

The presentation of the Covenant to the Provinces of the AC represents an invitation to deepening of relationships among those Provinces. We have a long history of friendship, affinities and collaboration between Provinces, dioceses, parishes and people across the globe, and we celebrate these manifold expressions of our oneness in Christ.

The Covenant represents a further step in these relationships, building on and giving expression to the bonds of affection which shape our common life.

The actual text of the Covenant is available on the AC website and it can be downloaded as a PDF.

A major question that has emerged is “Will the Episcopal Church (TEC) adopt it?”  TEC is currently the province that is recognized to represent the AC in the United States of America (USA).  My favorite commentator on these matters, The Anglican Curmudgeon, has predicted that TEC will “walk apart” by refusing to adopt the Covenant.  I recommend that you read the arguments for his conclusion on his site.

Members of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) are ready and willing to adopt the Covenant but, since they are not yet recognized as a province of the AC, they can only “endorse” it at this time.

Monday, November 09, 2009

St. Francis Dallas Joins Dio Ft. Worth

St. Francis Anglican Church Dallas (my home parish) was one of five churches officially received by the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth at the latter’s 27th Annual Diocesan Convention at St. Peter & St. Paul Church in Arlington, TX on Nov. 7, 2009.  Also received by the diocese were St. Matthias Anglican Church Dallas (a sister parish and long-time friend of St. Francis), Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church, serving southwest Tarrant County (the diocese’s newest mission congregation), and two out-of-state churches: Church of the Holy Spirit in Tulsa, Oklahoma and St. Gabriel’s Anglican Church in Springdale, Arkansas.  The Episcopal Diocese of Ft. Worth is a member of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

St. Francis Rector, Fr. David Allen, enters the convention, followed by Parish Verger, Steve Chamblis, carrying the parish banner, with Senior Warden, Bob Davis, looking on from the left. Photos by Suzanne Gill.
Fr. Allen presents a rosary to Bishop Iker, the Bishop of Ft. Worth as a sign of appreciation for the admission of the parish to the diocese.

Members of St. Francis look on as Bishop Iker holds up his present from the parish.  From the left:  Bishop Jack Iker, Fr. William Crary, Fr. David Allen (descending), Debbi Blocker, Sister Mary Elizabeth (Community of St. Mary, Greenwich, NY), Rebecca Thompson, Gene Leslie, Genie Shaw with Malachi, and Kevin McNevins.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Pope Offers Olive Branch to Anglo-catholics

Pope Benedict XVI has authorized an Apostolic Constitution (a formal canonical framework) which would offer Anglo-Catholics (members of the Anglican Communion who have a catholic orientation) and their clergy an opportunity to re-affiliate with the See of Peter.  For a full explanation of this announcement, see the post titled O Brave New World! on The Anglican Curmudgeon’s blog.

Archbishop of Canterbury (ABC) Rowan Williams, left, from the Anglican Communion responds to the announcement and Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, right, from the Roman Catholic Church, looks on during a news conference in London.  Is it just me or does the ABC seem a little less than enthusiastic?

Ruth Gledhill of The Times Online, in an article titled Rome Parks Tanks on Rowan’s Lawn, offers more videos and a copy of the letter that the ABC sent to his bishops.

Just in:(10/28/9) The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights published a story on Oct. 28th, titled MAJOR NEWSPAPERS BLAST CATHOLICISM, that points to articles in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Boston Globe that attacked the Church on it’s offer to Anglicans (described above) and it’s position on women and gay clergy.  The Washington Post‘s blog, On Faith, recently featured an interview about the Pope’s offer with outspoken English atheist Richard Dawkins, titled Give us your misogynists and bigots,  where he said that the Catholic Church was, “surely up there among the leaders” as “the greatest force for evil in the world.”  You should read it on Christopher Johnson’s blog midwest conservative journal because he did a really good “fisking” of the whole thing.  (Fisking is taking apart statements piece by piece and revealing the fallacies and idiocy of the statements - thanks to my wife, Connie.)

Just In: (11/4/9) The Vatican has today released the formal document establishing the Personal Ordinariates and the rules for their use.  My simplistic overview is this:  the Holy Father is using his authority to invite Anglicans to reunite with the “mother church” by building a special compartment for them that lets them keep their parishes, and maybe even dioceses, essentially just as they are now.  Only Anglicans may take advantage of this offer and current Catholics are not allowed to join the Anglican groups.  Inside the compartment, Anglican priests and deacons may become Catholic priests and deacons (but those who are unmarried will have to stay that way) and unmarried Anglican bishops may become the presbyter (i.e., bishop) of an Ordinariate (i.e., a diocese within the compartment).  Married Anglican bishops will have to return to being priests, but they can be Ordinaries of an Ordinariate and retain their badges of office (e.g., crosiers) and they can petition the Holy Father to become bishops on a case-by-case basis.  This delicate balancing act permits the Anglicans to have what they want, while at the same time maintaining the status quo with the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman tradition.  I think it is brilliant!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Jon Stryker Funds LGBT Initiative

A recent feature on the Stand Firm blog by Fr. Andrew Gross has identified the primary funding sources for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) initiatives in TEC, as well as other organizations.  While there is no suggestion that this activity is in any way illegal, it is interesting to know who is speaking when “money talks” in this case.  Billionaire Jon Stryker is a gay man who founded and funded the Arcus Foundation to “fund LGBT rights and great ape conservation”.  He is one of the heirs to the Stryker fortune.  Stryker is a broadly based, global leader in medical technology and one of the largest players in the $35.6 billion worldwide orthopaedic market.  Since 2000, Arcus has awarded grants totaling more than $122 million worldwide.  Jon also identified the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations and Atlantic Philanthropies as major funding sources for the LGBT rights effort.

The Arcus efforts have not been limited to human rights activities, but have also been directed toward changing the beliefs and practices of the Episcopal Church. Last year they gave (from the Arcus Foundation Annual Report):

• Cathedral Church of St. James Chicago, IL $177,251 to support the efforts of the Chicago Consultation to promote the full inclusion of LGBT faithful in the Episcopal Church and in the Anglican Communion

• Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, IL $132,162 for support of the Chicago Consultation’s efforts to promote the full inclusion of LGBT persons in the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion. (In 2007 Arcus provided $25,000 for the initial organizational meeting of what became the Chicago Consultation.)

• Integrity, Rochester, NY $60,000 for two half-time field organizers to support efforts to promote the full inclusion of LGBT faithful within the Episcopal Church. (In 2007 Arcus provided $130,000 in funding specifically targeting Lambeth and the 2009 General Convention. Of that amount, $80,000 was earmarked for 2007; $50,000 was to carry over to 2008.)

This report reveals that money from a secular organization is being used to tilt the balance of power within our churches. It also means that in 2008 while Seabury Western Seminary was slashing it’s budget, cutting staff, and dramatically ‘restructuring’ and ‘revisioning’, they were also acting as a conduit for the Chicago Consultation. And it sheds some light on the massive publicity given to +Gene Robinson at Lambeth this year, when he wasn’t even invited to attend.  Money talks.

TEC’s Diocese of Western Louisiana “Affirms” Covenant

Presumably, the Diocese of Western Louisiana will be seen to have “endorsed” the Ridley Draft of the Covenant (see previous post).  Thanks to Greg Griffith of Stand Firm for the tip about this article in The Living Church.

The Diocese of Western Louisiana’s 30th annual convention has affirmed the Ridley Cambridge Draft of the Anglican Covenant. The convention met Oct. 9-10 in Alexandria, La.

The Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson, the diocese’s bishop since 2002, is among the founding bishops of Communion Partners...

“This will bring further recognition of our diocese as a part of the Episcopal Church (TEC), as a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, and in communion with the See of Canterbury. When I shared with the Archbishop of Canterbury last month the plans for a resolution of this nature, he responded favorably,” the bishop said.

+MacPherson said that he believes the diocese needs to remain within TEC, but he also said

“...in the months ahead, and depending upon the direction taken by the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion, we could well be faced with making a choice of being either provincially oriented or Communion oriented — for it is clear we cannot be both,” he said. “We know who we are, and we cannot claim to be part of a catholic body and then seek to exercise ‘local option’ over crucial issues.”

There appears to be some doubt that the convention actually did endorse the Covenant.  Delegate Joe Roberts, who voted for the resolution, says in his blog

...after reading the precise language of the amended Saint Mark’s Cathedral resolution as recorded by the convention secretary (language that the delegates did not see printed and which was read to the delegates as a previous printed text was being amended), I think that we did little more than confirm that we support the adoption of “an Anglican covenant” as the next step in the ongoing Windsor process.