A Message from Bishop David Anderson
Dearly Beloved in Christ,
This week let me begin with a personal praise re****t. My grandson Palmer
has this week passed his five year cancer-free date, and the doctors
have pronounced him cured. It was a long battle and at several time we
worried that we might lose him, but the prayers of thousands around the
world and the Grace of God preserved and healed him. He has no cognitive
damage, nor any physical impairment that we can ascertain. He is very
intelligent, very loving, and a good soccer player. To God be the glory.
We note the letter of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to
Archbishop and Primate Henry Orombi telling him to stay out of "her
domain." She of course sent a copy to Bishop Henry Louttit, who is under
pressure to continue litigation against Christ Church, Savannah, the
Mother Church of all Georgia and the Rev. John Wesley's American parish.
She also sent a copy to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The interesting
thing is she waited to notify Orombi until he was already within a
stone's throw of Georgia, leaving him to discover her letter posted on
the Internet. It is clear that this was ninety percent theatrics on the
part of Schori.
What is quite remarkable is the response from His Grace, Henry Orombi,
to Jefferts Schori, pointing out that he is not visiting one of her
churches, but rather one of his own! The problem is that TEC doesn't
recognize anyone's ability to leave TEC. Like a pitcher plant, once you
have alighted on the great blossom, you are stuck fast, never to be free
again... except, in the real world of churches, anyone and everyone is
able to vote with their voice, with their wallet, and finally, with
their feet.
Continuing this theme of the "Hotel California" where "you can check out
but you can never leave," Bishop Rob O'Neill has pulled a new dirty
trick out of TEC's bag of scurrilous actions. According to journalist
David Virtue, who is covering the story, seven years ago then-Bishop
Winterrowd legally transferred clergy out of Colorado and into the
Province of South East Asia by Letters Dimissory. This international
transferability of Holy Orders has been a keystone of the Anglican
Communion. Now seven years later, the current bishop, Rob O'Neill, has
decided to void those legal transfers and canonically depose those
clergy for "abandonment of communion of this Church." Do you remember
the book "Alice in Wonderland"? That is what it is like living either in
the Episcopal Church, or even next door to it. The meanness and fear
which these punitive actions show is evidence of how afraid TEC is of
the growing orthodox Anglican presence around the nation. The Anglican
Church of Canada, similarly fearful, is commencing like-minded
retribution against those who have left or are trying to leave.
On the international scene, we remember that it was only a few weeks ago
that the Rt. Rev. Tom Wright, was telling everyone that a "get tough"
letter was coming from Lambeth Palace to the TEC bishops who didn't
sup****t the Covenant and were part of the group who consecrated Gene
Robinson. Many of us wondered whether Tom Wright was going to be "wrong
again" or whether, given his close contact with Lambeth, maybe he was
onto something - or then again, maybe he was being used. The
long-awaited Lambeth Letter has come out, and it is a "cream puff" of a
letter. What went wrong? Why did Wright get it wrong?
Bishop Tom may have gotten it right to start with, but when a large
number of liberal revisionist English bishops told Rowan Williams that
if he excluded those Americans, they wouldn't come either, it appears
that the Primate of Primates caved in and changed the letter. Tom Wright
was left with the ground cut out from under him. Wright could have
gotten it right if the left hadn't muscled in. Apparently, the
revisionist English bishops are less afraid of pu****ng back than their
orthodox colleagues; why is that?
Lastly, we have received word that the gay and lesbian advocacy groups
are planning a major assault on the Lambeth Conference, and are raising
money to finance it. Information can be found here. The stage is being
set for a media and public relations battle at Canterbury as well as an
attempt to sway the bishops present. Things do not look very pretty for
Lambeth.
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we wor****p
our God, three in one. Have a blessed Trinity Sunday and weekend.
The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr.
President and CEO, American Anglican Council
--
Charles Hohenstein (to reply, remove Gene Robinson)
"The sad huddle of affluent bedwetters, thumbsuckers,
treehuggers, social climbers, homophiles, quavery ladies,
and chronic petition signers that makes up the current
Episcopal Church . . ." -‹Thomas Lipscomb
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