An Index of Interest
A number of recent documents and reflections are worth noting in the late great conflict in the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church:
Tobias Haller offers a thoughtful reflection on the consent process for The Very Rev. Mark Lawrence, bishop-elect of South Carolina. He is now one vote shy of the 56 consents required from diocesan Standing Committees of the Episcopal Church. . . and the deadline for postmark on the consents was Monday.
Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, Moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, has posted his own "pastoral" ultimatums and a simply patronizing apology about his plans to attend the House of Bishops meeting shortly in Camp Allen, Texas. Mark Harris dissects the statement with his usual probing insight over at Preludium. In addition, Jim Naughton digs up a curiosity amongst the Global South/Anglican Communion Network documents that were demanded and made public by an ongoing court case in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, including an "all hail to the chief" statement of loyalty to +Bob Pittsburgh with white space that appears, at first glance at least, to indicate that signatures might have been redacted from the original documents to make them fit for public, if not legal consumption. This by itself raises a number of disturbing questions. I remain deeply troubled by the approach the Moderator continues to take in his longstanding effort, it seems to me, in sowing a cloud of malcontent, mistrust, distortion, and division both openly and covertly across the Anglican Communion. I would argue that fomenting schism is never an admirable trait in any bishop. And yet he is cheered on. Many prayers remain in order here.
The Diocese of Utah has just released a most thoughtful response to the Primates' Communiqué.
Bishop Mark Sisk of the Diocese of New York has, with clarity and brevity, taken Archbishop Akinola to task in The New York Times over his support for anti-gay legislation in Nigeria that would violate essential human rights.
The Rev. Andrew Gerns raises serious concerns about the draft Anglican Covenant, which is the carrot the Primates have held out to the Episcopal Church while using the Windsor Report and Communiqué together as a proverbial stick. Fr. Gerns raises the haunting question: sticks notwithstanding, is the "carrot" worth it?
And then there is Louie Crew's funny, honest, and fabulous sermon from this past Sunday, delivered at St. Thomas' Parish, Washington, D.C. Such a graceful way to remind all of us that we are talking about people here, not abstractions or ideas -- Christ-filled people who are seeing the grace of God at work in their lives and relationships. It puts all the wrangling over polity and schism back into perspective, and I think Louie Crew is absolutely on target when he says that the real sins we are suffering from in the Anglican Communion are not yet being discussed.
Tobias Haller offers a thoughtful reflection on the consent process for The Very Rev. Mark Lawrence, bishop-elect of South Carolina. He is now one vote shy of the 56 consents required from diocesan Standing Committees of the Episcopal Church. . . and the deadline for postmark on the consents was Monday.
Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, Moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, has posted his own "pastoral" ultimatums and a simply patronizing apology about his plans to attend the House of Bishops meeting shortly in Camp Allen, Texas. Mark Harris dissects the statement with his usual probing insight over at Preludium. In addition, Jim Naughton digs up a curiosity amongst the Global South/Anglican Communion Network documents that were demanded and made public by an ongoing court case in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, including an "all hail to the chief" statement of loyalty to +Bob Pittsburgh with white space that appears, at first glance at least, to indicate that signatures might have been redacted from the original documents to make them fit for public, if not legal consumption. This by itself raises a number of disturbing questions. I remain deeply troubled by the approach the Moderator continues to take in his longstanding effort, it seems to me, in sowing a cloud of malcontent, mistrust, distortion, and division both openly and covertly across the Anglican Communion. I would argue that fomenting schism is never an admirable trait in any bishop. And yet he is cheered on. Many prayers remain in order here.
The Diocese of Utah has just released a most thoughtful response to the Primates' Communiqué.
Bishop Mark Sisk of the Diocese of New York has, with clarity and brevity, taken Archbishop Akinola to task in The New York Times over his support for anti-gay legislation in Nigeria that would violate essential human rights.
The Rev. Andrew Gerns raises serious concerns about the draft Anglican Covenant, which is the carrot the Primates have held out to the Episcopal Church while using the Windsor Report and Communiqué together as a proverbial stick. Fr. Gerns raises the haunting question: sticks notwithstanding, is the "carrot" worth it?
And then there is Louie Crew's funny, honest, and fabulous sermon from this past Sunday, delivered at St. Thomas' Parish, Washington, D.C. Such a graceful way to remind all of us that we are talking about people here, not abstractions or ideas -- Christ-filled people who are seeing the grace of God at work in their lives and relationships. It puts all the wrangling over polity and schism back into perspective, and I think Louie Crew is absolutely on target when he says that the real sins we are suffering from in the Anglican Communion are not yet being discussed.
1 comment:
Richard, this is an excellent wrap-up of what we need to know about the goings on in the AC and TEC.
Bishop Pittsburgh's comments about "insulation" from TEC are curious. He seems to fear some sort of contamination, but why is he so fearful? Actually, I don't think he is fearful, but he must spread fear to retain his following.
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