(Update: The Church of England plans to vote again on women bishops next year.)

Today, conservative lay leaders in the Church of England narrowly succeeded (by a six-vote margin) in defeating a historic measure that would have allowed women clergy to serve as bishops.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said today he will step down at the end of 2012, setting the stage for the unique process of government officials appointing the new leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Williams' surprise announcement stunned the religious world, even as the short list of prospective successors swiftly began to circulate. Williams, 61, has led Church of England and the world's 77 million Anglicans since 2002.

Traditionally, the new leader is chosen by a church committee of Anglican clergy and laity, who then draft a short list of candidates to submit to Prime Minister David Cameron.

While Queen Elizabeth II is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and formally appoints the archbishop of Canterbury, the decision is based on the final determination of the Prime Minister.

Update (April 19, 2013): The Virginia Supreme Court has ruled that The Falls Church, a "3,000-member congregation [that] voted in 2006 to leave the Episcopal Church did not have the right to keep the sprawling property known as the Falls Church."

The ruling, which came yesterday, affirmed a lower court’s decision in favor of the denomination, but also "said some of the nearly $3 million in church coffers belongs to the Falls Church Anglican congregation."
----

(Note: If you're coming here from Google News or a similar link: My apologies for the posting of a very incorrect headline, based on some initial news reports. The Virginia Supreme Court did not say that Episcopalians own the Virginia churches. Read on for what it did say.)

The Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled in favor of the Episcopal Church in the state's much-watched dispute over church property. But it's just the latest ruling in what will continue to be a long fight.

Reversing a lower court's ruling, the Virginia Supreme Court said that the Anglican churches cannot use the Virginia "Division Statute" (the state law governing property when "a division has heretofore occurred or shall hereafter occur in a church or religious society") to file their claims.

But the actual answer to who owns the property is still a long way off.

Legal details after the jump...

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles this weekend elected Mary Glasspool, an openly lesbian priest, to be one of its assistant bishops. This is sure to trigger new anxieties and power struggles in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Under limitations in effect since the election of New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson in 2003, Anglicans have more or less developed a consensus not to elect openly practicing homosexuals to the office of bishop. With this move, the consensus becomes all but unsustainable.

In my view, the election of Rev. Glasspool will fuel these power struggles:

1. Between Episcopal pragmatic traditionalists and the left wing on whether her election should be affirmed by the national church. (A majority of US dioceses must approve of this move and are likely to grant approval in this case.)

2. Between Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and TEC Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori regarding the future relationship between the American church and global Anglicanism. (Conservatives will now press more aggressively for ABC Williams to recognize the Anglican Church of North America. Church of England conservatives are also putting great pressure of Williams to hold the line.)

3. Among conservatives who remain inside the American church and the growing number of breakaway leaders. (There are still a sizable number of conservative/evangelical pastors and other leaders inside TEC -- mostly in suburban areas. These conservatives face the dilemma of what to do beyond verbal criticism of this action in Los Angeles.)

Meanwhile up North, the left-leaning Anglican Church of Canada has won a major victory when a British Columbia Supreme Court judge ruled in favor of the Vancouver-area Anglican diocese in a property fight with St. John's, Shaughnessy, one of the largest and most evangelical parishes in the national church, and several other conservative churches in the area. Some $20 million in property is at stake.

What do these developments mean for conservative Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, or non-denominational evangelicals?

Based on recent experience, here are four developing trend lines:

In the days following, the General Convention of TEC (the Episcopal Church based in the US), Rowan Williams, as Archbishop of Canterbury, has held off making any comment. Until today.

The UK's Daily Telegraph says:

Dr Williams acknowledged for the first time that believers may have to accept "two styles of being Anglican" in order to avoid schism. The decision by Episcopal bishops in the US earlier this month to press ahead with the ordination of homosexual priests and bishops — effectively overturning a ban on the practice — has pushed the 80 million-strong global church to the brink of an irrevocable split.

Williams' lengthy statement puts an accent on realistic analysis and description. It is likely to make some, if not most, on both sides of the global Anglican Communion, unhappy in that Williams does not map out how Anglicans are to resolve their differences once and for all.

The core issues are: gay clergy, gay bishops, the inter-dependence of the communion's 35-plus members and their commitment to traditional/orthodox teaching.

Here are just a few highlights from the ABC:

* A realistic assessment of what [the TEC] Convention has resolved does not suggest that it will repair the broken bridges into the life of other Anglican provinces; very serious anxieties have already been expressed. The repeated request for moratoria on the election of partnered gay clergy as bishops and on liturgical recognition of same-sex partnerships has clearly not found universal favour, although a significant minority of bishops has just as clearly expressed its intention to remain with the consensus of the Communion. The statement that the Resolutions are essentially 'descriptive' is helpful, but unlikely to allay anxieties.

* No Anglican has any business reinforcing prejudice against LGBT people, questioning their human dignity and civil liberties or their place within the Body of Christ. Our overall record as a Communion has not been consistent in this respect and this needs to be acknowledged with penitence.

* A blessing for a same-sex union cannot have the authority of the Church Catholic, or even of the Communion as a whole. And if this is the case, a person living in such a union is in the same case as a heterosexual person living in a sexual relationship outside the marriage bond; whatever the human respect and pastoral sensitivity such persons must be given, their chosen lifestyle is not one that the Church's teaching sanctions, and thus it is hard to see how they can act in the necessarily representative role that the ordained ministry, especially the episcopate, requires.

Here's the link to the full statement.

Last Friday, The Episcopal Church (TEC) completed its General Convention in Anaheim, California. The bottom line for conservatives still inside TEC is that they are increasingly adopting the language of remnant theology to describe their commitment to remain within TEC.

The church's Left-learning majority exercised extraordinary dominance and pressed forward with two measures:

D025. Gay Clergy, Bishops. This measure strongly endorses opening the office of priest and bishop to all qualified persons and is widely viewed as legally opening the door to gay and lesbian ordination as clergy and consecration as bishop.

C056. Same-sex blessings. This measure authorizes church leaders to develop services for the blessing of same-sex unions and openly allows bishops to respond sort of on a case by case basis and grants an attitude of generosity toward LGBT couples seeking a church blessing of their relationship.

In response, about 29 bishops (nearly all conservatives) signed the so-called Anaheim Statement. George Conger reports:

Twenty-nine bishops have endorsed a letter affirming their desire to remain part of the Anglican Communion and Episcopal Church while being faithful to the calls for restraint made by the wider church.

Styled as the "Anaheim Statement," the letter of dissent to the actions of the 76th General Convention pledged the bishops' fealty to the requests made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the 2008 Lambeth Conference, the primates' meetings and ACC-14 to observe a moratoria on same-gender blessings, cross-border interventions and the ordination of gay and lesbian people to the episcopate.

So, the big question for conservatives is this: What is holding this remnant together?

One day after The Episcopal Church vote to open the sacramental offices of clergy and bishop to active gays and lesbians, the church is poised today to vote on a resolution that will endorse the blessing of same-sex unions through a officially permitted rite.

Here are some of the details from George Conger, now writing for the Washington Times:

The U.S. Episcopal Church put itself on a collision course with the rest of the Anglican Communion by formally approving Tuesday the ordination of gay bishops, defying warnings that the Church of England may respond by recognizing a rival Anglican church. The 2.1-million-member U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion also was preparing Wednesday to approve blessing ceremonies for same-sex unions, a further slap at the Archbishop of Canterbury, who warned the U.S. church last week not to act in ways that deepen the splits in the 77-million-member worldwide communion. In Tuesday's actions, the U.S. church reversed a promise made to the rest of the communion by agreeing to end the church's gay-bishop ban, which the church imposed in 2006 at its last triennial convention after the worldwide furor over the 2003 consecration of Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Conservative reaction to these events is growing hotter. Virtue Online raised further anxiety about "tyranny of the majority:"

Starting last week, The Episcopal Church (TEC) has been meeting in Anaheim, California, for its General Convention. The convention is subdivided into the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies (lay and clergy).

The big question coming into the convention was whether the convention would move to repeal so-called B033, approved at their last convention. This resolution B033 called for the church to abide by a moratorium for consecrating openly homosexual individuals to the office of Bishop. (In 2003, the openly gay V. Gene Robinson was named as Bishop of New Hampshire.)

Last night, the House of Bishops approved D025, a measure from the House of Deputies that will allow gay clergy to serve openly in all offices of the church. The Associated Press reports:

The Episcopal Church moved Monday toward affirming their acceptance of gays and lesbians for all roles in ministry, despite pressure from fellow Anglicans worldwide for a decisive moratorium on consecrating another openly gay bishop.

Bishops at the Episcopal General Convention in Anaheim, Calif., voted 99-45 with two abstentions for a statement declaring "God has called and may call" to ministry gays in committed lifelong relationships.

Lay and priest delegates to the meeting had comfortably approved a nearly identical statement, and were expected to adopt the latest version before the meeting ends Friday.

Leaders of the Anglican Communion have been pushing Episcopalians to roll back their support for gays and lesbians since 2003, when the U.S. denomination consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. Anglican body.

During the debate, several conservative bishops spoke out, according to Virtue Online:

The bishop of West Virginia objected, "We need to face the fact that this is a repudiation of B033... now we're shooting the gap..." and will, he felt, do the very things that the Communion has asked The Episcopal Church not to do. Peter Beckwith, Bishop of Springfield, agreed, "I do not believe it is right... sex outside marriage is inappropriate" and more importantly, he thought that what was at stake was "a perceived justice issue" over and against the "integrity of the Communion." The Bishop of Albany Bill Love spoke in the same vein, stating that "If this resolution passes, The Episcopal Church will cease to be what its always been." For him, passing amended D025 would "totally shred" the Communion... a loss to us and the wider Church." Others, notably Bishop Mark Lawrence of South Carolina and Bishop John W. Howe of Central Florida spoke powerfully against the resolution. But the tide of the House was against them and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had warned against such legislation earlier that day at General Synod.

The vote was hailed as a milestone by Integrity, the leading organization for supporters of gay ordination. Late yesterday, Integrity in a press statement said:

For about the past two years, I have had this hunch that sooner or later the US Supreme Court would be presented with a church-property dispute that would sharply question the role of the judiciary in settling disputes between a Protestant denomination and a local parish or congregation.

It looks like 'sooner' has arrived now.

About noon today (May 5), while Anglicans worldwide are watching events in Jamaica, where top leaders are debating the proposed Anglican Covenant, St. James Anglican, Newport Beach, California, released an press statement saying they would be appealing the decision of the California Supreme Court to the US Supreme Court.

Here's some of what the press statement said:

St. James Anglican Church, at the centerpiece of a nationally publicized church property dispute with the Episcopal Church, announced today that it will file a petition for writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court to resolve an important issue of religious freedom: Does the United States Constitution, which both prohibits the establishment of religion and protects the free exercise of religion, allow certain religious denominations to disregard the normal rules of property ownership that apply to everyone else?

I would have to agree the US Supreme Court should address this area. In recent years, the high court has not done as good a job as it might have on mapping the boundaries between church and state.

The issue here from my point of view is state and judicial intervention into the inner workings of voluntary religious organizations (denominations); and, based on the California Supreme Court ruling recently, the court's inappropriate preference for the religious institution versus the individual congregation.

Let's face it. For the vast number of American Protestant congregations, the relationship today with their denomination is mostly a one-way street. Send money to the HQ and get very little in return.

The leaders at St. James Anglican said in their statement:

Under longstanding law, no one can unilaterally impose a trust over someone else's property without their permission.

Breaking news:

Top conservative Anglicans have been meeting in London this week and as expected they have issued a communique that offers recognition to Bishop Robert Duncan, former Episcopal Bishop of Pittsburgh, and his organization the Anglican Communion in North America, a proposed new province.

The ACNA expects to meet this summer to more formally establish an organization of traditional and conservative Anglicans in the United States and Canada. In the meantime, the ligitation over church property, financial assets, trust funds, and endowments continues between the Episcopal Church and parishes and dioceses that have separated from TEC.

See below for the full statement, released early this morning:

Update: 4:30, CST

Reactions to statements from Anglican primates are piling up in my in box.

Here's one important voice: Bishop Martyn Minns, CANA:

"We also welcome a period of gracious restraint as the Primates describe it but are distressed by the reality that The Episcopal Church continues to initiate punitive litigation on a massive scale. To date, there are at least 56 lawsuits initiated by The Episcopal Church, or its dioceses, against individual churches, clergy and vestries across the country.

"We are saddened to read that within hours of agreeing to this statement Presiding Bishop Schori is already questioning whether the Primates' call for gracious restraint is something to which The Episcopal Church wants to make a commitment ?'the long-term impact of ?gracious restraint' is a matter for General Convention,' she said in a statement.

"We appreciate the encouragement for those of us connected with the Anglican Church in North America to continue to move forward as faithful Anglicans and to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ."

If you have loads of time, read the final communique, here

* * *
Noon, Thursday, Feb. 5, CST

Today, Anglican watchers worldwide have been awaiting the release of the communique from the Anglican Communion's top bishops and archbishops, who have been meeting in Alexandria, Egypt, this week.

Episcopal News Service reports:

Anglican leaders meeting in Egypt have affirmed the recommendations of the Windsor Continuation Group and called for the development of a "Pastoral Council" and the appointment of "Pastoral Visitors" to assist in healing and reconciliation given the current "situation of tension" in the Anglican Communion.

In a communiqu? released on the final day of their February 1-5 meeting in Alexandria, Egypt, the primates are also encouraging all parties in the current controversies to maintain "gracious restraint" with respect to actions that could exacerbate the tensions, such as same-gender blessings, cross-border interventions and the ordination of gay and lesbian people to the episcopate.

For the Episcopal Church and Anglicans in Virginia, this initiative from Anglican primates comes at an exceedingly touchy time since they have entered the appeal phase of their litigation.

Recently, the Anglican District of Virginia issues a public call to conclude all litigation. In a press statement, ADV said:

FAIRFAX, Va. (February 3, 2009) ? In response to the appeal filed today by The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia, the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) called for an end to the two year Virginia church property litigation. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Bellows issued his final rulings in December. The rulings were in favor of the nine ADV congregations and found that each has a legal right to their church property.

"Judge Bellows upheld the written law, correctly applied the Constitution, and was judicious in his rulings throughout this legal process. We hoped that TEC and the Diocese would recognize this and would have put this legal battle behind us," said Jim Oakes, vice-chairman of ADV. "We are saddened that The Episcopal Church and the Diocese find it necessary to continue with more litigation. An appeal process will cost additional millions of dollars that could be spent on mission and ministry. Both sides have already spent some $5 million in legal costs, money that could have gone to our communities in need during these tough economic times. Although we are disappointed by this development, we are fully prepared to continue to defend ourselves and remain confident in our legal position.

"These legal victories for religious freedom have encouraged us to stand firm in our Anglican faith. Our congregations will continue to work together delivering the message of Christ. All we have ever wanted to do is continue to worship and serve God in the same tradition as our ancestors and the worldwide Anglican Communion."

On December 19, 2008, the Anglican District of Virginia congregations received favorable final rulings regarding whether four parcels of property owned by the Anglican congregations were covered by the congregations' Division petitions. (TEC and the Diocese had previously acknowledged that the congregations' other properties were all covered by the congregations' Division petitions.)

So in a matter of days, it should be clear whether The Episcopal Church will change its strategy of litigation against departing parishes and presentments against bishops who are leaving TEC.

Last Friday, regular readers of CT's Liveblog know I posted about Rick Warren's offer of assistance to Anglicans who are about to lose their church buildings in hostile litigation or who were starting a new congregation through new Anglican structures. (In early December after the Civil Forum in Washington, Rick and I discussed the Anglicans story.)

First, a 'mea culpa' from me that this offer was done on a private basis and I misread this message as part of a public gesture. (I wrote a cover story Purpose Driven in Rwanda and an update interview with Rick was published in CT recently.) So CT staff agreed to take the posting off the CT site. But, of course, it lives on via RSS feeds and elsewhere.

This story has taken on quite a life of its own. So since Liveblog has been silent on this subject for days, I asked Rick for a brief clarification. He's given permission to release these comments:

"In our first 13 years as a congregation, Saddleback was forced to use 79 different meeting places, so we understand the difficulty of finding space. So, as standard procedure, anytime an evangelical congregation loses its place to meet, we offer them space, out of gratitude, to the churches that helped us before we got our own building.

It's just one of many quiet ways we support the Body of Christ behind the scenes. Without any press, we've helped 5 other denominations plant new churches in the Saddleback Valley. We never view other congregations as competition, but as team members in the Great Commission. Helping other congregations is consistent with my calling, and 30 year track record, of serving, encouraging, and championing other pastors.

It is what the Purpose Driven Network is all about.

When I read in the paper that another local congregation has lost its place to meet, I send a private email to the leadership offering space. It certainly wasn't a reaction to anyone or any group. I cc'd Tim Morgan because he's a personal friend who has traveled with me to Africa twice and he knew the folks I wrote to. The letter wasn't intended to be a public statement, just an offered kindness. Those who contacted me learned this. Those who didn't attributed a inaccurate motivation and misread the timing."

Rick Warren
Saddleback Church
Global PEACE Coalition
Purpose Driven Network

I'll add in. There's no mystery, no malice, or hidden agenda here. Gratitude still works, Thanks be to God.

A long awaiting ruling of the Californai Supreme Court was released today concerning three conservative parishes that left the national Episcopal Church. The ruling is a huge set back for conservatives.

According to media reports:

In an unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court ruled that the property belongs to the Episcopal Church because the parishes agreed to abide by the mother church's rules, which include specific language about property ownership.

St. James Church in Newport Beach, All Saints Church in Long Beach and St. David's Church in North Hollywood pulled out of the 2.1 million-member national Episcopal Church in 2004 and sought to retain property ownership.

Each church held deeds in their names to the property. The court ruled that Episcopal Church canons made it clear the property belonged to the individual parishes only as long as they remained part of the bigger church.

"When it disaffiliated from the general church, the local church did not have the right to take the church property with it," Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin wrote for the seven-member court.

Update (April 19, 2013): The Virginia Supreme Court has ruled that The Falls Church, a "3,000-member congregation [that] voted in 2006 to leave the Episcopal Church did not have the right to keep the sprawling property known as the Falls Church."

The ruling, which came yesterday, affirmed a lower court’s decision in favor of the denomination, but also "said some of the nearly $3 million in church coffers belongs to the Falls Church Anglican congregation."

CT previously reported on this case in 2010, when the Virginia Supreme Court overturned an earlier win for the congregation.
----

Early this week, I caught word that the judge in Virginia would issue an important ruling today in the church property dispute involving the Episcopal Diocese of Virgina, the national Episcopal Church, and break-away congregations organized into the Anglican District of Virginia.

Here's the press release, which I received about 15 minutes ago:

FAIRFAX, Va. (December 19, 2008) ? The judge presiding in the church property trial between the Episcopal Church and eleven former congregations, now affiliated with the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV), ruled in the congregations' favor today. The final rulings in this case concerned whether four parcels of property owned by the Anglican congregations were covered by the congregations' Division petitions.

"We welcome these final, favorable rulings in this case. This has been a long process and we are grateful that the court has agreed with us," said Jim Oakes, vice-chairman of ADV. "It is gratifying to see the court recognize that the true owner of The Historic Falls Church is The Falls Church's congregation, not the denomination, and that the building is protected by the Division Statute. The Falls Church has held and cared for this property for over 200 years."

"We hope that The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia will realize that it is time to stop this legal battle. In these economic times, we should be focused on helping our communities and spreading the Gospel, not spending millions of dollars on ongoing legal battles. The money we have been forced to spend to keep our property from being forcibly taken away from us is money that could have been spent in more productive ways.

"While the judge ruled that issues surrounding The Falls Church Endowment Fund will be heard at a later date, ADV is confident that we will prevail on this last outstanding issue," Oakes said.

On April 3, 2008, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows issued a landmark ruling that acknowledged a division within The Episcopal Church, the Diocese of Virginia and the larger Anglican Communion. Judge Bellows affirmed that the Anglican congregations in Virginia could invoke the Virginia Division Statute (Virginia Code ? 57-9) in their defense. The Virginia Division Statute states that majority rule should apply when a division in a denomination or diocese results in the disaffiliation of an organized group of congregations. On June 27, 2008, Judge Bellows issued a ruling that confirmed the constitutionality of Virginia Division Statute (Virginia Code ? 57-9) under the First Amendment. On August 22, 2008, he issued a ruling that upheld the constitutionality of the Division Statute under the Contracts Clause of the Constitution.

"We hope that the Diocese will reconsider its previous promises to appeal. While we are prepared to continue to defend ourselves, we are ready to put this litigation behind us so we can focus our time, money and effort on the work of the Gospel," Oakes concluded.

The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Diocese abruptly broke off settlement negotiations with the Anglican congregations in January 2007 and filed lawsuits against the Virginia churches, their ministers and their vestries. The decision of The Episcopal Church and the Diocese to redefine and reinterpret Scripture caused 11 Anglican churches in Virginia to sever their ties with TEC and the Virginia Diocese.

For conservative Anglicans, this is a day to rejoice. It's an early Christmas present. But while one battle is won, the war (so to speak) seems far from over. It is widely expected that Episcopal church lawyers will file an appeal very soon.

Here's what Anglican Bishop Martyn Minns, from Truro Church and the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, had to say:

A new alliance for North American Anglicans will have an important benchmark event in Wheaton, Illinois, on Wed., Dec. 3.

See below for the full press statement.

It's fascinating to see that both the Billy Graham Center and Wheaton's Evangelical Free church will both serve as venues for this meeting of the Common Cause Partnership, the organization that has pooled resources for conservatives, who report 100,000 Anglicans as participants in their movement.

I will update this entry with reactions in a day or two.

ANGLICAN LEADERS SEEK TO UNITE NORTH AMERICAN CHURCHES:

Draft Constitution to be Unveiled, Jerusalem Declaration Signed at Dec. 3 Chicago Gathering

As expected, the Great Exodus out of the Episcopal Church continues. (See below for a press statement from the Diocese of Quincy, Illinois.) They join the dioceses of San Joaquin and Pittsburgh.

The Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, will have its annual convention this coming weekend. Considering that on the diocesan website there is an article, "10 Reasons Why Now is the Time to Realign," you can catch the drift here.

Fort Worth Episcopalians are quite likely to vote to leave TEC (The Episcopal Church) for the second time, finalizing a vote from last year.

Here's what Bishop Iker had to say in Reason #7:

7. At this time there is nothing in the Constitution or Canons of TEC that prevents a Diocese from leaving. Oh, I know that General Convention officials claim that dioceses cannot leave TEC, but you will not find that anywhere in the Constitution and Canons as they presently stand. So we have this window of opportunity to do what we need to do, for you can be sure that the next General Convention will close off this option by adopting amendments that will make it even more difficult to separate in the future.

TEC will meet in General Convention next summer (July 2009 in Anheim, California) and indeed there is a developing effort to close and lock tight the ability of any other diocese to depart via majority vote of their convention.

Then, there is another effort to repeal Resolution B-033, which officially expects TEC leaders to refrain from same-sex rites and consecration of non-celibate bishops who are gay. Here's a word or two from WAKE UP:

"WAKE UP is a coalition of concerned Episcopalians who seek a Full Inclusion Church. We came into being during the summer of 2006, following the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. While pleased at the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as Presiding Bishop, we experienced the passage of Resolution B-033 as a betrayal of the Church's professed acceptance of lesbian and gay Christians as full members of the Body of Christ. We also view with alarm the attempts of some, both within and outside the Episcopal Church, to move us in a direction of exclusion, intolerance, and dogmatic 'purity codes' that have never been part of the Anglican heritage. Our primary purpose is to TAKE ACTION to STOP THE APPEASEMENT of theological bullies, and protect the Anglican heritage of inclusion and openness that has been passed down to us. We value the unity of the Anglican Communion, but not at the price of appeasement and injustice."

So contrary to the view among some leaders that "the worst is over," you can expect the political struggle, the property fight, and the theological battle to persist throughout much of 2009.

Sure feels like a war of attrition to me.

Continue for the full press statement from Quincy:

As long expected, the exodus of conservatives from The Episcopal Church is gathering steam. This afternoon, the Diocese of Pittsburgh voted to leave TEC and join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, based in Argentina.

What does this mean for TEC and global Anglicanism?

My analysis is that the bluff of TEC and its left-leaning House of Bishops is being called. Right now, TEC and a number of dioceses around the nation are so involved in litigation that the situation is moving beyond unmanageable.

Starting another court fight over Pittsburgh's decision would be staggering in its expense. TEC probably is spending more per month on litigation nationwide than at any other time in its history. However, actual figures are being withheld from public scrutiny.

Keep reading for the entire press statement from TEC Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and from the soon to be recalled Pittsburgh Bishop Duncan:

UPDATE:

Friday, 19 September 2008

The Anglican Province of the Southern Cone has accepted Pittsburgh's deposed Episcopal Bishop Robert Duncan into episcopal ministry. This is a widely anticipated move and represents further evidence that Anglicanism, as a global religious entity, is now amid its greatest historical crisis.

The following statement was released today by Archbishop Gregory Venables, of the Province of the Southern Cone, Archbishop Drexel Gomez, of the Province of the West Indies, and Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, of the Province of Kenya:

"In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen. We the undersigned are grieved at the violation of catholic order in the declaration of deposition of The Right Rev. Robert Duncan by the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church and consider it to be invalid. Legitimate actions of catholic order must rise from Biblical catholic faith. Actions such as this continue to alienate countless Christian people not only within, but beyond the limits of the Communion. We continue to recognize the fidelity and validity of Bishop Duncan's orders, role, and ministry. Without reservation, we continue in full sacramental communion with him as an Anglican bishop. We thank God that by the vote of the Provincial Synod he has been given membership in the House of Bishops of the Southern Cone. Our fellowship and shared ministry with him is not disrupted."

The next steps may be the Episcopal Church moving to take control of diocesan assets. This could end up in court as early as next week, but not be fully resolved for some years to come.

This afternoon, Episcopal Presiding Bishop K. Jefferts Schori will hold a press conference. Stand by for further updates late today.

* * *
UPDATE:

Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008, 6:40 p.m

The Times of London has published online leaked copies of private correspondence, dating from 2000, between then Bishop of Wales Rowan Williams and an evangelical therapist, regarding the perspective of Williams on homosexual relationships and orthodox Christianity.

Granted, the views of Williams, now Archbishop of Canterbury, are pretty well established. But the significance of these letters reveal how Williams came to hold these views, which in part were based on his interaction with gays in the church.

The bottom line for me is that the letters illuminate why Williams has been unable to provide the kind of leadership that would resolve these issues over human sexuality once and for all.

He's attempted to support the traditional teaching of the church, but earlier came to the personal conviction that in some instances homosexuals may have relationships that are wholesome and marriage-like. Rarely, have his views been stated so plainly.

Meanwhile, two additional update for consideration:

1. Soul Force founders marry in California at Episcopal church. Click here.

2. Archbishop Greg Venables, tooth-paste, and Humpty Dumpty. View Anglican TV interview here.

Canterbury at the end of the Lambeth conference has become the land of many statements and restatements. But as predicted, there was no definitive action.

In summary, here are some of the things that did and did not happen:

1. Bishop of New Hampshire Gene Robinson did not gain official entrance to Lambeth. But he was frequently on site at the University of Kent, to the joy of some and the disgust of others.

2. Lambeth's 600 plus bishops (no official count or list has been released) did not approve an Anglican Convenant. Much discussion was held and more meetings on the covenant are expected lasting into 2009.

3. The Anglican Communion did avoid a formal split or schism. Yet even Rowan Williams admits the communion is still at 'gravel peril.'

4. Lambeth-attending conservative bishops and primates did voice much criticism of liberals and revisionist theology. But as yet the rhetoric of conservatives has not resulted in all revisionists clearly agreeing to bans on same-sex unions and gay ordinations.

The word stalemate still seems to fit this situation.

According to the Press Association (UK):

The Archbishop of Canterbury has called on North American churches to abide by agreements not to consecrate gay bishops or carry out blessings on same-sex couples. On the final day of the Lambeth Conference, Dr Rowan Williams put forward the idea of a "Covenanted future" involving a "global church of inter-dependent communities". The once-a-decade meeting of worldwide bishops has been dominated by the issue of gay clergy and same sex unions, which has threatened to tear the Church apart. Disharmony has seen 200 bishops - a quarter of those invited - stage a boycott. Some Anglican churches in North America have carried out blessings for same sex couples, in contravention of agreements not to do so, or moratoria. "If the North American churches don't accept the need for moratoria then to say the least we are no further forward," Dr Williams said. "The idea of a Covenant which includes as many of them as possible becomes more fragile and that means that as a Communion we continue to be in grave peril." He said it was often assumed that the blessing of same sex marriages or the ordination of gay bishops was simply a human rights issue. "That's an assumption I can't accept because I think the issue about what conditions a church lays down for a blessing have to be shaped by its own thinking and its own praying."

Click here for the sermon text for the final Lambeth service at Canterbury Cathdral. This seems more significant for what Rowan Williams doesn't say. He seems to place an unusually high value on the fact of conversation, not the results of conversation, debate, and dialog.

The Indaba process resulted in a lengthy reflections statement. Click here for the final Aug. 3 text.

Reporter Steve Waring (Living Church) indicates that once again many important conversations will be taken up months from now. Something sure to frustrate conservatives, liberals, and rank and file church-goers.

Continue for:

1. Steve Waring's dispatch.
2. Statement from Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori
3. Additional comments from conservative Bishop of Egypt Mouneer Anis.

UPDATE: Friday, Aug. 1, 9:30 a.m. BST

Here's the link to the op-ed published in The Times of London

Here's the sound bite:

"St Francis of Assisi said: "Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary use words." We believe that our absence at this Lambeth Conference is the only way that our voice will be heard. For more than ten years we have been speaking and have not been heard. So maybe our absence will speak louder than our words."

* * *
Thursday, July 31, 2008, 4:30 pm BST

HENRY LUKE OROMBI, Archbishop and primate of Uganda, will have a commentary piece published in The Times of London, which will post online at 9 p.m. BST (British Summer Time).

Times religion correspondent Ruth Gledhill leaked word of this piece on her blog this afternoon. Here's what she wrote:

...in tomorrow's Times, the Archbishop of Uganda, Henry Orombi, will accuse the Arcbishop of Canterbury of a betrayal at the very deepest level. He will argue that even the Pope is elected by his peers, but Dr Williams in his office is little better than a remnant of colonialism. 'The spiritual leadership of a global communion of independent and autonomous Provinces should not be reduced to one man appointed by a secular government,' he says. Nor is the absence of Uganda, Nigeria and other Global South churches a sign that they want to leave the Communion. Far from it. It is a sign of how much they care that it endures. Read it all from when it goes online at 2100 BST and in the paper tomorrow, it is strong stuff!

This op-ed, if it holds up to be as strongly worded as Ruth suggests, opens up an additional set of questions, beyond biblical authority, human sexuality, or border crossings:

Should England retain the Church of England as its established church? Could the Anglican Communion itself play a deciding role in selecting the archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as 'first among equals' in the communion?

Lambeth is about to enter its Final Three days and events here on the grounds of the University of Kent and events off-campus seem to be spinning beyond the control of any one person or committee.

As expected, the Lambeth Reflections document has begun to take shape. And, now in its third draft, it is already huge. 18 pages. And, drafters have yet to address these areas:

* Gender and power
* The Scriptures
* Sexuality and Listening
* The Convenant
* The Windsor Process
* Leading in God's mission
* Conclusion

Just this afternoon, there were three press conferences nearly back to back, including one by Quincy Bishop Keith Ackerman. See below for additional updates:

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

ROWAN WILLIAMS, the Archbishop of Canterbury, addressing about 650 bishops at the Lambeth Conference this evening, issued a strong call for "the traditional believer" and the "not-so-traditional believer" to "speak life to each other."

Continue reading for the full text.

Update, 9 p.m.: According to one bishop who unexpectedly popped into the Lambeth press room after dinner, the delivery of the archbishop's address was announced this morning. It was not listed on the official program. There was no applause, just silence, he said, following the address.

This bishop from India told CT, "I can see how the archbishop is sincerely, emotionally involved. I can appreciate his struggle. The absence of some bishops has caused him pain, and it comes out again and again when he speaks. As head and guardian of the family, he is keen to get the family back together.

"He is making a very sincere attempt to tell the members of the communion that we have to be generous, and as I understood it, sacrifice. To keep the family together, everyone has to take a step forward, which means you need to sacrifice something. I need to identify what I need to sacrifice to keep my family together."

According to another unconfirmed report, TEC bishops are again meeting in a provincial session.

MOUNEER ANIS,Bishop of Egypt and primate of Jerusalem and the Middle East, was scheduled to meet today Monday, July 28, with leading bishops at the Lambeth Conference.

A leading conservative, Anis released an open letter on the web. Here's one important comment:

The Lambeth Conference has been a time of great fellowship and strength; it has also been a time of disunity and conflict. Everything is going fairly well, but I do not believe that there is hope of a solution from this Lambeth conference. However I hope that we would be able to come up with a road map for a final solution of the current crisis.

Back in January, when I was in Cairo, I interviewed Bishop Anis. See below for an edited transcript of his views on outreach to gays, the crisis in Anglicanism, and how the proposed Anglican convenant might help resolve their differences.

Less than 1 week after the official opening of the Lambeth conference in the UK, the conservative Common Cause Partnership has issued a press release, declaring their joint intention to request that leading Anglican primates recognize their 1,300 congregations as the new North American Province.

Granted, this was a widely anticipated move. But this effort puts the fat in the fire on a day when Lambeth attendees are having tea with the Queen at Buckingham Palace following their very public march through official London for adoption of the Millennium Development Goals to fight global poverty and improve the standard of living for the world's 3 billion poor people.

Here's the full press release below.

July 24, 2008

COMMON CAUSE PARTNERSHIP WELCOMES JERUSALEM DECLARATION

The Common Cause Partnership leaders issued a statement today welcoming the Jerusalem Declaration and the statement on the Global Anglican Future and pledging to move forward with the work of Anglican unity in North America.

"We, as the Bishops and elected leaders of the Common Cause Partnership are deeply grateful for the Jerusalem Declaration. It describes a hopeful, global Anglican future, rooted in scripture and the authentic Anglican way of faith and practice. We joyfully welcome the words of the GAFCON statement that it is now time 'for the federation currently known as the Common Cause Partnership to be recognized by the Primates Council.'

"The intention of the Executive Committee is to petition the Primates Council for recognition as the North American Province of GAFCON on the basis of the Common Cause Partnership Articles, Theological Statement, and Covenant Declaration, and to ask that their Moderator be seated in the Primate's Council.

"We accept the call to build the Common Cause Partnership into a truly unified body of Anglicans. We are committed to that call. Over the past months, we have worked together, increasing the number of partners and authorizing committees and task groups for Mission,
Education, Governance, Prayer Book & Liturgy, the Episcopate, and Ecumenical Relations. The Executive Committee is meeting regularly to carry forward the particulars of this call. The CCP Council will meet December 1-3, 2008."

The Common Cause Partnership links together nine Anglican jurisdictions and organizations in North America.

Together, the American Anglican Council, the Anglican Coalition in Canada, the
Anglican Communion Network, the Anglican Mission in the Americas, the Anglican Network in Canada, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, the Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas, Forward in Faith North America and the Reformed Episcopal Church represent
more the 1,300 Anglican parishes in the United States and Canada.

The Common Cause Partnership Executive Committee is: The Rt. Rev'd Robert Duncan, Moderator; The Venerable Charlie Masters, General Secretary; Mrs. Patience Oruh, Treasurer; The Rt. Rev'd Keith Ackerman, Forward in Faith North America; The Rt. Rev'd David Anderson, American
Anglican Council; The Rt. Rev'd Donald Harvey, Anglican Network in Canada; The Rt. Rev'd Paul Hewett, Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas; The Rt. Rev'd Martyn Minns, Convocation of Anglicans in North America; The Rt. Rev'd Chuck Murphy, Anglican Mission in the Americas; The Rt. Rev'd Leonard Riches, Reformed Episcopal Church; The Rt. Rev'd Bill Atwood, Anglican Church of Kenya and The Rt. Rev'd John Guernsey, Church of the Province of Uganda.

Here's my admittedly instant analysis:

1. It suggests that conservative Anglicans are pressing their agenda forward, while the rest of the Anglican Communion is spinning its wheels in fruitless 'indaba' meetings.

2. It illuminates a strategy that GAFCON primates plan to address this issue of the legitimacy of a new North American Province by placing the new Primates Council as the emerging new center of Anglicanism.

Thus, the new global Anglicanism transcends recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury. There will no longer be a single answer to this question: Who is Anglican?

3. My follow up point is that if this new Province gains recognition and credibility, Canterbury-based Anglicanism becomes severely weakened in almost every way. It becomes a photo-op site of pilgrimage, not the hub of a worldwide communion.

4. What's the metaphor? Well, this seems too convenient perhaps, but the Indymac Bank take-over crosses my mind.

Just as federal regulators have taken over the failed Indymac Bank, one of the largest bank failures in American history, conservatives perhaps aspire to running the Anglican Communion by cutting it into two pieces the "good bank" with good assets and the "bad bank" with bad/non-performing assets.

And, you can just guess what happens to the bad bank.

PS The British press is following the money or lack thereof at Lambeth. Some are reporting that the conference is 1 million GBP or more in the red.

The careful choregraphy of Lambeth, set out for the Anglican Communion's 600 plus bishops in attendance, is not going according to the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' original plan. One of the first to step out of line and off script is Daniel Deng Bul, the newly elected archbishop of Sudan.

From Juba, the capital of the south Sudan, Bul and his fellow Christians have known brutal conflict for decades. While the violence is declining in the South, the Darfur region in western Sudan, of course, is where genocide is a daily reality.

Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul

The growth and spread of the Episcopal Church of Sudan is miracle to behold in light of the national bloody conflict. Sudan's bishops decided to attend Lambeth, unlike their conservative colleagues in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, among others.

Yesterday, the Sudanese bishops issued the following joint statement:

This blog post has been moved. For the article, please see "Crackup of Anglican Communion at Hand, Evangelical Bishops Say."

Continue for the press release from GAFCON primates:

Leaders in the worldwide Anglican Communion (numbering up to 70 million) were anxiously awaiting today's vote in York on the ordination of women bishops.

Read the BBC report here

A large number of traditionalists left the 26 million-member Church of England back in 1994 after the church's ruling synod approved the ordination of women to the priesthood. The other shoe has now dropped with the synod's approval of women bishops.

In recent days, there have been persistent reports than hundreds of Anglican/COE clergy were prepared to bolt from their parishes and presumably migrate to Roman Catholicism. That may still happen. It all depends on the level of accommodation that the synod offers.

Of course, these events are a precursor to the once per decade Lambeth Conference, which opens in Canterbury on the campus of the University of Kent next week.

Many Anglican women leaders may press for limited accommodation since they believe this kind of action is discriminatory against their ministry and creates a de facto two-tier system for clergy.

The UK Press Association reports:

The synod members voted to approve work on a national statutory code to accommodate those within the Church who object to women bishops.

The synod rejected compromise proposals for new "super bishops" to cater for objectors - and also their preferred option of creating new dioceses.

The decision to go ahead with work on the code came after more than six hours of debate by the General Synod which saw extraordinary scenes, with one bishop in tears as he spoke of being "ashamed" of the Church of England.

The Rt Rev Stephen Venner, Bishop of Dover, who is in favour of women bishops said: "I have to say, Synod, for the first time in my life, I feel ashamed.

"We have talked for hours about wanting to give an honourable place to those who disagree.

"We have been given opportunities for both views to flourish. We have turned down every, almost every realistic opportunity for those who are opposed to flourish."

Since the format at the Lambeth event will be geared toward conversation, not debate, amendment, and passage of resolutions, it is also murky whether women's ordination will be subject to significant discussion at all. Conservatives are not in unity of women's ordination. But I can't find a single truly conservative woman bishop in the entire Communion. Can you?

Monday, June 30, 11 a.m.

An brief update on the GAFCON statement and declaration:

Many GAFCON pilgrims are headed home and I met two of them at Ben Gurion airport disappointed that their efforts to include an explicit affirmation of the prolife cause was left off the statement and declaration. In reality, relatively few changes were made to the GAFCON declaration as the rank and file members fed comments to the drafting committee. Efforts to get prolife language were unsuccessful. But Anglican prolife leaders will try again.

Watch for an update on this later today.

Sunday, June 29, 11 a.m

I'm writing as GAFCON pilgrims celebrate their closing Holy Communion. About one hour ago, the GAFCON leader, Archbishop Orombi, read aloud the four page GAFCON statement. The primates who were present publicly signed the document, including: Akinola, Kolini, Nzimbi, Orombi, and Venables. There is space for Primates Akrofi, Mokiwa to sign. They were unable to attend the Sunday signing ceremony.

Go to: www.anglicantv.org later today for video on demand.

After the signing, there was a standing ovation and about 25 minutes of spontaneous singing and African traditional dancing. It was a stunning visual feast. Later, Archbishop Venables will deliver the closing address.

Heads up: Those doubtful that GAFCON is birthing a movement should check out the London event this coming week. On July 1, All Souls Langham Place in London will be hosting a one-day event, reportedly to be attended by 750 Anglican clergy. Archbishops Orombi, Venables, and Jensen are the headliners.

All Souls, where John Stott served as rector for year upon year, is ground zero for evangelical Anglicanism. Since this event in London will occur about two weeks before Lambeth, it means (to me at least) that evangelicals will be game-day ready when the once per decade Lambeth event opens in mid-July on the campus of the University of Kent, in Canterbury. (But ready for what, who knows?)

In the mean time back in the USA, The Episcopal Church has taken another body blow by losing another court round over ownership of church property in Viriginia; and TEC convicted the Episcopal bishop of Penn. for covering up his brother's sexual abuse of a teen-age girl back in the 1970s. Conservatives are happy to see this conviction, but the case has been stalled for years.

Continue reading an earlier dispatch about late night missteps in releasing the GACON statement:

A Civil War-era law that lets Virginia churches keep their property when leaving a denomination where a "division" has occurred is constitutional, a county judge ruled Friday, June 27, siding with 11 former Episcopal parishes.

Fairfax County Judge Randy I. Bellows' ruling on the 1867 law stops short of awarding the property to the parishes, but it hands them a major legal win.

"It's a resounding victory and very broad," said Steffen Johnson, lead counsel for several of the congregations. "There are just a few loose ends to tie up."

The ruling could encourage the dozens of Episcopal parishes in similar court battles across the U.S., and shake the confidence of mainline Protestant denominations that fear losing churches and people to breakaway groups.

An October trial is scheduled to decide the remaining legal issues, which concern church deeds and property that predate the 1867 law.

The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia argued that the law infringes on their First Amendment rights to practice religion without government interference.

The diocese signaled that it may appeal the ruling, saying Friday it would "explore fully every option available to restore constitutional and legal protections for all churches in Virginia."

The 1867 law allows churches that are part of a denomination in "division" to keep their property when they decide which side to join.

In a 49-page ruling, Bellows wrote, "While it is true that (the law) requires the court to make factual findings involving religious entities, each of those findings are secular in nature."

Bellows ruled in April that a "division of the first magnitude" has arisen in the worldwide Anglican Communion and its U.S. branch, the Episcopal Church.

Angered over the consecration of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire, the breakaway churches - including several large, historic parishes - have joined the more conservative Anglican Church of Nigeria.

Episcopal leaders hold that local church property is held in trust for the diocese and the denomination. People may leave, they say, but the steeple stays.

The diocese of Virginia called the ruling "regrettable" and said it "reaches beyond the Episcopal Church to all hierarchical churches in the Commonwealth."

Seven Protestant denominations, some of which are experiencing similar controversies, and several regional church bodies, filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting the Episcopal Church's interpretation of the law.

Some 1100 Anglicans from around the world are meeting this week at the Renaissance hotel in West Jerusalem in hopes of steering the Anglican Communion back to the center of Christian Orthodoxy.

But this conference, now entering its fifth day, is in many respects becoming more difficult to understand and thus easier to misinterpret.

If I were writing purely a critique of the mainstream media coverage, my central criticism would be that US and UK media outlets keep driving the political side of the story (Will there or won't there be a schism?). But they are by and large missing the faith side of the story.

It's easy to do. The folks attending the worship events of GAFCON are telling me that these are high water marks in their own spiritual development. Most worship events are well attended and the plenary sessions are standing room only.

I am told the worship service on Wednesday evening at Ophel Gardens, along the southern steps of the Temple, was a stunning display of contemporary Christian worship in an ancient context. Most media skipped that event (myself included) due to scheduling conflicts.

But the media are not the only ones who are misunderstanding GAFCON. Among conservatives, no surprise, I am coming across three different kinds of Anglicans here who often don't understand each other very well. Let me describe them this way:

* The separationists. These individuals wish to create a new Anglican Communion that is global, not centered in Canterbury.

* The reformers. These folks are not yet ready to give up on the existing Anglican Communion and have a movement strategy for redeeming and restoring the Communion.

* The new paradigm. This is the trickiest one to understand. Under a new paradigm, Anglicanism becomes a global network, locally distinctive, church or community-based, and centered on the biblical mission of evangelism and discipleship.

One new reality of GAFCON is that the discussions here across the Anglican food chain from the Primates to the small groups of lay and parish clergy have moved beyond "The American Problem," which is The Episcopal Church, its bitterly hostile actions against conservatives, and the advent of homosexual clergy and same-sex unions. Bishop Bob Duncan, the American conservative leader from Pittsburgh, isn't even here.

Last night, scholar Lamin Sanneh, Palestinian Christian Salim Munayer, and Messianic pastor Evan Thomas pointed GAFCON Anglicans toward a future that was global, reconciling, and biblical. Years from now, we might find that the only English element left in 21st century Anglicanism is the English language itself.

In my mind, the questions of the hour before the committee drafting a GAFCON statement are these:

What will the drafting committee emphasize? Will they lay the groundwork for a new communion? Will they map out a process of Anglican Communion reform? Or, will they envision a new kind of Anglicanism that is post-colonial, not nationalistic, but conciliar, global, and networked?

Tomorrow, GAFCON small groups are due to evaluate the statement in draft form.

I'm in transit to Israel to cover the Global Anglican Futures event in Jerusalem this week. But there has been great anticipation of Sunday's opening address of Primate Archbishop of All Nigeria Peter Akinola. Akinola is, according to imprecise media reports, the force behind talk of schism in the global Anglican Communion.

But any plain reading of his remarks, which the GAFCON press office released today, indicate that he and other consevatives have a reformist, not a separatist, agenda.

Here are some highlights from Archbishop Akinola's remarks:

People of the living God, welcome to Jerusalem. Welcome to GAFCON. One of the marks of apostolic ministry is signs, wonders and miracles. There are many in today’s Church, who would lay claim to apostolic authority without holding on to apostolic faith nor do they manifest any of the marks of the apostles. In GAFCON, I have seen signs and wonders. That we are able to gather here this week is a miracle for which we must give thanks to God.

Why are we here? What have we come to do?

The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) holding here in the holy land this week has understandably elicited both commendation and contempt in varying measures from all who claim a stake in shaping the future identity or in destroying the traditional identity of the global Anglican Communion.

Those who failed to admit that by the unilateral actions they took in defiance of the Communion have literally torn the very fabric of our common life at it deepest level since 2003, are grumbling that we are here to break the Communion.

Similarly, those who fail, for whatever reason to come to terms with the painful reality that the Communion is in a state of brokenness and lacked the ability to secure a genuine reconciliation, but simply carried on the work of the Communion in a manner that is business as usual are not happy with us.

And of course there are those who argue that while there may be some justification for GAFCON; why not call it after Lambeth 2008.

But thanks be to God that there are millions of people around the world including members of other denominations and those of other faiths who not only share our concerns but have chosen to partner with us and are praying for us.

For those of us gathered here in the Name of the Lord, and on behalf of the over 35 million faithful Anglicans we represent GAFCON is a continuation of that quiet but consistent initiative, a godly instrument appointed to reshape, reform, renew and reclaim a true Anglican Biblical orthodox Christianity that is firmly anchored in historic faith and ancient formularies.

Be that as it may, we must note that we cannot understand our present circumstance without locating it within the context of the controversies of the past decade. Every responsible historian knows that his task is predicated on the treasury of past events – rightly interpreted, as the compass for the present and guide for the future. For this reason, GAFCON takes its bearings from the tides of varied opinions and equivocations that have characterised our Communion in the last few years and exposed our once robust reputation as children of the Reformation to scorn. We were well-known for our stand on Scripture as the foundation stone of our tradition and reason.

The underlying objective of GAFCON necessarily compels a deep and honest reflection on the theological and ecclesiological inconsistencies of the past decade at the highest and most sacred levels of our Communion. While not contesting the right to personal opinions and attitudes to this new situation, we must disabuse our minds of the unworthy views about GAFCON being a monster on the horizon, or even a strange breed of Anglicanism devoid of antecedent factors.

Whichever way you look at it, the Communion is deeply in trouble. This is not only because of the actions of TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada but also because the hitherto honoured Instruments of Communion, in recent years have, by design become instruments of disunity, putting the Communion in an unprecedented brokenness and turmoil.

My back of the envelope analysis is that both the conservatives and the revisionists are placing the blame on each other for the sorry state of the Anglican Communion. At the moment, the bottom line is the schism just isn't on the agenda for the left or right. There is, however, a struggle for the soul of Anglicanism in this post-colonial, pro-nationalist era.

Prominent theologian and Christianity Today senior editor J. I. Packer has made no secret of his break with the Anglican Church of Canada's Diocese of New Westminster. More than five years ago, he wrote a Christianity Today article explaining why he left the diocese.

The story has developed a bit since then. Earlier this month, his Vancouver church, the largest Anglican congregation in Canada, voted to leave the Anglican Church of Canada to join the Province of the Southern Cone, which is based in Argentina.

Now New Westminster Bishop Michael Ingham has sent Packer and seven other clergy members a "notice of presumption of abandonment of the exercise of ministry." He says he wants them to declare "whether they have left the ministry of the Anglican Church of Canada, and if they are seeking admission into another religious body outside Canada."

Seems like Packer and the others have been awfully clear on that point.

The news that Ingham may suspend Packer is getting a lot of buzz in the Anglican blog world. As always on these Anglican news bits, see TitusOneNine and Stand Firm, though the lead on this story came from the Canadian site LambethConference.net.

Frankly, this story isn't terribly newsworthy in the traditional sense. It's predictable, and any suspension would be irrelevant. Packer will continue his ministry just as he has been doing since he left the diocese.

But as Nicholas Knisely notes on the left-leaning Episcopal Cafe (the official blog of the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Washington, D.C.), Packer's name will give the story attention it might otherwise not have received.

[While] Packer's teaching and writing is not commonly encountered the Episcopal Church, it is widely known and respected by Evangelicals in the Anglican Communion. The possible suspension of Packer may create a bit of a problem for both the Archbishop of Canada and the Archbishop of Canterbury given the reaction that could be expected from many parts of the Communion.

It also has potential to make non-Anglican evangelicals worldwide more interested in the Anglican crisis. If you're one of those who has been skipping the coverage until now, start with Packer's story. More CT coverage is available here.

Events in the global Anglican Communion are going from bad to worse. On Feb. 12, an official governing body of the Anglican Province of Uganda announced that they will not be attending the once-per-decade Lambeth gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world. (Nigeria and Rwanda have also indicated they will not attend. Kenya will decide in April.)

Ugandan Anglicans place the blame at the feet of revisionist and "unrepentant" American Episcopal Bishops and a compromised, ineffective Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, saying:

This decision has been made to protest the invitations extended by the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Rowan Williams, to TEC Bishops whose stand and unrepentant actions created the current crisis of identity and authority in the Anglican Communion.

Look here for the full statement released late on Wednesday, Feb. 13.

Meanwhile, in the western suburbs of Chicago, I attended a Wednesday lunch meeting with a senior American Anglican leader who said in essence that the time may soon come for orthodox Anglicans to create some kind of new global structure because of repeated failures of ABC Williams to hold "revisionists" accountable for proceeding with gay ordinations and same-sex rites and for advocating a host of other non-orthodox revisionist teachings.

This leader who spoke at an invitation-only event anticipates creation of a new Anglican Province in North America that orthdox Anglican leaders would recognize. These leaders would then create some kind of new global entity.

Recent hopes that the Anglican Covenant would provide a means to hold revisionists accountable, he said, have been diminished severely because the redraft of the covenant, released in the last 10 days. "Everyone can sign it," he said. Which is a problem since conservatives viewed the drafting of an Anglican Covenant as an acceptable means to create a coherent orthodox majority within the global Anglican Communion anchored around orthodox/reformed theology.

Of course, there has been much speculation for months, if not years, about creation of a new global Anglican body. Now there is more than speculation among conservative Anglicans. They are beginning to strategize what it would look like to have global Anglicanism apart from Canterbury. It seems like those conservatives who have pursued the "inside strategy" of working within TEC and exisiting Anglican procedures (such as the Windsor process) are now reconsidering their strategy.

Finally, the statement from Uganda indicates that conservative Anglicans increasingly see the June event GAFCON, currently slated for Jerusalem, as the focal point for conservative action prior to the Lambeth gathering, starting in mid-July.

Religion coverage in The Atlantic is typically well done. The magazine's coverage of the neutering of religion from The Golden Compass was interesting for the way it treated both Hollywood and the anti-religious themes of the book on which the movie was based. Though the magazine retains the secular, above the fray, attitude toward faith of its New England founding, it also put Philip Jenkin's article on the New Christendom on the cover in October, 2002, when his book describing the phenomenal growth of non-Western Christianity debuted.

So, the magazine's March cover story (not yet online) on the literal battle between Christianity and Islam in Nigeria is equally well done, despite some mistakes.

This morning, Dec. 26, conservative Anglicans announced they will gather in Jerusalem (see press statement below) about 6 weeks before the historic Lambeth conference in the UK. Lambeth will start in mid-July and end in early August 2008.

Many conservative bishops will boycott Lambeth due to the fallout over The Episcopal Church's actions supportive of GLBT clergy and couples, TEC's rejection of global accountability, and its re-interpretation of core scriptural teachings.

TEC's ambiguous response to the Windsor Report and its refusals to follow the guidance of Anglican primates meeting in Tanzania in early 2007 to end gay ordinations, same-sex blessings, and property litigation against conservative parishes have undermined Anglican unity worldwide.

The 2003 consecration of a homosexual Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire has been the flashpoint.

In recent weeks, there has been speculation about whether Anglican conservatives will put together a rival Lambeth-like event. Many conservative Anglican bishops expect to opt out of the once-per-decade-event in Canterbury, but had hopes of gathering for a global consultation.

Conservative firebrand David Virtue of Virtue Online observed back in June 07:

The concept of a parallel Lambeth Conference was first raised by the Most Rev. Peter Akinola, Archbishop and Primate of Nigeria, as well as head of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA)....

In mid-December, Virtue noted:

Now the idea has again emerged with a news report out of London, by Jonathan Petre of the Telegraph, that Conservative Anglican leaders are secretly planning a meeting next summer for the hundreds of bishops expected to defy the Archbishop of Canterbury by boycotting the Lambeth Conference.

The unprecedented event will be widely seen as an "alternative Lambeth", further damaging Dr. Rowan Williams's hopes of averting a formal schism over homosexuals, wrote Petre.

Aides of the Archbishop said that any such gathering, which is due to be held just before the official conference, would be perceived as a symbol of division and would send out a "negative" message. Indeed, it would.

These events in June, July, and August pose a three-fold test as I see it:

1. It will test the strength and coherence of an emerging conservative majority within global Anglicanism.

2. It will test the resolve of the Anglican left-wing's agenda to steer the global church toward affirmation of homosexuality as normative human sexual expression.

3. It will test the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury in its ability to provide a viable way forward for a deeply divided church.