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Americans and Canadians find few converts to their theology Number: 5774 Date: June 24, 2005 (...)"The US side, however, offered no new arguments. Nor was the claim to a prophetic mantle and for American exceptionalism received well.
While less polished than the US presentation, the Canadian Church's delegates offered a more balanced and substantive discussion of the issues and responded directly to the questions asked by the Primates.
Canada's shortest presentation, the summary by Archbishop Hutchison, was its most effective. He spoke of the "profound Canadian commitment to the Communion and its partnerships around the globe". In striking contrast to the defiance sounded by the American side, Archbishop Hutchison seemed chastened.
He had "made his best efforts to comply with the requests of the Primates … Everything that is in that communiqué, Dromantine, everything has been complied with"(...)"
1b) http://www3.telus.net/st_simons/ Dear friends in Christ,
It seems to me that the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and ECUSA delegations to Nottingham may have been playing the good cop/bad cop game. ECUSA was looking belligerent while Canada pretended to be harmless and 'compliant', even 'chastened'. But in fact, in a truly Canadian way, they are being just as belligerent, as expressed by their refusal to deal with the New West situation, their hiding behind 7+ years of endless 'conversation' while entrenching moral disobedience, their sending of Dean Peter Elliott to represent them while he is a self-declared practicing homosexual, Peter Elliott's use of 'evangelical conversion' language presumably to attempt to impress the Global South, Archbishop Hutchinson's ever-changing behaviour around this issue depending on which crowd he is appealing to, their claiming a 'moratorium' which still leaves eight New West parishes doing same-sex blessings, and most importantly their ignoring in their Nottingham report of their own endorsing at 2004 General Synod of the 'sanctity and integrity' of homosexual partnerships.
In Christ, Ed Hird+
2a) -the controversial interview that everyone is debating http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2660 CENTRAL AFRICA PRIMATE: "CAPA BISHOPS WILL DECIDE ANGLICAN FUTURE. TALK IS OVER" World Exclusive By David W. Virtue Posted by David Virtue on 2005/6/24 13:10:00
An Interview with Archbishop Bernard Malango, Primate of Central Africa.
NOTTINGHAM (6/24/2005)--The Archbishop of Central Africa says that an exit strategy from the Anglican Communion has been drawn up and schism will occur before the next Lambeth Conference, with a new world headquarters for Anglicanism in Alexandria, Egypt, because the North American churches will not repent of their actions condoning "immoral sexual behavior".
In a wide-ranging interview with VirtueOnline, the Most Rev. Bernard Malango said the CAPA and Global South bishops have had enough of talking about homosexuality and when they meet in Alexandria in October they will bring finality to the situation. The Primate told VirtueOnline; "This is not just the voice of the Archbishop of Central Africa, I speak knowing what the Primates of the Global South think and they are of the same opinion."
VIRTUEONLINE: What do you see as the central issues coming out this Anglican Consultative Council conference?
MALANGO: The sexual issues have come out vividly this time, unlike the past where we talked and talked and nothing came of it.
VIRTUEONLINE: What happened at the joint Standing Committee?
MALANGO: When the joint Standing Committee met last week in Nottingham we passed a resolution calling for "listening" in line with the Lambeth resolution 1.10. This was carried out. I presented it and proposed it myself. But then I also said this should not one be one way; there must be two-way listening; the North American churches need to listen to our concerns, but they are not.
We invited the Canadians and the ECUSA, and we have listened to them, and most of their arguments are not scripturally based and they are selectively using bible quotations to buck up their arguments by choosing those passages that support their argument, they conveniently forget significant Old Testament passages that specifically prohibit "man lying with man" and they are avoiding them because it would go against their own conscience and agenda.
VIRTUEONLINE: What should the Episcopal Church and the Canadian Anglican Church do in your opinion?
MALANGO: When the ECUSA meets at their General Convention in 2006 and the Canadians meet in 2007 they should invite Primates and bishops from the Global South to come and share their stories. They should listen to us. That would be a true diversity. Or will they just talk to themselves, because talking to themselves will not solve the problem at all. They will be supporting only themselves. If they listen to what we have to say they will get a better sense of what they should do.
At CAPA we have struggled with this for a long time, now we want to be listened too; and the only way to be listened to is for us to be invited. It should be CAPA people sitting down with CAPA people to find representatives to send to both General Conventions and not simply to be invited as individuals by leaders of these Western provinces.
The CAPA and the Global South bishops should be allowed to choose their own delegates, and not just ECUSA inviting whom they want. True representation is CAPA choosing our own people to represent our own case, and it is they who should be listened too, if they even care about listening to us.
On our part we have listened a lot and for too long, and some resolution needs to be made. This can't go on forever, and we fed up with this process. We need a full and final resolution.
VIRTUEONLINE: What is the best case resolution scenario?
MALANGO: To sort out this sex issue once and for all. What we need is a resolution committee that asks; Are we going to compromise where there is sin? The truth is sin cannot be compromised, we want to be who we are and called to be. Furthermore we don't want to be manipulated.
VIRTUEONLINE: Would you clarify what you mean by being manipulated?
MALANGO: Money is being used to manipulate African bishops. What is happening is that the Americans are buying people and offering them a lot of money to be on their side. That is not the answer. ECUSA is trying to buy poor African bishops and sell them their ideas. The North Americans don't know what being poor is like.
VIRTUEONLINE: What is the worst case scenario?
MALANGO: If there is no resolution and solution of this situation, the Global South will go it alone and we will form a church - a true Anglican Church - and those in the West who believe in the authority of the Scriptures only would be admitted.
VIRTUEONLINE: What sort of cover would you provide orthodox priests and bishops in North America?
MALANGO: We would invite all those bishops, priests and orthodox laity to join us and be a part of this new Anglican Communion. We cannot be talking and talking and talking. Many Primates from the Global South have gone to Canada and the US and have helped those people who have been deposed from their dioceses and synods. This would be the best protection we could give them.
VIRTUEONLINE: Is this pan Anglican province inclusive?
MALANGO: It is inclusive of all orthodox groups who are happy to have one voice on faith and morals. Anybody who shares that vision is very welcome to join us. Divided we are lost, united we win. We are heading for the edge of the cliff and we must make a way for all faithful Anglicans to join together as one.
VIRTUEONLINE: Can you offer some sort of time frame?
MALANGO: We shall meet as CAPA Primates in October and one of the questions will be where a new Anglican Communion will be set up. We shall approach that question very carefully. The choice right now is Alexandria. We did not want it to be in Israel....too political, nor any other Middle East nation, nor Africa, for obvious reasons, nor Europe or Southeast Asia. We think Alexandria, Egypt is best as we can trace our historical roots from there. We can then start from an historical basis. The third trumpet is going to produce the right thing for us.
VIRTUEONLINE: What will be the make up of this meeting?
MALANGO: Each province has been asked to send six people: A primate, senior bishop, senior priest a layman or laywoman and a youth representative - it will be solely CAPA and Global South people only.
VIRTUEONLINE: Is there a timetable for the break up of the Anglican Communion?
MALANGO: It will all be resolved before the next Lambeth Conference. It will all be done within the next three years because we are fed up with talking. We have traveled and talked and a lot of resources have gone into this, resources that should have been spent doing more productive and helpful things like feeding the poor. It is hopeless to go on talking and not bringing about resolution.
VIRTUEONLINE: What final word do you have for the Anglican Communion?
MALANGO: When two elephants fight the grass suffers, and the grass of the Anglican Communion has been stamped on so repeatedly that it no longer looks green and feeds no one. Many of our provinces are no longer feeding people the spiritual food of life and that is a tragedy.
END
2b) http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2661 Posted by David Virtue on 2005/6/24 14:50:00
GLOBAL SOUTH LEADERS RIP NORTH AMERICANS OVER HOMOSEXUALITY By David W. Virtue
NOTTINGHAM (6/24/2005)--Leaders of four Anglican Communion provinces ripped the Episcopal and Canadian churches today and said in no uncertain terms that the actions by two North American provinces "embracing unholy sexual practices" was hurting evangelism, promoted ostracism and was a salvation issue(...)
3a) http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/news/story.html?id=272dd146-e418-4f1f-9920-17142d39041e Vancouver Province, Stories by Matthew Ramsey, Staff Reporter Wednesday June 22nd 2005, p. A10 Accused youth pastor languishing in notorious Mexican jail awaiting trial Nearly a year after he was arrested for the alleged sexual abuse of a child, Tsawwassen youth pastor Brad Firth remains incarcerated in a notorious Mexican jail awaiting his day in court.
St. David's Anglican Church Rev. Paul Woehrle said the 38-year-old has been beaten by guards, threatened by inmates at the overcrowded La Mesa state penitentiary in Tijuana, and suffers from numerous illnesses related to malnutrition from sub-standard jail food.
The unmarried father of an adopted Haitian boy is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year old boy at a Bible camp in Ensanada four years ago. He was arrested in the Baja Peninsula city on July 15th, 2004.
As Firth enters his 12th month crammed into a filthy six-bunk cell with 15 other inmates, his family and supporters are also waiting for something to happen in BC.
Delta police continue their investigation into what they described in November 2004 as 'questionable materials' found in Firth's church office. Police have never stated Firth's name as the target of their probe but did announce they were examining a potential link between his arrest in Mexico and the seizure of photographic and electronic materials, possibly related to child pornography.
"The fact he has not been charged here raises questions about the strength of the case," said Woehrle, who has visited Firth twice in jail.
Foreign Affairs is aware of Firth's case, said Woehrle. Canadian diplomats has assisted Firth and his family to co-ordinate visits and have helped him access outside medical clinics, but they are not actively pushing for his release, Woehrle said.
It would take political will to raise Firth's profile in Ottawa, and that has not materialized so far, the Reverend said. "Canadian politicians are not lining up to support Brad's cause," Woehrle said.
Co-ordinating Firth's defence has been problematic.
Firth's court appearances have been cancelled because the Mexican court system did not supply an interpreter, Woehrle said.
At another hearing, two men know to the accuser who agree to testify on the youth pastor's behalf arrived late and were turned away. A rainstorm prevented them from attending a subsequent court date, even though Firth's family arranged a taxi for the two men.
The murder of a judge's son has also delayed proceedings.
Meanwhile Firth's family has found him a lawyer in Tijuana, Woehrle said. His next court date is next month.
Despite the challenges he faces in jail, Woehrle said Firth is working with a California chaplaincy active behind prison walls. He teaches fellow inmates and leads worship with a guitar. "That's who he is", Woehrle said.
Note from Ed+: Through Brad Firth's work inside this hellhole of a prison, over 20 prisoners have been recently baptized. Many of us, who have known Brad Firth for many years, are not convinced that Brad is guilty. We believe that Brad is receiving unfair treatment in Mexico, and at the very least should be immediately transferred to a prison in Canada. The Canadian Federal Government has virtually abandoned one of their own Canadian citizens. Brad has been the victim of 'graffiti journalism' which has tried and convicted him on the front page of local media. The Canadian government needs to do more in this situation.
3b) http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/news/story.html?id=272dd146-e418-4f1f-9920-17142d39041e Mexico Prisons 'cruel, inhuman', Amnesty reports Vancouver Province, Wednesday June 22nd 2005, p. A10 An Amnesty international report in 2002 described conditions in Mexico's federal, state and municipal prisons as 'cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment'.
The U.S. Department of State in the same year called La Mesa 'the worst detention facility in the country' and singled it out as the most overpopulated prisons in Mexico.
Three years ago, the report noted, La Mesa housed 6,400 inmates. It was designed to hold 1,800. Cells had been converted into apartments and sold for $300 US a month when 4,500 prisoners had no cell or bed.
The State Department said corruption in rife in Mexico jails, with many facilities staffed by underpaid and undertrained guards.
"Influence peddling, drug and arms trafficking, coercion, violence, sexual abuse and protection payoffs are the chief methods of control used by prisoners against their fellow inmates. Prisons vary widely in their ability to meet basic needs of life, keep prisoners safe and healthy," the reports states.
3c) http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=bc_home&articleID=1963891 Friday, Jun 24, 2005 B.C. youth pastor facing child porn charges
VANCOUVER (CBC) - A Tsawwassen youth pastor already in jail in Mexico on child abuse charges, now faces two charges of possession of child pornography here in B.C.
Delta Police say they found the pornography in a search of Brad Firth's office last November.
The 38-year-old Firth was arrested in Mexico last summer on allegations he had abused a 14-year-old boy at a Bible camp in Esenada in 2001.
A Canada-wide warrant has now been issued for his arrest, and police have notified border agencies to ensure that Firth doesn't get back into the country undetected.
Delta police Const. Kim Petruka says, at this point, investigators don't know when Firth might be released by Mexican authorities.
'It's difficult to obtain information out of Mexico at times. We have no formal agreement between ourselves and Mexican authorities," she says.
"What we can tell you is that we have notified appropriate agencies across the country, in an effort to take Mr. Firth into custody and bring him before the court."
Firth had been the youth pastor at St. David's Anglican Church in Tsawwassen for 13 years.
Note from Ed+: This CBC and CKNW article, with a warrant issued, came 'coincidentally' one day after the Province article.
4) http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/050623conservative Conservative nominee counters 'grafitti journalism' National Headlines - June 23, 2005 By Meghan Wood, Canadian Christianity Magazine/BC Christian News CONSERVATIVE PARTY of Canada (CPC) nominee Cindy Silver has a history of commitment to her community of North Vancouver, and vows to represent it accurately and with integrity during the next federal election(...)
5a) http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=1571 World: Global Anglican schism widens Anglican Communion moves closer toward schism after key body endorses request by senior bishops Thursday, June 23, 2005 by Albion Land The Anglican Communion moved another step toward formal schism on Wednesday when one of its key bodies endorsed a request by senior bishops for the Episcopal Church in the United States (ECUSA) and Canada's Anglican Church to temporarily withdraw from its councils over a refusal to change their liberal policies on homosexuality(...)
In effect, the North American churches have been given until 2008 to revisit their actions and to reverse them. If not, they face the risk of being definitively expelled from the Communion, or worse, for the Communion to break apart.
(Albion Land is journalist living in Cyprus with his wife and two children. A lay minister in the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East, he is also a Benedictine oblate.) 5b) http://www.livingchurch.org/publishertlc/viewarticle.asp?ID=1098 Council Somber After Vote to Exclude North Americans 06/23/2005 The razor thin vote on June 22 to exclude the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada from the Anglican Consultative Council has cast a pall over ACC-13 in Nottingham(...)
Having telegraphed his desires for the conference and the Communion in his Presidential Address, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams intervened three times in the debate: first making a technical correction, and then offering a "substantive" recommendation to the discussion and giving a "spirited response" to a strong comment made by a delegate.
After the vote, the mover of the resolution, Stanley Isaac, a prosecutor from Malaysia, told TLC the resolution had two principle purposes. "We wanted to reiterate what was decided in Dromantine", he said, and to affirm that the Primates' call was given "proper meaning and effect."(...) Speaking for many delegates from the Global South, Stanley Isaac of Southeast Asia said he was not moved by the U.S. presentation. He had expected the Episcopal Church "to expound to us the justification from Scripture to what they have been doing and what they want to do. Unfortunately I did not find anything in what was said that justified the things they were doing on the basis of Scripture.
"They gave us a story of how God loves them as much as God loves everyone else, and how much they love Jesus, and it is not something they brought on themselves, so on and so forth," he said. The Anglican Communion can "only accede" to this argument "if we are wanting to compromise" on Scripture(...)
Repentance and amendment of life are essential for reconciliation, Mr. Isaac observed. "This vote provides an opportunity for healing and reconciliation so that we can be unified and made whole in Christ"(...)
(The Rev.) George Conger is in Nottingham, England reporting for The Living Church from the triennial meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council
5c) http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/news05062401.asp ACC - Statement by Province of Kenya 24th June 2005 1. Preamble and Context
1.1. We are traditionally proud of our belonging to the Anglican Communion. It gives us the sense of being local and global, vulnerable and formidable. As one piece of my episcopal robes I wear the Canterbury cap to make the point.
1.2 We have been disappointed and felt betrayed. After the passing of the Lambeth 1998 resolution 1.10 the Anglican Church of Kenya breathed a sigh of relief that the unity in the Anglican Communion was strong enough to carry out even the homework directed by the spirit of the resolution
a) The homework of holding to our official teaching that homosexual practice was incompatible with scripture and we cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions.
and
b) Listening to the experiences of homosexual persons and ministering pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation.
Before we settled to our homework the tables were shaken by the hurricane of official statements and actions of ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada which went in the opposite direction to the spirit of the said resolution.
The mass media made sure the news reached the grass roots level of people in Kenya, making a mockery of our witness on the ground.
I remember an occasion during my pastoral visit to the Coast General Hospital in Mombasa. As I walked about in my Anglican Clerical shirt and collar, people turned around whispering mockery "See the Anglican Church while pointing to the Newspapers".
1.3 We have been listening but we have not been listened to. We have listened and continue to listen.
The Anglican Church of Kenya has been trying to listen. In fact there was a sense in which we felt that we had no choice but to listen to ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada brothers and sisters(...)
Did we hear them right? We hope we did. However we feel we have not received any substantial share of their listening to us. This is made clear by the following
We subscribed together to the Lambeth 1998 resolution 1.10 with the overwhelming majority . Very soon after that the mass media was full of leadership utterances and official decisions with no evidence or sense of belonging to a wider body to which we should feel at least some sense of accountability in the spirit of being sensitive to global family relationships.
We have repeatedly requested for biblical explanations of their actions so that it can help us see how we can relate it to our tradition. Instead of helping us in this we are crowded with political, sociological and historical reasons. This way was repeated again by their powerful presentation in the present ACC 13 which continued to underline the same political, sociological, and historical basis. This is a great help for our pastoral care. However the biblical foundations were scarcely given room. One of their own from Canada admitted that "even St Paul would not conceive the church blessing a homosexual union".
We have repeatedly conveyed the message that official actions which contradict the cherished authority of the Holy Scripture which is now translated and read widely by our grassroot believers and non believers will hurt our witness, our evangelism and our mission at its core.
We have tried to say that the debate at hand touches on our Christian witness, morals, our understanding of the institution of marriage, God's creation of man and woman, the fall of man and the message of transformation.
Our plea has been that this is a more serious mattter. At least halt for all of us to have time to do some homework. This has not been given due attention. On the contrary official actions have gone ahead and been rationalised by some of them as prophetic actions.
So we feel not listened to rightly or wrongly perhaps.
In the light of all the aforesaid the Anglican Church of Kenya in its journey in this matter is at the following position:
2. The position of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) on Human Sexuality
1. The Anglican Church of Kenya continues to stand by the Lambeth 1998 resolution 1.10, as the present teaching of the Anglican Communion.
2. The Anglican Church of Kenya endorses and affirms the decisions and actions taken by the primates at their recent meeting in Dromantine concerning ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada.
3. It is also the strong feeling of the Anglican Church of Kenya that the Anglican Communion provinces that have taken or will take official actions contrary to the Lambeth 1998 Resolution 1.10, have or will have in fact by their actions chosen a different path from that of the Anglican Communion and hence should be considered by the rest of the Anglican Communion as having broken their fellowship with the rest of the Anglican Communion until such a time that they will reconsider their official stand in the spirit of repentance, reconciliation and willingness to reaffirm their commitment to the Common Mission and Practice of the Anglican Communion.
Signed by the Anglican Church of Kenya representatives in Nottingham
Rt Rev Dr Samson M Mwaluda Episcopal Representative Amos Kiriro Lay representative June 2005
5d) http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/news05062403.asp ACC - Southern Cone 24th June 2005
Presentation made by Rev Andres Lenton, ACC representative from the Province of the Southern Cone.
Rev Lenton read a statement prepared for the ACC by Bishop William Godfrey, Bishop of Peru and former Bishop of Uruguay.
On a popular level ecumenical relations in Peru are the worst I have ever known(...)So when it comes to ordaining a bishop who is a practising homosexual and who has left his wife and children, it confirms all the worst fears and justifies prejudice.... and things have to be called by their real name.
Fertile ground for damaging a rival denomination. The leading daily newspaper in Peru is El Comercio. In their story on Canon Gene Robinson's ordination we were treated to a full page with grand headlines, colour photos, salacious detail and innuendo which leave a reader in no doubt about the true nature of the Anglican Church. It confirmed the reader's worst fears about a church started by an immoral king. It was a truly devastating moment to see one's Church paraded with few morals, no discipline, divided and in disarray. There was no sense of the ordination being a unilateral decision on ECUSA's part, or that it went against the teaching of the Communion and the vast majority of its bishops. Balanced statements from New York or London about the Anglican way of doing things simply went unheard.
It was a grim day to see one's Communion pulled down in such a way. For the first time in my ministry of over thirty two years (seventeen as a bishop) I could find no words to defend or cheer us. Despite the clear teaching of Scripture, despite almost 2,000 years of teaching, despite the overwhelming mind of the bishops at Lambeth in 1998, despite the Primates' appeal only weeks before, apparently we were part of a Church in which any group could decide what they liked, a Church in disorder and disarray(...)
For a missionary diocese like ours it has been a body blow. I have seen heads go down. That is what happens when your Church is dragged through the mud publicly. It is at times like that one we needs to be able to say to one's brothers and sisters, "Stop. Look what this is doing to us." But then in the third world one gets used to one's voice going unheard. What does it matter to ECUSA if the insignificant Anglican Church in Peru is discouraged or wounded because of their 'prophetic' decisions?
The Church is part of the Gospel we proclaim. If that community of faith is publicly discredited, belonging to it becomes much more questionable. A good number of our members, families and individuals, have left because of Gene Robinson's ordination (and there has been a similar story in five other republics of our Province). They found Christ in the Anglican Church, but could not come to terms with the stories that were circulating or the pressure and comments from other denominations. In the end they felt they had to go. Too much clergy time has been given to damage control instead of mission and teaching, persuading people that it was worth staying in the Anglican fold. In some cases parents have been suspicious of sending their children to our schools because of a supposed lack of sexual morality. Clergy have suffered comments and criticism. Our credibility has been severely questioned and our capacity to respond in mission has been gravely impaired(...)
5e) http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/news05062402.asp ACC - Statement by Tanzania 24th June 2005
A Statement from the Province of Tanzania. (...)I must acknowledge my personal disappointment at the presentation given by ECUSA and the Anglican Church of Canada. While there was an eloquent description of the view that we must embrace what we have always considered to be unholy sexual practices as gifts from God there was little or no recognition that a significant part of the Episcopal Church rejects this understanding and stands firmly with the rest of the Communion in our historic faith and teaching. Where was their voice? Why did we not hear their story? I also noted that the only mention of those who have experienced transformation in their sexual lives was offered in a dismissive manner. For me this is the heart of the issue - do we believe that God's love can transform every aspect of our being or do we put sexual issues outside of God's reach? This is not simply a pastoral concern it is a salvation issue.
In the Diocese of Western Tanganyika and throughout the Province of Tanzania we have seen many men and women undergo profound transformation in every aspect of their lives. It is at the heart of the message that we preach and it is why we continue to experience God's blessing upon our life(
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