Some Sun-on-the-Beach

Attention: Posting will be nil or little for the next two weeks as I will have no regular access to the internet --only at Starbucks or the public library.

Thanks to friends, Gale and I will on vacation at their beach house in Indian Rocks Beach Florida taking some much needed vacation. We took only a few days here and there over the summer so this is our "summer vacation". We fly out on Southwest (my new favorite airline) and arrive in Tampa at 10 AM. -- we will be gazing at the Gulf of Mexico from the screened in porch before noon!

I will drive Gale to the Tampa airport at noon on October 6 to fly to New York where she will meet our daughter Hannah. She and Hannah will fly overnight to Paris. They will vacation in Paris until October 10 and then fly to Florence and stay until October 15. Hannah will be working in Florence and Gale will be sightseeing. Hannah is a senior fashion designer for Ralph Lauren and she conducts business in Florence for Ralph this time every year. With Ralph everything is five-star, so they will be pampered. This trip is Hannah's birthday gift to Gale. Both Gale and I had a milestone birthdays this year -- and it wasn't our 50th!

Son Greg and fellow school teacher and friend Amanda will be landing in Tampa on Thursday October 6 mid-afternoon and staying with me at the beach house until Sunday early evening for an extended weekend getaway. And from Sunday night through Thursday October 13 it will be just me and the surf, the sun, the suds and the sand.

Also on the home front, last week we signed a contract to sell our house in Kittanning -- finally after almost two years of it being on the market. The home inspection was last night so we are praying that no major defects were found. The inspectors are paid to be nit-picky so we expect some stuff but we hope nothing hugely expensive that could be a deal breaker. When the closing comes on November 4th it will close that chapter of our life as we moved on in ministry in June 2008 to the greener pastures of St. David's in Peters Township. Amen

St James' Episcopal Church, Prospect Park PA (near Philly)

From the "Delaware County Daily Times": Bill Hesse, the recently departed rector, was our seminarian in 2004 in Kittanning and is in the same DMin cohort with me at Trinity School for Ministry. This comes as a complete surprise to me.

h/t to Three Rivers Episcopal for this.

At the bustling corner of 11th and Lincoln avenues in Prospect Park, adjacent to Hair by Heather and McCausland Lock & Key, St. James Episcopal Church stands, an oasis of serenity. Alongside the 102-year-old gray, stone structure, a statue of St. Francis of Assisi keeps watch over the fading flowers of summer that surround an obelisk topped with a Celtic cross. Meanwhile, an angel plays her harp amid the hostas and a statue of Christ holds court in a garden that faces Lincoln Avenue, a stretch of Route 420 and major Delaware County thoroughfare. The only clue that all is not as it should be is the message on the St. James marquee: “Faith Makes All Things Possible. Pray for Our Church.”

Read it all

http://delcotimes.com/articles/2011/09/26/news/doc4e7ff54d6a213503877877.txt

Yikes! HOD vs HOB - Trouble in TEC?: Bishop Sauls' Reform Proposal, the political context

We've got trouble right here in River City - with a capital "T" and it rhymes with "C" and it stands for TEC.

From the liberal blog: "The Lead" at Episcopal Cafe posted online September 26, 2011

Bishop Stacy Sauls’ presentation to the House of Bishops last week in Quito, Ecuador has stirred significant comment, not to mention anxiety, in the church. We hope to devote significant time and space to discussing his proposals in the days ahead, and would like to begin by describing the context in which it has landed.

Tensions between the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies are high, as are relationships between the Executive Council and the staff at 815. Some bishops have even discussed encouraging a candidate to run against Bonnie Anderson, President of the House of Deputies. Bishop Sauls seems, on one level to be sensitive to this. His power point presentation includes the following:

Read it all

http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/episcopal_church/bishop_sauls_reform_proposal_i.html

TEC Declares Dio. of SC Resolutions Null & Void

From the Rev. Steve Wood's blog: "Treading Grain". Steve is rector of St Andrew's Church (ACNA) in Mt. Pleasant SC. TEC Bishop of SC Mark Lawrence and its Standing Committee did not contest the ruling of the SC Supreme Court in the All Saints' Pawleys Island case enabling St Andrew's, the largest parish in the diocese to leave the TEC Diocese of SC with their property free and clear.

Posted by Greg ShorePublished in TEC/General Convention

The Episcopal Forum of South Carolina (EFSC) reported today that the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church (TEC) has announced that resolutions passed by the Diocese of South Carolina Convention meeting in February, 2011 have been deemed null and void. You can read the correspondence between TEC and legal counsel for EFSC on EFSC’s website.

The Diocese of South Carolina explains their resolution: “The Diocese of South Carolina, as a founding Diocese of the Episcopal Church, has freely exercised its sovereignty in acceding to the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church. The changes in the Title IV section of the Canons of The Episcopal Church contradict the Constitution of The Episcopal Church and represent both an unacceptable change in our polity and an indefensible infringement upon the due process rights of all the clergy of this Diocese. Protection of the sovereignty of the Diocese, consistent with the Constitution of The Episcopal Church and the right to due process for its clergy, requires that accession to the Canons of The Episcopal Church be removed. This change preserves our ability to continue under the Constitution of the Episcopal Church.”

You can read all of the Episcopal Forum’s article.

UPDATE: The Anglican Curmudgeon offers his analysis here.

Related Articles

· “So, What Will South Carolina Do?” (May 19th, 2011)

· Declaration of Removal (October 27th, 2010)

· +Mark Lawrence Responds to Episcopal Forum (September 24th, 2010)

· Proposed Resolutions for the DSC Reconvened Convention (September 15th, 2010)

· Virginia Supreme Court Ruling Released (updated) (June 10th, 2010)

Confidentiality

It’s interesting to note that the TEC-Pgh diocese has broken off negotiations with our parishes because in their words, “we broke confidentiality”. All Saints’ Rosedale had issued a press release with a copy of their letter to the TEC law firm following the failed attempt at negotiations. And Ann Rodgers carried a story in the Post Gazette.

When TEC-Pgh back in February of this year informed us they would negotiate with our parishes, for our property which they had been awarded title of by the courts, the TECsters listed a number of pre-conditions to which we had to agree in order to begin the actual negotiations. We have never agreed to these pre-conditions one of which is confidentiality. So how could one violate something in which one has not agreed to?

All Saints’ never had one negotiating session with TEC. They had an exchange of one letter each. TEC’s response to All Saints’ best offer they could make was a form letter of impossible demands – a non-starter. All Saints’ had no alternative but to leave their property.

And it all blew up in TEC’s face. What’s next? Nobody knows.

I think it’s all off at least until after the March election of the new TEC bishop but what do I know.

Clergy Conference

On Wednesday and Thursday I attended the Annual Clergy Conference at Antiochian Village outside of Ligonier. It was a wonderful time of teaching, fellowship and worship. I was told we had 87 registrants and about 80 were actually present. We had clergy from Wisconsin, Texas, Illinois, Missouri and Ohio with us – which added a nice flavor to our fellowship. Our teachers were Bishop Neil and Marcia Lebhar. Neal is the recently seated ACNA Bishop of the Gulf-Atlantic Diocese (Northern Florida/Southern Georgia). Marcia is an accomplished Bible teacher and former Executive Director of Shoresh/CMJ-USA. Neal served as an assistant rector at Truro Church Fairfax VA when Gale and I lived in Fairfax and attended that parish in 1985-86.

The Lebhar’s biblical theme was “The Wilderness” and they used texts from the Old Testament, mainly Exodus and Deuteronomy along with stories from their own life, marriage and ministry to illustrate their points.

My role was to organize the “entertainment” during the fun time on Wednesday evening. It was like an unscripted, unpracticed talent show, we had a magic act, two weirdly funny Irish ballads sung, a few funny prose readings and a skit that I wrote and was one of the co-leads with John Fierro. John and I have done this routine now for three years. He and I are two clergy Chauncey and Biff and we are meeting at clergy conference and are reviewing diocesan events of the year past (since the last clergy conference).

This year’s skit involved the negotiations or lack thereof. We poked fun at the Bishop and the Canon and TEC and anybody else that came to mind but mostly ourselves. The skit included cameo appearances from Joseph Martin, Kathy Walzer, Kua Apple and Keith Pozzuto. I emailed a copy of it to a diocesan staffer who emailed me back, “Too funny. You do know how to push the envelope. How did it go over?” My response, “The Bishop was okay with it -- at least he said that to me and everybody else. There were also a lot of ad libs from Joseph, Kua and Keith. The key is to end it on a positive note which we did.” And back to me, “Cool. Sorry I missed it. I am going to try to make it next year for the whole time”.

The times of intercession were quite heartfelt and moving, the worship was great – Paul Cooper is a talented pianist and picks great hymns and praise choruses. Canon Hays shared a bit of her experience in breaking her leg in a golf cart accident and the painful recovery and spiritually life changing aftermath. It was also the first clergy conference for St David's newly ordained deacon Rege Turocy and he thoroughly enjoyed the entire two days.

Prior to realignment, our conference began 5 PM on Wednesday and ran through lunch on Friday. So now we arrive at 8:00 AM Wednesday – ugh! and go through late afternoon on Thursday, though the troops start thinning after Thursday breakfast and by the end we were probably a third to half smaller than our size at the start.

Before realignment, the diocese had subsidized the conference fee. Prior, it was $65; it is now $125. The diocese had received a $10,000 grant each year from the Widow’s Corporation of the Episcopal Church for clergy wellness which was used primarily for the clergy conference among other things. Also, prior to realignment the Clergy Association helped foot the bill for the adult beverages – no more. Not to worry, we still had plenty of beer and vino. And the Bishop’s Fund Inc. had subsidized whitewater rafting, golf or cycling on first morning – again no more. These are not to be construed as complaints, however: they are observations of change and of fond memories about times past and are but a small price to pay for a being in a new Province and a changed diocese -- all for the better.

UMC Pastors Issue Letter Supporting Their Denomination’s Stance on Marriage and Human Sexuality

Calling upon the Council of Bishops

“The United Methodist Church needs clear and prophetic leadership right now,” says the Rev. Ed Robb III, senior pastor of the 9,200-member Woodlands United Methodist Church in The Woodlands, Texas. “As clergy, we are asking the Council of Bishops to make a clear and concise statement supporting our denomination’s stance on marriage and human sexuality.”

United Methodist pastors of large and strategic congregations from across the nation are calling upon the Council of Bishops to issue a clear statement of support for the denomination’s standards regarding marriage and homosexuality. Good News applauds the leadership of the Revs. Tom Harrison, Charles Kyker, Edmund Robb III, Ken Werlein, and Steve Wood in spearheading the communication to the United Methodist bishops. An additional 54 pastors joined the effort.

Read it all

http://goodnewsmag.org/2011/09/16/sign-the-letter-to-the-council-of-bishops/

9/19 Update: Clergy signers (713) Laity signers (1581)

9/28 Update: Clergy signers (1662) Laity signers (4991)

The Human Cost of ‘Selective Reduction’

This story is almost beyond comprehension. It is so unsettling and so very sad. Thanks Sarah Hey of SFIF for bringing this to light. DDW+

Thirty years ago, I was in the ninth month of my second pregnancy when I received what was a very unsettling referral for a sonogram, which was not nearly as routine in those days. My eyes never once left the technician’s face as she studied the monitor. You can imagine my doubled apprehension as she left the room without offering me the small mercy of that nonchalant, “everything-is-normal-and-on-track” smile. When the OB-GYN followed her back into the room moments later, I really needed him to compensate for the technician’s serious breach of sonogram etiquette. Instead, he informed me that I was pregnant with twins.

I left that appointment just as frightened as every other woman who has ever received the same news. At the time, I already had a 23-month-old daughter; my financial resources, while not as limited as those of many new mothers, were light years away from reassuring; and my mental preparations had been for one baby, not two.

As the news began to sink in over the following few days, however, my fear got some competition from a growing awareness of my personal strength. I was still terrified, naturally, but on some level I made a decision to battle that fear, to refuse to let it take me without a fight. I remember throwing open the phone book (the Google of the ’80s), and aggressively tracking down the contact information for the local Twins & Multiples club.In “The Two Minus One Pregnancy” article in The New York Times Magazine (Aug. 14), Ruth Padawer interviews women who, after becoming pregnant with twins using fertility drugs and procedures, decide to undergo a selective reduction. The women describe with illuminating candor their fears of the challenges of birthing two newborns at once; of not being the best mother they can be to all of their children, including those already born; of being spread too thin. And so they abort one of the twins.

Read it all

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/274920/human-cost-selective-reduction-janet-morana

New Signs of Trouble for the Dennis Canon

New Signs of Trouble for

the Dennis Canon

from the Anglican Curmudgeon

posted September 18, 2011

As the readers of this blog are aware, your Curmudgeon is no fan of the Dennis Canon, which I like to call the Episcopal Church (USA)'s Trojan Horse. It has spawned a disproportionate amount of Church property litigation, because it operates by stealth, and springs onto the back of a parish just at the time when it is most vulnerable, having decided to take the final step to disaffiliate from ECUSA. All of a sudden, the Bishop of the Diocese swoops down with his attorneys, and orders the congregation to vacate its building, and leave everything behind, from the altar candlesticks to the bank accounts and pew cushions. "Because you no longer are operating within the Episcopal Church," he says, "Canon I.7.4 [the Dennis Canon] declares that all of your property is now forfeit to the Diocese, since it was always held in trust for this Diocese and the Church."

Read it all

http://accurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-signs-of-trouble-for-dennis-canon.html

Local Church Retains Its Property

The (Presbyterian) Layman

Posted Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal issued its opinion in the church property dispute between the tiny Carrollton Presbyterian Church in New Orleans and the Presbytery of South Louisiana (PSL). The court adopted the rationale presented by Carrollton and affirmed the trial court’s ruling in favor of the local church.

Mary Koss, Carrollton’s clerk of session, commented that, “Carrollton is very pleased with what we believe is the right decision in this case. We are anxious to have this case behind us and move forward with the business of being the church. This has preoccupied our time and talent and resources for far too long, but we recognized that staying the course was not only for us, but for lots of other churches for whom our case sets a precedent. We wanted to do whatever we could to help them.”

Read it all

http://www.layman.org/news.aspx?article=29104

TEC HOD VEEP & C-FL BP

This entry is about three TEC clergymen that I have known personally -- two who made ecclesiastical news by their presence and one by his absence today. The Very Rev H. Scott Kirby, Dean of the Cathedral in the TEC Diocese of Eau Claire, was named today as the interim Vice President of the TEC House of Deputies by Bonnie Anderson President of the HOD. I served with Scott on the TEC HOD Evangelism Committee at GC-1994 in Indianapolis and he was an active supporter of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew when I worked for the Brotherhood in the 1980s and early 1990s. He is a very nice man.

Click here for the story

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_129792_ENG_HTM.htm

And the Rev. Gregory Brewer, rector of Calvary/St. George's in NYC today was listed as a candidate to become Bishop Co-Adjutor in the TEC Diocese of Central Florida. He is one of a slate of seven. Six of the seven are currently priests in Central Florida and Greg served as a rector in Central Florida until he was called to TSM in about 1990. It's interesting that all are "in house candidates" although Greg is 20 years removed and many members of the current Diocese of Central Florida probably don't know him. Greg and his family worshiped at Church of the Savior in Ambridge as did the Wilson family and he was on staff at TSM along with Gale and was my professor of liturgics while I was in seminary. I can't help but wonder how an election next March in TEC-Pgh with seven "in house candidates" would turn out? You know, they might have to include a part timer or two to get a full slate.

Click here for the story.

http://babybluecafe.blogspot.com/2011/09/seven-nominated-for-bishop-of-episcopal.html

And the newsmaker by absence is none other than TEC-Pgh priest, Dr. Jim Simons, DMin. When the Rev. Brian Pryor was elected a bishop and had to resign as HOD Veep and Bonnie Anderson announced she would appoint a replacement some time within a year of GC-2012, I had predicted that it would be none other than, you guessed it, Dr. Jim who would wrangle the appointment. I was wrong, it was Scott Kirby who was named.

What I hadn't realized, however, was, as a condition of appointment, the interim has agreed not to stand for election as the permanent Veep at GC-2012.

My new prediction is, as sure as the sun rises in the East, that good old Dr. Jim will run for the permanent Veep slot at GC-2012 . Mark my words and remember, you heard it here first!

Another Clergy Funeral in Pittsburgh: Bp Walter Righter - originally posted by The Lead @ episcopalcafe.com

Note: Walter Righter, soon after ordination as a priest in the early 1950s, served as rector of All Saints' Church in Aliquippa PA in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

All Saints', now closed, was the parish where my wife Gale and I came to Christ in 1981.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Word has been received that the Rt. Rev. Walter Righter, retired bishop of Iowa, died this morning. Bishop Righter was tried for heresy in 1996 for ordaining a partnered gay man.

FromAnglicans Online:

In the fall of 1990, Barry Stopfel was ordained a deacon in the Diocese of Newark. Stopfel is gay and, at the time of his ordination, was living "in a sexual partnership" with another man. The assistant bishop of Newark, the Rt. Revd Walter Righter, was facing a church court over his decision to ordain the gay man. On May 15, 1996, an Episcopal Church court dismissed charges against Righter. The Court held that neither the doctrine nor the discipline of the Church currently prohibit the ordination of a non-celibate homosexual person living in a committed relationship.

Thirty six bishops signed a statement in support of Righter's actions:

"We the undersigned recognize the witness of the Rt. Rev. Walter C. Righter to the Christ who lived, died and rose for the salvation of all. Walter Righter's trial is a trial of the Gospel, a trial of justice, a trial of fairness, and a trial of the church. We stand with Bishop Righter. We feel charged as Bishop Righter is charged. We feel on trial as Bishop Righter is on trial. Should he be found guilty, we are guilty. Should Bishop Righter be sentenced, we will accept his sentence as our own."

UPDATE:
The Rt. Rev. Walter Cameron Righter
October 23, 1923 - September 11, 2011
The funeral will be Thursday at 11:00 a.m. at Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, PA.

Clergy Funerals

Clergy funerals, especially for long serving and beloved clerics, are a big deal. There is usually a big turn out of priests and deacons. When beloved priest, the Rev. Don Matthews, died some years ago there were about 85 clergy vesting and processing at his funeral service at Trinity Cathedral. And usually the bishop of the diocese presides at such affairs. Yesterday by my count there were 21 priests, 10 deacons and Bishop John Rodgers present at the Rev. Jamie Forrest’s funeral service at Church of the Ascension, Oakland. It should be noted, Jamie served 31 years as a priest of our diocese. Jonathan Millard, Ascension’s rector, preached a marvelous sermon and led a spirit-filled funeral service. Archbishop Duncan could not be present due to his presiding at the Investiture Service of Bishop John Guernsey as diocesan of the newly formed ACNA Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic in Virginia.

Clergy funerals are also one of the few, if only opportunities, that the priests and deacons from the TEC-Pgh Diocese and the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh have had interaction since October 2008. I am thinking of the attendance at the funerals of Don Gross and Barbara Knotts. There were a fair number of clergy from TEC-Pgh that attended those two services.

But I guess the dust has settled and the Great Divide in Pittsburgh is now become like the trench warfare of World War I --- stalemate and little if any interaction. I did not see one TEC-Pgh priest or deacon at the service yesterday. And Jonathan Millard was deliberate to invite ALL clergy, both vested and unvested, to come forward for the Commendation. So it goes.

I'll report if any TEC clergy attend the memorial service at St. David's on Monday evening (with Abp Duncan presiding).

Diktat or Negotiating in Good Faith ... What Does It Mean? 4th and Final Part Once - "All Negotiations Have Been Frozen"

I vowed on 8/26 not to opine on the negotiations again. I wrote "the notion of negotiating in good faith, or not, is in the eyes of the beholder. If TEC-Pgh’s idea of negotiating in good faith means setting in stone pre-conditions which are non-starters for the ACNA parishes, that is their prerogative. There just won't be any negotiations.

TEC-Pgh blogger Lionel Deimel has said: 'we [the TEC-Pgh Diocese] hold most of the cards so this is more like a plea bargain than a negotiation between equals'. From the TEC perspective, they probably think we should be grateful that they are even willing to offer negotiations to us. They don’t have to --which is true?"

I guess I am a prophet. I predicted that unless the TEC-Pgh dropped their draconian demands, (which by the way are a violation of the 1st amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of association), there would be no negotiations. Guess what, TEC-Pgh apparently has ended the negotiations --- at least for now.

At Jamie Forrest’s funeral service on Saturday I had an interesting conversation with a friend about the so-called negotiations that have yet to take place between the TEC-Pgh diocese and our parishes, or shall I say, their “non-participating” parishes. Other than St. Philip’s, none of our parishes have embraced their generous offer of disaffiliation and fair market value. And the negative publicity, I am told, following the St. James and All Saints’ debacles apparently isn’t sitting well with the Monroeville think tank either. My friend stated that as a result, at a meeting last week between three TEC-Pgh diocesan leaders and two clergy of our diocese, it was stated that [all] negotiations have been frozen and TEC-Pgh will await the final ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and then most likely unroll a different approach. After all, TEC can wait us out, given Judge James ruling, time is on their side --not ours.

It is however, difficult, if not impossible for TEC-Pgh to impose a Carthaginian peace settlement and also claim the moral high ground in this. But I guess they are going to pause, reload and retry. The prospect of twenty some parishes being served eviction notices by armed deputy sheriffs in six different counties in Western Pennsylvania is not a pretty one, especially with the TV news cameras rolling.

The Queen has approved the Rev Tim Dakin for election as Bp of Winchester.

I met Tim Dakin at the New Wineskins Conference in 2010. He was introduced to me by Bp Henry Scriven at breakfast and we had a delightful conversation. Retiring bishop Michael Scott-Joynt is a good friend of our bishop, Bob Duncan, and a keen supporter in the C of E of our realignment.

The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Canon Timothy John Dakin, BA, MTh, General Secretary of the Church Mission Society, Associate Priest of Ruscombe and Twyford in Oxford Diocese and Honorary Canon Theologian at Coventry Cathedral, for election as Bishop of Winchester in succession to the Right Reverend Michael Charles Scott-Joynt, MA, on his resignation on the 31st May 2011. Canon Tim Dakin (aged 53) was born to missionary parents in Tanzania and grew up partly in East Africa and partly in vicarages in the UK.

He studied at the University College of Saint Mark and St John, Plymouth, and at King’s College, London, and did further research at Christ Church, Oxford. From 1993 to 2000 he was the Principal of Carlile College, Kenya (a Church Army college which includes a Theology School and a Business School), and a Curate at Nairobi Cathedral. Since 2000 he has been the General Secretary of the Church Mission Society (with the South American Mission Society since 2009), and an Associate Priest in the Parish of Ruscombe and Twyford, near Reading. Tim is an elected member of the General Synod from the Oxford Diocese. From 2001 he has been an Honorary Canon Theologian of Coventry Cathedral, taking a special interest in mission theology.

Under Tim’s leadership CMS has seen a number of changes. In 2008 the Church of England recognised CMS as a mission community; it has about 2,500 members and follows a simple rule of life. During the last ten years CMS has also been committed to establishing CMS Africa and Asia CMS within a new mission network called Interchange. Alongside this it has contributed to the mission-shaped church initiative in England and elsewhere, and to the development of pioneer ministry and training. Historically, CMS is known for its holistic world-wide mission, and was involved in planting or supporting up to two-thirds of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion. CMS currently works in over 40 countries and supports more than 200 people in full-time mission. In 2007 CMS moved to Oxford, bringing together its administration, conference centre, library and mission house.

Tim is married to Sally, who is also ordained (and a midwife), and they have two children, Anna (20) and Johnny (16). Tim’s interests include reading, walking, films and non-Western Christianity. The Dakins like to take their family holidays on a farm in Kenya.

From Here

Happy Labor Day!

No more blog entries today. I'm taking the rest of the day off!

Peter Moore Writes on Sin, Redemption and Sexuality

From the Rev Steve Wood's blog "Treading Grain" : Steve is rector of St. Andrew's Anglican Church Mt. Pleasant SC. St. Andrew's left the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina in 2009 with their property largely because of the graciousness of Bishop Mark Lawrence.

Ran across this excellent letter to the editor by Peter Moore in today’s paper. As you would expect, Peter is brilliant.

Here’s a clip:

Professor Richard Nunan is right that at times Christians have been intolerant of people with homophile sexual desires for reasons other than specifically Christian ones. But his association of changing views of homosexuality with changing views of slavery and women betrays a lack of biblical understanding.

Views of women and slavery have changed in part because people rediscovered the true meaning of Scripture that layers of culture and tradition had obscured.

Paul’s great statement that “in Christ there is neither male nor female, slave nor free” (Gal. 3:28) shows how far in advance of its culture the Bible really was. But his argument that because revisionist scholars have a variety of interpretations about the biblical passages about homosexuality the church should stop calling it “sinful” fails to recognize that these agenda-driven scholars have not gained universal acceptance of their views.

These “revisionist” scholars, are just that — eager to bend Scripture to say something it doesn’t say. Which of them, for example, has been willing to engage Dr. Robert Gagnon’s landmark volume “The Bible and Homosexual Practice”?

Their widespread silence in dealing with his comprehensive analysis of what the Bible actually says on this subject is deafening. (See www.robgagnon.net)

Read the rest.

More on All Saints' Church, Rosedale, or Verona or Penn Hills or Even Pittsburgh!

In my last posting on All Saints' Church vacating their property (which I updated once as well) I mentioned in the original posting and in the update there had been no comment from the TEC-Pgh Diocese although Communications maven Rich "Baghdad Bob" Creehan was quoted in the newspaper accounts and no blog entries from TEC-Pgh bloggers Dr. Lionel Deimel, PhD and Dr. James Simons, DMin.

Not to worry: Lionel posted a story on his blog last night titled, "All Saints Wherever". He also says that he thinks there will be a story out of Monroeville at some point. His blog entry has some very nifty photos of All Saints' Church. He is quite the photographer!

Click here

All Saints' Church has a great slideshow of their parish and pics of their new location

Click here

From the Anglican Curmudgeon: The Two Faces of PEG (Pittsburgh Episcopal Group)

One of the things about a curmudgeon that riles people up is

that curmudgeons are always pointing out facts which people

wish they would not mention, let alone bring into sharper focus.

But, properly considered, it is the primary duty of a curmudgeon

to call people's attention to inconvenient facts, just as it is the

primary duty of a messenger to deliver the message, whether

good news or bad. It is not the messenger's fault if the news is

upsetting; nor is it the curmudgeon's fault if the facts are, shall

we say, uncomfortable. And so, if the foregoing sentences have

not caused the reader to click away by now, then allow me to

follow up on some observations I made in this week's edition

of Anglican Unscripted.

There is a group of Episcopalians in the Pittsburgh area who

congregations, and clergy, modeled on the former Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, since they have adopted its former Constitution and Canons. They of course think they are a Diocese of the Episcopal Church just because they have done this, and because ECUSA found it convenient to go along with the charade in order to have a vehicle with which to maintain lawsuits and take over church property. But they are not a true Diocese, because the only legal entity that was the Diocese of Pittsburgh exercised its constitutional right under the First Amendment to join a different Church.

have formed themselves into an association of parishes,

Read It All

Clergy Prayer Ban At 9/11 Event Faulted

NEW YORK — Christian conservatives are condemning Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision to bar clergy-led prayer at the 10th anniversary commemoration of the terrorist attacks, calling the program an insult. Others wonder whether the mayor is trying to dodge the potentially thorny issue of including a Muslim representative.

The mayor's office says the annual event focuses on relatives of Sept. 11 victims and has never included clergy invocations. Bloomberg has said it would be impossible to include everyone who would like to participate.

Hard to Believe

From the Wall Street Journal and Associated Press - Read it All

The Rev James Forrest RIP

Jamie Forrest went home to be with His Lord this morning at 10:30 AM. He had a long and fruitful ministry in the Diocese of Pittsburgh serving his last 16 years at St. David's. I have known Jamie for over 25 years and we served on staff at St. David's for the first 2.5 years of my tenure as senior pastor and rector with lots of joy together. He was a great friend and a wonderful mentor.

There will be two memorial services in greater Pittsburgh - the first next Saturday 9/10 at Church of the Ascension Oakland at 2:00 PM with interment to follow in the Ascension columbarium and the second Monday 9/12 at St David's Anglican Church Peters Twp at 7 PM with Archbishop Duncan presiding.

Please continue to pray for his dear wife Sharon and the family.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

Anglican TV Weighs In On All Saints Saga

Anglican TV guru Kevin Kallsen on Anglican Unscripted for Sep 12, 2011 interviews legal-eagle A S Haley of Anglican Curmugdeon fame on the constutionality of TEC-Pgh's draconian demands.

click here and scroll over to the 19.30 mark. The A S Haley segment lasts about 5 minutes.

UPDATED: And Another One's Gone, and Another One's Gone, and Another One Bites The Dust!

"Penn Hills church in Anglican

Diocese

abandons its building"

Thursday, September 01, 2011-3:39 pm

Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Another congregation in the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh has decided to abandon its building, saying that it couldn't meet the financial or ecclesiastical demands that the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh made during negotiations for the property.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11244/1171471-100.stm#ixzz1WjzW7VBQ

Anglican Diocese Statement here

Parish Statement here

Parish letter to TEC-Pgh lawyers here

For some unknown reason the TEC-Pgh Diocese website and TEC-Pgh bloggers Lionel Deimel and Dr. James Simons have been slow to note this occurrence?

UPDATED WITH FURTHER ARTICLE FROM THE POST GAZETTE and TRIBUNE-REVIEW FRIDAY 9/2/11

Click here

And here

Nothing yet on this from Rich Creehan, the Baghdad Bob of TEC-Pgh, Lionel Deimel or Dr. James Simons although Dr. Jim has at least two three blog entries on the Rt. Rev. David Moyer being booted as rector of his parish in Montgomery County PA.