A person must choose which is the final and complete revelation of God.

“Islamopalian” Priest Deposed
April 1, 2009
Contact: Jeff Walton 202-682-4131, 202-413-5639 cell

“Bishop Wolf’s handling of this situation is an example of proper discipline within the church and is to be commended.”
-Jeff Walton, IRD Spokesman

Washington, DC—A controversial priest who claimed both Muslim and Christian faith was permanently removed from ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church today. The Rev. Ann Holmes Redding of Seattle made her profession of faith in Islam in March 2006 and insisted that her new beliefs did not conflict with Christianity.

Redding had been under an inhibition from ministry since the summer of 2007 at the direction of Bishop Geralyn Wolf of Rhode Island. Redding was originally ordained by Wolf’s predecessor and was still canonically resident in the Rhode Island diocese.

The Episcopal Church has recently been forced to address a similar controversy with the election of the Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester to be bishop of Northern Michigan. Thew Forrester has received a Zen Buddhist lay ordination.

Jeff Walton of the Institute on Religion & Democracy commented:

Bishop Wolf handled this situation well: she removed Redding from ministry in order that her priestly role not be compromised, directed her to study the differences between Islam and Christianity, and gave her the opportunity to change course.

Releasing Redding from her vows and concluding her ordained ministry within the Episcopal Church was the only way to resolve the situation due to her intractable position that she was both a Muslim and a Christian.

The Episcopal Church’s baptismal service asks all Christians to ‘[c]onfess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal priesthood.’ The idea that a person can become a Muslim while remaining an Episcopal priest in good standing trivializes both faiths.

The election of Kevin Thew Forrester as Bishop of Northern Michigan poses the same problems as Ann Holmes Redding. A person with spiritual loyalties outside of the Christian faith cannot lead a flock in the Episcopal Church.

A person must choose which is the final and complete revelation of God. Is it Jesus Christ, or is it the message of the Koran, which denies Christ’s death and resurrection?

The Institute on Religion and Democracy, founded in 1981, is an ecumenical alliance of U.S. Christians working to reform their churches’ social witness, in accord with biblical and historic Christian teachings, thereby contributing to the renewal of democratic society at home and abroad.

Our respect for the Church of England will erode unless we see a return to traditional teaching

Anglican gay ‘wedding’ stokes anger

by Daniel Blake

Posted: Sunday, June 15, 2008, 17:31 (BST)

Reports of a gay ‘wedding’ in the Church of England have angered conservative members and prompted an investigation by the Bishop of London.

A report in The Sunday Telegraph said that the Rev Peter Cowell and the Rev Dr David Lord exchanged vows and rings in a wedding-like ceremony at St Bartholomew the Great Church in the City of London last month.

The ceremony, held on May 31, violates official Church guidelines, which maintain that marriage is between a man and a woman and ask that clergy do not bless homosexual partnerships.

A spokesman for the Church of England told AFP, “What we seem to have here is a fairly serious breach of the rules by an individual or groups of individuals.”

The Rev Martin Dudley, who oversaw the ceremony, said he had no regrets and told the BBC that he had not broken instructions from the bishops.

"It wasn't a gay church wedding, it was the blessing of two people who have contracted a civil partnership,” he told the BBC.

"They wanted more than I was able to give - they wanted something more like a wedding. I was not willing to do that because I believe that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.

"Therefore we had to negotiate the form of the service, the words that were used, so that I could say them with integrity, but they also found that they expressed their love for each other and their commitment to each other.

"But what we actually did was to celebrate in the context of holy communion, of a solemn celebration of the eucharist, their love for each other."

Conservative Anglicans have reacted with anger, including the Archbishop of Uganda, the Most Rev Henry Orombi, who told The Sunday Telegraph, “The leadership tried to deny that this would happen, but now the truth is out.

“Our respect for the Church of England will erode unless we see a return to traditional teaching.”

According to the blog of Peter Ould, one of the founders of Anglican Mainstream conservative network, the liturgy used in the ceremony spoke of the “union of two people in heart, body and soil […] intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity”.

He wrote in his Sunday posting that “the explanation that this was only intented [sic] to be a ‘blessing’ is specious”.

The ordination of women remains controversial among many Anglicans

Anglican Church Consecrates Australia's 1st Female Bishop

Australia's Anglican Church consecrated the country's first female bishop on Thursday in a ceremony attended by hundreds but opposed by at least one prominent church leader.

Fri, May. 23, 2008 Posted: 08:00:59 AM EST

---

PERTH, Australia (AP) - Australia's Anglican Church consecrated the country's first female bishop on Thursday in a ceremony attended by hundreds but opposed by at least one prominent church leader.

Archdeacon Kay Goldsworthy became The Most Rev. Kay Goldsworthy, an assistant bishop in Western Australian state, in the evening ceremony at St. George's Cathedral in the west coast city of Perth.

Twenty-one Anglican bishops from Australia and New Zealand were among a congregation of more than 800 who showed their support for the controversial appointment. Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, Australia's Anglican prelate, conducted the ceremony.

Among those who did not attend was The Most Rev. Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney, and the Bishop of Northwest Australia, David Mulready, who oppose the ordination of female ministers. Sydney is Australia's largest diocese.

A meeting last month of Australian Anglican bishops that set protocols for the consecration of female bishops paved the way for Goldsworthy's appointment. Under the protocols, parishes that do not want a female bishop would be offered a male bishop.

Goldsworthy, 51, who is married with two sons, was among the first female priests to be ordained in 1992.

The Anglican Church is the second largest religious denomination in the predominantly Christian Australia after the Roman Catholic Church.

The ordination of women remains controversial among many Anglicans, although female bishops have been ordained elsewhere including in the United States and Canada.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The Associated Press

More coming problems in Global North?

Canadian Anglicans Elect Leader

By CHARMAINE NORONHA
The Associated Press
Friday, June 22, 2007; 6:25 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2007/06/22/AR2007062201417_pf.html

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- A liberal-leaning bishop who has expressed support in the past for full acceptance of gays and lesbians was elected Friday to lead the Anglican Church of Canada.

Bishop Fred Hiltz of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island was chosen on the fifth ballot by clergy and lay people at the church's national meeting. Among the three other nominees for the post was Edmonton Bishop Victoria Matthews, who would have been the church's first woman leader.

The vote came one day before the assembly, called the General Synod, is to decide whether to allow Anglican priests to bless same-sex couples _ a step short of performing same-sex marriage, which is legal in Canada.

Chris Ambidge, president of the Toronto chapter of gay advocacy group Integrity, said Hiltz "has long been an advocate of opening church doors to all people" and that his election signals to gays and lesbians "that they are welcomed and affirmed in their church."

The leader of the Anglican church, called a primate, does not directly set such policy for the church; that is the role of the General Synod.

Still, the Rev. Canon Charlie Masters, head of the conservative Canadian group Anglican Essentials, said the election of Hiltz raised "fears" about the future of the denomination.

"He is the first bishop who has publicly given his support to same-sex marriage so there are concerns of his position," Masters said.

Hiltz, 53, will succeed Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, who is retiring at the end of this meeting.

Hiltz, who is married to Lynne Samways and has a son, refused to discuss his personal views after the election, but he said he worries that a vote in favor of same-sex blessings could lead some theologically conservatives to break away from the church.

"I will do all I can to encourage people to stay in the church and remain respectful at table and in conversations," Hiltz said.

The vote comes at a time when divisions over the Bible and homosexuality are tearing at the world Anglican Communion, a 77 million-member fellowship of churches that trace their roots back hundreds of years to the Church of England.

Most of the world's Anglicans are theological conservatives who believe gay relationships violate Scripture. More liberal Anglicans emphasize social justice teachings in the Bible, leading them to support full acceptance of same-sex couples.

Even before this week's Canadian meeting, the world Anglican Communion was already in an uproar over the U.S. Episcopal Church's 2003 consecration of the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the United States. Anglican leaders have given the U.S. denomination until Sept. 30 to unequivocally pledge not to consecrate another openly gay bishop or authorize official prayers for same-sex couples. If Episcopalians fail to agree to the demands, they risk losing their full membership in the communion.

Separately, the Anglican Church of Canada came under fire in 2002, after Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminster in British Columbia allowed parishes in his region to bless gay couples. In 2004, the Diocese of Niagara voted to follow suit, but its bishop has barred the ceremonies for now.

Growing Global South leading Waning West?

This is a great report by Alan Cooperman of Washington Post about the Anglican situation in USA and how the African and South East Asian churches are helping them. It is interesting to note that the Global South churches, which were started by the Global North (Western), are now assuming leadership over the North churches. Is this a sign of more things to come from the Global South?

More US Episcopalians Look Abroad Amid Rift
Overseas Prelates Lead 200 to 250 Congregations

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2007/06/16/AR2007061600985_pf.html

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 17, 2007; A03


The Anglican archbishop of Rwanda was first, then his counterpart in Nigeria. Now Kenya's Anglican archbishop is taking a group of U.S. churches under his authority, and Uganda's archbishop may be next.

African and, to a lesser extent, Southeast Asian and Latin American prelates are racing to appoint American bishops and to assume jurisdiction over congregations that are leaving the Episcopal Church, particularly since its consecration of a gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003.

So far, the heads, or primates, of Anglican provinces overseas have taken under their wings 200 to 250 of the more than 7,000 congregations in the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of Anglicanism. Among their gains are some large and wealthy congregations -- including several in Northern Virginia -- that bring international prestige and a steady stream of donations.

The foreign influx is a consequence of the rift in the 2.3 million-member U.S. church, and explanations of what it's really all about depend on what side of that divide you're on, said the Rev. Ian T. Douglas, a professor of world mission and global Christianity at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass.

"It can either be read as the next step in a grand plan to replace the Episcopal Church, or it can be read as a splintering of the conservatives and a competition for who is going to be the real leader of disaffected U.S. congregations," he said. Bishop Martyn Minns, former rector of Truro Church in Fairfax City, who left the Episcopal Church and was installed last month as a Nigerian bishop, denied that the African prelates are competing for leadership, prestige or donations. He said they are working together to help Americans who want to remain faithful to the church's traditional teachings. "There's lots of work for all of us," he said.

"This is not just one province sticking its nose in. It's the Global South collectively saying 'We've got to do something' because of the crisis in the U.S. church."

But a spokesman for the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, James Naughton, said the proliferation of "offshore" churches "makes it clear how difficult it is going to be for the conservatives to unite, because each of these primates wants a piece of the action, and none is willing to subjugate himself to another."

Rwanda's Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini and the archbishop of Southeast Asia, Moses Tay, were the first to establish a missionary branch in the United States. In 2000, they jointly consecrated two former Episcopal priests as bishops and formed the Anglican Mission in the Americas, or AMIA. It has grown at the rate of one church every three weeks and now numbers about 120 congregations, with five bishops.

Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola followed suit last year, forming the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, or CANA. It is led by Minns and has about 40 congregations in 13 states.

Last week, Kenya's Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi announced plans to consecrate a former Episcopal priest in Texas, Bill Atwood, as a suffragan, or assistant, bishop of his Nairobi diocese. Atwood said in a telephone interview that after the Aug. 30 installation ceremony in Kenya he will look after about 35 U.S. churches.

In addition, three other foreign archbishops -- Henry Orombi of Uganda, Drexel Gomes of the West Indies and Greg Venables of the Southern Cone (a region that includes Argentina and Bolivia -- have taken small numbers of U.S. congregations under their auspices. Orombi is "very seriously and prayerfully" considering appointing an American bishop and setting up a missionary church in the United States, said AMIA Bishop Chuck Murphy.

Murphy recalled that when the AMIA was formed seven years ago, it came under strong criticism from Atwood, among others.

"Bill Atwood has always been a strong advocate for what was called an 'inside' strategy -- to work within the system of the Episcopal Church and within the Anglican Communion's existing structures," he said. "It is now clear to virtually everyone that the 'outside' strategy of having clergy and bishops canonically resident offshore -- that is no longer scandalous and irregular, it is now the right way forward."

Atwood responded that "any strategic differences have just been overwhelmed by the state of things in the Episcopal Church and the need to move forward together."

The difference a foreign bishop makes can vary. Some former Episcopalians describe it as an important but largely symbolic connection with a primate who shares their orthodox beliefs. "Fundamentally, we're worshiping the same way we've always worshiped. It's the Episcopal Church that has embarked on a new path," said Warren Thrasher, a longtime parishioner at Truro Church.

But Atwood said it is often more tangible. He noted that some congregations under Nzimbi's care have adopted the Kenyan version of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. He said many ex-Episcopal congregations have been forced to give up their buildings and need help finding new properties.

"Many of the congregations have developed authentic relations with bishops overseas, and those links are very important to them," he said.

At the same time, the foreign archbishops and their newly minted American bishops are courting the wrath of the archbishop of Canterbury. The leader of the Anglican Communion, the 75 million-member family of churches descended from the Church of England, registered his disapproval of Minns's installation last month by announcing that he will not invite the CANA leader to a global meeting of all Anglican bishops next year.

Minns said he was "not surprised." He said a steady erosion of traditional Christian teachings in the United States and Europe, combined with the explosive growth of former missionary churches in developing countries, has flipped the historic pattern of missionary activity. "And frankly," he said, "the old institutional structures are having trouble coming to grips with those realities."

Anglican split?

Anglican split comes closer as US church rejects demand over gays

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,2104502,00.html

Stephen Bates Religious affairs correspondent
Saturday June 16, 2007
The Guardian

The impending division of the worldwide Anglican communion came a step closer yesterday as the rift over the way the church deals with homosexuality descended into acrimony.

The US Episcopal church rejected the demands of the rest of the church, headed by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, that it should fall into line by refusing to conduct blessing services for gay couples or elect more gay bishops and allow disaffected conservative US congregations to have their own leadership.

The rejection of the demands, made by the church's archbishops in Tanzania in February, means there is little chance of the US church meeting the end of September deadline for compliance and will increase the insistence of conservative and evangelical forces in the communion that it should be forced out. The US church is a small part of the worldwide communion but its financial support underwrites much of Anglicanism's activities.

Dr Williams - currently on sabbatical in Washington - is due to meet the US bishops in New Orleans in mid-September in a last-ditch attempt to prevent the split.

Canon Gregory Cameron, deputy secretary general of the Anglican Communion, who is the church's chief mediator in the crisis, told the Guardian yesterday: "My fear is people are starting to behave less like a world communion and it is becoming more like ecclesiastical chaos."

The rejection came after a four-day meeting of the US church's executive council, in a statement insisting that the leaders of other parts of the communion could not impose deadlines and demands.

Next week Canadian Anglicans meet in synod in Winnipeg to decide whether they should authorise official blessing services for gay couples.

The Church is Flat

The Church is Flat: A New Anglicanism

We are determined to reclaim a vision for the church that holds true to its founder’s intentions. We take God at His Word and are trying to live out a gospel of radical inclusion and profound transformation. Jesus of Nazareth didn’t give his life for a structure but rather for a vision of a world where every person can know that they are loved by God and given new hope for tomorrow ....

Source: CANA Web

By Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns, May 3, 2007

In his book The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman explains how our world has shrunk. Thanks to instant information and rapid transportation, hierarchical structures have been flattened.

One global organization that should be ideally positioned for this transformation is the Christian Church. The genius of its founder was that it was designed to be “flat;” small groups with a common vision, a common language of faith, and international networks that crossed national boundaries. As often happens, initial flexibility was soon lost and replaced by more predictable and controllable structures and the early vision forgotten while waiting for another fresh wave of inspiration and creativity.

We are witnessing such a new wave. A prime example is the Anglican Communion - an international community of more than 75 million in 164 countries, ordered into 38 separate provinces.

In the good old days mandates, money and missionaries flowed from the traditional power base of London and, more recently, New York to their grateful recipients in the developing world. But that is all changing now and we have, as noted Penn State religion and history professor Philip Jenkins describes it, ‘A New Christendom’ where much of the energy, leadership and vision now come from the Global South. The old ways of doing church are being shaken and we are rediscovering what it means to be part of a truly global community.

One example is the birth of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, or CANA. It was first conceived as a way to provide a safe harbor for Nigerian Anglicans who no longer felt welcome in The Episcopal Church because of its deliberate distancing from traditional mainstream Christianity but now includes a growing number of other Anglican congregations from across America.

This realignment isn’t simply about issues of human sexuality but on the other much more basic questions such as the role and authority of the Scriptures and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. It is part of an emerging movement of formerly Episcopal churches and new congregations, which are breaking out of their hierarchical straightjackets and connecting directly with other parts of the Anglican Communion. What unites them is a vision for global Christianity; a commitment to a common language of faith and abiding friendships that connect across challenging cultural divides.

This movement is variously derided by the hierarchical power brokers as being either a small group of American malcontents or an example of reverse colonialism. They are missing the point - the Church got flat and they didn’t notice.

There are serious questions, however, that must be addressed. How do we make sense of our common commitment to individual human rights in such dramatically different civil and religious settings? How do we preach that every person is made in the image of God, is loved by God and is of inestimable worth when one part of the family is dieting from eating too much and others are dying of starvation? How do we demonstrate the love of God to people whose life experience is so very different from ours? In this global network how do we find a common language so that we can talk with one another about differences without demonizing those with whom we differ?

We have a long way to go and CANA is only a small part of the solution. We have no delusions of grandeur. We are merely an association of churches who love being in the mainstream of the Anglican Communion.

We are determined to reclaim a vision for the church that holds true to its founder’s intentions. We take God at His Word and are trying to live out a gospel of radical inclusion and profound transformation. Jesus of Nazareth didn’t give his life for a structure but rather for a vision of a world where every person can know that they are loved by God and given new hope for tomorrow - whether they live in Kaduna or Kansas City, in Bethlehem or Boston, in Darfur or Dallas.

The Rt. Rev. Martyn Minns is Bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America.