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[ENS] Delegates to the Annual Council of the dissident Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (NACDP) -- also known as the Anglican Communion Network (ACN) -- have resolved "unconditional commitment" to the Anglican Primates' February request that litigation between the Episcopal Church (TEC) and those who have attempted to leave with its property be suspended.
Recent decisions in California appellate courts have favored the Episcopal Church and its dioceses over breakaway congregations, reversing a trend of the past few decades. Courts in other states have consistently favored the Episcopal Church.
The resolution passed unanimously during the council's fourth yearly meeting at St. Vincent's Cathedral Church in Bedford, Texas, in the Diocese of Fort Worth, held July 30-31, 2007.
Although the resolution declared the group's "willingness and readiness, on behalf of its affiliates and partners, and those who hold similar values and positions, to engage in mediation" with TEC, Network Chancellor Wicks Stephens told the group the measure has "no intention of saying we will negotiate a settlement" for congregations currently in litigation.
Duncan, who addressed the council on Monday, began by reciting a list of names of Network clergy and bishops who departed the Episcopal Church in the last year, including bishops Andrew Fairfield, Daniel Herzog, William Cox, and David Bena, as well as John Guernsey, Martyn Minns, Bill Atwood, and Bill Murdoch -- all soon to be or already consecrated as bishops for other Provinces of the Anglican Communion, to exercise authority over breakaway congregations in the United States.
"God, in His wisdom, has not used us to reform the Episcopal Church," he said, into "...a Church that is truly evangelical, truly catholic, and truly pentecostal." As a result, the Network turned to the task of gathering "other orthodox fragments -- virtually all of whom were once, like ourselves, mainstream Episcopalians" -- into "a 'new ecclesiastical structure' called for by the Primates of the Global South."
"During this past year, the Network Bishops have done everything we could to work with a broader Windsor Coalition within the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops," said Duncan. "In order not to abandon the wider coalition in its one last stand, the Network Bishops have agreed to take part in the upcoming meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury and members of the Primates Steering Committee and Anglican Consultative Council.
"We do so, some of us at least, without any implied recognition of or submission to the American primate, without any diminishment of our appeal for Alternative Primatial Oversight, and without any expectation that the Episcopal House of Bishops will turn from the course so unequivocally embraced at their March meeting," he continued.
In a question and answer session following the address, Duncan lashed out at Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. "Never, ever has he spoken publicly in defense of the orthodox in the United States," Duncan opined. "The cost is his office...To lose that historic office is a cost of such magnitude that God must be doing a new thing." Later he attributed the origin of his remarks to Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen.
Reacting to Duncan's comments, one of the Network's founders, the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, announced his resignation from the Network in a statement posted on the website of the Anglican Communion Institute.
Duncan's statements, said Radner, "so contradict my sense of calling within this part of Christ's Body, the Anglican Communion, that I have no choice but to disassociate myself from this group, whom I had once hoped might prove an instrument of renewal, not of destruction, of building up, not of tearing down."
[Episcopal News Service] A California Court of Appeals has refused a request that it review its June ruling against three Episcopal congregations where the majority of members had voted to leave the Episcopal Church for oversight by bishops in another Anglican province but retain the congregations' property.
A notice posted July 24 on the website of the California 4th Appellate District Court Division 3 said that the petition for a rehearing filed by attorneys for the departing members had been denied.
The appellate court, in an exhaustive 77-page document issued June 25, ruled in favor of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Los Angeles and overturned rulings by a lower court. The case involved property retained by congregations now calling themselves St. James Anglican Church, Newport Beach; All Saints' Anglican Church, Long Beach; and St. David's Anglican Church, North Hollywood. The congregations voted in August 2004 to amend their articles of incorporation, and maintain that they are now part of the Anglican Province of Uganda. Read it all here.
By Marlise Guillerault
The announcement began: “God Willing, The Right Reverend Dorsey F. Henderson, Jr., Bishop of Upper South Carolina, Will Ordain Alfredo Pedro Gonzalez to the Sacred Order of Deacons, Thursday the 26th of July….”
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Alfredo ("Fred") Gonzalez, flanked by Bishops Henderson and Skilton following his ordination to the transitional diaconate (click to enlarge) |
On the last Thursday in July God was indeed willing and St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Columbia was filled with those who have already benefited from Fred Gonzalez’s sincere and heartfelt ministry. St. Mary’s was packed with family, friends and parishioners who have supported Gonzalez’s path toward the ordained ministry for a long time, along with the majority of those who have more recently begun attending the 12:30 Spanish-language Mass at St. Mary's. After three years of building a successful Hispanic congregation, it was appropriate that the ordination service be conducted in Spanish as well as English.
Remarking that he was the ninth Episcopal bishop from Cuba, the Right Reverend William Skilton, retired suffragan bishop from South Carolina, preached the sermon on servanthood in Spanish with English translation available. The service bulletin led the congregation through the liturgy, switching from one language to the other, and instructing in which language the next hymn would be sung.
Gonzalez’s wife Luisa, and his sister, Yadira Young, vested Gonzalez with his deacon stole as his mother, children and other family members watched from the first row. Behind them a dozen white-stoled priests and deacons watched, prayed, and remembered their own ordinations.
After the Holy Eucharist, following behind the banners of St. Mary’s and of Santa María, the congregation joined the Gonzalez family and the visiting clergy at the reception hosted by the Parish Life Ministry. The two bishops returned to the altar and waited for Gonzalez for a memorial photograph. The search for the diocese’s newest deacon found him in the chapel already ministering to and praying with one of his people.
In
our last issue we gave you a heads-up that all Upper SC
households would be receiving an original MDG (Millennium
Development Goals) sticker
created by three geniuses from St. John's, Columbia: the Rev.
Mary Moore Roberson, associate rector, Brandon Templeton,
and Gordon Schell. The stickers will be coming your way in
October—special delivery by your congregational delegation to
Diocesan Convention, October 26-27.
Little did we know when we published that item that the St. John's sticker would capture national attention, but it did and is now featured on hats, t-shirts, mouse pads, and so much more MDG-abilila offered by Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation, the agency charged with resourcing the movement of spiritual transformation emerging around the MDGs in the Episcopal Church. You can see how the sticker has blossomed here.
The Millennium Development Goals are a diocesan priority and a priority of the Episcopal Church. We are proud of St. John's, Columbia, for the commitment and vision that is sure to change the world, not to mention make them a household name! Visit our resource-full MDG pages and post to our MDG blog. We want to hear from individuals, congregations, committees, organizations, and institutions: What's up with you and the MDGs?
New for fall 2007!
In response to requests from students, the Diocesan School for Ministry will be offering courses in addition to the usual two-year, twelve-course
core curriculum, beginning this fall.
Additional courses will be offered at one central site, at All Saints church in Clinton, on Saturdays that do not conflict with the core curriculum class meeting dates.
Additional courses for the fall session are "Modern Theology from 1800 to the present: Making our Way from the Reformation to Post-Modernism," taught by the Rev. Dr. Philip Whitehead and "Religions of the World," taught by the Rev. Clyde Ireland. These classes will meet on September 15, 29; October 13; November 10; and December 1 and 8. For winter term 2008 offerings will be "The Challenge of Culture in Understanding the Bible, or Don't Let Hermeneutics Throw You," taught by Dr. Whitehead, and "Homiletics (Hands-On)," taught by the Rev. Dr. Charles Foss (January 12, 26; February 9, 23; March 8, 29). Spring 2008 classes are still under construction.
Visit the
School for Ministry Web page for
curricula and registration information. Questions may be
directed to the Rev. Bob Chiles, chair of the School for
Ministry Committee, 803.736.0866, office;
803.665.5352, cell;
FRChiles@aol.com.
Time to mark your calendar for those fall ECW District Meetings!
September 8 |
Eastern District |
Advent, Spartanburg |
September 16 |
Central District |
Good Shepherd, Columbia |
October 7 (Sun.) |
Northwest District |
St. Philip's, Greenville |
October 13 |
Western District |
St. Bartholomew's, N. Augusta |
In the mid 1990s, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston, Texas, began a program to train pastoral care workers for churches and institutions. Called the Community of Hope, this program is based upon Benedictine spirituality. Over a period of 14 Saturdays, candidates become part of a circle of prayer, concern, and worship as they receive training in various aspects of pastoral care. This Christian community continues after their commissioning as lay chaplains. In this “Circle of Hope” they share in complete confidentiality events from ministry in their own congregations in order to improve their abilities as caregivers, as well as to continue in regular worship together.
On April 22, 2007 Bishop Henderson commissioned the first Community of Hope class for our diocese in a service at St. John’s in Columbia. Planning is under way for the 2007-2008 class to begin in September 2007. Classes will be held at three different locations: in Columbia, Greenville, and Rock Hill.
For information
and application materials contact:
Columbia Group: Margaret Jennings Todd,
maggiejenn@aol.com;
Greenville Group: The Rev. Kathryn Tiede Hottinger, 864.271.8773 ex.155 or Peggy
Parham, 864.242.5403,
mkparham@charter.net;
Rock Hill Group: Jim Welsh,
jimwelsh_2000@yahoo.com),
Gene and Sarah Meyer, Meyere@asme.org.
Follow this
link to learn more.
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| The men of our PYE team hard at work in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi (click to enlarge). | Faith in God was alive and well in Bay St. Louis, Mississipi even after such a tragedy. | Upper SC'ers beat the heat with a little comic relief. |
Check out the story from Episcopal Life Online about PYE 2007.
Our diocesan team has returned safely from the 2007 Province IV Youth Event. The team traveled Bay St. Louis, Mississippi where they helped rebulid the homes and lives of those still affected by Hurricane Katrina. They brought back over 450 pictures, full hearts and a great sense of pride for our province. Check out the pictures of our team hard at work,and maybe a little bit of play on the Bay, by following this link.
Congratulations and thanks are in order for the youth and adults of our diocese who, through their mission work, made life that much easier for those people on the gulf coast still recovering from natural disaster.
Well, it happened. What started out as just a conversation between The Rev. Canon Sue von Rautenkranz and missionary Cameron Graham, has now become an amazing reality. Our diocese sent a team of 10 youth and adults to Quito, Ecuador to participate in the first ever “Happening Ecuador”
Check out youthspace.edusc, the diocesan youth blog, for updates and pictures from our team in Ecuador. They have been blogging about their experiences and posting pictures since they left. The team returns to Charlotte July 2nd at 3:45ET. Please pray that the team returns safely from a spiritual journey they will never forget.
As has been reported in recent issues of e~DUSC, St. Francis, Greenville, is in the process of transitioning to become a largely Hispanic parish with Spanish-speaking leadership and a broad range of outreach programs to the local Hispanic community. One of the main challenges in this transition is the empowerment and training of lay leaders for ministry. Keep in mind this training must take place in Spanish and must be sensitive to the varied Latin American cultural contexts from which St. Francis's Hispanic parishioners hail!
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Ema Rosero at St. Francis |
Given the uniqueness and urgency of this challenge, the Episcopal Church's Office for Hispanic/Latino Ministries was generous enough to send us lay leader Ema Rosero from a fledgling Hispanic congregation in Salem, Massachusetts, so that she could spend one week working with the new Spanish-speaking members of our vestry and other Spanish-speaking leaders in the parish. The week was one of many blessings and much empowerment. Working closely with Fr. Robert Taylor, the EDUSC Hispanic Missioner to the Upstate, Rosero began the week with a three-hour retreat which focused on participants' experience of God's grace at work in their lives through the story of St. Francis Church. Ema then facilitated four workshops on the importance of lay mission and ministry in the Episcopal Church. The topics broached in these workshops ranged from the mission of the church in general, to the mission of the laity within the church and in the world, to the specific mission of the laity in the specific parish church of St. Francis.
The workshops were filled with team-building, brainstorming, and empowering participants for the grand task of carrying on St. Francis' mission of ministry and outreach to the Hispanic community in Greenville. We ended our inspiring week with Rosero by holding a simple, yet beautiful commissioning ceremony during which we each anointed one another as a means of symbolizing the commitment of our lay leaders to the continued growth and flourishing of Hispanic Ministries at St. Francis. May God grant us the grace and the wisdom to carry on with this mission for many years to come!
For more information on Hispanic Ministries at St. Francis or to find out how you can help, please call the church office at .864.244.4510.
The Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana’s Office of Disaster Response is calling on people to donate WalMart gift cards to supplement their regular disaster assistance. The cards are used for immediate needs and for needs that fall outside of the parameters of assistance guidelines but are nonetheless necessities. The cards most needed are for $25. If you would like to participate, cards can be sent to:
Anthony Johnson, Case Manager Supervisor
Office of Disaster Response
1623 Seventh Street
New Orleans, LA 70115
On Saturday, August 25, at St. Thaddeus, Aiken, Terry Parsons, staff officer for stewardship at the Episcopal Church Center, will present a workshop offering hopeful stories, fresh ideans, and one or two different perspectives on what it means to be a steward.
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.; suggested donation is $15 (which includes two workshop sessions and lunch.) To register, contact the church, 803.649.5479.
Click here for the flyer (and additional info).
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The annual meeting in support of Partnership Cange and diocesan mission work in Haiti will be Friday evening and Saturday September 21-22nd at Christ Church, Greenville. Father Fritz Lafontant, his wife Yolanda, and daughter Marie-Flore will be here to tell us about the new and exciting developments at Cange.
Partnership Cange is a partnership among us to further His Kingdom. This meeting is to share knowledge and information, to coordinate efforts, and to inspire and involve new people in the mission field. By doing this we support and encourage Father Lafontant in his vision for the church and community at Cange.
Download the registration form. For additional information please contact Reggie Brooker at 864.271.0520 or by e-mail to pbroo10157@aol.com.
——Two challenging workshops: "Illuminating Darkness" and "The Revolutionary Nature of Early Oriental Christianity"——
Thanks to the large overflow of registrants for the August offering
of this workshop, the Convent has scheduled an additional September
7-9 session of
"Illuminating Darkness: Befriending Your Shadow," an
experiential workshop led by Thomas Portney, MA/RM.
Of all the inner and outer forces that disrupt our lives and prevent
spiritual peace, our shadow is the most powerful. Defined by Carl
Jung as the repository of all our denied emotions, fears and gifts,
the shadow becomes to us an imagined Pandora's box from which we
spend our life fleeing. In the end we become defeated by the leaks
that emerge from shadow, attacking self and others and sabotaging
our best efforts.
This workshop presents the idea that the "beasties" of our shadow
are, in reality, most usable energy that can contribute to strength,
creativity, and unitive experience with God. Through redefining and
re-owning our most primal forces, we befriend an almost limitless
energy source which is central to our soul.
"Illuminating Darkness" will challenge participants through
experiential exercises and deep learning to come back into true
balance with self. Further, opportunity to anchor new learnings
within a renewed sense of freedom and lightness will occur.
The workshop begins on Friday, September 7 (at 5:00, with Evening
Prayer) and runs through lunch on Sunday, September 9. $160 including
lodging, meals and program; $80 commuters. Scholarship funding may
be available. Register at 706.798.5201,
ext 1, or by e-mail to
augustaconvent@comcast.net.
On September 14-15 the Convent will offer "The Revolutionary Nature of Early Oriental Christianity," led by Dr. Lynn Bauman. Christianity is both an occidental and an oriental religion, but we in the West have lost a great portion of our oriental roots. Grounded in the Semitic and oriental heritage of the Middle East, Christianity reflects both modes. In this seminar we will explore those roots and the new discoveries that are returning to us the oriental treasures of our faith as they have originated in the teaching and wisdom of Jesus (Yeshua). Many of these are contained in newly recovered documents like the Gospels of Thomas, Mary Magdalene and Philip. Each of these moves us toward the recovery of a wisdom perspective that was the vision of the Christian East. We will examine together these treasures recently recovered from the sands of the ancient Middle East. Program cost is $55.
For more information, please contact the convent: 706.798.5201, ext 1, or e-mail augustaconvent@comcast.net.
Click here to see more offerings from St. Helena.
August 12 |
Catawba Convocation meeting, Good Shepherd, York (3 p.m.) |
August 26 |
Piedmont Convocation meeting, St. Margaret's, Boiling Springs (2:00 p.m.) |
September 10–12 |
Fall clergy retreat |
September 22 |
Training the trainers day |
September 23 |
Catawba Convocation Meeting, St.
Peter's, Great Falls (3 p.m.) |
September 20 |
Midlands Convocation meeting, St. Alban's, Lexington |
October 13 |
Diocesan Continuing Ed training day |
October 26–27 |
85th Diocesan Convention, Christ Church, Greenville |
November 14–16 |
Reedy River residency |
