Duncan Deposed: From "The Lead"

The House of Bishops has acted to depose CANA bishop Robert Duncan+.

The Lead at Episcopal Cafe has the scoop:

The Episcopal Church's House of Bishops has deposed Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh for abandonment of communion. Eighty-eight bishops voted in favor of deposing Duncan, 35 voted against and four abstained according to several sources in the House of Bishops.

Two statements from the Diocese, which was clearly expecting this outcome, are here and here. Note that Geoff Chapman, author of the Chapman Memo is a member of the Standing Committee. The statement is not unanimous. The Rev. James Simons, who opposes secession, did not sign. Geoff Chapman, as you may recall was the author of the "Chapman Memo" which put forth a plan by which a group of conservative Episcopalians intended to gain control of the assets of the Episcopal Church.

You can read the rest here and also find links to related statements by the group Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh as well as the actual document of the deposing of this alleged bishop.

This comes as the Diocese of Pittsburgh is preparing to meet in convention on October 4th.

Catherine

Of Ill-gotten Memos and Pouty Fundamentalists

The Right Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA, wrote a memo--though not released to the public--but available to read [though obtained by the fundies of Stand Limp (officially known as StandFirm, if you can imagine that)...most dishonorably by Greg Griffiths] on their supposedly orthodox but tainted blog. Talk about bridge to nowhere...

The memo is clear that a presentment is in the offing against the pretender bishop of CANA, Robert Duncan+. What is abundantly clear is the following of canon law as we know it in the Episcopal Church as revealed by ++Katharine, which certain others think they are too good enough to follow and obey when it is used to its fullest and destined intent.

I must warn you that the comments by readers of Stand Limp are acidic, caustic, banal, ignorant and lacking in Christian charity of any kind, regardless of how you disguise it. You will have a foul taste in your mouth and sadness in your heart, not for our PB but for these obviously miserable and pouty, "if we don't get our cake, nobody can have any", sad excuses for supposedly godly men and women that they profess to be...not. You will only need the armor of God and the Holy Spirit in all of Her goodness to persevere.

You can read the memo [remember, obtained in an ill-gotten manner] and the pathetic attempts to discredit ECUSA and our duly chosen Presiding Bishop, here.

You can read the full text of the letter here. Episcopal Life Online has a very informative article here.

Catherine

Prayer Request Update & September 25 Day of Prayer

Last week I asked for prayer, healing prayer, for a little three year old boy named Tanner and a friend's former partner, Juls. Ya know, it is working. Not that I doubted it for minute, but I wanted you to know that I am thankful for your lifting them up to God.

Tanner is now able to resume his wagon rides down the hallways, and today he ate a nutrition bar, solid food for the first time in months. He still has his feeding tube and receives enteral feedings daily, and he still has the trach so he can breathe while the chemotherapy works on getting this Juvenile Xanthogranuloma under control. The hope is that the chemo will eradicate it entirely, thereby sparing his internal organs an attack that his throat and vocal cords are enduring. Good news indeed. He may get to go home this Friday.

Juls is somewhat better. I don't have a picture of Juls so imagine a beautiful, active woman struck down by this devastating disease. The pain is lessening in micro increments [its the only way it can be described]. Her spirits are better than they were but she also knows that there is no cure, and she will have to deal with her MS the rest of her life. All the same, her condition has improved.

[hand over my heart, and bowing slightly, and humbly] Thank you.


Remember the MDG's? Well Mike Kinman+, bless his heart is an MDG crusader. He has occasionally visited the ol' blog but I have gotten to know him a bit better through Facebook. Come and meet him here on his Facebook page.

To know more about the September 25th Day of Prayer in Support of the MDG's, you can visit the Facebook page that outlines exactly what it is, what its for, who it benefits, what you will need to do, and where you can do it. So, kindly mark you calendars for September 25th.



If you don't want to become a member of Facebook but would still like to participate, you can go to the web site for the Day of Prayer. I know what I'm going to be doing that day, and what I will be putting in the parish offering plate that next Sunday. This day is sponsored by the Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation, that thing that my Rev Anne and thousands of other Episcopal priests gave homilies about this last Sunday. Of course before the homily could be delivered, the Gospel had to be read by--in our case--The Reverend Deacons Meredith Pech and Carol Howser...awesome reading, but then it always is when these godly women read aloud the truly good news of Jesus, our most gracious Lord.

Catherine

Two things I ask...

There are two very ill people who I know of-- but do not know personally --that I request prayer from all of you. I know them through their family and friend, and because I care for each respectively, I entreat your supplications.

One is a little three year old boy, my company's Area Manager's son, who was stricken a few months ago with an extremely rare secondary illness following a bout with pneumonia. His is only the fourth case ever documented in the United States. His name is Tanner and he is a very sick little boy. His father and mother, as well as siblings, are stressed to the max at the possibility of him becoming even worse in his condition than he already is. If you go to his CaringBridge website, you can read about him and his family there and their day to day struggle to keep faith and trust in the healing power of prayer and the latest treatments for his horrible infection.

The other person is a young woman named Julie or Juls to her closer friends near Minneapolis. She is stricken with a difficult form of Multiple Sclerosis, which most recently has attacked her brain stem and spinal cord. She cannot sleep because every two minutes, unspeakable pain runs through her nervous system, preventing her from sleeping. She is numb from the shoulders down and her legs are paralyzed at this time by the tightening of her muscles and connective tissues to the extent that she has bruises all over her legs. She is losing control of bodily functions as well. Her mind is alert and active, and she managed to type a letter to her former partner which has been forwarded to those who care about her so we can know how to pray for Julie.

Julie doesn't have a CaringBridge site but stills needs to be held in deep prayer and love.

Thank you for what you can pray and offer up on the behalf of both of these suffering individuals and their families and friends...

For Tanner and Julie:

Heavenly Father, watch with us over your children Tanner and Julie, and grant that they may be restored to that perfect health which it is yours alone to give; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.



Catherine

+++Rowan reflects, Obama takes a stand for equality, and Bonnie Anderson: Living into the Baptismal Covenant

Now that the Olympics are finally over, and the Democratic National Convention has adjourned, and Lambeth is recent history, here are three items of interest to Episcopalians everywhere:

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has today [August 26th] sent a letter to the bishops of the Anglican Communion, setting out his personal reflections on the Lambeth Conference.


"As the Lambeth Conference of 2008 comes to an end, I want to offer some further reflections of my own on what the bishops gathered in Canterbury have learned and experienced. Those of you who have been present here will be able to share your own insights with your people, but it may be useful for me to add my own perspectives as to where we have been led.

For the vast majority of bishops, it seems, this has been a time when they have felt God to have been at work. The Conference was not a time for making new laws or for binding decisions; in spite of the way some have expressed their expectations, Lambeth Conferences have never worked straightforwardly in this way. The Conference Design Group believed strongly that the chief need of our Communion at the moment was the rebuilding of relationships – the rebuilding of trust in one another – and of confidence in our Anglican identity. And it was with this in mind that they planned for a very different sort of Conference, determined to allow every bishop’s voice to be heard and to seek for a final outcome for which the bishops were genuinely able to recognize an authentic account of their own work."

You can read the rest here.

If you would like to get the "Anglican" perspective on Communion news and happenings, you really simply need to go the Anglican Communion News service. All things Lambeth and then some, can be found there.

Joe Solomonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign, recently sent out an appeal on behalf of fundraising for Barack Obama. In his appeal he quoted the Democratic Party's nominee on his stand regarding real equal rights for all Americans, specifically, the gay community, who--by the way--are American citizens too.

Senator Obama stated:

When I am President of the United States, gays and lesbians will have somebody who will fight for equal rights for them, somebody who opposes Don't Ask, Don't Tell, somebody who's fought to make sure that gays and lesbians aren't discriminated against on the job or hospital visitation. Because they are our brothers and sisters, and I don't mind anyone knowing where I stand.

— Barack Obama
November 16, 2007

Yeah, I'll be voting for him all right. Not only will he be making sure that the gay community has equal standing with the rest of the citizens of this country, but he will return dignity and respect to the United States, and he will do all that is within his power to fight special interests and corruption which is rampant among the rich, selfish Republicans who want to repeal rights and liberties for the sake of their own agendas and cronies.

On August 25th, President of the House of Deputies, Bonnie Anderson--touring the Diocese of Southern Ohio--challenged every Episcopalian to live into their Baptismal Covenant, "taking seriously the unique promise of the baptismal covenant as a foundation" for renewing the Church and being who Christ intended us to be.

Anderson challenged different groups from throughout the diocese to live out their baptismal covenant, both within their church communities and in the world. At the invitation of the Episcopal Community Services Foundation, Anderson served as the keynote speaker at a conference for social justice advocates and grant seekers. Anderson also met with youth of the diocese in Columbus and preached at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati.

Within the Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church is the only province with a baptismal covenant, said Anderson. "Our baptismal covenant brings us to an understanding of the gifts of laity that isn't really understood in the same way by the rest of the communion ... [In the Book
of Common Prayer] the catechism says that the ministers of the church are lay persons, bishops, priests and deacons -- in that order. And so we are called by God to do the work we are given."


You can read the rest of this inspiring ENS article here. I love how she reminds us that our primary vocation is "living for God". How often we forget this. Bonnie Anderson, truly an inspiring woman of our time and in the Church.

Catherine

Post-Lambeth: Reflections and Writers

Well, it's over. And the world continues to turn and life moves on. How to interpret what has happened at Lambeth is mind-boggling, to say the least. I think reading tea leaves would have been much easier to see the future of Anglicanism and the future of the Church.

There are those who are sharing their after-thoughts on the conference and I would like to point you to some of the more lucid and candid writers:

Katie Sherrod of Desert's Child really puts it into perspective as a lay person of the Church, especially from beleaguered Fort Worth.

On the other hand you have Theo Hobson of The Guardian newspaper in London who sings a woeful tune regarding his portent of the demise of liberal Anglicanism. Sorry, I'm still here, as is the American Church. And we aren't dead by any means, Theo.

Of course, a more balanced view can be found at Thinking Anglicans, so definitely visit there, as well as Anglicans Online, the haven for all things Anglican.

Mary Frances Schjonberg of The Episcopal News Service has been covering Canterbury these many days and brings together a consensus of all that has happened in a great article covering the spectrum of fundamentalism to liberalism in the Church.

Bishop Marc Andrus of California has set his reflections down and is also sharing them on Facebook. I find his views and fortitude refreshing in light of what has occurred at Lambeth.

Feathers and Faith, a blog by Barbi Click of Dallas-Fort Worth writes of her thoughts on Lambeth and about being gay in the Church. There is a lot of personal stuff that Barbi puts forth...she is so brave. Have a read that will open your eyes to the life a of gay person in the Church.

You can also go directly to the Lambeth home page of Episcopal Life Online to read the entire texts of the presidential addresses as well as other important speeches and press releases from various parties and attendees, both lay and clergy.

The Scottish Episcopal Church has stepped up to the plate in unity with the American Church as well as Canada in welcoming +Gene Robinson as a son of the Church. You can read it at What's in Kelvin's Head?, the Provost of St Mary's Cathedral of Scotland's own blog. Thankfully the Scottish Church doesn't give a fig about what the Church of England is up to [and why should it?], or Rowan for that matter. Let's hear it for The Scottish Episcopal Church!

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori made a closing statement at the end of Lambeth and Integrity Portland has it here.

Integrity USA, the LGBT arm of the Episcopal Church USA, posted newletters almost daily about the developments of the day, and they also covered the appearances and speeches of +Gene Robinson, the uninvited Bishop of New Hampshire, who most likely made more news not attending Lambeth than if he had been allowed in with the other bishops. You can also read the final Integrity USA statement about Lambeth, written by Susan Russell+, here.

Without a doubt there will be more fallout from Lambeth in the coming months and into next year, especially when GenCon '09 comes around in Anaheim, California...bet on it.

It is my hope that these links and the ones I provided in the post before last help bring to you, dear reader, what Lambeth was about and what it wasn't. Feel free to comment on any of the links or stories that you read or, on the conference as a whole.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord...

Catherine

Who has read Eckhart Tolle?

I was recently gifted with Eckhart Tolle's two books, "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" and "The Power of Now". I haven't really gotten into them, reading-wise, not because they are not interesting but because I have to find time to concentrate on what he is putting forth in them.

The gifter of these books highly recommended that I watch the podcasts or video presentations of the Oprah Winfrey specials where she interviews the author and hears from participants around the world who did a global read of "A New Earth". You can find a link to these here.

Just to be clear I am not promoting the reading of Mr Tolle's books or endorsing what he purports to teach. He has stated that he is not some new guru and does not want to be thought of or considered as such. He seems to be a very humble man simply wishing to share his truth of life and how he approaches it.

Has anyone read either or both books? What do you think of the subject matter and perspective? This inquiring mind would like to know what you sense and think.

Catherine