WELCOME, WELCOME, FOCA!

Richard Chartres, Bishop of London

At an evening gathering of over 500 Anglicans in the Emmanuel Centre, Westminster, on Thursday 26 April, the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (UK and Ireland) hosted scores of senior Anglican leaders from 30 countries who arrived from conference at St Mark’s, Battersea Rise, in a fleet of red double decker buses. They were welcomed by the Bishop of London who encouraged them in evangelism. They also heard of Christian witness amid the terrorism in Nigeria and countries of Central Asia.

I'd say to Bishop Chartres, "Careful, this welcome and encouragement to the FoCA folks to evangelize may come back to bite you."  But what do I know?

Names!  I want names of the 'senior Anglican leaders from 30 countries' in attendance.  Not that I can kick ass after I take names.  I just want to know.

“The Primates of the FCA have assured us that, through instruments now available in this country, including the panel of bishops of the Anglican Mission in England and the FCA UK, those who might otherwise have been under pressure to leave the Church of England can remain within the family of global Anglicanism and be recognized by that body as faithful to the Church of England itself.”

There you have it.

The photo is a still from the video of the bishop's sermon at the royal wedding of Kate and William.

DREADLOCKED BISHOP-ELECT JUSTIN

From Archbishop David Moxon of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia: "I am delighted to announce that the Rev Justin Duckworth has been chosen as the next Bishop of Wellington. Justin was nominated by an Electoral College ably chaired by Bishop Richard Ellena, and Justin's nomination has since been formally confirmed by the House of Bishops and members of the General Synod.
Justin, who is 44, has been at the cutting edge of mission and ministry in Wellington for 25 years."

Archdeacon Bernard Faull conducted a video interview with the new bishop-elect after his election, which is also at the link above.  During the interview, the two speak of the the juxtaposition of the dreads and the mitre.   Below is a close-up photo of Justin.

Justin's is a fascinating story with sometimes surprising twists and turns.

NACC PLANS NEXT STEPS

No Anglican Covenant Coalition

Anglicans for Comprehensive Unity

noanglicancovenant.org

NEWS RELEASE

 MAY 1, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COALITION PLANS NEXT STEPS

LONDON – With diocesan synod voting in the Church of England completed, and with 26 dioceses having rejected the proposed Anglican Covenant, the No Anglican Covenant Coalition is preparing for the next steps in its international campaign, including the appointment of a new Moderator, the Revd Malcolm French, a parish priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. The Revd Jean Mayland, a retired priest, will be the No Anglican Covenant Coalition Convenor for the Church of England.

“We have accomplished what many thought was an impossible task,” said the Coalition’s first Moderator, the Revd Dr Lesley Crawley. “After a full and fair debate, the Church of England has rejected the Anglican Covenant, and it cannot be considered again prior to 2015. As the campaign moves on to other fronts, this is an opportune time for me to hand over the leadership of the Coalition. Malcolm and Jean have been key members of the Coalition from the start, and I am confident the Coalition will experience continued success under Malcolm’s leadership.”

“Lesley stepped up to lead the Coalition with courage and commitment,” said French. “As we move forward, I will look to Lesley’s example of empowering leadership. The defeat of the Anglican Covenant in the Church of England has changed the playing field in the rest of the Anglican Communion. We are confident that a fair debate on the merits will lead to the defeat of the Covenant in several more Communion churches, just as we saw in the Church of England.”

Over the next six months, several more churches will consider the proposed Covenant, including the Scottish Episcopal Church, in June, and The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, both in July. Canadian dioceses have begun studying the Covenant in preparation for General Synod 2013.

A model General Convention resolution has been prepared to assist General Convention deputies in the Episcopal Church who may wish to submit a resolution on the Covenant. The model resolution, along with other supporting material, is available at the No Anglican Covenant website (noanglicancovenant.org/resources.html).

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition is an international group of Anglicans concerned about how the proposed Anglican Covenant would radically change the nature of the Anglican Communion.

noanglicancovenant.org

The Revd Malcolm French (Canada)
The Revd Jean Mayland (England)
The Ven Lawrence Kimberley (New Zealand)
The Revd Canon Hugh Magee (Scotland)
Dr Lionel Deimel (USA)

TRUST, MONIES, GOSPEL - DIOCESE OF SOUTHWARK

Adrian Worsfold, at Pluralist Speaks, writes of the recent news from the Southwark Good Stewards Trust, in the Diocese of Southwark in the Church of England, which believes itself to be misrepresented:

...the Directors have issued the below Frequently Asked Questions, ahead of the official Trust launch and reception. The Directors hope that the FAQ's may be of interest to members of churches of other Dioceses where there is also widespread concern about revisionism.

The first question is of particular interest:

1.  Does the Trust mean one particular tradition of the church will just be serving themselves?

No.  The Trust is open to applications from any Incumbent within the Diocese who can genuinely sign The Jerusalem Declaration (see below). 

I will not cover the FAQs one by one, but regarding the first question, is The Jerusalem Declaration another creed?  Signing the declaration seems to be the ticket to get in the door of the Trust.  According to The Jerusalem Declaration:

3. We uphold the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds as expressing the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

But that's not quite enough to assure the exclusion of Anglicans who accept the historic Creeds, but may yet be categorized as revisionists.

What will this mean for the Diocese of Southwark and other dioceses in the Church of England, should the concept spread, as it is likely to do?  The member churches will still be part of the diocese, according to the answer to question No. 5.

5.  Is the Trust ‘separatist’ ?

The Trust seeks to support parish churches of the Diocese which are orthodox, whatever their particular tradition.   There is nothing separatist about it.  

Is the intention to take over the Church of England from within?  Is this the beginning of an attempt to turn the Church of England into an evangelical fundamentalist church?  But wait!  Will the alliance between the two groups, fundamentalist evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics, hang together?

Further in answer to question No. 5:

Rather its intention as its name implies, is that members should be 'Good Stewards’ of the monies the Lord has given them, and be ‘Good Stewards’ of the apostolic Gospel which  has been entrusted to them, within a particular Diocese, for the sake of the salvation of future generations.  

 So.  It's about the monies and the Gospel with the monies mentioned first.  How will the monies of the Diocese of Southwark be affected as churches ally with the Trust?

As you see, I have a few questions that are not answered by the FAQ list on the website of the Trust.  I assume that the authorities in the Diocese of Southwark may have a few questions of their own.

JESUS AND MO - WATER

Click on the image for the larger view.

From Jesus and Mo.

EAT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN

A signboard outside a restaurant said: "Eat as much as you can and let your grandchildren pay the bill."

A man entered the restaurant, ate as much as he could, and when the waiter gave him the bill he pointed to the signboard and said, "Don't you see; only my grandchild needs to pay for this bill".

The waiter replied, "But sir, this is not your bill.  This is your grandfather's bill."


Cheers,

Paul (A.)

MAY DAY - OCCUPY WALL STREET

Follow the protests live at Occupy Wall Street, or find out at the website how you can follow the events in different locations on Twitter.

Broadway NYC

Union Square NYC

Oakland CA

Chicago IL

Los Angeles CA

'GOD IS LOVE' - THE INNOCENCE MISSION

Rain or shine
This street of mine is golden
Rain or shine
This street of mine is golden

With the gold of hickory leaves
I can walk under these clouds
Rain or shine this street of mine is golden

God is love
And love will never fail me
God is love
And love will never fail me

If I'm driving there today
And I really am this afraid
God is love
And love will never fail me

Some birds I know are moving on this weekend
Some birds I know are moving on this weekend
And I'm under the sky, I am on the ground, with my coat
Some birds I know are moving on this weekend

God is love
And love will never fail me
God is love
And love will never fail me

And some days I will decide
To let everything else go by
God is love
And love will never fail me
Love will never fail me

THEY HAVE NAMES

Total War Deaths: 7787

Iraq: Total Deaths: 4804
-no casualties this past week

Afghanistan: Total Deaths: 2983

WORKMAN, Chris J., 33, SGT, US Army, Boise, ID, 25th Infantry Division
VIRAY, Don C., 25, CWO, US Army, Waipahu, HI, 25th Infantry Division
SHAFFER, Dean R., 23, SGT, US Army, Pekin, IL, 25th Infantry Division
JOHNSON, Nicholas S., 27, CWO2, US Army, San Diego, CA, 25th Infantry Division
METCALF, Michael J., 22, PFC, US Army, Boynton Beach, FL, 82nd Airborne Division
WALSH, Jonathan P., 28, 1st LT, US Army, Cobb, GA, 82nd Airborne Division
FANKHAUSER, Joseph H., 30, SSGT, USMC, Mason, TX, I Marine Expeditionary Force
VASQUEZ, Manuel J., 22, SPEC, US Army, West Sacramento, CA, 172nd Infantry Brigade
GONZALEZ, Moises J., 29, SPEC, US Army, Huntington, CA, 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade
NEAL, Benjamin H., 21, SPEC, US Army, Orfordville, WI, 82nd Airborne Division
BRITTONMIHALO, Andrew T., 25, SSGT, USMC, Simi Valley, CA, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group
EGGLESTON, Brandon F., 29, SSGT, US Army, Candler, NC, 3rd Special Forces Group
LEE, Jr.,Dick A., 31, SSGT, US Army, Orange Park, FL, 21st Theater Sustainment Command
MOSKO, Christopher E., 28, LT, US Navy, Pittsford, NY, Joint Special Operations Task Force
EDENS, Jason K., 22, SPEC, US Army, Franklin, TN, 1st Armored Division

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to those who love the service members who died.

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer)

Source: iCasualties.org

Note: Estimates of civilian casualties in Iraq range from 105,000 to 1,033,000
For information, click here.

Estimates of civilian casualties in Afghanistan range from 17,000 to 37,000
For information, click here.

List from The Daily Office.

A-MAYING

'Queen Guinevere's Maying' - John Maler Collier

For thus it chanced one morn when all the court, 
Green-suited, but with plumes that mocked the may, 
Had been, their wont, a-maying and returned, 
That Modred still in green, all ear and eye, 
Climbed to the high top of the garden-wall 
To spy some secret scandal if he might, 

(Alfred, Lord Tennysosn -  'Idylls of the King' - 'Guinevere')

Image from Wikipedia.