GOOD FOR PORVOO COMMUNION - NOT GOOD FOR ANGLICAN COMMUNION

From Eurobishop:

From 1 to 4 November, the Churches of the Porvoo Communion held a consultation in Turku, Finland on the Churches’ teaching on marriage. Delegates represented the Anglican Churches in England, Ireland and Scotland, and the Lutheran Churches in Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Observers were present from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, the Lutheran Church in Great Britain, and the Latvian Lutheran Church Abroad.
....

The consultation concluded that differences over the introduction of same-sex marriage remain unresolved. The Churches hold a variety of views and pastoral practices along a theological spectrum. Some believe same sex marriage to be a legitimate development in the Christian tradition, whilst others see the potential for a serious departure from the received tradition. Nevertheless the consultation affirmed the benefits of "belonging to one another" and the value of honest encounter. The strong relationship of the Porvoo Communion, provides a “platform of sustained communication in the face of issues which raise difficulties for [the Churches]” (My emphasis)

Boggles the mind, doesn't it? One wonders why "belonging to one another" is not a priority for the leadership in the Anglican Communion. Why can't we have a “platform of sustained communication in the face of issues which raise difficulties for [the Churches]” of the Anglican Communion? I don't know about you, but the dissonance is deafening for me.

The Archbishop of Canterbury assures us that there is no alternative to the Anglican Covenant. My goodness! The statement above looks to me very much like a foundation upon which to build an alternative. TINA begone! Covenant begone!

H/T to Ann Fontaine at The Lead and Simon Sarmiento at Thinking Anglicans.

HAPPY SAINT NICHOLAS DAY!

Remember the follow the bouncing ball singalong shorts at the movies? Warning: If you say yes, you may give away your age. It's been a long, long time.

So. You have work to do. Sing along as you follow the bouncing ball.

Now if you'd like something a bit more serous about St Nicholas, check out the following:

Padre Mickey

MadPriest

Maria Evans (Kirkepiscatoid) at Speaking to the Soul.

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE NO ANGLICAN COVENANT COALITION

noanglicancovenant.org

NEWS RELEASE
DECEMBER 6, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COALITION CELEBRATES SUCCESSES, PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

LONDON – After slightly more than a year, the No Anglican Covenant Coalition can point to several successes, according to Coalition Moderator, the Revd Dr Lesley Crawley.

• Four dioceses of the Church of England have rejected the Covenant (Birmingham; St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich; Truro; Wakefield). Where synod members were provided with balanced background material (i.e., material that presented both the case for and the case against the Covenant), the synods have voted it down. Four dioceses, where little or no material was presented other than officially sanctioned pro-Covenant material, have approved the Covenant (Lichfield; Durham; Europe; Bristol). A total of 23 diocesan synods must approve the Covenant for the matter to return to the General Synod.

• The Tikanga Maori defeated the Covenant at their biennial runanganui, virtually ensuring the defeat of the Covenant in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

• The Philippine House of Bishops has indicated they will not support the Anglican Covenant, likely ensuring the defeat of the Covenant in the Episcopal Church in the Philippines.

• Individual dioceses in the Anglican Church of Australia (Newcastle; Sydney) and The Episcopal Church (California; Eastern Oregon; Michigan; East Carolina; and others) have indicated their opposition to adoption of the Covenant.

“In November 2010, we launched the Coalition to ensure that the case against the proposed Anglican Covenant would be given a fair hearing,” said Dr. Crawley. “Today we are seeing our efforts bear fruit. When fair debate has been allowed, the results have been gratifying.”

Critical to the success of the campaign, especially in the Church of England, has been the support of the Coalition’s Episcopal Patrons, Bishops John Saxbee and Peter Selby, who have encouraged diocesan bishops to allow for a full and open debate. In the coming months, 37 more English dioceses will vote on the Anglican Covenant. Only 18 additional no votes are needed for the Church of England to reject the Covenant.

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition continues to provide assistance to those researching the proposed Covenant. The Resources section of the Coalition website (noanglicancovenant.org) is regularly updated with new material and analysis.

In the coming year:

• The Episcopal Church will consider the Covenant at its General Convention in July in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Executive Council of the church has circulated a draft resolution to reject the Anglican Covenant.

• The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia will consider the Covenant in July at its General Synod/Te HinotaWhanui in Fiji. Given the rejection of the Anglican Covenant by Tikanga Maori, rejection of the Covenant by that church seems assured.

• The General Synod of the Church of England is scheduled to consider the Covenant at its July session. However, unless 19 more diocesan synods have approved the Anglican Covenant by that date, the matter will not return to General Synod.

“Anglican Communion Office officials have repeatedly responded to criticism of the Anglican Covenant by suggesting that critics have not read the document,” said the Coalition’s Canadian Convenor, the Revd Malcolm French. “Ironically, we find that the more familiar people are with the document, the more likely they are to reject it. The Coalition is committed to ensuring a proper and balanced debate in churches throughout the Anglican Communion.”

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition is an international group of Anglicans dedicated to protecting the Anglican Communion from the dramatic changes that would be effected by the Anglican Covenant.

noanglicancovenant.org

The Revd Dr Lesley Crawley (England) +44 1252 820537
Dr Lionel Deimel (USA) +1-412-512-9087
The Revd Malcolm French (Canada) +1-306-550-2277
The Ven Lawrence Kimberley (New Zealand) +64 3 981 7384
The Revd Canon Hugh Magee (Scotland) +44 1334 470446

RWANDA HOUSE OF BISHOPS TO AMIA BISHOP CHUCK MURPHY: RECANT OR RESIGN

From George Conger at Anglican Ink:

The head of the Anglican Mission in America has been threatened with ecclesiastical discipline for contumacy. Unless Bishop Chuck Murphy repents of his disobedience and apologizes for his offensive statements within seven days, the Rwanda House of Bishops will assume that he has “made a de facto choice to withdraw as primatial vicar” of the AMiA.

In letter from the Rwandan House of Bishops to Bishop Murphy dated 30 Nov 2011, the AMiA leader was chastised for disobedience and abuse of office.

Just read Conger's entire article. I am dumfounded.

H/T to Susan Russell at An Inch at a Time.

Update from the same article:

Questions were also raised at the meeting about the degree of accountability the AMiA had towards the Rwandan House of Bishops. Bishop Murphy charged the Rwandan bishops with seeking to impose a “reverse colonialism” on the AMiA. Overseeing a church half a world away had not worked during the age of colonial expansion when London missionary societies oversaw African churches and could not work today, he argued.

Who would ever have expected...? If that is the case, then may we expect problems in CANA and ACNA?

UPDATE: More letters here and here and rumors, but only rumors, as of now, of more resignations of Anglican bishops from Rwanda House of Bishops from Stand Firm.

SHEEP IN ECSTASY

Courtesy of MadPriest.

For lagniappe, an action-packed picture of the Mad Dogs at the beach.

The photography is not bad, not bad at all. You can see more pictures, many more, at the link above.

BROTHERS CALL A BROTHER TO A MEETING

From Episcopal News Service:

The bishops of the Episcopal Church’s Province IV have asked their colleague, Diocese of South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence, to meet with them “to have a clarifying conversation” about his decision to issue property deeds to each diocesan congregation.

Diocese of East Carolina Bishop Clifton Daniels, provincial vice president, requested the meeting with Lawrence. He said in a letter to him that that bishops had “determined that it is our duty as bishops of this province to address these concerns in direct communication with you, as Jesus exhorts his followers in Matthew’s Gospel (18:15-20), and in accord with our ordination vows regarding the unity and governance of the church.”

He noted that “we have had no direct communication from you regarding these reported actions.”

Collegiality! It seems only right.

Daniels said that Lawrence’s fellow bishops discussed his action “with some concern” at the Nov. 29 – Dec. 1 meeting of the provincial House of Bishops. He told Lawrence that the other bishops want to know under what canonical authority he proceeded, whether he involved the diocesan Standing Committee, and whether the members of the Standing Committee were in accord with his action. Daniels also asked who signed the quitclaim deeds.

Daniels asked Lawrence to provide a sample copy of a deed and the letter of explanation that accompanied it.

The provincial bishops “respectfully request,” Daniels wrote, that Lawrence meet with several of them in Charleston, the seat of the South Carolina diocese, “or elsewhere if you desire.”

Bp. Lawrence said that the day after he issued the quitclaims to the parish properties was the first time that he felt like the bishop of the diocese, which seems rather strange to me. You'd think it would happen at his consecration. What has Mark Lawrence been all this time if not bishop of the diocese? Is issuing quitclaims to parish property now part of the process of becoming a bishop in the Episcopal Church?

If you don't like the rules, then make them up as you go along.

Matthew 18:15-20

‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’

H/T to Jim Naughton at The Lead.

A CHRISTMAS STORY

There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays, like Christmas. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.

One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived. She asked him to come, but he refused. "That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!" So she and the children left, and he stayed home.

A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another thump. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet.

When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and could not go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed.

The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It is warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and did not seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them.

The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them and they moved further away. He went into the house and came back out with some bread, broke it up, and made a breadcrumbs trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on. Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe.

"Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?" He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud. Then he had an idea. He went into barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn -- and one by one the other geese followed it to safety.

He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save them!" Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!" Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese -- blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us. That was the meaning of Christmas, he realized. As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood what Christmas was all about, why Christ had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished like the passing storm. He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer:

"Thank You Jesus for coming in human form to show me the way out of the storm!"

By David L. Griffith

Thanks to Mark at Facebook and to Nij in the comments here for a shorter version.

TWO ELEPHANTS REUNITED AFTER MORE THAN 20 YEARS

Did your eyes stay dry as you watched the video? Mine didn't.

From britches1985, who posted the video:

Yes, they had horrific lives before retiring to The Elephant Sanctuary which is why they are so scarred and lame. It is indeed heartbreaking. Go to The Elephant Sanctuary and look up their stories. Jenny has sadly passed away since this video and so is in their In Memory section of Meet Our Elephants, Shirley is in the Asian Elephants section. (My emphasis)

The Elephant Sanctuary "operates on 2700 acres in Hohenwald, Tennessee. It costs $125,000 annually to provide sanctuary to one elephant and we want to rescue 100."

PRAYER FOR THE RIGHT USE OF TECHNOLOGY

For Our Facebook Group
By Josh Thomas

O God, thank you for new discoveries and technologies that strengthen our relationship with you by providing universal access in Word, song, art and prayer. Help us to use our Daily Office Facebook group, blogs and other internet tools and applications to glorify you and carry out your mission of justice, healing and peace, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank you, Josh.

RICHES

There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.

An angel hears his plea and appears to him. "Sorry, but you can't take your wealth with you." The man implores the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules just a little bit.

The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars and places it beside his bed.

Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter. St. Peter, seeing the suitcase, says, "Hold on, you can't bring that in here!"

The man explains to St. Peter, however, that he has special permission and asks him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough, St. Peter checks and comes back saying, "You're right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its contents before letting it through."

St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims: "You brought pavement?!!!"


Cheers,

Paul (A.)