Requiescat in Pace, Göran

Fr. Göran Koch-Swahne (1954-2011)

I dina händer, o barmhärtige Frälsare, vi berömmer din tjänare Göran. Erkänn, bönfaller vi ödmjukt dig, ett får av din egen vik, ett lamm av din egen flock, en syndare av dina egna försonande. Emot honom i armarna på din nåd, i den välsignade resten av evig fred, och i det härliga sällskap med de heliga i ljuset. Amen.

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant Göran. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive him into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.

Eternal Rest Grant Unto Him O Lord,

And Light Perpetual Shine Upon Him.

Evig vila låta honom o Herre,
Och ljus Perpetual lysa för honom.

For his long time friends who may not know, Goran was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive and fast moving form of prostate cancer. It spread to his bones. He was placed in Hospice care on 26 June.

An anniversary for Terry Martin

On this day in 1991 Terry Martin was ordained to the priesthood. Congratulations, Fr. Martin!

News of our brother Göran.

Our very beloved brother, Gören, has been on hospice for a week. He has an aggressive form of prostate cancer. According to his niece, the does not have a lot of time before he joins the Communion of Saints. Please keep him in your prayers as he graduates from mortality. And remember his blood family and his adopted family one of whom I am privileged to be.

Growing up in the shadow of a Swedish Lutheran Church, I learned Children of the Heavenly Father at a very young age. It was always sung in times of distress and for funerals. The last verse of the English translation says:

Neither life nor death shall ever

From the Lord, His children sever.

His the loving purpose solely,

To preserve them, pure and holy.

Bishop Shimpfky at rest

It is with great sadness that I report the death of the Rt. Rev'd Richard L. Shimpfky, D.D.. Bishop Shimpfky graduated from this life into that life of perfect freedom at 6 a.m. today, 28 February 2011. 

I no words to express my sorrow.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,  that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18

Requiescat in Pace.

Et lux perpetuia eis, Domine.

 

For Armstrong, crime does pay

Former priest, Donald Armstrong, who defrauded his Colorado parish of more than two-hundred-thousand dollars and led the same parish out of The Episcopal Church has been sentenced in the case. For Armstrong, crime paid to the une of a little over $300,000.

Armstrong has been ordered to repay $99,000 of the $$392000+ and placed on four year's probation. Armstrong has, as of yet, not acknowledged any misconduct in the matter.

As readers will recall, Armstrong used church funds to pay for the education of his children and other personal expenses. Trust funds were raided for his personal profit.

Read it all here.

For additional background, see here and here.

More depressing news for the Calvinist arm of the AC

This interesting bit of news made me laugh aloud. Some days, God sends just enough "tickle factor" to make getting out of a sick bed worth while.

The following Primates were elected as members of the Primates' Standing Committee at the recent Primates' Meeting in Dublin, Ireland and have agreed to serve:
Africa
Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul Yak (Sudan) - alternate Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi (Burundi)

Central, North, South Americas and the Caribbean
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori (The Episcopal Church)
- alternate Archbishop John Holder (West Indies)

Europe
Bishop David Chillingworth (Scotland)
- alternate Archbishop Alan Harper (Ireland)

Middle East and West Asia
Bishop Samuel Azariah (Pakistan)
- alternate Bishop Paul Sarker (Bangladesh)

South East Asia and Oceania
Archbishop Paul Kwong (Hong Kong)
- alternate Archbishop Winston Halapua (Aotearoa, New Zealand & Polynesia)

Each Primate serves for a period of three years, and thereafter until the next Primates’ Meeting. Also membership ceases when a member ceases to be a Primate.

What great news for our Presiding Bishop!

Poor Rowan, what will he do?

Things just keep getting worse for the right wingers in the Angican Communion and its chief fence sitter, The Most Rev'd and Right Honourable Rowan Williams.

Parliament is going to allow same-gender marriages to take place in the church, and male couples will refer to the other partner as "husband" and lesbian couples will refer to their partner as "wife."

In a major concession to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg's Lib Dems, the Government will announce that for the first time, such ceremonies will be allowed to have a religious element, including hymns and Bible readings. They could be carried out by priests or other religious officials.

The Archbishop of York has stated the is all for equal rights as long as someone else's rights don't offend him.

'I, who believes in a liberal democracy, and actually wants equality with everybody, cannot say 'the Quakers should not do it' nor do I want somebody to tell me 'but the church of England must do it, but the Roman Catholic church must do it' because actually that's not what equality is about. You mustn't have rights that trump other rights.

Isn't that sporting of him. And poor Rowan. Well, when one refuses to have a position on any matter, the ground is always quaking.

Read more here.

Duncan loses, again.

The Commonwealth Court of appeals affirmed the lower court ruling awarding diocesan property to the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.

For more, visit the diocesean website.

Prayers requested for Bishop Richard Shimpfky

TTLS bids your prayers for our brother, the Rt. Rev'd Richard Shimpfky, past bishop of the Diocese of El Camino Real, who is seriously ill and transitioning into Eternal Life.

He is under hospice care ailing with pneumonia, ulcerative colitis and blood clots in the lung and elsewhere. He's looking to the end and wanted me to pray with him for a "Holy Death"

I am greatly saddened by this news. Bishop Shimpfky was a truly holy bishop and a great Shepherd for our troubled diocese. And, it is an honour to have him as a friend.

Iker 0 : TEC 10

In a decision that I must admit surprises me, we learned this afternoon that former bishop Jack L. Iker has been dealt a hefty slap in the face by the legal system in a summary judgment.

Episcopal Cafe reports that:

On Friday, January 21, 2011, the Hon. John P. Chupp of the 141st District Court, Tarrant County, Texas, granted the Local Episcopal Parties’ and The Episcopal Church’s Motions for Summary Judgments. He denied the Southern Cone parties Motion for a Partial Summary Judgment

The Court orders provide in part that the defendants, including Bishop Jack L. Iker, “surrender all Diocesan property, as well as control of the Diocesan Corporation, to the Diocesan plaintiffs and to provide an accounting of all Diocesan assets within 60 days of this order.”

Additionally, “the Court hereby orders the Defendants not to hold themselves out as leaders of the Diocese.

A PDF of the order is here.

News from Turo

The Washington Post reports that The Rev'd Marshall Brown, who was instrumental in leading fourteen Virginia parishes into schism, has been relieved of his duties in Fairfax.

A longtime priest at one of the country's largest and most prominent conservative Anglican churches has been fired for repeatedly using a church computer to surf for pornography, an official at the Fairfax City church said.

Read about it here and then say a prayer for Mr. Brown.

Episcopal Cafe has more on the development.