Rowan Williams - embarrassment to the name Christian

The text of Mr Williams' video address to the schismatic faction of the Anglican Communion is out.

Greetings to you all, in the name of our risen Lord and Saviour.

You are meeting in this most precious season of the Christian year – the Easter season when we give thanks for the new creation revealed and made real for us in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. And we meet also praying in preparation for Pentecost for the renewed gift of the Holy Spirit in which alone we come fully alive to God and to one another in Jesus Christ.

I wish you every blessing in your meeting and I’m delighted that it’s happening at this particular moment, not only in the Christian year, but in the life of our Communion. I’m very sorry indeed that it’s not been possible for me to be with you physically. But I know that my greetings and best wishes will have been brought to you by our friends from the United Kingdom who are joining you on this occasion.

I want to comment on one or two things that relate to your agenda, and indeed to the agenda that we share as Anglicans in our worldwide fellowship.

The text of the Anglican Covenant has now been available for discussion for several months. As you know it’s the fruit of long, careful, prayerful discussion; the fruit of a sustained attempt on the part of so many people throughout our Communion to determine not only what it is that binds us together in terms of our faith, the authority we accord to scripture and tradition, but also what binds us humanly and specifically to one another in our fellowship, in our Communion – what it is that makes us one body, one community, able to speak to the world in the name of Christ.

The text of the [Anglican] Covenant is a whole. It is something which lays out the foundations of our faith, the language that we share, and the hopes that we share, but it also—we hope and pray—sets out a path for the future, a path of mutual attention, mutual respect, the kind of obedience to one another that the New Testament proposes for us, but so much in the Christian tradition also suggests – the careful listening to one another’s needs, and discernment of what we can say together, that is part not only in the life of the Church from time immemorial, but that has also been an important part of the life of many religious communities in the Benedictine tradition in which that mutual listening and obedience to one another has been so crucial. So one of my prayers for your meeting in these days is that you will discover something about that mutual obedience, the covenant with one another that comes out of our grateful acceptance of the covenant God makes with us in the blood of Jesus Christ.

Covenant, as many people have said, is an extraordinarily rich word. In your discussions during these days you’ll have had many opportunities to think about the richness of that word in Scripture and in the theological tradition. But as I reflected on it myself, one of the texts that I looked to was the association that St Paul makes in Romans 9.4 between adoption¸ glory, and covenant. He’s speaking there of the Jewish people: ‘from them’, he says (v.5), ‘comes the Messiah’, the Lord, the Incarnate God. In their life they have discovered adoption as children of God, the revelation of the glory of God, and the covenant reality which holds them to God and to one another. And I would like to think that as we Anglicans together reflect on covenant, we think also about adoption and about glory.

As Anglicans we, like all other Christians, understand our lives in Christ as being brought into that glorious liberty which belongs to the children of God – the liberty from self and sin, the liberty to pray and to praise without hindrance; to stand where Christ stands; to call God ‘Abba! Father!’ (Mark 14.36,Romans 8.15,Galatians 4.6), to speak with his voice and to breathe in his Spirit. We are adopted sons and daughters of our heavenly Father. And in that being drawn into the adoptive relationship with the Father, what happens is glory – the glory that in St John’s gospel Jesus assures he will give to his disciples because they have come to share his relation with God the Father (John 17.10).

So, to the world we show a new pattern of human life reconciled with the Father, free in the household of the Father to come to him with our prayer, with our praise, our petition, whenever we need and whenever we wish, confident of his reconciling and forgiving love. We show to the world that model of reconciled, forgiven life, and of bold and intimate prayer. And in doing so, the glory of God is reflected in us: the glory that Christ has with the Father before all time and to all eternity, now made real in the faces and the lives of ordinary people like you and me.

That new life is made real in us, and that glory is shown in us, because God has made a covenant with us – has promised in Jesus Christ to be with us when we turn to him, has promised that his merciful, forgiving, renewing strength will always be there for us, that his Spirit is never exhausted in re-creating us. It’s the covenant that makes us aware of our new status as the adopted sons and daughters of God, the covenant that is the foundation of glory being shown in us. And therefore it’s God’s covenant with us that is the basis of our mission, our confident readiness to share with the whole needy world the promise of being adopted as sons and daughters, the promise of glory. And as so much in Scripture hints, as we rediscover again and again that covenant that God has made with us, so we rediscover the covenant that binds us to one another. We share in that status of sons and daughters. We see glory in each other’s faces. And in our unity and our commitment to one another we show that God not only has a purpose for individuals, but that God has a purpose for the human family.

So when, as an Anglican Communion we seek to bind ourselves in covenant, we’re not simply making a contract, we’re not simply trying to solve problems. We’re trying to find a way of grounding our mission in a new way, in the recognition of that inter-weaving of adoption and glory that all Christians share.

So as you discuss the Covenant—and as the Covenant is discussed in your Provinces—I hope that that larger dimension will always be in people’s minds. I was particularly pleased to see the ways in which the titles of the various bible studies and lectures during your meeting reflected that sense that we need to go deeper into the idea of covenant. Few things could be more important for us. So, in all those discussions and reflections I wish you every blessing, and I look forward with great eagerness to hearing what you have discovered in your thinking and praying together.

But of course we are reflecting on the need for a covenant in the light of confusion, brokenness and tension within our Anglican family – a brokenness and a tension that has been made still more acute by recent decisions in some of our Provinces. In all your minds there will be questions around the election and consecration of Mary Glasspool in Los Angeles . All of us share the concern that in this decision and action the Episcopal Church has deepened the divide between itself and the rest of the Anglican family. And as I speak to you now, I am in discussion with a number of people around the world about what consequences might follow from that decision, and how we express the sense that most Anglicans will want to express, that this decision cannot speak for our common mind.

But I hope also in your thinking about this and in your reacting to it, you’ll bear in mind that there are no quick solutions for the wounds of the Body of Christ. It is the work of the Spirit that heals the Body of Christ, not the plans or the statements of any group, or any person, or any instrument of communion. Naturally we seek to minimize the damage, to heal the hurts, to strengthen our mission, to make sure that it goes forward with integrity and conviction. Naturally, there are decisions that have to be taken. But at the same time we must all—as indeed your own covering notes suggest for your conference—we must all share in a sense of repentance and willingness to be renewed by the Spirit.

So while the tensions and the crises of our Anglican Communion will of course be in your minds as they are in mine, I know from what you have written, what you have communicated about your plans and hopes for this conference, that you will allow the Holy Spirit to lift your eyes to that broader horizon of God’s purpose for us as Anglicans, for us as Christians, and indeed for us as human beings.

Adoption and glory: these are the treasures given to us in the very earthenware vessels of our discipleship with its varying failings and confusions. And yet God has promised to be faithful. And it’s his faithfulness that we celebrate at this Easter season, and as we wait for the seal of the Spirit at Pentecost.

May your prayers and your thoughts be part of a new Pentecost for the Anglican Communion, which will bind us in communion more deeply than ever, make us more faithful, effective and imaginative witnesses to God’s truth to the ends of the earth.

May God the Father bless you all, through the risen Christ, showering upon you the power of his Holy Spirit.

+ Rowan Cantuar:

© Rowan Williams 2010

It takes a lot to anger me, but this bit of drivel really angered me.

Obedience to one another? Since when is any Anglican in any province to be obedient to any Anglican in any other province?

He didn't say a word about the theft of TEC property and other assets, or the boundary crossing by the schismatic bishops. But then, he was playing to the heads of the theft ring, so of course he wouldn't be so crass as to mention theft.

Instead, he chose to focus on the evil TEC. Not a single word was said about the other "progressive" provinces who support TEC and also support same-gender rights in or outside the church. He certainly didn't mention his province which is very progressive in regards to clerical homosexuality. No, it's those damn Americans. One must wonder, why, exactly?

Note that he is in dialogue with certain people regarding the possible "consequences" the canonical election of an the Rev'd Ms. Glasspool will have. That is absolute nonsense and you may bet the farm Bob Duncan has his largest finger in that pie. After all, Duncan's life depends on the outcome of this drama.

It's taken years but I've finally lost the modicum of respect I had for the man. To put it in the vernacular of the UK, he is mental. As a representative of Jesus Christ to the world, he is an embarrassment.

Perhaps we should dialogue with certain people regarding the consequences of being the most inept Archbishop of Canterbury the Western Church has ever seen. Too bad the COE isn't a democracy where the people in the pews could ask for his removal. The Queen really needs to act before this git of an archbishop completely dismantles Anglican Spirituality.

The Third Sunday of Easter - Misericordia

Easter III
Misericordia

The Acts 9:1-19a; Revelation 5:6-14; John 21:1-14

Introit: The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord, alleluia: by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, alleluia, alleluia. -- (Ps. 32. 1). Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: praise is comely for the upright

Collect: O God, whose blessed Son did manifest himself to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open, we pray thee, the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.


Homily:

Saul heard a voice from heaven. It was Jesus, whom he had been persecuting. It came suddenly, and a light from heaven flashed around him. The experience was so intense that Saul fell to the ground. The light was so strong that he was blinded. After his encounter with the light and the voice, Saul’s life was changed forever. Like Jacob after wrestling with an angel, even his name was changed. At his baptism, Saul regained his sight and took his new name. Saul the persecutor became Paul the advocate. Voices from heaven change everything.

John heard voices from heaven. In fact John journeyed into heaven and saw it all. How he survived such a startling vision is surprising. John stood among the four living creatures, the angels, the elders – there were myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. John heard them singing praises. And then he hears “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea.” Who could stand such glory? Who could endure the sound of everything that exists singing in full voice?

John shared his vision with the Church, and none of us have been the same since. Now we sing in Liturgy many of the songs John told us about. Now we hope to be in that number that praises the Lamb for eternity. Voices from heaven change everything.

In today’s world, if we reported hearing voices from heaven we would be suspected of fanaticism or mental instability. We know that nowadays folks don’t hear voices from heaven.

But wait; maybe we do hear voices from heaven. Maybe we encounter voices and visions of heaven everyday and just don’t notice them. We religious people, because we are rooted in scriptures that tell miraculous stories, expect our words and visions from God to come in flashes of light and thundering sound. And because these supernatural things are not seen and experienced, we don’t expect them anymore.

But maybe these voices and visions are right in front of us.

In the Gospel today, Peter and the apostles hear a voice from heaven. It is the resurrected Christ. This voice from heaven isn’t flashy or loud. The voice they hear tells them not to give up on catching fish. The voice they hear tells them, “Come and have breakfast.” What a scene: the risen Lord, the King of the Universe, the Alpha and the Omega, sitting on the beach making breakfast. Yes, it is miraculous that the apostles encounter their risen teacher. Yes, it is miraculous that they catch so many fish that they can’t hold them all. But in the midst of the miracles is simplicity. In the midst of these miracles is everyday life.

This is where Christ meets us now. He meets us in the movements of our life. We need to eat; we need to work. And the risen Christ is there among us. God chose to come among us, and even after the miracle of the resurrection, God chose to make us breakfast.

In the Collect for today we remember that the “blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread.” We prayed that God would “open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work.” Thus we prayed that God would open our eyes to what is right in front of us.

This is Incarnation: God appearing where we would never expect it. It starts with Advent in that encounter between Mary and Gabriel. It continues with the birth in the manger. Jesus Christ is part of everything we do. Our life is a miracle. Our life is a prayer.

The creation around us is also a prayer. We miss this all the time in our busy-ness and weariness. Look down to the ground and see grass and gravel: there’s God. Look up to the stars: there’s God. Look out among the people and buildings and trees: there’s God. Look at the person next to you: there’s God.

It isn’t that God is the gravel or grass, but the gravel and grass our infused with the creative love of God. It is that God in Christ was incarnate with creation in the form of a human being.

After the resurrection, Christ could have entered the cities and by-ways in glory and light. He could have really amazed the crowds and gotten more people to take seriously what the apostles were preaching. But he didn’t. He kept entering into everyday life. Everyday life is blessed.

From Christ’s birth to death, the Holy One is submitting to earthliness. Even at his Transfiguration, he stands in a glorious vision with Elijah and Moses and speaks of his impending crucifixion. The Alpha and Omega, who could “take over” the universe, always remains grounded.

Where are our voices from heaven? Where are our visions of glory? They are right in front of us. They are in creation. On this day as the secular calendar commemorates Earth Day, we raise our voices to thank God for creation. We remember that seeing a stream, a forest, a tiny garden in our back yard deserves a certain reverence. God’s creation deserves our love and respect.

God speaks to us now through earthly elements. In Christ, God chose bread, wine, and water to ground us in divine love. In water we are baptized and brought back to life and given back our inner sight. And like Paul, after we are given back our spiritual vision and washed in that water, we are given something to eat. God in Christ is known to us in the breaking of the bread. In the Holy Eucharist we enter into the divine mysteries where somehow Christ is really present.

Water, wine, and bread are the essence of human life. God is really present to us in the essence of human life.

God in Christ is feeding us. What could be more earthly than being hungry and being fed? Christ is feeding us.

In our Gospel, Christ puts Peter to the test. He asks him three times if he loves him, and each time he instructs Peter to take care of the people: feed them and tend to them. The third time Christ asks the question, Peter is hurt. But Peter had denied Christ three times. He needs to make amends for that denial. Christ is rooting Peter in the Christian mission: feed and tend to the people. It’s about the people. It’s about feeding and caring for souls, and it’s all right in front of us.

In the first chapter of Acts, as Christ is ascending into Heaven, two men in white robes appear and say to those gathered, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” In other words, “Don’t stand here gazing up forever. Go on your way and proclaim the Gospel.” This is exactly where we can get caught: gazing up to heaven, waiting for a miracle. Life itself is a miracle. Everyday stuff is the prayer. It all goes together, and it is all a light from heaven.

When we come to realize this, then we will be changed forever. When we take time to recognize the beauty of the earth, the blessedness of those around us, then we will be changed forever.

The Rev. Paul D. Allick hails from the plains of Montana and North Dakota. He graduated from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in 1996, and for the past decade has experienced a wide variety of ministries in the Diocese of Minnesota, serving in Native American, African American, and suburban parishes, as well as campus ministry.

A prayer request or two

I bid your prayers for our friend Luiz. He is in need of our prayers Sunday and the following Wednesday.

I bid your prayers for my friend Karen whom the doctors think has breast cancer.

Schismatic propaganda worthy of a read - really, you need to read this one

Several sources have sent me a letter written by Mr. Lee M. Nelson and dated 11 April 2010. Mr. Nelson is "priest" at St. John's in Stockton, California. St. John's as you recall, is one of the properties stolen by David Schofield when he and his schismatics erroneously believed they owned the property and could take it with them into a new organization of their own creation.

The letter is actually a fund-raising letter. But, it could not be so blatantly stated. So, the appeal is craftily concealed - but the reader will get the message. The letter is also meant to inflame the masses of "real" Christians. the only thing missing is lurid details from Fox's Book of Martyrs. So, with that in mind, here is the propaganda pamphlet with some comments added.

I am saddened to report to you that the Episcopal Church USA and its local affiliates will soon be filing litigation against our parish in an effort to shut down St. John's and to seize all of our property and our operating funds [All of which actually belong to TEC according to the laws of California]. Despite our best efforts to reach out to them and to find a resolution, our efforts have been rebuffed and we have been informed that they have no interest in anything other than shutting down our parish, seizing our church property, and confiscating our operating funds.

They have refused to even speak with us about settling our differences, despite two attempts on our part to invite them to meet with us. They intend to use the virtually unlimited resources of the national Episcopal Church to ensure that we are overwhelmed and extinguished into submission. The reason for this action is apparent: We are being punished for remaining faithful to orthodox, Biblical Christianity and traditional Anglicanism. [No, the reason is because you are a bunch of criminals according to the US legal system's judgement.]

Some history [rewritten, revised, and created from thin-air] is essential for you to understand what has occurred and what will likely occur as we move forward. In 2007, our parish and our Diocese, after lengthy and extensive consultation with canonical experts and civil attorneys, with an overwhelming majority withdrew our affiliation with The Episcopal Church USA and realigned ourselves with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, one of the world's 38 recognized provinces in the Anglican Communion. [They really needed better experts.]

We did so in full compliance both with the diocesan canons and the laws of the State of California , which govern religious corporations like the Diocese of San Joaquin and St. John's. [The California legal system has disagreed with their understanding of US law and the canons of TEC and the diocese of San Joaquin and has called them thieves - in so many words.] Since that time, although we remain affiliated with the Province of the Southern Cone, our Diocese and our parish have also affiliated with the newly-constituted Anglican Church in North America , which is currently in the process of becoming the world's 39th Anglican province. [That's news to most of the Anglican Communion. Does anyone have any corroborating information on this claim?]

The Episcopal Church, which has abandoned Biblical Christianity and has morphed into an unrecognizable entity bearing little resemblance to a traditional Anglican church [read "Puritan"], has committed itself nationally to the destruction of orthodox Anglican dioceses and parishes. [Again, blatant lies told by a man who knows he is lying. As for "orthodox Anglican", well, that's just a myth.] It has co-opted its vast charitable and religious resources [which it actually owns] and dedicated their use to funding lawsuits across the United States, aimed at seizing the property of parishes and dioceses that can no longer, in good conscience, affiliate themselves with The Episcopal Church's brand of post-Christian, secular progressive "religion." [No, TEC has simply sought to regain assets that the US legal system states belong to TEC.] Unfortunately, as far as The Episcopal Church USA is concerned, the price of faithfulness to the Gospel and traditional Anglicanism is destruction, seizure of the charitable assets of the faithful, and the financial ruin of clergy. In these new suits against incorporated parishes in the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, even vestry members are being named in the filings.

St. John's was independently established more than 160 years ago. Captain Charles Weber, the founder of the City of Stockton , granted the very first residents of Stockton this very parcel of land for the purposes of establishing an Anglican parish church. [If this is true, the original property belonged to the Church of England (Anglican) and that negates any of the schismatic's claims.] St. John's existed long before the Diocese of San Joaquin or, for that matter, any Episcopal Bishop in California . When Bishop Ingraham Kip, the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church, first visited our congregation, he found a worshipping congregation of 300 souls, producing prayerbooks from their pockets and meeting in a courtroom. [He also found an Episcopal Priest leading the congregation. That priest was sent by The Episcopal Church.]

Our parish was built, funded, and operated by generations of Stockton families committed to preserving the unique Anglican tradition in our community. [This is actually funny. Stockton with a "unique Anglican tradition"? Talk about creating history from broadcloth!] We have never, ever received so much as a single penny of support from The Episcopal Church USA -though they cannot make the same claim in the other direction. No, our parish was built and has always been supported by the people of Stockton, many of whom are themselves interred in the columbarium beneath our sanctuary.

Yet, now a group of hostile progressives based in New York and Washington, D.C. are committed to destroying our parish, seizing our property, and shuttering this ancient and venerable Stockton institution [ah, the hyperbole!] - all because they find our commitment to remain faithful to the ancient Biblical tradition an anathema to their fashionable brand of religion. [No, reclaiming property from a bunch of thieves and liars.] It is all so very, very sad.The Episcopal Church USA, ignoring altogether California 's corporations law and the validly enacted canons of both The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of San Joaquin, "installed" their own bishop in the newly formed "Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin." That bishop, Jerry Lamb, is nothing more than a puppet administrator controlled by his handlers in New York , tasked with destroying the Anglican Diocese and its constituent parishes. Funded by The Episcopal Church, he has sued the Bishop of San Joaquin, Bishop John-David Schofield, [the US courts have said Schofield is not the Bishop of San Joaquin] in Fresno Superior Court, frozen the financial assets of the Anglican Diocese, [there is NO Anglican diocese] and engaged in a "scorched earth" litigation campaign against the Anglican Diocese and its parishes. It is almost impossible to fathom that a Christian clergyman, who fashions himself a shepherd ministering in the name of Jesus Christ, could engage in such malicious behavior, so clearly contrary to the Gospel injunction against Christians suing each other in the civil courts. [The facts are that the US legal system agreed with TEC and against Schofield's cult. But, cultists are not concerned with facts, they are concerned with the spin. The schismatics should never, ever talk about a "Christan clergyman, who fashions himself as a shepherd. All the Schofield's followers need to do is open the closet door to see the truth of a man engaging in malicious behaviour.]

Further, the hypocrisy of The Episcopal Church USA, which so publicly touts its "inclusiveness," "tolerance," and "diversity," in using its resources to destroy fellow Christians is clearly manifest in their actions. [Attempting to reclaim its stolen property is hypocrisy?]

While The Episcopal Church USA has met with considerable success in using the civil law courts to seize the assets of Anglican parishes that have withdrawn from Episcopal dioceses, the issue of entire dioceses withdrawing from The Episcopal Church USA presents an entirely new set of issues that have yet to be resolved. [More lies - TEC has been about 98 percent successful in reclaiming stolen property. As for resolving the "leaving" dioceses, the California courts have ruled in favour of TEC.] In our Anglican tradition, the diocese is an autonomous entity. [Not even when Henry VIII was around and never since then.] The hierarchy ends with the diocesan bishop. We do not have a supreme curia or a pope to whom our bishops answer, as is the case in the Roman church. The Episcopal Church USA is little more than a confederation of dioceses, with a Presiding Bishop to preside over meetings of the House of Bishops. [Hum, did his man truly NOT read any of the legal decisions in any of the cases involving the schismatics?] The idea that there is any such thing as a "national church" is the creation of the very same people who now retroactively and speciously claim ownership of our property. [I didn't realize the members of the General Convention had all lived a couple-of-hundred years!] Any authority over parishes and dioceses the Presiding Bishop claims for herself is authority not stated in the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church. When our diocese voted to realign with another province of the Anglican Communion, it did so fully within its constitutional, canonical, and legal rights, and our parish did so with it. [Neither the US legal system nor the Anglican Communion agrees with that machination.]

So, where does all of this leave us? I wish that I could give you a definitive answer, but I cannot. I do not know. [The legal system does - it leaves you a bunch of lying thieves occupying stolen property.] It is in God's hands and we must pray that he give us the strength, the courage, the resources, and the vision to remain faithful to him and to the Gospel entrusted to us by his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We are being tested. Our faith is being tested. Our commitment to Biblical Christianity is being tested. Our commitment to orthodox Anglicanism is being tested. Our strength as a parish community and our commitment to one another is being tested. We must remember that with God, all things are possible. And, perhaps more aptly as Scripture reminds us, "if God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) I ask each of you to join me in praying daily for our parish, for our people, and, as difficult as it may seem, for The Episcopal Church USA and its collaborators. We will weather this storm only through the active grace of God, which can be obtained only through prayer, participation in the Eucharist, and faithful devotion to his Word.

With regard to the lawsuit itself, we must do everything possible to defend the case and ensure that we are not trampled by the forces aligned against us. This will be very, very expensive and the outcome is far from certain. But, we have no other realistic option at this point but to respond to this aggression. Each of us must consider making a sacrificial gift of our own resources to support this effort. We must also appeal to our fellow Christians and other people of goodwill in our Stockton community to assist us. St. John's is our parish. But it is also a Stockton institution that has been at the very center of this City since its founding. Our presence in the community, as well as our historic legacy, enriches our City and our larger community. We must appeal to all people of goodwill to assist us, but only after we have made our own sacrificial commitment to the effort.

We must also let the larger community here in Stockton know what The Episcopal Church USA is attempting to do to us. [Yes, let's hear it for telling Stockton that TEC is attempting to reclaim stolen property from a bunch of thieves.] There is no dissenting Episcopal congregation to install in our church building. (Indeed, the existing Episcopal parish in Stockton is itself barely viable.) If The Episcopal Church USA were to succeed in its efforts to seize our church, it will likely sell it-assuming, of course, it can find a buyer in this market-as it has done so elsewhere in the United States . In upstate New York , for example, The Episcopal Church USA recently seized a 150 year-old Anglican church from its parishioners [no, the courts handed it back to TEC, the rightful owner] and sold it to an Islamic group, which converted that venerable old Christian house of worship to a mosque. Such will likely be the fate of our beloved old church building if we cannot succeed in defending ourselves. [In the central valley where Republicanism and ultra right conservative religion reigns supreme, that bit will play well, very well indeed. Notice the veiled reminder of 11 September - MOSLEMS!! For the record, Lisa reports that the church in question became an Islamic Centre, not a Mosque - but for the right wingers don't know the difference.]

Although we will undoubtedly continue as a parish community (like the Anglicans in New York did), we will lose something very dear and meaningful to us all. Indeed, the fact that our adversaries would rather seize our church and sell it to a profane use, as opposed to even allowing us to negotiate with them, indicates what their true purpose is, despite their disingenuous and hypocritical rhetoric: They wish to punish us and to deprive us of the legacy that we, our families, and our ancestors have built here in Stockton over the past 160 years. [Imagine that, the US legal system wishing to punish thieves!]

May the intercession and help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Michael the Archangel, and St. John the Evangelist give us the strength, courage, vision, and resources to stand firm in our faith and face our adversaries as it is God's will that we remain faithful to him and his Gospel. [They should be asking the aid of Robinhood and Rob Roy, too.]

Father Lee M. Nelson, SSC

And there you have it folks. Notice that there is nothing new in this propaganda except to cry 'Moslems at the door.' This stuff is worthy of George Orwell!