The face of hypocritical evangelism

Lambeth has been over for a month, now. We have had time to ruminate what Lambeth means to the ordinary pew-sitting members of The Episcopal Church. Most Episcopalians would say, “not much.” But I believe this Lambeth is the most important Lambeth Conference, in terms of TEC, that has ever happened.

I have read almost every U.S. bishop’s reflection on their experience and I consistently read the same concerning statement. Yesterday’s post of Bishop Whalon’s letter to the Convocation of Churches in Europe, he said that the recent meeting of our bishops began with “debriefing” on the Lambeth experience. He followed that by making the same statement all of the other U.S. Bishops have said.

Each has written about the connectedness they now feel to all the bishops of the Anglican Communion. On face value, that is wonderful. But it is the deeper meaning of that statement that is a matter of immense concern, at least for me.

With Lambeth behind us, well-informed Episcopalians have turned their focus to GC09. (Well this past week a lot of cyber ink has been spilled over the deposition of Robert Duncan.) One of the issues is what to do about the disgraceful B033 that was “clarified” by the bishops into an official moratorium on the consecration of qualified honest gay people.

My concern about the vestiges of Lambeth is that the bishops, still in love with the “warm and fuzzy” Lambeth experience, will oppose any move away from “moratorium. I have already heard a significant number of bishops state a need for “three more years.” Unfortunately, my own bishop is one of those spouting such nonsense. She has not been overly friendly to the GLBT community as it is.

A majority of bishops will fight the change while they watch property being stolen, TEC called apostate and their leader, the presiding bishop, called every possible derogatory name by the same bishops they are trying to appease.

The “Lambeth loving” bishops will attempt another last minute end run to acquire a prize of prince-bishops who are in charge of this church. They have done this in two General Conventions already.

This is so much more than just a matter of polity and justice; it is also a matter of mercy, empathy, honesty, and evangelization.

As the non-churched world increasingly rejects mainline religion as an antediluvian symbol of people out of touch with reality, how can we evangelize anyone, let alone the one segment of the American population who is most searching for something that only the way of Jesus provides? Many studies/surveys indicate that GLBT people are searching for a religious structure that meets their spiritual needs and is relevant to the world in which we live.

How can Episcopalians invite our friends to our church, when we know that our church practices open discrimination?

How can TEC honestly say that all are welcome and yet allow GLBT members to be held hostage by the a desire for "fellowship" with bishops who want TEC dead and replaced by their abhorrent version of Christianity?

The answer to these questions is, “It cannot.” If we wish to evangelize, we must practice what we say we believe. St. Francis of Assisi is supposed to have said, “Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.” Our words are simply episcopal arrogance unless those words match our actions.

For those outside of the churches, religious dishonesty is transparent particualrly to the young people who can spot duplicity in a second. I hope our bishops agree with Jesus and refuse to sacrifice our members, and property, to appease bishops who have already departed in spirit, if not in fact.

It is not too late, though. We must express to our bishops and delegates how we feel about injustice negating evangelization, and discrimination being counter to Jesus’ teachings. We can reclaim this church for Jesus and the Episcopalians in the pews. We can tell the world that we practice the way of Jesus, and that our actions match our speech.

If we fail, brothers and sisters, in reclaiming the church by the delegates, TEC is dead in the water and our bishops will be holding the smoking gun and we will have supplied the bullets the bishops used.

Bishop Whalon reflects on the HOB meeting

The Rt. Rev'd Pierre Whalon, Bishop of the Convocation of Churches in Europe, has sent a pastoral letter to his flock. It is a wonderful statement of the events. The letter is dated 21 Sepetember.

As you read this account of the events, please note the deep concern for Mr. Duncan; take special note of the words and actions of the Presiding Bishop. If you read only one bit of this pastoral letter, make sure you read the penultimate paragraph. My estimation of Bisop Whalon went up after reading that bit.

Dear people of the Convocation,

As I return today from the Salt Lake City House of Bishops meeting, I wish to make some comments on the meeting and in particular, the vote to depose the Bishop of Pittsburgh, Robert Duncan.

As I have said before, I will soon issue a formal Pastoral Letter for all our congregations.

Our first day was spent "de-briefing" about our experiences of the Lambeth Conference. It was immediately clear that all of us were deeply affected by meditations on the theological content of the Archbishop of Canterbury's presentations as well as others like Rabbi Jonathan Sachs. For all of us, we feel new closeness to other bishops working in vastly different contexts, and we will continue to pursue developing these relationships personally and corporately.

One way that many encouraged us to use these new relationships is to write directly to people and explain the vote to depose Bishop Duncan.

There is a huge amount of disinformation and misinformation about this move. Bishop Robert Duncan was deposed for abandonment of the communion of this Church, under Canon IV.9. This followed a process begun by some clergy and laypeople of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. While he himself demanded a church trial in an open letter to the bishops, the only canonical basis for action by the Presiding Bishop and House of Bishops is the presentment itself.

The House of Bishops, in other words, could act only on what the complainants from Pittsburgh put before us, including the canonical frame of their charges. Neither the Presiding Bishop nor Review Committee, nor the House itself, could change it. A trial would certainly have been more damaging for the defendant, in any event.

It is easy to derail the Canon IV.9 process by denying that one has indeed left the Episcopal Church. Bishop Duncan did not do so. Nor did he attend the meeting. Less than five minutes after the vote to depose him, the Diocese website announced that he had been received into the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of the Americas.

My own understanding of the canons that I followed with a priest of the Convocation who claimed to be received in another province--while continuing to want to minister in Europe for that province and against us--is that one can only be legally transferred to another province of the Communion by moving there. As Bishop Duncan wished not only to join the Southern Cone province but also took active steps to remove the diocese with him, he clearly had done what the presenters charged.

The House upheld the rulings of the Presiding Bishop, her Chancellor, and the House Parliamentarian, that the canons were appropriately and correctly applied.

The Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts-Schori, did a flawless job of chairing the meeting. She warned us not to indulge in vindictiveness. As she has done before, she also admonished us not to abandon those bishops who have been deposed. They are still connected to us in a real way, by baptism to begin with. Bishop Katharine also saw to it that when two retiring bishops were feted later that evening, that time was given for people to remember Bishop Duncan in positive ways.

As for me, I discovered with great joy the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Way of Christianity thirty years ago in Pittsburgh. I was received into the Church by Bishop Austin Pardue, one of our great bishops of the last century, and made a postulant for Holy Orders by Bishop Bob Appleyard, another giant whom I eventually succeeded as Bishop in charge. I was ordained deacon and priest by Bishop Appleyard's successor, Alden Hathaway, and served my first cure as rector of All Souls Church in that diocese.

Over the years, I have watched the once-great diocese become a shadow of its former self under Bishop Duncan's leadership. His clear schismatical intent to break up our church, as well as what I perceived as egocentric ambition to become its savior, also generated in me a great deal of anger toward the man. I took his actions even more personally, perhaps, because of my deep commitment to the diocese as the people who brought me out of a spiritual desert into a way of being Christian in which I have been able to follow Jesus. As I considered how to vote on his deposition, I realized that for the good of my own soul, I should abstain. It seemed clear that he would be deposed, and I fully concur with that decision. Had my vote been a tie-breaker, I would have changed it to a yes. However, in my heart I felt the temptation to use my vote as a way of getting even with the man. Abstaining seemed the healthier way.

This may seem precious to some. Perhaps they are right. But it is how I saw the matter at the time.

Yours in Christ,

+Pierre

Tomorrow, I will be commenting on one portion of this letter. I do not comment now because I prefer +Whalon's analysis and personal feelings to stand on their own.

A day of fasting

Tomorrow we have an opportunity to experience what a large percentage of the world's population experiences each day. We have been asked to fast for the day, or, at least to forgo one meal and pray for the MDG.

A link to "sign up" for the fast is here. If you are a blogger, there is another link I urge you to visit, it is here. You may follow that link, sign up, and then put the badge on your blog and join the webring.

I urge everyone who reads this blog to join in the fast. It is scandalous that the world's population is very familiar with hunger. I read recently that each day, people living in the United States throw out enough food to feed the entire world's population. That is a sin, sisters and brothers.

If you chose to join the fast, I ask you to give up your evening meal so that you may go to bed hungry. Each day million upon millions of people do just that. In the United States hunger is a companion to far too many people -- including children. Calculate the money that one meal would cost and donate it to a local organization that feeds those in need.

With all my heart, I urge you to do this.



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The letter of Deposition

Most Episcopalians (or Anglicans for that matter) have never seen a letter of deposition. I though you might find Mr. Duncan’s letter of deposition an interesting read. I did not know that there is a “Recorder of Ordinations.”

September 19, 2008

TO: The Secretary of the House of Bishops
The Secretary of the General Convention
The Bishops of the Episcopal Church
The Recorder of Ordinations
The Church Pension Fund
The Church Deployment Board
All Archbishops and Metropolitans
All Presiding Bishops of Churches in Communion with The Episcopal Church

Deposition of a Bishop

The Title IV Review Committee having certified on December 17, 2007, pursuant to Canon IV.9.1 of the Episcopal Church, that the Rt. Rev. Robert W. Duncan, Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, has abandoned the Communion of the Church, and a majority of the members of the House of Bishops entitled to vote having consented to this Deposition at a meeting of the House of Bishops in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 18 September, 2008, I hereby depose The Right Rev. Robert W. Duncan, Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh and declare that from and after 12:01 a.m. Saturday, 20 September, 2008, Bishop Duncan shall be deprived of the right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority of God's word and sacraments conferred at ordination in this Church and further declare that all ecclesiastical and related secular offices held by Bishop Duncan shall be terminated and vacated at that time.

I hereby direct that this Deposition be served upon Bishop Duncan forthwith and that copies thereof be expeditiously sent to the Ecclesiastical Authority of every Diocese of this church, to the Recorder of Ordinations , the the Church Deployment Office, to the Secretary of the House of Bishops, to all Archbishops and Metropolitans, and to all Presiding Bishops of Churches in communion iwht this Church.

signed the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, XXVI Presiding Bishop,

+Richard Chang, Episcopal Witness and +Ken Price, Jr, Episcopal Witness

Does anyone know why the CPF was notified. Will Mr. Duncan’s pension be terminated?

Reading this letter of deposition made me incredibly sad. How tragic that it had to reach this point.