Reports from Anglicans United – Right Points Being Brought Before the House of Bishops

For those of you that don’t know about this site, do check it out for reports from New Orleans; they are very good and full of details.

This piece made me think the folks on the ACC and the Primates had been reading my blog lately, making points about how the Episcopal Church got started and the lack of trust felts by all other members of the Communion toward the Episcopal Church, but then I realized everyone has pretty much been making these same points:

From all reports, this morning’s session was a surprisingly candid exchange of information between the members of the House, the Archbishop and the invited guests from the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) and the Primate’s Council. The Rt. Rev. Dr. Phillip Aspinall, Archbishop of Brisbane Australia, spoke to the House, telling them that they must reassure the Communion that they will live into the resolutions passed at General Convention last year. He asked what the rest of the Communion was to think when they vote to refrain from authorizing same sex blessings and 14 bishops quietly (but publicly) authorize rites to be used in their diocese and give permission to their clergy to perform same sex marriages as a pastoral care issue. Aspinall asked, “What good is your vote? How do we trust you?”

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One of the ACC members opined that the US Church, post Revolutionary War, when they applied to join the Communion, agreed to alter the words of the Nicene Creed to conform to norms and standards of the Communion. This prompted the question, “You sought and took our counsel before. Why are you refusing to take our council now?”

Another ACC representative from Central Africa questioned why TEC went ahead with the confirmation of and consecration of Gene Robinson as bishop, New Hampshire, without consulting with the rest of the Communion. She said, “I had to live with what you did in America in my home town in Uganda. It was very difficult for me. If we are a Communion, we will act with regard to how our actions affect the others, not in spite of how our actions will affect others.” (These two people requested they be quoted anonymously.)

Thoughts On the House of Bishops Meeting After My Visit

I think, up front, it is safe to say that the liberal side of the House of Bishops has no real plan as to how to respond to the Primates Communique from Tanzania. I think whatever great hopes there were for the lawyer-Bishops (read Bishop Joe Morris Doss’ report) were pretty much dashed by the fisking it received prior to the meeting. Kudos to all who reviewed it and even more kudos to Greg Griffith of StandFirm who compiled them into one PDF and emailed it to the entire House of Bishops. Even Bishop Epting has admitted that the House of Bishops does have the power to comply with the Primates Communique, and he works for 815. Word on the street over at the HOBD Listserv has been one of great anger on the part of some liberals. Day of schism is upon us and what not.

At this point, we have five resolutions that have been filed, one which claims TEC has already complied with everything at GC2006 by Bishop Parsley which is a non-starter, one complaining about border crossings, one commending further study, and two resolutions that are essentially the same and call for compliance with the Communique. Bishop Jenkins and company submitted one to the Presiding Bishop on July 2 with a pretty nice cover letter, and Bishop MacPherson submitted the “official” Camp Allen bishops’ resolution, co-signed by Bishops Wolfe, Jacobus, and Brookheart. The resolution calls for same sex blessings to stop, calls for no further consents to bishops involved in same sex relationships, and calls for pastoral care for conservatives in a way acceptable to conservatives.

Bishop Howe has also submitted a blue print for going forward, although it is not phrased in terms of a resolution. It is very interesting and I think has some promise as being workable, although I doubt it will be accepted as is, because of the money issue. Certain Dioceses can’t afford to lose the dollars from conservative parishes. Frankly, however, if these bishops can’t negotiate financial issues, they ought to get the lawyers in there to settle things.

So, what happened last week?

Well, perhaps the most significant things were the presentations by Bishop Anis which basically have the House of Bishops a good dose of reality, and the presentation by Archbishop Aspinall of Australia which, while not as harsh, was consistent with Anis and the other presentations according to Bishop MacPherson. The mood of the House of Bishops, I think, is one of surprise to this consistency among the standing committees of the Primates and the ACC. Being without a real plan on the other side, to some fence sitting bishops the +MacPherson resolution is probably looking a little better. Considering that it cites to previous actions of General Convention that have never been overturned legislatively, it gives folks something on which to hang their hat. So, I think we will see a few fence sitters move to the right, if for no others reason than there aren’t too many better options. Will this make a majority? I doubt it, but I wouldn’t be shocked if that happened.

The other thing that happened last week that illustrates the lack of a plan on the part of the liberals was the PB’s proposals regarding Episcopal and primatial oversight. As to parish oversight, the PB sort of assembled a list of folks, but none of these folks really knew what was involved. We also heard previously that the PB was going to ask Bishop Henderson of Upper South Carolina to be the Primatial Vicar, and he hasn’t accepted this position yet.

One of the things Bishop MacPherson talked about at breakfast was how this schemes ought to work vs. how some bishops try to make them work. However, some have made them work. Bishop Wolfe of Rhode Island and Bishop Ackerman have made such arrangements work in their Dioceses, and it makes sense. Forward in Faith parishes in Rhode Island get Bishop Ackerman, a Forward in Faith Bishop, and more liberal parishes in Quincy get Bishop Wolfe. Crazy deal, people actually getting what they want and then become happy. +Bruce commented that in other places and as the Primatial Vicar scheme, the oversight schemes are constructed without consulting with those for whom they are being provided. Sort of like if Bishop Wolfe had, say, asked Bishop Shaw, an ostensibly Anglo-Catholic from Massachusetts, rather than Ackerman, to provide oversight to her Forward in Faith parishes. Well, I think that is exactly what is happening with the PB trying to appoint Henderson to be primatial vicar. It is a non-starter because that isn’t someone the Dioceses who need Alternative Primatial Oversight would want. It is like trying to serve a hamburger to a vegetarian. They just aren’t going to eat it, even if it is half soy. She ought to pick MacPherson, Stanton, Howe, Ackerman or maybe even a retired Ben Benitez to do this. We can all sit around the same table if we get the hamburgers or portabella mushrooms we want. But, that would make too much sense, wouldn’t it?

+Bruce is in good spirits, although everyone should know he has been in New Orleans since last Monday, as he was attending a meeting of the Louisiana Interchurch Conference, a remarkable ecumenical organization that includes Roman Catholics, unlike the National Council of Churches or the World Council of Churches which are restricted essentially to liberal protestants. The current President is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Alexandria, Ronald Herzog. Novel idea, including the Catholics, I know, but this is Louisiana, and I thank God for that. Everyone should also know that +Bruce and other members of the conference, including the Methodist bishop, the bishops of the AME and CME churches have been working with religious leaders and the District Attorney of LaSalle parish for reconciliation in light of the whole Jena Six debacle. Here is the membership list of churches for the curious. In any event, +Bruce has been at meetings going on seven days, and his knee is hurting pretty bad, so keep that in your prayers.

I read with a great deal of dismay the letter from Bishop Steenson indicating that he is resigning as bishop of the Diocese of Rio Grande effective at the end of the year. I met him at Provincial Synod and again at General Convention. This was a man who was really trying to hold things together in his Diocese, and TEC needs to ask itself the question – if a man like Steenson feels he has to resign from the Episcopal Church, could it be that maybe we screwed this deal up? I’m sure the liberals will rejoice and simply say good riddance and hold him up as an example of how you leave the Episcopal Church – without your property.

Well, the bishops should be gathering about now to discuss their workday yesterday and reflect. Monday the meeting will begin again in earnest, and I’m sure more resolutions will be filed. Keep checking StandFirm for on the ground updates on resolutions as they get filed.

Travelogue: New Orleans House of Bishops Meeting And Other Stuff

I went down to New Orleans on Thursday night after work and arrived about 9 p.m. at my cousin’s home in Metairie, and got to visit with Andy, Charlene, and by godson Austin for a good while before bed. I had to be up early to get to the Sheraton on Canal Street before 7:30 a.m. for my bankruptcy Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar. The seminar was about half good – then again, I am a business bankruptcy lawyer and don’t have much use for the consumer stuff. Not a bad seminar, and included lunch at Dickie Brennan’s Palace Café. Wonderful grilled redfish with potatoes and veggies, good salad to start with, and ended with a wonderful white chocolate bread budding (but it isn’t as good as Cajun Landing in Alexandria).

After lunch, we still had some time as they alloted one hour and forty five minutes for lunch, I went over the Intercontinental Hotel some three blocks away from the Sheraton. The press conference had just ended, and I ran into numerous old friends – Steve Waring, Bishop Scriven, Mary Ailes, David Virtue, and Matt Kennedy to name just a few. I got back to the Sheraton just in time for the seminar to begin again. Got a number of phone calls in the afternoon, including one from Bishop MacPherson wanting to see me before I left. So, we made plans for breakfast Saturday morning.

Despite being ahead of schedule in the afternoon, they kept us there until five. I rushed downstairs to get my car from the valet, as I needed to be a Jackie Bruchi’s at 6 for the StandFirm dinner, and I wanted to pick up some wine on the way. In any event, I managed to beat traffic heading to the West Bank and found a Winn Dixie with an okay selection of wine. I managed to get to Jackie’s early, and was the first guest to arrive. Sarah Hey and Greg Griffith had to call to get directions. Things like going east on the compass on a highway claiming to go west to get to the West Bank and Gretna are admittedly confusing for folks. The Louisiana Drells got off the boat in New Orleans, and going down to the city as kid with my dad was helpful in learning how to get around.

Dinner was wonderful. If you haven’t realized it yet, the conservative Anglican bloggers have tremendous comradery. A little wine, a little laughter and a lot of good food (gotta love Louisiana Italian meals – having steak with lasagne, potatoes, and the same onions grilled in tin foil I make at home. Same kinds of appetizers we have here too – spinach artichoke dip, baked brie with pecans. These kinds of things salve the soul when fooling with these Episcopal Church meetings. Oh, and we are talking about trying to raise $50,000 for coverage of the next Lambeth. What a trip that will be.

I then went to my godchild’s pee wee football game. His team won, 6-0, and it was neat watching these little kids play. They looked like midgets with giant shoulders and heads. Sad part was that one of the key plays was to punt and recover the ball after the ball bounced off the chest of the receiver on the defense. They got more yards that way than any other, and it happened two or three times. I went back to my cousins and crashed after a long day.

Got up in the morning and headed back downtown to meet +Bruce for breakfast at the Intercontinental. Got there as numerous bishops were looking rather preppy heading off to put up sheetrock. I am fairly sure this is the first time some of these folks had ever hung sheetrock, as they should have known better than to dress that way. Ran into +Bennison who had been at my worship table at GC2006. Ran into David Booth Beers, who is, despite how he is viewed in the Anglican blogosphere, a rather diminutive man. He was dressed in a blue t-shirt and white shorts, having come back from City Park where he worked on his serve. He asked me if I knew John McLure, our Diocesan chancellor who I have known my whole life. He called John his counterpart. I thought to myself that John was more like his mirror on the wall at Guantanamo Bay rather than his counterpart, but whatever. Had a wonderful meal with the bishop, who I think was glad to talk with someone from back home on what was going on, where he could say what he thought, and so on. Also, he is at a table with Bishop Barbara Harris for a SECOND triennium in the House of Bishops. You know, the one who got up in front of the house that time and said if assholes were airplanes the House of Bishops would be an airport.

Drove back to Alexandria after breakfast. Got back in time to catch the LSU game on TV. A great game with perhaps the best executed gadget play I’ve ever seen. In any event, I decided not to write anything until today. My next piece will contain my reflections, theories, predictions and what not on the House of Bishops, informed by all of the above, and what I’ve read around the various Anglican blogs.