Nominees for Bishop Announced.

The four nominees for the Fifth Bishop of San Joaquin have been announced on the Diocese of San Joaquin website.

Translating the Appellate Decision in the San Joaquin Case

From the Anglican Curmudgeon -

As briefly reported in this previous post, the Fifth District Court of Appeal today reversed the grant of summary adjudication by the Fresno trial court in favor of the Episcopal Church (USA) and Bishop Jerry Lamb. It held that the trial court should not have adjudicated the issue of who was the proper Bishop of San Joaquin, with entitlement to the assets of the departed Diocese of San Joaquin (now called the "Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin").

This article continues with an extensive review of the decision. Please read the rest of Mr Haley's analysis at the Anglican Curmudgeon.

Appellate Court Sends Case back to Superior Court

The following excerpts are from a recent Fresno Bee article, "Episcopal dispute sent back to Fresno Co. court":

"The legal battle between the U.S. Episcopal Church and the breakaway Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin over who owns church property will return to Fresno County Superior Court, the 5th District Court of Appeal ruled Thursday.

The appellate justices tossed out a Superior Court judge's decision that the breakaway diocese couldn't claim a right to the property in a jury trial. The judge essentially had decided that it was a church matter, not a matter for the civil courts."

At the end of the article there is this comment from the attorney representing the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin:

"Attorney Russell VanRozeboom, who represents the breakaway diocese, said he was aware of the ruling and that the trial court has been told by the appeals court to proceed based on neutral principles of the law. 'It's absolutely a positive step. We asked for it to be reversed and it was. Not only was it reversed, it was dismissed. We got more than what we asked for.'"

See the link below to read the entire article, which includes commentary from those representing the Episcopal Church.

Read more at Fresno Bee.

Thomason Ordination on October 18th

God willing, Deacon Derek Thomason will be ordained to the priesthood on Monday, October 18th at 7:00PM - the Feast Day of Saint Luke the Evangelist at Saint James' Anglican Cathedral. Your presence and prayers are desired. Clergy - Red stoles.

EPISCOPAL CHURCH ELECTION PROVIDES FURTHER CLARITY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2009

Contact: Robert Lundy
Communications Officer
American Anglican Council
770-595-6979
rlundy@americananglican.org
www.americananglican.org

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles elected a partnered lesbian as Bishop Suffragan today and demonstrated The Episcopal Church’s further departure from biblical Christianity.

“Unfortunately, this election provides further clarity to the rest of the Anglican Communion,” said Bishop David Anderson, president and CEO of the American Anglican Council. “Should the rest of The Episcopal Church consent to this election, there can be no more pretending that The Episcopal Church holds to Anglican Communion doctrine and 2,000 years of biblically based Christian teachings. Not only have they elected another non-celibate homosexual bishop, but they repeatedly defy the moratorium on same-sex blessings called for by the Windsor Report.”

Appellate Court Issues Order to Show Cause in San Joaquin

Sorry folks, I'm falling behind. Here is a legal update from The Anglican Curmudgeon:

"Word was received this afternoon [9-22-09] that the Fifth District Court of Appeal has formally accepted Bishop Schofield's petition to review the ruling and order entered by the trial court granting Bishop Lamb's and ECUSA's motion for summary adjudication. This means that the trial court's decision and ruling are suspended pending a determination by the Court of Appeal, and the entry of a new order either vacating the trial court's ruling, or directing the entry of a new summary adjudication."

Read the rest here at the Anglican Curmudgeon.

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH: Massive Decline In Average Sunday Attendance - 1997-2007

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
12/8/2008

More than 60% of dioceses in the Episcopal Church USA suffered double digit decline in Average Sunday Attendance from 1997 to 2007 with predictions that the figures will only escalate in 2008 with even greater hemorrhaging.

An official report, drawn from the Episcopal Church's own figures, shows that the Episcopal Church drew 841,445 Episcopalians in 1997, but in 2007 that figure was 727,822, a drop of 113, 623. In 2008 the estimated loss is about 1,000 Episcopalians weekly. With whole dioceses leaving, that figure could well reach 1,200 now that a new North American Anglican Province has been formed. Recently, nearly 7,000 Episcopalians left the Diocese of Ft. Worth.

From 1997 to 2007, the dioceses of Rhode Island, Central New York, Rochester, Western New York, Eastern Michigan, West Tennessee, Northwest Texas, Northwestern Pennsylvania, Navaho Missions, and Northern Indiana declined more than 20 percent in congregational attendance.

Those losing between 10% and 19% of their congregations include Connecticut, Massachusetts, Western Massachusetts, Albany, Long Island, New Jersey, Newark, Bethlehem, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Southwestern Virginia, Virginia, West Virginia, Central Gulf Coast, Florida, Lexington, Southeast Florida, Chicago, Eau Claire, Indianapolis, Michigan, Milwaukee, Northern Michigan, West Tennessee, Ohio, Quincy, Springfield, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, West Missouri, Western Kansas, Western Louisiana, California, Eastern Oregon, El Camino Real, Northern California, San Joaquin, Spokane and Utah.

Between 2003 and 2007 the following dioceses lost more than 20% of their flocks: Western New York, Virginia, Florida, Eastern Michigan, Northern Indiana, Northern Michigan, Springfield, Dallas, Kansas, Northwest Texas and the Rio Grande.

The most serious losses between 2003 and 2007 were in the Navaho Missions 34%, Florida 29%, Virginia 21%, Eastern Michigan 22%, Northern Michigan 22%, Springfield, 22%, Dallas 22%, Kansas 26%, Northwest Texas 25%, Rio Grande 21%, El Camino Real 19%, San Diego 18%, Taiwan 19% and Ecuador-Litoral down 16%.

For the years 2006-2007 the following dioceses lost 10% or more of the faithful. They include Lexington, Northern Michigan, Quincy, Springfield, Colorado, Central New York, Western New York, Kansas, Northwest Texas, Oklahoma, Rio Grande, West Missouri, Taiwan and Puerto Rico.

All indicators are that the losses will only increase in 2008. More parishes will leave as the new Anglican Province in North America takes shape. There is now overwhelming evidence that the consecration of V. Gene Robinson, a non-celibate homosexual to the episcopacy, has been a huge net loss to the church. His much vaunted "God is doing a new thing" is emptying, rather than filling churches. The Diocese of New Hampshire lost 12% of its parishioners between 2003-2007 and a further 6% in 2006-2007. Losses are expected to escalate in 2008.

In total, The Episcopal Church lost 10% of its parishioners between 2003-2007 and 5% between 2006-2007.

For the full report click here:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/ASA_by_Prov__Diocese_97-07.pdf

Bishop Ackerman Retires This Week

News from the Diocese of Quincy came as a shock on Wednesday October 29th with the announcement of the apparently “sudden” retirement of Bishop Keith Ackerman effective as of November 1st. The fact is that Bishop Ackerman has been on Sabbatical ever since the Lambeth Conference and under the doctor’s care. Due to health concerns he has been advised by doctors and family to retire now. The Diocese of Quincy goes forward with its plans unabated to join us along with the Diocese of Pittsburgh as a part of the Southern Cone. Our prayers are offered for a speedy restoration to health for Bishop Keith as well as wisdom and strength for Quincy’s Standing Committee and its President who will be in charge of their upcoming Diocesan Convention November 7th and 8th.

- Bishop John-David Schofield

50,000 Christians Flee Deadly Violence In India State, Bishop Says

BHUABENESWAR, INDIA (BosNewsLife)-- Tens of thousands of Christians, most of them Catholics, were hiding Saturday, August 30, in the jungles of India's eastern state of Orissa where anti-Christian violence killed at least 36 people, Catholic officials said.

Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, who leads the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Archdiocese in Orissa, claimed more than 80 priests and nuns from his diocese were among 50,000 refugees who fled "for their lives" since last weekend, when Hindu militants began attacking Christians.

"There's a danger of [more] attacks and they are advised not to go home. They have gone into hiding into the forests," said Cheenath in a statement obtained by BosNewsLife. "Their houses have been totally destroyed," he added.

Earlier reports said 11 people died, but the influential advocacy group Global Council of Indian Christians claimed at least 36 people were killed in Orissa's worst communal violence in a decade. The different figures could not immediately be reconciled as investigations continued Saturday, August 30, in remote areas of Orissa.

Read it all.

Some Protestants find spiritual appeal in natural family planning

Taking a page from Catholic doctrine, Protestants are avoiding artificial contraception for religious reasons

By Eileen E. Flynn
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, August 10, 2008

Phaedra Taylor abstained from sex until marriage. But she began researching birth control methods before she was even engaged, and by the time she married David Taylor, she was already charting her fertility.

Taylor, a fresh-faced 28-year-old who would blend in easily with South Austin bohemians, ruled out taking birth control pills after reading a book that claimed the pill could, in some cases, make the uterus uninhabitable after conception occurred. She viewed that as abortion, which she opposes.

"I just wasn't willing to risk it," she said.

Taylor wanted her faith to guide her sexual and reproductive decisions after marriage. Natural family planning felt like the best way to honor God, she said.

The Taylors are one of several couples at Hope Chapel — a nondenominational church where David Taylor, 36, was the arts minister for 12 years — who practice natural family planning. Christian scholars say they may reflect a growing trend among non-Catholic Christians who are increasingly seeking out natural alternatives to artificial contraception.

Natural family planning is frequently dismissed by Protestants as an outmoded Catholic practice that most Catholics don't even follow anymore. But 40 years after Pope Paul VI released Humanae Vitae, the document outlining the church's position on marital sex and procreation, the method and the theology behind it are earning respect among some young Protestants, according to Christian scholars.

Read it all.

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE MOST REVD. METROPOLITAN KALLISTOS WARE OF DIOKLEIA

There are visible divisions separating Christians, but we know that on a deeper lever we do share, in a real sense, membership in one Body. Its expression is incomplete, imperfect, but it is nonetheless a genuine reality. Therefore, I can as an Orthodox, worship with my sisters and brothers who share with me belief in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and Saviour. But I would go further than that. I think of the words of St. Paul, in 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, when one member of the body suffers, all the other members suffer with it; when one member rejoices, all the other members rejoice. As fellow Christians we share one another’s joys and sorrows. For me, as an Orthodox, coming to the Lambeth Conference is an opportunity to do precisely that – to share in your joys and your sorrows.

But, even more, I will go a further step and say that the questions that you are considering are also questions that are of concern to us. And if they are not particularly on our immediate agenda now, yet they are questions that we will need to consider increasingly in the future. So, yes, you have much here to discuss as Anglicans - specifically Anglican problems. But I see them also as questions that are posed to us Orthodox. For example, the question of women priests and bishops. Most Orthodox would say, we should not ordain women. But if you ask them why not, they will say that it has never been done; they will appeal to tradition. But you press them a little farther, and say that there must be a reason why women have never been ordained as priests. The argument from tradition merely tells you that they have never been ordained as priests, but it does not tell you why. Surely there must be some theological reason. On the one hand, the Orthodox are certain and clear in their answer. Most of us would say, no, we could not ever ordain women. Yet others would say, it is for us essentially an open question. We are not proposing to do so in the near future, but we need to reflect more deeply on it. If all we say is, “impossible, never,” we perhaps should ask ourselves, what are the implications for our understanding of human nature , of the difference between male and female, for our understanding of the priesthood and the relationship of the priest to Christ. That is an example of how your questions are perhaps to some extent also our questions.

Read it all.

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, R.I.P.

From National Review Online:

"When 1999 turned into 2000, a lot of people asked, “Who was the Man of the Century?” And many answered, “Solzhenitsyn.” That was a very solid choice.

Born in 1918, Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn became the voice and conscience of the Russian people. There was no greater or more effective foe of Communism, or of totalitarianism in general. His Gulag Archipelago was a crushing blow to the Soviet Union — after its publication in the mid-1970s, the USSR had no standing, morally. The book was effective because it was true.

Because he was such a great and important man, it is sometimes overlooked how great, versatile, and prolific a writer he was. He wrote novels, novellas, short stories, poems, memoirs, essays, speeches, and more. The Gulag Archipelago, he called “an experiment in literary investigation.”

The First Circle, a novel, is many people’s favorite book. So is another novel, Cancer Ward.

He wrote no more gripping or beautiful work than The Oak and the Calf, his literary memoir. The title refers to an old folk image of a calf butting its head up against an oak: This symbolizes futility. And that was a writer — a lone, persecuted, hounded writer — trying to bring down the Soviet state. Yet the oak fell.

With this memoir and The Gulag in mind, Norman Podhoretz once wrote, “[Solzhenitsyn] is returning [to the Russian people] their stolen or ‘amputated’ national memory, reopening the forcibly blocked channels of communication between the generations, between the past and the present . . .” Few writers have written under such pressure. He would receive mail saying, “Look after your health, Aleksandr Isayevich — we are all depending on you.”

In his later years — after age 50 or so — he had the support of a wonderful family, consisting of three boys and his wife, Natalia. Their exile home in Cavendish, Vt., was kind of Solzhenitsyn, Inc.: They all helped with the many tasks of writing and publishing. Out on the grounds of their home is a large rock — a boulder. Solzhenitsyn used to tell the boys, when they were little, that this was a magic horse, which would fly them back, when Russia was free.

Solzhenitsyn returned to his homeland in 1994.

Like everyone else, he had his critics: He was accused of being a megalomaniac, a Slavophile, a right-wing nationalist, an anti-Semite. He was too humane for any of that.

Read it all.

The Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin has fully complied with California State Law

The Diocese of San Joaquin: June 4, 2008
Fresno, California

The following facts are given to correct and clarify recently published misunderstandings and misstatements regarding legal claims against the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin

All actions taken by the Diocese of San Joaquin were authorized by its governing bodies, namely, its Standing Committee and its Diocesan Council, along with Bishop Schofield. These actions were done in complete compliance with California law and were done to secure the property until a California court can rule on the issue of ownership. One of these actions was to retitle accounts held at Merrill Lynch; assets were not moved from Merrill Lynch. The property in question is owned by the Diocese and its parishes and not the Episcopal Church. The Diocese expects a favorable ruling by the California court on the issues of property ownership.

The Diocese of San Joaquin is a California unincorporated association that is governed by the California Corporations Code and its own internal Constitution and Canons (akin to bylaws). The Diocese is a corporate person; a legal entity recognized by the civil courts. In California, an unincorporated association is governed by majority vote of its members. There is nothing in the governing documents of the Episcopal Church which forbade or limited the right of the Diocese of San Joaquin from withdrawing and taking its property with it.

On December 8, 2007, the people of the Diocese of San Joaquin exercised their democratic right reserved to them under their Constitution to withdraw from membership in the Episcopal Church and to realign with another province of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the Province of the Southern Cone. The vote of the people of the Diocese of San Joaquin at a duly noticed and convened Annual Convention was overwhelming; nearly 90 percent were in favor of the realignment. Special provision was made for those who disagreed with the majority’s decision: each parish in the Diocese was given the option of staying with the Episcopal Church and those who did were permitted to keep all of their real and personal property with the blessings of the Diocese and its bishop, The Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield. Ultimately, some seven parishes decided to stay with the Episcopal Church.

Unwilling to abide by the decision of the majority, the seven stay-behind parishes, in concert with the Episcopal Church, purported to hold their own “re-vote” to reverse the 90 percent majority decision of the Diocese and have filed papers proclaiming themselves to be the “true” or “real” Diocese of San Joaquin and seeking all of the diocese’s real and personal property. These assertions are not legally tenable.

Bishop Schofield remains a fully ordained bishop and is a member in good standing of the House of Bishops of the Province of the Southern Cone, a constituent member of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Furthermore, at least five dioceses within The Episcopal Church have rejected or questioned the legality of the Presiding Bishop’s actions in deposing Bishops Schofield and Cox.

Western Louisiana Bishop: 'Two Sets of Rules for One Church'

From The Living Church

Posted on: April 17, 2008

The recent deposition of bishops John-David Schofield and William J. Cox lends credence to those who say two sets of rules govern The Episcopal Church, according to Bishop D. Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana.

At a diocesan standing committee meeting on April 14, all six members approved a statement that noted that the deposition votes of the House of Bishops on March 12 failed to achieve the canonically required number of votes for enactment. A pastoral emergency prevented Bishop MacPherson from attending the standing committee meeting, but he endorsed the statement and urged its approval the following day at a meeting of diocesan council. All 19 members of council present also approved the resolution.

“The purpose is to express displeasure and concern, to encourage everyone to obey the canons” Bishop MacPherson told The LivingChurch. “Right now there is a disparity. It appears there are two different sets of rules for one church.” [the article continues]

Read it all: Western Louisiana Bishop: 'Two Sets of Rules for One Church'

Virginia Judge Allows Case on Episcopal Property to Proceed

New York Times - April 5, 2008

By NEELA BANERJEE

Eleven congregations in Virginia that broke away from the Episcopal Church have won an initial round in their court fight to retain church property.

But the final decision remains months away. And the outcome of the lawsuit could be affected by the Episcopal Church’s constitutional challenge of Virginia law that deals with the dispensation of church properties after a split.

Like several dozen others around the country, the 11 Virginia congregations broke with the Episcopal Church over issues of Biblical interpretation and the 2003 ordination of an openly gay man, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire.

The dispute has already led the majority of parishes in the Diocese of San Joaquin in California to vote to leave the church, and it threatens to rupture the 77-million-member worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the American arm.

Early last year, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia sued the congregations for the property, arguing that it was held in trust by the congregations for the Episcopal Church.

In a ruling issued Thursday night, Judge Randy I. Bellows of Fairfax County Circuit Court found that the 11 congregations could pursue their case under a Virginia law that determined the division of church property in the case of a split.

Judge Bellows did not decide who would be awarded the property, which will be argued in October. But he affirmed the congregations’ position that a division did occur and that they were now part of another branch of the Anglican Communion.

[the article continues]

Read it all:New York Times: Eleven Churches win initial round

Doubts over deposition trial

March 19th 2008

by George Conger

The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops has deposed the Bishop of San Joaquin and the retired suffragan Bishop of Maryland for “abandonment of the Communion” of the Episcopal Church following a closed trial in Texas on March 12. However, a joint investigation by The Church of England Newspaper and The Living Church magazine has revealed procedural and legal inconsistencies that may render the vote a nullity.

The ecclesiastical trial of Bishop John-David Schofield was a necessary part of the Episcopal Church’s legal strategy to secure the property of the Diocese of San Joaquin, US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said on March 12. However, the flawed trial has created a legal anomaly leaving Bishop Schofield in place as Episcopal bishop of San Joaquin, when neither he, nor Bishop Schori, want him to hold that post.

“The current public dispute over the canonical legality of the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops’ recent vote to depose Bishops Schofield and Cox amounts at best to a severe embarrassment to the Presiding Bishop, her advisors, and the House itself; at worst, it exposes a travesty of Christian justice and prudence,” the Anglican Communion Institute noted.

“The result of this dispute and the failures of good order leading up to it will inevitably be the further erosion of [the Episcopal Church’s] standing in the public’s eye and in the Communion’s councils,” it said. [the article continues]

Read the full article here:

Doubts over deposition trial

Deposition Votes Failed to Achieve Canonically Required Majority

From The Living Church

Posted on: March 14, 2008

Slightly more than one-third of all bishops eligible voted to depose bishops John-David Schofield and William J. Cox during the House of Bishops' spring retreat, far fewer than the 51 percent required by the canons.

The exact number is impossible to know, because both resolutions were approved by voice vote. Only 131 bishops registered for the meeting March 7-12 at Camp Allen, and at least 15 of them left before the business session began on Wednesday. There were 294 members of the House of Bishops entitled to vote on March 12.

When questioned about canonical inconsistencies during a telephone press conference at the conclusion of the meeting, Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina said the bishops had relied on advice provided to them by canonical experts, and did not examine canonical procedure during plenary debate prior to the votes to depose bishops Schofield and Cox. . . .

[The article continues]

The complete article is here: Deposition Votes Failed to Achieve Canonically Required Majority

William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008)

From the National Review Online
"I’m devastated to report that our dear friend, mentor, leader, and founder William F. Buckley Jr., died this morning in his study in Stamford, Connecticut.

He died while at work; if he had been given a choice on how to depart this world, I suspect that would have been exactly it. At home, still devoted to the war of ideas.

As you might expect, we’ll have much more to say here and in NR in the coming days and weeks and months. For now: Thank you, Bill. God bless you, now with your dear Pat. Our deepest condolences to Christopher and the rest of the Buckley family. And our fervent prayer that we continue to do WFB’s life’s work justice." by Kathryn Jean Lopez

Here.