Week Ending 04/24/17

Virginia-Truro Agreement Upsets ACNA Bishops

Update reported in March on the agreement signed between ACNA parish, Truro Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia to create a center for reconciliation and peace and to extend the lease arrangement allowing Truro to remain in the buildings awarded by the courts to the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.  Now Archbishop Foley Beach of ACNA and ACNA diocesan bishop John Guernsey have expressed publicly their displeasure with the arrangement.  Both issued statements.  (Beach's is here and Guernsey's here. )Both told Truro not to do what they did.  The rector of Truro and Episcopal Bishop Shannon Johnson had reached an earlier rapproachment in 2013, until Bishop Guernsey ordered the Truro rector to back off.  It is not clear if any further pressure will be forthcoming on Truro. 

Covenant with Haiti May End Controversy There

In December 2016 the Update reported on problems that were dividing the church in Haiti, including a rift between the suffragan bishop and the diocesan, and a series of charges that had been filed.  Presiding Bishop Curry sent a team to negotiate a settlement and way forward. He now has announced signing of a new covenant that includes the resignation of the suffragan, and his appointment as a special ambassador for Food for the Poor, requirements that both parties refrain from criticism of the other, addition to the search committee for a new diocesan bishop (election 2018) of some who were critical of the diocesan, and a stern warning that if either of the bishops fails to live up to the agreement, it will constitute an act unbecoming of a bishop and grounds for discipline.  

Episcopalians Take Action For Science and Against Gun Violence

This last weekend was a busy one for Episcopalians taking stands.  While many Episcopalians joined the Marches for Science held in more than 600 cities around the world, others were attending a three-day conference in Chicago sponsored by Episcopal Bishops Against Gun Violence.  The Conference, “Unholy Trinity: the Intersection of Racism, Poverty and Gun Violence” combined worship, theology, action and workshops. The goal is work against gun violence by building relationships within communities. Nearly 70 bishops are part of the ad-hoc group.  You can check to see which bishops are involved at this site.

GAFCON Threatens Action Against British Churches

While statements about inclusiveness by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on the need for the Church of England to be inclusive were troubling, the leaked report prepared for the Scottish Episcopal Church on same sex marriage (see Update here) has pushed GAFCON leaders over the edge.  Initially it seemed they were considering appointing their own bishops to minister to conservatives in England, but a clarification issued by GAFCON leaders suggests that this threat is really aimed at Scotland.  In part they are responding to a list of concerns drafted by anti-gay clergy in the United Kingdom which can be found here.

Canadian Diocese Elects Former AMIA Priest as Bishop

The Canadian Diocese of Caledonia has elected as their new bishop the Rev. Jacob Worley who had left the Episcopal Church in 2007 to act as an AMiA missionary in Colorado.  He left for British Columbia shortly before his new parish affiliated with ACNA.  From Canada, he went to Ireland and later returned to British Columbia where he served 3 parishes as priest in charge.  His election must still be approved by the Bishops of the Yukon and British Columbia.   Worley was a 2001 graduate of Trinity School for Ministry.

Standing Rock Tribes Will Fight to Keep Oil From Flowing

Standing Rock Tribal Chair, David Archambault, told an University of North Dakota students that the tribe would continue its fight to prevent oil from flowing through the Dakota Access Pipeline. Archambault, also a leader in the reservation's Episcopal Church, was part of a panel on indigenous peoples and environmental justice at the campus. Meanwhile, a retired judge who was hearing a number of the cases brought against protestors for trespass threw out many of the cases for lack of proof. Fourteen cases were decided with guilty pleas and another 30 dismissed. A number of cases remain to be tried.