Last weekend there was a meeting between the clergy, bishops and laity of the Dioceses of Springfield and Quincy. The meeting was described by the bishops as forum for assessment rather than a decision making body.
Both Bishops Ackerman and Beckwith reported on their experiences at Lambeth and at the GAFCON meeting in Jerusalem. An open forum followed where members of the laity and clergy of the dioceses asked questions of a panel which included the bishops.
The most interesting bit of news from the meeting is that Bishop Beckwith explicitly stated, according to the reporter who sent us notes from the meeting, that he intended to remain canonically part of the TEC House of Bishops and that he did not believe that a bishop had the authority to take a diocese out of the Episcopal Church.
You can read an edited version of the notes from the meeting below:
Joint meeting of the clergy [mandatory] and lay leadership of the dioceses of Quincy and Springfield
10 AM – 3 PM Saturday August 30, 2008
Panel members:
+ Keith Ackerman, Diocese of Quincy
+ Peter Beckwith, Diocese of Springfield
The Ven. Shawn W. Denney, Archdeacon, Diocese of Springfield
The Rev. Canon Edward den Blaauwen, Diocese of Quincy
Both Bishops described this joint meeting as an assessment, a forum, and specifically not legislative.
Both bishops took turns praising GAFCON, and expressed their ambivalence with Lambeth.
Bishop Beckwith contrasted healthy pockets of Anglican growth in the Global South with liberal, stagnant Churches in the West. He complained that the average Episcopalian and/or Episcopal parish was ‘congregationalist’.
Strong evangelical Protestant themes reverberated throughout the roughly four hour session. “Turn it all over to Jesus”, “Prayer and discernment of the guidance of the Holy Spirit’ etc. While Bishop Ackerman’s tone was pastoral, Bishop Beckwith’s was confrontational. “TEC and the Anglican communion are in crisis.” Lambeth’s statements tried to state where the communion is presently at. The Indaba groups while in some ways helpful – were clearly worthless – if listening meant listening to liberals.
GAFCON however, with over 1,000 invited participants and 325 bishops was wonderful to both bishops. Bishop Beckwith then attacked the heterodoxy of the Episcopal Church – no Virgin Birth of Christ, no Physical Resurrection, Any way, Any truth, Any life. TEC and its leadership are obsessed with a New Age self-centeredness and exclusively preoccupied with Social Justices issues. TEC preaches an “experimental (or was it experiential) Jesus’. Truth is what you think it is, and we’re invited to make God in OUR own images. Bishop Beckwith concluded that he is growing less optimistic that the Anglican Communion will survive.
A review of the three moratoria followed:
* no ordaining of gay or lesbian clergy in same-sex relationships
* no blessing of gay or lesbian couples
* no border crossings
Bishop Beckwith expressed his profound disappointment that Rowan Williams’s follow-up letter re: Lambeth only addressed border crossings.
Bishop Beckwith then stated that these issues can only be seen through the following prism:
“Is homosexual behavior a wholesome example to the Christian community?”
*TEC says ‘yes’.
*GAFCON says ‘no’.
Anglicans need consensus.
Archdeacon Denney described his journey to Anglicanism, and noted that this is the 175th anniversary of the Oxford Movement and that Anglo-Catholicism has had a profound and long lasting influence on both the Dioceses of Quincy and Springfield. One of the gifts of GAFCON is that of affirming the African Church’s embrace of orthodoxy. The persecution of African Anglicans causes it to grow; and if we are divided from them, our loss will be great.
Bishop Beckwith remarked at the growing relationships between both bishops, their wives and their dioceses, seconded by Bishop Ackerman.
A general forum followed allowing questions or comments from the assembly …
The Rev. Desmond Francis, Christ the King parish in Normal, IL (Diocese of Spfld) remarked that the Anglican Communion is in a struggle between ‘two Christianities’. The first being traditional, evangelical and orthodox, and those following another paradigm. He asked, “Is the Way, the Truth and the Life, both for Christians AND non-Christians? Or not?
Fr. Francis suggested a four step plan of action:
1. ‘Stop reacting to the perceived enemy. Proact, and discern the leading of the Holy Spirit’.
2. ‘Why don’t we take the Risk of inviting Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori – who is banned from stepping foot in these dioceses – here, [ to this diocese] to speak. We would ask of her, what is her intention and mind for the Episcopal Church?; i.e. have a conversation with her’.
3. ‘Take the following 60 – 90 days for prayer and spiritual discernment following that meeting with her’.
4. ‘Then decide either to remain in the Episcopal Church or go under another province of the Anglican communion’.
There was no response from either Bishop.
(DoS) Seminarian John Hellrung asked about the differences between both dioceses on the issue of women’s ordination. Both bishops agreed that the each respected the polity of the other bishop’s diocese. Bishop Beckwith deplored the national shift from ‘permissive’ to ‘proscriptive’ on this issue.
A DoS layman asked about persistent rumors that both dioceses would be merged into one. Bishops Beckwith and Ackerman categorically stated that there would be no consolidation. Period. Bishop Beckwith predicted that there would be more dioceses that would merge, notably in the states of WI, MI, and KS.
Bishop Beckwith further stated that ‘we are really ANGLICANS, and only Episcopalians because we live here [in the U.S.] He elaborated at length about issues of Ecclesiology – ‘What is the Church?” ‘What is the role of Scripture?’
Bishop Beckwith reiterated his position that he will not leave TEC, but remain canonically resident in the TEC House of Bishops. +Beckwith also stated that a Bishop of a diocese does not have the authority to take a diocese out of the Episcopal Church. Bishop Ackerman uttered some agreement, not very loudly, and may have nodded his head.
Bishop Ackerman deplored the loss of ties to ‘our ecumenical partners’; i.e. the R.C.Church and the Eastern Orthodox communion. Both supported the criticisms made by Cardinal [Ivan Dias or Walter Casper? – the reference was vague], Metropolitan Kallistos Ware (a former Anglican, representing the Ecumenical Patriarch) and Archbishop Hilarion of the Russian Orthodox Church.
A lay questioner asked about the Common Cause Network, which the bishops see as fostering the coming together of 53 groups with an Anglican heritage; a ‘regathering’ if you will.
The Rev. James Fackler, retired Lutheran supply clergy in the Diocese of Springfield asked why ‘he had not once heard the word ‘love’ in the previous 3 hours’ of talk. ‘”Where is love for the homosexual?’ he asked to deafening silence. He further emphasized the enormous on-going damage that schism had caused in his own church, referring to it as having a ‘killing effect’ on both sides.
The Episcopal response was that while God is love; that love is conditional; subject to repentance.
A laywoman from a parish near St. Louis reiterated the call for an invitation to the Presiding Bishop, adding ‘so I can hear her for myself’ [the PB’s views].
Once again, there was no response from the bishops.
A parish priest from Quincy, Illinois (who revealed that he is also allowed to serve a TAC congregation in his city) asked about what, if any, “trouble” he would get into from TEC when he bashes the Episcopal Church – apparently on a regular basis?
After an extensive exercise in verbal legalese, the lawyers on the panel concluded “not much, if any”.
A layman from another moderate parish in the northern part of the Diocese of Springfield asked Bishop Beckwith about the ongoing ‘lack of communication’ in the Diocese of Springfield. The subtext of the question clearly being that DoS parishes that dare to not subscribe to their Bishop’s anti-inclusion agenda are routinely marginalized and actively ignored.
Once again, no response from anyone on the panel.