The New Year 2006

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Schedule for week of January 1st

In a daring move to assist orthodox faithful in the USA, two Anglican primates and four bishops gathered in the Singapore Cathedral on the 29th of January to consecrate two bishops for a possible new Anglican province in the United States.

Two American priests, John H. Rodgers and Charles Murphy, were consecrated by Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini and Moses Tay as "missionary" bishops for the USA.

Many members of this parish will be aware of what this action means for us and for other parishes in the United States who struggle to hold true to classical Anglicanism and its tenets of the authority of Sacred Scripture, the teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils and the doctrine held forth in the Creeds.

In November of last year, an adult education series was offered entitled, "Whither." Those present studied the issues impacting orthodox Anglicans in the Episcopal Church (ECUSA) today and possible remedies and alternatives. Among these alternatives was the possibility of a separate Province of the Anglican Communion, duly recognized by the throne of Canterbury, functioning alongside the present Province, ECUSA. Little did we know, or even dare to hope at that time, that such a Province might become a possibility within such a short time.

The story of this action begins over a quarter of a century ago. In the mid-seventies plans were made for a large-scale overhaul of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP). Rome had changed her liturgies, adopted the vernacular and made sweeping changes in the form of the liturgy. When Vatican II first instituted these changes, the texts of the Ordinary of the new Roman Mass were identical to the classic texts of the BCP. Later, Rome must have felt uncomfortable borrowing from her errant children, and so a commission was formed to write new translations of the traditional Latin texts. A new committee called the ICEL (International Committee on English in the Liturgy) was formed and Romans and later Anglicans, Lutherans and other liturgical-minded churches adopted the use of the ICEL texts. This was the beginning of what is called "Rite II" in the BCP of 1979. Many people were unhappy with the textual changes in the BCP - even moreso with some changes in theology which were reflected in some of these textual changes.

Among the textual changes were the omissions of gendered nouns and adjectives when referring to the clergy. Whether the events of 1974 in Philadelphia were caused by these changes, or foreshadowed by them, nonetheless on July 29th of that year 11 women were illicitly ordained to the priesthood. Again, the orthodox world was rocked. In a subsequent general convention, this innovation was legitimized and women were explicitly allowed entrance into the Sacred Order of Priests and implicitly into the Bishopric. This latter was tested when Ms. Barbara Harris was elevated to the Order of Bishop as suffragan of Massachusetts.

The one saving grace in all this experimentation and innovation was that room was allowed, in typical Anglican style, for those who could not accept these innovations by reason of their conscience to hold a differing opinion and still be full and accepted members of the Communion. That is, until General Convention of 1997. At this time, the leaders of the ECUSA took away all right to dissent on this issue and made it mandatory for bishops to ordain women, even if their conscience forbade them to do so. Several bishops resigned rather than breach their consciences, others remained in their sees until the mandatory date to implement this policy would take effect.

Other things were happening in the ECUSA at the same time. Liturgical experimentation continued unchecked and soon gender references to God were become suspect. Certain innovators began composing new liturgies, some of which were officially sanctioned for trial use, changing references to God as "Father" or "Lord" or "King." The liturgical commission of ECUSA has supplied "new and improved" texts of divine worship which have been cleansed of all "offensive" references. These are slated to be voted upon in an upcoming General Convention when the BCP will probably be changed beyond all recognition (and probably orthodoxy).

As has long been stated, the BCP not only defines our worship, but our theology as well. Several "theologians" in ECUSA have grown out of this new and heterodox thinking. Leading among these is Bishop John Spong of the Diocese of Newark. The Right Reverend Mr. Spong has published several books questioning basic tenets of Christianity. Questioning is not the problem - calling basic dogmas of the Church, such as the Trinity, the Virgin Birth, the physical Resurrection of Our Lord, "myths" and "superstitions" is. No disciplinary action has ever been taken by the House of Bishops against this erring brother in spite of his flagrant disobedience to his Ordination vow "to banish and drive away from the Church all erroneous and strange doctrine contrary to God's Word."

Changes in societal morality have been echoed in the life of the Church as well in this past era. The same Bishop Spong has taken great delight in ordaining to the priesthood non-celibate men and women. When one of his cohort, Bishop Righter, was taken to ecclesiastical trial, that august body could not find it within themselves to discipline the bishop for his error, and instead found that the Church has no real dogma to be defended.

Usage of common liturgical texts has made many churches outwardly look alike. It has been argued, if we all look alike and all do the same things on Sunday (Holy Eucharist according to "Rite II") we must all be the same. This line of thinking has led to the Concordat with the Evangelical Lutheran Church. This document, if and when it is passed, (it was defeated once - was only supposed to have been voted on once, but somehow will be returning in an even more offensive form in July’s General Convention) will in effect dispense with the Apostolic Succession in this country by allowing a one-time "suspension" of the Ordinal. This means that Lutheran ministers will be allowed to function as priests without ordination. There is no limit put upon the duration of this "suspension" so one must assume that it is suspended in perpetuity, in effect ending the Apostolic Succession in this country.

By the grace of God, we do not live in a vacuum. The bishops, clergy and people of "developing" countries have been watching the direction that the American Church has been taking and are aghast. They fail to recognize in ECUSA any traditional belief and practice. At the last Lambeth conference they took us to task. A resolution was passed by an overwhelming majority that the union of man and woman in holy Matrimony was the normative field for sexual expression and procreation of children. They stated overwhelmingly that those who cannot accept the experiment of women priests and bishops hold a valid position within the life of the church.

The American Church, however, laughed at these bishops and at the authority of the College of Bishops represented in the Lambeth meeting. Bishop Spong referred to these orthodox bishops as "superstitious," "pre-Newtonian" and Ms. Harris called them "turkeys" from the pulpit, accusing them of having their votes bought by chicken dinners. Diocese after diocese in this country sponsored resolutions at their Conventions stating that they would not be faithful to the mind of the Lambeth Conference.

Presiding Bishop Griswold invited several of these orthodox bishops to "come and see" what the state of the American church really is. His invitation backfired when the bishops reported to Canterbury that they had come and seen and that things were as bad as they had suspected.

Several groups within ECUSA have petitioned Canterbury to intervene and provide some sort of alternative oversight to parishes and dioceses where the leadership has strayed far from the canonical guides of Scripture, tradition and reason. Bishops from other countries have offered spiritual support but have refrained from intervening due to another Lambeth resolution which prohibits bishops of one province from involving themselves in the affairs of another province unless there is grave concern for the spiritual well-being of the congregants in that other province.

It seems that there is a growing willingness to hear pleas of parishes such as our own where classical Anglicanism and scriptural Christianity are maintained. The Primates of the Communion are scheduled to hear these requests and make some sort of move at their March meeting in Lisbon. With the recent action by Archbishops Tay and Kolini this issue will most likely be moved to the top of the discussion list. Several questions remain to be answered: is this the beginning of a new Anglican Province for the USA; will Canterbury recognize the new province.

It seems that there are few people happy with the action taken by the Singapore Six. Of course, the leadership of ECUSA is livid. Not only has their jurisdictional ox been gored, but the eyes of the world are now focused on them and taking a more evaluative look at the state of the American church. In a letter to the U.S. bishops, Episcopal Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold declared he was "appalled by this irregular action and even more so by the purported 'crisis' that has been largely fomented by [Rodgers and Murphy] and others, and which bears very little resemblance to the church we actually know, which is alive and well and faithful." It seems the PB needs to open his eyes to the state of the States. The American church is deeply divided over major points of doctrine. No pretending that this isn’t true is going to change that fact.

Those who are hoping and praying for a new province are not happy with the way this action was done or its timing. It seems the general consensus that Archbishop Tay and the others should have waited until after the Primate’s meeting before moving unilaterally.

Most importantly, no one is happy about this action because of the necessity to take it. The state of the Church in this country is becoming increasingly hostile to those who hold the Catholic faith. Unfortunately some protection needs to be afforded to orthodox Anglicans.

It remains to be seen what the action of the Singapore Seven will accomplish. It is my hope and fervent prayer that a separate province for orthodox Anglicans, approved by Canterbury, will become a possibility in this country. Let us hope and pray that this action will not hurt our cause for the creation of a new, orthodox Province, but be the springboard for such a creation. Pray that in all things God’s holy Will be done.

Established in 1867 - two years before this parish - the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament has endeavored over its 133 year lifespan to foster devotion to the presence of Our Blessed Lord in the most holy Sacrament of the Altar.

This group had been active in this parish for many years. Recent times have seen some diminishment in the level of activity of its membership. We are desirous of returning it to active status.

We will hold an informational meeting on Sunday, February 20th immediately following the services of Evensong and Benediction.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the work and witness of this group is invited to attend that meeting.

Final arrangements have been made with the publishers of the Christian Challenge to begin our bulk subscription and advertise our parish on their directory page. Our advertisement should be coming out in the next edition, or the following at the latest.

Thanks to those who subscribed, helping their parish to gain this national recognition.

Remember, this is a bulk subscription, meaning that all copies will be sent to the parish. Individual subscribers will be able to pick up their copy at church.