Episcopal House of Bishops affirms same-sex blessing rites #GC77

The Episcopal Church meets in General Convention.

From here:

The Episcopal House of Bishops voted to affirm rites for same-sex blessings July 9, 2012, at the 77th General Convention meeting in Indianapolis, IN.

Resolution A049 was passed overwhelmingly by the Episcopal House of Bishops in a vote of 111-41, with three abstentions. It now goes to the House of Deputies for ratification.

The affirmation comes a week after the Episcopal Church in General Convention voted to approve the ordination of transgendered people.

The House of Bishops authorized "provisional" rites after the Standing Committee on Liturgy replaced the phrase "authorize for trial use" from the original resolution with the sentence to “authorize for provisional use I Will Bless You and You Will Be a Blessing for study and use in congregations and dioceses of The Episcopal Church.”

"We act in humility," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said to the House of Bishops after the roll-call vote.

Bishop Shannon Johnston of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia proposed an amendment clarifying that the rites are only to be used for same-sex couples and not opposite-sex couples. On a voice vote, the House of Bishops adopted his amendment.

During debate, bishops rose in support or opposition to the resolution, including Bishop Mark Lawrence of the Diocese of South Carolina, saying that it would likely be viewed and used as a marriage rite. “I do not want to lose the symbolism of the of the holy marriage feast of Christ and his bride,” he said in opposition to the resolution.

But Bishop Stacy Sauls, Chief Operating Officer at the Episcopal Church Center in New York, expressed support for the resolution. He drew a parallel with A049 and the decision fifty years ago to allow divorced people to remarry in the Episcopal Church, saying that the theological arguments to affirm gay blessings are as strong as allowing divorce and remarriage.

“They are the same,” Bishop Sauls said.

Bishop Marianne Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington stated on the floor of the House of Bishops that she supported the resolution and rites for same-sex blessings. Gay and lesbian people “only want the church to honor their relationships,” she said.

The resolution is expected to be ratified by the House of Deputies this week.

Read it all here.

Episcopal Church "ups the ante" in litigation

From here:

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote for the Wall Street Journal editorial page about how The Episcopal Church had upped the ante in property disputes with departing congregations and clergy. While the church and its dioceses had long been litigating against departing congregations, they added a new feature in recent months: departing congregations who wished to pay for their church property and remain in it also had to disaffiliate from anything Anglican. They couldn’t have a bishop in an alternative polity, they couldn’t contribute financially or otherwise to any alternate Anglican group and they couldn’t call themselves Anglican.

Thus far, four congregations have agreed to the demands. (I believe Ann Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is the only reporter who has covered this “disaffiliation” story for mainstream news pages.) Some of the people I spoke with who’d agreed to disaffiliate told me that they were surprised at the end of lengthy negotiations to be presented with the demand and were too weary to fight it. Others told me that they simply wanted to do what it took to stop getting sued. Other congregations refused the demand, as Rodgers has written about. I spoke with a member of a departing congregation, for instance, who said that she and fellow parishioners responded to the demand by cleaning up their sanctuary for the last time, turning over the key, and walking away. The Episcopal Church responded to my piece with “talking points” and a letter from a bishop whose diocese has seen quite a few departing congregations, members and clergy. Following my piece’s publication, I’ve heard from dozens of disaffected or departed Episcopalians who’ve told some pretty amazing stories about how the Episcopal Church has fought any conservative unrest.

Just as my “disaffiliation” story was going to press, though, word came out of South Carolina that The Episcopal Church was investigating the conservative bishop there for “abandonment,” even though he hadn’t left the Episcopal Church.

Snowmageddeon hit Truro Church last year.

NOTE: Same kind of stuff is going on in Virginia where one parish that voted in 2006 to separate from The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia reached a property settlement with the Episcopal bishop only after agreeing to not affiliate with the Anglicans for at least five years (and why five years?) and it's not clear exactly what happens after five years.   It is plain that the Diocese has no use for the property.  What is the fear - that more Virginia parishes will follow?  There is no way that the Diocese can afford all the properties now tied up in litigation.  No way.  All we need is another snow storm to hit northern Virginia and Mayo House will be strapped.  Why not lay down arms now?  Surely there must be a better way.  Even if the Anglicans walk away from the properties - how will the diocese - which has no compulsive assessments - pay the bills?

 Read it all here.

Kangaroo Court now in session?

Living Church has published a letter from Bishop Dorsey Henderson o the Episcopal Disciplinary Panel for Bishops following the resignation of the "church attorney" Josephine Hicks. Bishop Henderson announces that he has "made a command decision" (never a good sign by the way in a democracy) and appointed a new church attorney, one who has all ready been working on taking Bishop Mark Lawrence down as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.

Bishop Dorsey Henderson

Suddenly, according to Bishop Henderson "time is of an essence" in following the same pattern to remove a sitting diocesan bishop from office. And why is time is of an essence, when as the Anglican Curmudgeon points out, the last time the old Title IV had a full meeting was actually by teleconference last November 10 when no charges were brought forward against Bishop Lawrence. Since then there has been silence until the recent actions of the "new" Title IV committee. Bishop Henderson serviced on the old Title IV and now chairs the new Title IV.

In his letter to the Disciplinary Panel Bishop Henderson says the new church attorney actually did "preliminary work on the Bishop Lawrence information," when he served in a similar capacity on the old Title IV committee.

Bishop Mark Lawrence

Anglican Curmudgeon raises serious concerns regarding this appointment in his post today, "The Kangaroo Court Should Resign in Toto," which you may read here. Why did the old Title IV meet nearly a year ago and do nothing when apparently they did address the actions in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and chose not to do anything for nearly a year? What it a strategic decision that the committee knew that they could not move forward to remove Bishop Lawrence from his office under the old Title IV procedures and so waited to get Bishop Lawrence after the the new Title IV committee was established?

Does this seem right to you?  Why is a year of no action followed suddenly by Bishop Henderson writing that "time is of an essence?"  Why is looking like a sudden rush to judgment?

LATER:  A very good read here at the Anglican Communion Institute, and also back to here.  In the article from March, C. Alan Runyan and Mark McCall write that:

"the new Title IV is unconstitutional in two key respects: it usurps the exclusive constitutional authority given to dioceses for the trial of priests and deacons and it gives the Presiding Bishop unprecedented and unconstitutional authority over diocesan bishops."

 The "church" in the Episcopal tradition in the United States was centered on the diocese, around a bishop.   Here in Virginia, one of the founding dioceses of The Episcopal Church this is very clear.  It took the American Revolution to separate "the Church" (i.e., the Church of Virginia) from the Commonwealth government.  Until the Revolution, "the Church" (i.e. the Church of Virginia) was united with the government of the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Following the Revolution, the two were separated.  The Commonwealth helped create the new United States, while  the Church went on to become the new Diocese of Virginia.  Not all the congregation in the Church of Virginia joined in the fray, especially with so many congregations around the Commonwealth so cautious about reintroducing to Virginia part of England's historical propensity to turn their bishops into Lords.  They had just spent many years getting rid of them and were in no mood to bring them all back to their former glory.

Each of the new dioceses at some point needed to be recognized by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Not all were.  According to Robert Prichard at Virginia Theological Seminary when he spoke to the Region VII Council of the Diocese of Virginia a few years ago, a group in Massachusetts (see here) wanted to be recognized by the Archbishop of Canterbury and become part of the Episcopal Church but were turned down by Canterbury since they did not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity.  That group of once-Anglican churches went on to establish the Unitarian Church.

St. John's Church in Richmond.

The Diocese of Virginia then joined with other founding dioceses in a general convention and created the Episcopal Church.  But the center of "the Church" was never the Presiding Bishop (and why she is intentionally a Presiding Bishop and not an Archbishop, there would have been no way the Church of Virginia would have signed on to having an Archbishop over them after having fought and won a war to free themselves from aristocratic tyranny - Patrick Henry gave his famous "Give me Liberty or Give Me Death speech in St. John's Church in Richmond) nor was it 815, nor was it even General Convention.  The old Title IV understood that.  This is what I was taught in my confirmation classes in Virginia. Episcopal polity meant to have authority centered in the local bishop.  Such a view was difficult for the majority of Anglicans in Virginia and many of them resisted having bishops - this was true in my family's hometown of Buckingham County, Virginia where the local Anglican church became and remains Baptist.

So the new Title IV canons are a major revision, designed to make The Episcopal Church the "communion" (and not the diocesan bishops are in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury) and centralize authority away from the dioceses, their congregations and their bishop and redirect the center to 815 with its special interest groups and the Presiding Bishop.  It's a major change and it might be in the laity's best interest to understand that under the new Title IV canons anyone now can make charges (and not even be identified publicly) against a bishop and have the bishop removed no matter what the diocese and its congregations might say.  Think about it.

Twenty-First Century Excommunication: You're not Anglican, says the Episcopal Church to congregations that split over its liberal doctrinal and political stances

Just in from the Wall Street Journal:

The former Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, NY.

When the Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, N.Y., left the Episcopal Church over disagreements about what the Bible says about sexuality, the congregation offered to pay for the building in which it worshiped. In return the Episcopal Church sued to seize the building, then sold it for a fraction of the price to someone who turned it into a mosque.

The congregation is one of hundreds that split or altogether left the Episcopal Church—a member of the Anglican Communion found mostly in the United States—after a decades-long dispute over adherence to scripture erupted with the consecration of a partnered gay bishop in 2003. But negotiating who gets church buildings hasn't been easy. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said she'd rather have these properties become Baptist churches or even saloons than continue as sanctuaries for fellow Anglicans.

The Episcopalian congregations that want to break away are part of a larger movement of Anglicans world-wide who are concerned by the liberalism of the official New York-based Episcopal Church on sexuality and certain basic tenets such as Jesus' resurrection. Of the 38 provinces in the global Anglican Communion, 22 have declared themselves in "broken" or "impaired" fellowship with the more liberal American church.

In 2009, breakaway Episcopalians in the U.S. and Canada formed the Anglican Church in North America, which now reports 100,000 members in nearly 1,000 congregations. This group has been formally recognized by some Anglican primates outside of the United States.

Bishop Jefferts Schori says this new Anglican group is encroaching on her church's jurisdiction, and she has authorized dozens of lawsuits "to protect the assets of the Episcopal Church for the mission of the Episcopal Church." The Episcopal Church has dedicated $22 million to legal actions against departing clergy, congregations and dioceses, according to Allan Haley, a canon lawyer who has represented a diocese in one such case.

Now the Episcopal Church has upped the ante: It has declared that if congregations break away and buy their sanctuaries, they must disaffiliate from any group that professes to be Anglican.

All Saints Church in Rosedale, PA

Rather than agree to this demand to disaffiliate from Anglicanism, Pittsburgh's All Saints Episcopal Anglican Church last month walked away from the building it had inhabited since 1928. The congregation called the Episcopal Church's demand "mean-spirited" and an attempt to deny "the freedom of religious affiliation."

Some other Episcopalians have opted to disaffiliate rather than lose their buildings or spend years in expensive litigation. Two breakaway congregations in Pennsylvania and two in Virginia have promised they will not affiliate with other Anglicans for five years.

For Anglicans, affiliation with a bishop is essential to their identity and to being part of a church. A disaffiliation clause means that bishops can't make their annual congregational visits to perform baptisms, confirmations and other rites integral to the life of the church, and they can't encourage or discipline priests. The congregation meanwhile can't work with local and national church bodies on disaster relief, youth retreats or educational seminars. Clergy members' insurance and pensions are uncertain. And congregations can't advertise that they are Anglican or contribute the traditional 10% tithe to the local branch of their denomination.

"It's unconscionable for a Christian to impose such a condition on a fellow Christian, telling them who they can and can't worship with and who they can and can't affiliate with. That violates every Christian precept I know of," said Mr. Haley, citing St. Paul's admonition against Christians suing each other in secular courts.

"We can't sell to an organization that wants to put us out of business," said Bishop Jefferts Schori, who added that her job is to ensure that "no competing branch of the Anglican Communion impose on the mission strategy" of the Episcopal Church. Indeed she has no complaint with Muslims, Baptists or barkeepers buying Episcopal properties—only fellow Anglicans.

The archbishop of the break-away Anglican Church in North America, Robert Duncan, says his group has no interest in replacing the Episcopal Church. He says he has encouraged participation with Episcopal Dioceses and recently blessed a priest who wanted to return to the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Duncan says that while the ongoing litigation over property is "unseemly and scandalous," the new disaffiliation clauses are even worse: "You can ask me to give away what I have and I'll give it away. But don't demand of me that I abandon the tenets of my faith."

Read it all here.

Seven Episcopal churches authorized by bishop to perform same-sex marriages in the Diocese of Virginia

UPDATE: This just in from Bishop Shannon Johnston:

Bishop Shannon Johnston

October 5, 2011

To: The Clergy of the Diocese of Virginia
Regarding a Generous Pastoral Response for Same Sex Couples

Dear Friends,

I write to you today with an invitation to attend one of two conversations about the blessing of same-sex couples. I invite those whose discernment has led them to conclude that blessing same-sex relationships cannot be a part of their ministry to gather with me on Wednesday, November 2, at 2 p.m. at St. George's, Fredericksburg. I want to hear from you about your experiences and those of your congregation since I announced my intention at Council. And I want to assure you that your position and witness will continue to be wholly respected and honored in this diocese.

I invite those who would like to learn about how they might proceed in offering blessings to the same-sex couples in their congregations to gather with me on Wednesday, November 30, at 2 p.m. at St. George's, Fredericksburg. I want to hear from you as well what your experiences have been since I announced my intention at Council. And I want to share with you the work you are expected to do to prepare your congregation for taking these next steps.

The diocesan context for these meetings began with my pastoral address at diocesan Council in January 2011. I said then to the people of the Diocese: "Personally, it is my hope that the 2012 General Convention will authorize the formal blessing of same-gender unions for those clergy in places that want to celebrate them. Until then, we might not be able to do all that we would want to do but, in my judgment, it is right to do something and it is time to do what we can."

As a way of moving ahead with doing "what we can," I held a pilot meeting with 28 clergy men and women of the Diocese on April 28, 2011, to listen to their hopes and perceptions of their congregation's needs. I also shared with them the process of applying for permission to offer worship services that honor same-sex couples. Since that time, seven congregations have made application and received permission, and services that honor same-sex couples have begun taking place. Now I invite you to continue the conversation with me.

It is my hope that the next two gatherings, together, will reflect the best of our life together as we move with conviction in the ways that God is leading us.

Faithfully,

The Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston
Bishop

From here:

St. Paul's Memorial Church sits right across University Avenue from the UVA Rotunda. And after months of deliberation, it's decided to stand up to officially recognize same-sex relationships.

"What we are doing is not in a vacuum, it is part of the wider church, not every part of the church is doing the same thing," Richardson said. "In the end it came to me to ask permission of the bishop about whether we could bless these relationships."

The church joins six other Episcopal congregations in the Diocese of Virginia approved to perform similar ceremonies. But Richardson is quick to point out that this is different from what we think of traditionally as marriage. Rather, he considers this a recognition of mutual joy.

"This is the right thing to do now," he said. "Our gay and lesbian people have waited a long time."

This isn't the first time the Episcopal Church has evaluated its stance on gay and lesbian issues. The church saw the acceptance of its first openly gay bishop, Bishop Gene Robinson, in 2003. Bishop Mary Glasspool became the first openly gay female bishop in 2010. As of 2009, bishops in each Diocese across the country retain individual discretion over how to bless or recognize same-sex unions.

The Diocese of Virginia oversees almost 200 Episcopal congregations throughout central and northern Virginia. In a statement, the diocese told NBC29:

'The Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, has authorized seven congregations to provide a generous pastoral response to faithful same-sex couples in the context of a church service.  "I am convinced – both theologically and experientially – that committed, monogamous, same-sex relationships can be faithful in and to the Christian life," noted Bishop Johnston.  He also reiterated his firm commitment to supporting all congregations in the Diocese of Virginia, including those congregations who object theologically to same-sex blessings.  "I assure in the strongest terms those who oppose such blessings that their position and witness will continue to be wholly respected in the Diocese of Virginia."'

André Hakes, a board member with Virginia gay advocacy group, Equality Virginia, is pleased by the church's decision.

"I think that is fabulous that they're doing that. I think it's certainly more in accord with the general good principles of Christianity," she said. "The gay community wishes it was a non-issue that's what we're looking for is essentially non-discrimination."

Hakes says steps like these show that times, and opinions, are changing.

"People's attitudes are changing. I think, you know I was born on 1971 and when I was in high school it was a lot more difficult to be a young gay person," Hakes said. "I think each generation has helped the other generations make some progress."

Richardson is concerned some with differing opinions won't perceive these changes as progress.

"My concern is that people who don't understand this or don't agree with this will react in a hateful manner," he said. "I don't expect everybody to agree with us, I expect some people to be very against this and will tell us so."

In his decision to bless and recognize same sex unions, Richardson turned to his congregation, his clergy, and even the Bible itself. He says the decision reflects the fact that the definition of marriage is changing.

"The Bible has a rather large latitude on marriage," Richardson said. "We think of it now as primarily for the mutual joy of husband and wife. That has led to an inevitable question - is it only men and women who can have the mutual joy of a committed, supportive, loving relationship?"

Richardson doesn't think so.

The Bible has a rather large latitude on marriage?  One wonders why Mormans and Africans are restricted to only one wife.  Why should a man not have one wife for every day of the week, especially if it's "committed, supportive, and loving?"  In fact, why not have entire communities all married to each other?  Let the good time roll.  Read it all here.

The new All Saints' Church opens its doors in Woodbridge

From here:

Children pile on to the sign for the new All Saints Church in Woodbridge, VA.

Sunlight streams through the new huge windows down on the large stone cross in the foyer floor.  The large white cross has four smaller crosses at each of its four corners, representing Christ’s commandment to reach the four corners of the world, explains Heidi Reichert, the communications director for All Saints Church.

This “Jerusalem Cross” image reappears over and over throughout All Saints’ Church’s new building on Gideon Drive, next to Hylton Memorial Chapel.

All Saints Church

All Saints moved into their new building this last Sunday and is planning a free community open house celebration—complete with a concert, moonbounce, and car show—on Friday and Saturday October 7 and 8.

This move is just one more step in All Saints’ development. A descendant of the first Anglican church in Prince William County, which dates back to a chapel in Dumfries in 1667, All Saints held its first service in 1970 and has been meeting at a quant brick steeple building on Saratoga Lane.

“We were pretty crammed in the other building.” said Reichert. Offices, children’s ministry and just congregational fellowship were constantly overcrowded. So in 2001, the church purchased 27 acres on Gideon Drive to expand their growing church.

While they were raising funds to begin the work on the new church, however, they came to a standstill in 2003 as a result of the “crisis in The Episcopal Church following the divisive actions of its General Convention,” reads a church pamphlet. After a drawn out process, 99 percent of All Saints’ congregation voted to leave The Episcopal Church in 2006. That same year, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia allowed All Saints to retain ownership of the new property, but return the property on Saratoga Lane by December 2011, meanwhile allowing All Saints to rent the old building for $1 a year.

Inside the new Woodbridge, Virginia Anglican Church.

With the negotiations finalized, All Saints restarted their campaigns to build their new building.
The giant new building has offices for all staff as well as an office area on the third floor for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, which is part of the Anglican Church of North America. There are classrooms for all grades for Sunday School and a larger classroom for all the children to meet together during services to receive a sermon of their own. The lowest level is dedicated to the church’s youth program, with classrooms, a rec area, and a mini kitchen of their own.

All Saints is involved in many outreaches in the community and beyond, from ACTS to Care Net Pregnancy Resource Centers, to Good News Jail and Prison Ministry, to taking meals to the Hilda Barg Homeless Prevention Shelter.  “Any place that we provide finances, we try participate as well,” said Reichert.

Also big in their list of outreaches is a community-based Vacation Bible School, where host families invite children in their neighborhood to their homes for crafts and Bible classes rather than the traditional large gatherings at the church building.

The congregation gets settled in the new church.

The church holds three Sunday services, a traditional “contemplative” service with no music followed by two more contemporary services. There is also a prayer room which congregants can access through a security code 24/7. The church's goal is to eventually have someone praying in the prayer chapel around the clock.

Reichert explained that in the next phase of building plans for the church there will be a new and even larger sanctuary and the current one will be turned into a fellowship hall.

“We want our church to be a place where the community can find solace, find healing, and find God,” said Reichert.

Read it all here.

Former Episcopal Diocese of Virginia Bishop Peter James Lee named Interim Dean of the American Cathedral in Paris

Bishop Peter James Lee has been appointed to another prestigious post since his retirement from the Diocese of Virginia in 2009.  He has served as both the interim dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco (2009-2010), and as the interim dean of General Theological Seminary in New York City (2010-current) and has now been appointed as interim dean of the American Cathedral in Paris.  He is slated to take the post in early 2012.

In addition, Bishop Lee will be awarded the 2012 Distinguished Service Award by the First Freedom Awards based in Richmond, VA.  He will receive the award in January 2012.

Bishop Lee served as the 12th bishop of the Diocese of Virginia for 25 years, a time that saw his diocese become the largest Episcopal diocese in the United States.

Bishop Lee worked hard to find a reconciling path during a very difficult period of division in the Diocese of Virginia with the creation of both the Diocese of Virginia Commission on Reconciliation (2004-2005) and his landmark Special Committee (2005-2006) which created the Protocol for Departing Congregations and was chaired by the late Russ Palmore.

Fifteen Episcopal congregations voted to separate from the Episcopal Church following the protocol, however a difficult and costly path of litigation and inhibition was authorized following the elevation of Katharine Jefferts Schori to Presiding Bishop in November 2006. 

Bishop Lee's new position and award may publicly coincide with the long-awaited announcement by the Circuit Court of Fairfax in Virginia regarding the ongoing congregational property litigation.  Judge Randy Bellows will hold one more public hearing in his court some time in late October or early November before issuing his final ruling on the fate of the church properties.

John Guernsey installed as first bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic in the Anglican Church in North America

UPDATED: With great thanks to Anglican TV, here is the investiture of the new bishop of the ACNA Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic at Truro Church in Fairfax, VA:




Live from the Investiture of the Rt. Rev’d John Guernsey as the first bishop of the ACNA Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic at Truro Church, Fairfax, VA.

Bishop John Guernsey and his wife, the Rev'd Meg Guernsey.

The service began with a joyous celebration of hymns and songs led by a joint choir made up of members of the new diocese. People are not phoning in their singing, any minute now the roof could pop off. This is awesome!

We're here at Truro Church in Fairfax and the church is packed with very joyful people. The new Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) diocese enters the ACNA as the largest diocese. It spans the area of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Last May, the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) Synod elected the Rt. Rev'd John Guernsey as the bishop of the proposed ACNA Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic. In June, the ACNA's Provincial Council affirmed the creation of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic. Bishop John Guernsey who had been overseeing the congregations that had separated from The Episcopal Church and moved under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Church of Uganda before transitioning directly to the ACNA, was confirmed as the first diocesan bishop by the ACNA College of Bishops in June.

Bishop Guernsey was the rector of All Saints, Dale City, VA. All Saints separated from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in the spring of 2006 in an amicable settlement that permitted them to remain in their property until the completion of the building of a new church. The settlement had been meant to be a prototype for the other congregations to follow in the development of the Diocese of Virginia's Protocol for Departing Congregations. The protocol was abruptly abandoned by the Diocese following the installment of Katharine Jefferts Schori as the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, about six months after All Saints left the Episcopal Church.

All Saints will be officially moving into their new church later this month and will also serve as the office for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic.

John Guernsey at 2003 General Convention.

Prior to his consecration as a bishop in 2007 by Ugandan Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi (who also incidentally consecrated the Rt. Rev'd Sandy Millar, former rector of Holy Trinity Brompton in London) Bishop Guernsey served in leadership posts in the Diocese of Virginia, serving as a Deputy to six General Conventions where he served in different posts including chairman of the Evangelism Committee.

I first met John Guernsey at the 1994 General Convention in Indianapolis, working closely with IRD President Diane Knippers and Pittsburgh General Convention Deputy Jim Simons. I remember at the Philadelphia General Convention in 1997 I testified at the Evangelism Committee that John was chairing on a resolution that was calling for a doctrinal change on the trinity. I read the resolution and recognized that, as a former member of the Christian Science Church, the new doctrine would have been quite at home in Christian Science. In my testimony I pointed out the similarities between the new doctrinal change and Christian Science and wondered why I had gone through all the trouble of "kneeling before my bishop to become an Episcopalian" only to find myself back in Christian Science right in the Episcopal Church!  Why should I have left in the first place?

I also remember going back to my seat when a rather moderate bishop sitting across the aisle from me leaned over and said that he too grew up in Christian Science and appreciated the point. I was still trying to get my heart from stop beating so fiercely, I had been so nervous and close to terrified and the affirmation from an unexpected quarter brought me great relief. I was very grateful to John Guernsey for the opportunity to speak at General Convention.  Of course, I had no idea then that it was only the beginning.


Back to Truro: ACNA Archbishop and Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop Bob Duncan is the preacher. He is saying from the pulpit that this is a historic moment in this historic place. I will try to type as he speaks:

We all recall that Anglicanism was brought permanently to these shores not so very far from here … in 1607. We also recall that not quite 200 years later … Anglicanism was organized so that it might be prosper and go forward in this land. And 200 years after that it might be reorganized, much of it in this place. …. God is doing something great, behold all things new …”

This is a historic moment for Anglicanism … throughout the globe. We represent not a little of that in our own persons in this place.

This is also an amazing personal moment. The fulfilment of God’s plan for three leaders. John and Martyn and I were candidates for bishop (NOTE: for the Diocese of Colorado) and it was during that time that they formed friendships that continue to this day.

Twenty-one years later I stand here as an Archbishop, Martyn now resides in the U.K. as Executive Secretary for the Global Anglican Future Conference Movement and the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and John here as the first bishop of this diocese.

This diocese represents such a maturing in such a short time of this movement, but as it comes together – it’s the largest diocese in the movement at its birth. That is because of God’s favor and because of the faithfulness of all of you who stood in these days, who stood shoulder to shoulder not just those who are ordained but very much shoulder with the laity in this region.

Bishop John Guernsey becomes the bishop of the new diocese.

It is very moving to look over and see faces of many folks who have walked this long journey for the past five years and for many even more years. It is not clear yet if we will be displaced from our church homes as litigation continues between the churches that voted to separate from the Diocese of Virginia under the Protocol for Departing Congregations and The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia. The second round of briefs are due next week, followed by a third round in October. In November or early December there will be one more opportunity for oral arguments when the Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows will present his questions to the Episcopal and Virginia churches' counsels. Some time after that  that one-day oral Q&A, the judge will release his opinion.

A new day.

Kevin Kallsen from Anglican TV is present and once he has his video of the installation up I will post it here. I ran into old friend now Bishop Neil Lebhar who was serving communion. He is a former Associate Rector of Truro and now bishop for the ACNA's diocese that includes Florida. Years ago when he was still at Truro he was in charge of the Truro Young Adults. I was in my mid 20's back then and I remember asking exactly how did you know if you were a young adult? Neil said "Anyone younger than me."

In fact, it is exciting to look out and see the young church planters and new leadership rising up, all ready building and rebuilding on the foundations not just of recent years - but on the foundation of those Anglicans who sailed to the Virginia shores four hundred years ago.  As those early settlers experienced their own triumphs and great challenges, this new diocese will know such a story as well.   What will this next chapter in our lives together bring?  How will we discern what should change and what should remain?  How will we stand firm for the Gospel of Jesus while making peace with our neighbors?  One way comes to mind, which I think was overflowing today and that is in gratitude.  Whatever happens, may we be grateful.  There is so much to be grateful for, so much.

We may not know what will happen by this time next year, but what comes to mind now is one of the songs we sang at the service today and it becomes a prayer tonight:

Episcopal Church Property Trial ends in Virginia

Faifax County Court House.

The Episcopal Church property trial against congregations that voted overwhelmingly to separate from the Episcopal Church in 2006 ended this week, with more than 600 pages of legal briefs still expected to be filed by The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia.

The seven-week trial in the Fairfax County Circuit Court was presided over by Judge Randy Bellows. The briefs should be completed in October with a ruling from Judge Bellows to follow. Both sides expect Judge Bellows to take his time in reviewing the briefs with a ruling expected some time next year.

A dark shadow was cast over the proceedings with the unexpected death of the Diocese of Virginia's long-time chancellor, Russ Palmore the week before the trial began. Russ Palmore was the chair of the Bishop's Special Committee and author of the Diocese of Virginia Protocol for Departing Congregations which outlined the steps the voting parishes followed to find an amicable way to separate.

Bishop Schori at the National Cathedral.

However, after the protocol was completed, a new Presiding Bishop was installed at Washington National Cathedral, the Most Rev'd Katharine Jefferts Schori who took a very different view then her predecessor over diocesan authority to negotiate with parishes voting to separate from the Episcopal Church. She authorized an intervention into the process which led to the abandonment by the Diocese of Virginia Protocol and Bishop Schori filed lawsuits against all the parishes as well as against nearly 200 lay volunteers. This was followed by Bishop Peter James Lee, then bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, filing parallel lawsuits as well.  Bishop Lee later deposed over twenty clergy who had voted to separate and with Anglican Communion provinces in Nigeria and Uganda.  The Anglican Churches in Nigeria and Uganda and The Episcopal Churches are part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Judge Bellows in the Circuit Court.

The Episcopal Church lawsuits were set aside by Judge Randy Bellow while the challenge  by the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia to the law used by the protocol and the congregations in guiding the vote to separate, Statute 57-9 of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Judge Bellows ruled in favor of the departing congregations , affirming that the law applied and was followed.

That ruling was overturned last year by the Virginia Supreme Court in Richmond.

With the overturning by the Virginia Court of of the Circuit Court 57-9 ruling, the focus of attention returned to the original 2007 lawsuits filed by Bishop Schori and Bishop Lee.  Attorneys from both sides expect a ruling some time next year, six years after the original parish voted to separate.

UPDATE: Henry Burt, Secretary to the Diocese of Virginia has the official response from the Diocese of Virginia to the wrap-up of the trial here.  Tory Baucum, Rector of Truro, writes his reflections, including the hope that even at this late hour we can find a peaceful and mutually beneficial solution to litigation:

Tory Baucum, Rector of Truro.

On Wednesday, the trial in the church property lawsuits filed against us and six of our sister churches wrapped up.

There were 22 days of trial stretching over almost seven weeks.  I have been told that Fairfax County Circuit Judge Randy I. Bellows heard testimony from more than 65 witnesses and that literally thousands of documents were put into evidence. Paul Julienne, Ernie Wakeham, Doug LeMasters, Tom Yates and Chap Peterson testified on behalf of Truro.  Those present in the trial courtroom have told me our legal team and witnesses have represented us well. I want to especially commend George Peterson, our lead attorney, who continues to put heart and soul into advocating for us.  Pray that God restores him and Tania in the weeks ahead. Their recent marriage, and their friendship to me, is an unexpected blessing having already come out of this trial.  I receive this blessing as a promissory note of future blessings.

With the trial completed, the case now moves into the next phase, in which the lawyers for each side submit to the Court their written arguments about the evidence presented at trial and the controlling law.  Each side will submit three sets of briefs - in August, September, and October - up to a total of 600 pages per side. Judge Bellows has said that after all of this briefing is finished, he will set another day for the lawyers to come back to court to answer any questions he has. His final ruling may not occur until early 2012.

Bishop Shannon Johnston.

I know that many of you are praying, and I urge you to continue to do so.  Pray that God will somehow be glorified in this dispute and that we can, even at this late hour, find a mutual and redemptive outcome with the diocese of VA. Pray especially for Bishop Shannon Johnston, whom I have come to know as a good man who inherited this ungodly litigation.   Pray that God gives him wisdom and perseverance to find a redemptive way forward.

Please pray for continued wisdom and discernment for Judge Bellows as he considers all of the testimony, evidence, and legal arguments and as he prepares his decision. Above all, please pray that the Lord Jesus Christ would be honored and exalted by all that we do and by all that occurs, including the final outcome.

Finally, I ask you pray for me, Elizabeth and the girls that we will have the wisdom, grace and stamina to love and lead Truro through this set of circumstances. We want, above all, for our God to be glorified in this situation and for people outside of faith in Jesus be drawn to him - and we believe He will be.

May it be so. 

BREAKING NEWS: John Guernsey elected to lead new Anglican Diocese based in Virginia - The Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic in the ANCA

The Rt. Rev'd John Guernsey was elected this morning by lay and clergy delegates representing the congregations of the new Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic to be their diocesan bishop.  Meeting in a special Constitutional Convention by the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) at Church of the Epiphany in Herndon, VA.  Bishop Guernsey was elected on the first ballot.

Bishop Guernsey, who was the long-time rector of All Saints Dale City and a leader in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia serving as Deputy to General Convention for many years until his parish voted to separate from the Episcopal Church in 2006, outlined his vision for the new diocese:

Having served in Northern Virginia for all of my ordained ministry, I have a deep commitment to the work of the Kingdom in this region. I have long prayed for the Lord to move in power to renew and heal His Church, that we might reach the lost with the transforming love of Jesus Christ. The formation of this new diocese is the Lord’s doing and I believe that I am called to be a part of it.

I envision a diocese that is prayer-based and mission-focused; a diocese of congregations that are growing and multiplying, served by clergy who are walking in faith and holiness; a diocese that is passionate to reach the lost and the next generations, discipling new believers to maturity in the Word; a diocese that joyfully worships the living Lord and is transformed by His power.

Support of Clergy and Congregations
I am committed to the pastoral support of clergy and their families. I presently serve a non-geographical diocese spread across the country and it is a challenge to stay in touch. I regularly phone the clergy, I pray each day for them, I connect by email. My wife always travels with me, and we love to spend time with the clergy and their spouses and children.

In this diocese, I would continue those important links, but I would also make it a priority to meet monthly with the clergy for worship, to study the Scriptures, to share our concerns and pray for one another. I would expect to meet with several groupings across the large area of the diocese. I would help create ways for our clergy and their families to support and care and pray for one another.

My parish visitations are usually over a full weekend, which creates opportunities for teaching and discipleship, fellowship and encouragement. I come to a congregation to serve and I ask the clergy to offer a plan for how best to use the visitation to support them in the Lord’s work in that place. I love opportunities to teach the Scriptures, to talk with and counsel the leadership team, to get to know the congregation and to pray for them.

The Church’s Mission
The Anglican Church in North America is clear in its Constitution that “the fundamental agency of mission in the Province is the local congregation.” That means that the diocese exists to serve the churches, not the reverse. The work of mission is the responsibility of the clergy and people of our congregations. The role of this new diocese is to support and encourage and to do those things the congregations cannot.

Together, as the congregations and clergy, we will reach the lost, and we will do that, first, through personal evangelistic witness. It is not enough to be part of a mission-minded Province or diocese or congregation if we are not ourselves sharing the Gospel with those we know.

We will plant churches of all sorts and descriptions, using new models and methods, as well as tried and true ones. We will grow and give birth to new dioceses.

We will reach the nations. Our links with the Global South have given us a new vision for Kingdom partnerships around the world. We must engage in the task of presenting Christ to unreached peoples across the globe and here at home. The proximity of our nation’s capital is also part of God’s calling to us—how does He want us to use that opportunity for Gospel witness?

Personal Discipleship
We will be people of the Word. We proclaim biblical authority, but each of us must be deeply rooted in the Scriptures through personal reading and meditating on the Word and through disciplined study.

We will be faithful disciples, who will demonstrate to the world what it looks like to be the people of God. We will disciple others, raising up the next generations in Christ.

We will seek the healing of the Lord for our own lives, walking in greater holiness and purity. We will be quick to give testimony to His grace and mercy and transforming power.

We will worship the Lord with our whole heart and soul and mind and strength. We will offer ourselves before Him in the beauty of holiness. Worship through the richness of our Anglican heritage will glorify the Lord and it will invite others to come to know Him.

We will be faithful stewards in our finances. We will proclaim the joy and freedom that is found in trusting the Lord through tithing.

Seeking God’s Vision
I take very seriously the warning in Jeremiah 23 about the false shepherds and prophets, who “speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord...But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?” (verses 16, 18). God judges those who claim to speak for Him without first having come before Him in prayer.

Yet the Lord promises to reveal Himself to those who seek His face. “But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people” (verse 22).

If I am called to this new diocese, I know the Lord would have much more to say to me and to all of us about His will and plan. It would be my responsibility and my joy to lead us in seeking Him and His vision for our life together.

My life verse is 2 Corinthians 4:5: “We seek not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” May the Lord give me and all of us the grace to walk humbly before Him, doing all for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ our Lord.

In addition, he answered questions posed to him by the ADV:

Background
Bishop, Diocese of the Holy Spirit of the Anglican Church in North America

Education
Yale University (New Haven, CT) B.A. (Magna Cum Laude), History, with Honors Episcopal Divinity School (Cambridge, MA) M.Div., Biblical Studies

Spiritual Autobiography

I grew up in a Christian home and, through the witness of my parents, gave my life to Christ as a very young boy. My father modeled putting one’s faith into practice in the world; he was deeply committed to racial reconciliation and the church’s ministry among those in need. My mother taught me about prayer; I remember a time when I was upset over something in my homework I couldn’t seem to grasp, and she showed me how to pray it through. I knew that I belonged to Christ and I readily told people that when I grew up I was going to be what Jesus wanted me to be—though I didn’t yet know what that was.

As a teenager active in the church, I was hungry for more of the Lord. But I was aware that I didn’t see lives being changed in our parish or its youth group in which I was actively involved. I hadn’t been taught the Scriptures and so my longing for the supernatural reality of God led me to explore a number of inappropriate spiritual practices we’d now term “New Age.” I wasn’t rejecting Jesus, but I lacked guidance and discernment to seek Him rightly through the Holy Spirit.

During high school, I volunteered in many different ministries, particularly in the inner city. In college, I chose an urban studies major as a way of pursuing my desire to work with the poor, perhaps through a career in government service. After my sophomore year, however, I won a competitive internship, working for a summer as the aide to the administrator of the entire welfare and social service department of the City of New York. It was a terribly disillusioning experience. I came away knowing that God needed people in that environment, but I was not called to be one of them.

With my career goal now unclear, I decided to take time off from college; I had extra credits and could have graduated in three years, but I felt I needed clarity of direction first. I accepted an invitation from an Episcopal layman from Liberia, West Africa to come to his country and do economic planning for the Liberian government. My letter to my contact confirming my plans was lost in the mail, so the government job wasn’t arranged and I ended up being put to work for one of his companies, the Carrier Air Conditioner distributorship. I had a tremendous amount of the time alone to think and pray and reflect, and through it the Lord finally got through to me that He was calling me to ordained ministry. When I finally said “yes” to Him, I had an amazing certainty and a  peace that this was His will. He then made it clear that my time in Liberia was at an end and that I should return home to finish college and go through the ordination process.

At the conclusion of my final interview before seminary, I was asked by the committee if I had any questions to ask them. I said that I did and asked this: “Why is it that we pray to God the Father through God the Son and seem to leave God the Holy Spirit out of it completely?” It was the question of a naïve 20-year old, but it made the committee very uncomfortable. Finally, one member said, “Well, it sounds like you’ve asked a good question. Maybe when you go to seminary you’ll learn the answer and come back and tell us.”

I went off to the seminary my bishop had attended and wanted me to attend, but by this time it had become a very, very liberal place. By God’s grace, I went in believing in the bodily resurrection of Jesus and came out believing it. But I didn’t learn the answer to my question about the Holy Spirit. I wasn’t, of course, simply asking an abstract question about liturgy, but about the supernatural reality of God the Holy Spirit. What I learned instead was that the Holy Spirit was controversial. I was told very clearly that there were people out there who were “into” the Holy Spirit but we were not among them and that I should not expect God to do today what I saw Him doing in the pages of Scripture.

I did, however, meet my wife, Meg, in seminary, without a doubt the best thing that came out of the experience for me! She was from Virginia and so it was that we came here after seminary, she to serve a parish in Culpeper, while I worked at Christ Church in Alexandria.

One of my duties was to assist the lay stewardship chairman, which the Lord used to begin a process of transformation of my use of money. A wise priest I met challenged me to tithe and Meg and I, after much discussion and prayer, began to do so. We discovered a new joy in trusting the Lord and a freedom from anxiety about money and possessions that we’d never known before. It turned out that money had been a logjam in my spiritual life—breaking free in the area of finances resulted in a greater openness to God’s work in my life in other ways, as well.

In December, 1981, I was called to serve as Vicar of All Saints’, then a mission of 36 families worshiping in Triangle, near the Quantico Marine base. The guidance I’d received in seminary to put the Holy Spirit aside did not, to say the least, satisfy the longing that I had for more of the Lord. I began to hear testimonies from clergy and mature lay leaders about the working of the Spirit in their lives. I had much to learn and many theological questions to ask. But finally, the Lord in His goodness led me to the place of a deeper surrender to Him than ever before. I asked one of the godly lay leaders to lay hands on me and pray for the fullness and power of God’s Holy Spirit to fill me.

While the prayer time itself was quite unemotional, the Lord who is ever faithful began from that moment to work in me and through me in ways I’d only yearned for. I developed a passion for the Scriptures. I found a new fervency in prayer and a new intimacy in worship. In my ministry, I saw new power as I shared Jesus. As much as I wanted people to come to know Christ, I had not led anyone to faith in Him in four years of ordained ministry. After I received that empowering of the Holy Spirit, people began to respond to sermons and teaching by coming into my office, falling on their knees and asking to give their lives to Christ. Nothing in seminary had prepared me for that!

The Lord began to give me a greater love for prayer, for evangelism and for the healing ministry, three priorities which have been central to my ministry for the past 28 years. In these areas I again had much to learn and He blessed me with colleagues on staff at All Saints’ who could teach me many things. What a joy to be a part of God’s transforming work in people’s lives. How exciting to be in a parish where that transformation is the norm rather than the exception. And I’ve been privileged to be sent out on many short-term missions with SOMA, training leaders in the power of the Spirit in a number of countries around the world. God has also done His gracious healing work in my own life, freeing me from the hurts of the past to be more the pastor and husband and father He made me to be.

In our family, the Lord gave us many blessings of His love. He gave us two fine sons, who attended St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School, where Meg had gone in 1979 to serve as Chaplain. Meg’s mother, physically disabled all her life but a spiritual powerhouse, came to live with us for the last 20 years of her life. Both our sons are now married, and they and their wives are all walking with the Lord. Our elder son, Nathaniel, is a computer science engineer and he and his wife, Mandy, are youth ministry volunteers. Our younger son, Michael, is in seminary preparing for ordination and he and his wife, Tracy, are praying about a long-term missionary call to Uganda.

The call to serve as bishop has been a surprising journey. Twenty years ago I was nominated to be Bishop of Colorado (along with two priests named Bob Duncan and Martyn Minns!). When I wasn’t elected, the Lord spoke clearly to me that I was to stay at All Saints’ and so I declined to be considered in dozens of episcopal elections after that. In December, 2006, the House of Bishops of the Church of Uganda elected me to be their Bishop for Congregations in America—without consulting me, I might add—though they delayed notifying me or announcing it publicly until the following June. I was consecrated in September, 2007 and given the responsibility to look after the then 26 U.S.

congregations of the Church of Uganda, while continuing to serve as rector of All Saints’. (The number of churches grew to 53 in June, 2009 when, at the launch of the Anglican Church in North America, the Ugandan House of Bishops transferred me and all their U.S. clergy and congregations into the ACNA.)

Meanwhile, Meg had been told by the Lord in August, 2006 that the coming academic year was to be her last at the School. The Lord didn’t tell her any more than that, but in obedience she went to the headmistress and said, “This is my last year.” Her last faculty meeting was just days before I was informed I’d been elected bishop, and so she has been free to travel with me. We’ve followed a more African model of the bishop and his wife together as we’ve visited churches across the country. Serving in this way has been a gift from the Lord to us. Meg has such a heart for clergy spouses and children and it has been so very important to us to spend time with our clergy and their families.

Early in my ministry, the Lord gave me a verse to guide my life and service of him: “We preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). I constantly pray that the ministry I offer will always be a ministry of servanthood, seeking only to glorify Jesus Christ.

Here he answers questions:

Questions

Why would God be calling you to be Bishop of this new diocese?
I don’t presume to know God’s will and God’s reasons! But I do feel increasingly called to serve the Lord and His Church in this new diocese. I would hope that I could help establish the diocese as prayer-based and mission- focused. I would also hope to contribute to the continuing healing from all that we experienced in our former context.

Describe your leadership style as Bishop: how you relate to clergy and laity; what you think and have done about missions; how you feel about raising money?
I have developed a pattern of multi-day visitations to churches (usually a full weekend), with opportunities for teaching, fellowship, meeting with the leadership and spending time with the clergy and their families. Meg and I always prefer to stay in homes, often with the clergy. I go to serve the church, to teach, listen and encourage.

I have a high priority of ministering to clergy and their families. I telephone the clergy regularly to check in and to pray for them. I am always looking for emerging leaders, particularly those of the next generation, to encourage and disciple.

I am committed to continuing to engage in front-line mission work personally. In 2010, Meg and I spent a week in a remote, desert area of Kenya, working with a large team of mostly young evangelists who were on mission planting churches among unreached peoples. This sort of experience always stretches me and encourages me to keep the proclamation of the Gospel at the forefront of everything I do. In my preaching I seek to spur the church to engage in mission and evangelism and I often invite those who do not yet know the Lord to surrender their lives to Him.

Dealing with stewardship has been a priority in ministry and a significant part of my own journey in Christ. I teach biblical stewardship and readily witness to the blessing of tithing in our own family. I taught financial stewardship at Virginia Seminary for 12 years, as a consultant in dozens of dioceses and congregations, and most especially at All Saints’ Church in Dale City.
To what degree are you committed to the Anglican 1000 church planting initiative? Describe your church planting experience.

I am tremendously excited by the vision of planting 1000 churches in the first five years of the Anglican Church in North America. I assisted in the planning for the first Anglican1000 summit and was greatly encouraged by it. I scheduled the Diocese of the Holy Spirit’s 2011 Annual Synod immediately prior to the second Anglican1000 Summit and at the same venue in order to encourage our diocesan leaders to participate in the Summit. I will also be attending the Exponential Church Planting Conference in Orlando this April.

My former parish, All Saints’ Church in Dale City, planted Christ Our Lord Church in Lake Ridge, one of the most important mission experiences we ever had. I have promoted church planting in our diocese and visited and encouraged those new starts already underway. We have new lay-led fellowships, church plants served by ordained church planters (both tent-makers and those sent out by a sponsoring church) and new congregations begun as second worship sites of existing parishes. It is so heartening to see how the vision for church planting is taking hold, as even some of our smallest churches are launching new congregations.

Please describe your discipline of prayer, study and worship.
I’m an early riser and I am nurtured and strengthened by my morning time in Scripture and prayer. I’ve been reading through the Bible each year for decades, following a number of different patterns. As part of my intercessions, I pray every week through a cycle for all of my diocese’s churches and all of the clergy, their spouses and children. My wife, Meg, and I usually read the Daily Office together and we’re presently doing a study of 1 John. I’m also reading a number of books on Islam to learn more about this critical challenge facing the Church in our day.

Please describe how you spend quality time with your wife and family. Describe what rests and rejuvenates you.

Meg travels with me to all our parish visitations, so I am blessed that we get to spend so much of our time together in ministry. I also enjoy just relaxing with her. We travel so much that we have discovered the importance of having regular days off on the road. We’ve been privileged to see fascinating and beautiful places as we visit churches across the country. I’m an extrovert, but I know that I need to be freed from being “on” and around people all the time. We’ve gone to museums and lots of botanical gardens (a particular love of Meg’s), we’ve taken long walks and we’ve just sat and enjoyed spectacular scenery.

We also used our frequent flier miles to great advantage. This past spring, we took our sons and their wives on a week’s holiday to our namesake island, the Island of Guernsey in the English Channel. It was such a wonderful experience for us—from hiking the cliff walks to laughing over board games. And we’ll be going back in 2011.

Read it all here.

UPDATE:  Here is the press release from the Anglican District of Virginia:

The Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) held a Constitutional Convention on May 20-21, 2011 at Church of the Epiphany in Herndon, Va. At this event, ADV delegates voted to petition the Anglican Church in North America to become a diocese and adopted new governing documents (Constitutions and Canons). Pending approval of the diocesan petition, the Anglican District of Virginia elected The Rt. Rev. John Guernsey to serve as bishop of the diocese, to be named the Anglican Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic.

Bishop John Guernsey has served in various clergy roles during his years of ordained ministry in Virginia. He served as rector of All Saints’ Church in Dale City, Va., for 29 years before serving as the head of the Diocese of the Holy Spirit in the Anglican Church in North America. For more background on Bishop Guernsey and to read his vision statement for the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, click here.

“Our hope is that the Anglican Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic, under the courageous and blessed leadership of Bishop John Guernsey, will continue to follow the path Christ is setting for us as we strive to grow and share our faith,” said Anglican District of Virginia Chairman Jim Oakes.

“In just a few years, we have grown to over 40 worshipping congregations, are planting churches, and have almost 7,000 people worshipping in our churches each Sunday. My prayer is that this new diocese within the Anglican Church in North America will make the trumpet sound even louder and bring more worshippers together in mission and ministry, continued Oakes.”

ADV is hopeful that the Anglican Church in North America will accept the Anglican Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic as one of its member dioceses later this year. While the new diocese will be connected directly to the Anglican Church in North America, many of its congregations will continue to be in partnership with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). CANA is a missionary branch of the Church of Nigeria and a founding member of the Anglican Church in North America.

Anglican District of Virginia takes formal steps to join the Anglican Church of North America as a diocese

The Anglican District of Virginia, meeting in a special Constitutional Convention today, took formal steps to become the newest diocese in the Anglican Church in North America.  First bishop for the new diocese will be elected tomorrow.  Prayers are appreciated.  More info on the way - stay tuned!

Episcopal Church Property Trial opens in Virginia

The seven Anglican churches who are being sued by both The Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia will present opening arguments today in the Fairfax County Circuit Court. Six weeks have been allotted for trial. Judge Randy Bellows, who presided over the earlier 57-9 proceedings, will preside.

UPDATE: Opening arguments did go forward today - no major surprises.  On the stand tomorrow: The Rt. Rev'd David Jones, Bishop Suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.  Bishop Jones was once the overseer of church planting in the Diocese of Virginia.  After the 2006 vote to separate by 15 churches in the diocese, the bottom dropped out of the church planting budget.  The chair of the diocesan Church Planting Committee was among those who eventually moved to the ACNA.

TUESDAY UPDATE:  From the AP:

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A years-long dispute between the Episcopal Church and several breakaway congregations over homosexuality and important tenets of Christian doctrine was back in a Virginia courtroom on Monday, where the fight will likely be decided on mundane aspects of real estate and contract law.

A Fairfax County judge heard opening statements in the case between the denomination and seven dissident congregations, who voted nearly five years ago to leave the Episcopal Church and realign as conservative branch of the worldwide Anglican church. The move was precipitated by the 2003 consecration of an openly gay bishop from New Hampshire. However, it also involved fundamental differences on Scriptural matters, including what some conservatives say is equivocation from Episcopal leadership on the divinity of Christ.

The Episcopal Church and its diocese in Virginia sued to gain control of property held by the breakaway congregations, which includes some of the denomination's most prominent and historic churches. Truro Church in Fairfax and The Falls Church — for which the city of Falls Church is named — trace their roots back to Colonial times, when George Washington served as a vestryman.

In 2008, Fairfax County Circuit Judge Randy Bellows ruled in favor of the breakaway congregations under a rarely used Virginia law dating to the Civil War governing the breakup of churches. But the Virginia Supreme Court overturned Bellows' ruling and told him to decide the case "under principles of real property and contract law."

On Monday, more than a dozen lawyers representing various parties in the dispute returned to Bellows' courtroom for opening statements in what is expected to be a six-week bench trial. The various parties plan to introduce roughly 8,000 exhibits.

Lawyers for The Episcopal Church, which has roughly 2 million members in the U.S., said the relevant contract is the one between the Episcopal Church and its congregations. Individual congregations agree to respect church hierarchy, lawyer Mary Kostel said, and the Episcopal denomination voted in 1979 that all church property held by local congregations is done so in trust for the national denomination.

Congregations that don't like the rules are not free to simply leave when they disagree with church policy or doctrine, she said.

"Authority in the church flows down" from the top, Kostel said.

Gordon Coffee, lawyer for the seven breakaway congregations, urged the judge to look at the property deeds. All of the deeds convey ownership to trustees at the individual congregations — none grants title to the larger denomination, Coffee said.

"When (denominations) want to subject property to their control, they know how to do it" on the deed itself, Coffee said. Catholic and Mormon churches, for instance, often list religious leaders like bishops on the deed, he said. Or conditions can be placed on the deed to require a congregation to adhere to church doctrine to maintain title to the property.

The legal dispute has been costly for both sides. The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia has lost congregations that collectively contributed $10.4 million directly to the diocese in the 20-year period before the dispute erupted.

And the breakaway congregations have spent millions of dollars in legal fees. Warren Thrasher, executive director at Truro, said the 1,200 members of that church alone have spent roughly $2 million in legal fees, raised through a legal defense fund kept separate from the rest of the church's ministry.

Thrasher said that while many church members wish the dispute could be settled, they contributed more than $500,000 earlier this year for the legal defense.

"We want to see this through," Thrasher said.

Read it all here.