Episcopal Presiding Bishop Decapitates Bishop

"Don't worry - we have your six."

SALT LAKE CITY: House of Bishops Votes to Depose Bishop Duncan 87 to 36 with Four Abstentions

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
9/18/2009

The Episcopal Church House of Bishops today passed a resolution formally requesting that the Bishop of Pittsburgh, the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan be deposed from the Episcopal Church for abandoning the communion of the church.

By a vote of 87 to 36 with four abstentions the HOB overwhelming moved to have the evangelical catholic bishop removed as a bishop from TEC. It is now up to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to officially depose him. She is expected to do that before The Diocesan Convention in 2 weeks.

The Rt. Rev. Dorsey Henderson, president of the Title IV Review Committee changed his vote yes to no after the vote was taken, a source has told VOL.

Springfield Bishop Peter Beckwith described the debate for deposition as "shallow".

"They were blaming Bishop Duncan saying he needed to be deposed because he said terrible things about the House of Bishops."

"I have never seen so many retired bishops at a HOB meeting. The majority voted for deposition. The hypocrisy was incredible. They talked about standards and being accountable and holding each other accountable, but they never saw that anything they did was wrong or that they were culpable for their actions."

Beckwith rose to say that he supported a statement put out by the Bishop and Standing Committee of the Diocese of Albany that, among other things, called for an end to litigation and depositions.

"I support that document fully and without reservation. To proceed with the action will be a gross misuse of power and miscarriage of justice and will be seen by a great many as an ecclesiastical lynching. I am embarrassed to be a part of it.

The Rev. Peter Frank, Pittsburgh Communications Director said Bishop Duncan will not contest the vote. "The Standing Committee will now be the ecclesiastical authority through the diocesan convention."

The following is a list of those who voted against the motion to depose Bishop Duncan: They are Albany, Dallas, Western Kansas, Central Florida, SC, Suffragan Bishop of Alabama, Tennessee, Southwest Florida, Easton, MD, Montana, NJ, Milwaukee, Nthn. Indiana, OK, VA, RI, NW Texas, Eastern TN, Mississippi. Louisiana and Western LA.

END

PITTSBURGH: Statement from the Standing Committee
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The Standing Committee announces its intention to function as the Ecclesiastical Authority for the Diocese.

Statement by the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh Regarding the Deposition of our Bishop, Robert Wm Duncan, Jr., by the House of Bishops - September 18, 2008.

We are profoundly disappointed by this action, and view it as yet another tragic rejection of the historic faith of our diocese and the majority consensus of the Anglican Communion.

We continue to believe that the House of Bishops has clearly misapplied and misinterpreted the canons as we stated to the Presiding Bishop in our letter of May 28.

In light of this unfair and improper action to "depose" our bishop, we now assume our responsibility under the canons to be the Ecclesiastical Authority of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Bishop Duncan will continue to support the work of our diocese under the terms of his administrative employment agreement and within the bounds of his deposition, providing many of the services that he previously performed for the diocese. Our diocesan convention of October 4 will go forward as planned, at which the canonically required re-alignment vote will be taken.

We understand that Bishop Duncan has been received as a member in good standing of the House of Bishops of the Province of the Southern Cone. We rejoice at this news.

The Standing Committee asks that the clergy and people of Pittsburgh pray for the Duncans, the diocesan staff and the elected leadership of the diocese in the days ahead. We stand firmly on the promise of Holy Scripture found in Romans 8:28.

"We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

The Rev David D. Wilson,
President St. David's Church, Peter's Twp PA
The Rev. Karen B. Stevenson
Trinity Church, Washington PA
The Rev. Geoffery W. Chapman St. Stephen's Church, Sewickley PA
Mr. Wicks Stephens, Secretary Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh PA
Dr. Theresa T. Newell St. Stephen's Church, Sewickley PA
Mrs. Gladys Hunt-Mason St. Stephen's Church, McKeesport PA
Mr. Kenneth Herbst St. Peter's Church, Butler PA

*****

STATEMENT OF JOHN H. LEWIS, JR. ATTORNEY FOR BISHOP DUNCAN

The so-called "deposition of Bishop Duncan is illegal, unfair, and unchristian.

It is illegal because it violates numerous Canons of The Episcopal Church:

1) There has been no "abandonment." Past precedents of the Episcopal Church show that the "abandonment" Canon cannot be used to punish a Bishop's intentions;

b) The Canons require that any facts be considered by a Review Committee. Here, the Presiding Bishop has used facts from the committee she created to seize the property of orthodox dioceses and parishes;

c) The Canons require that a Bishop be inhibited before the matter can be submitted to the House of Bishops. Bishop Duncan was not inhibited; and

(d) The Canons require that any vote to depose must have the vote of the majority of Bishops entitled to vote. Here, the vote was only by a majority of those present.

It is unfair because Bishop Duncan was denied his fundamental right - the right to a church trial. He has been denied that right because the Presiding Bishop believes that his "deposition" will assist her in her desire to seize the property of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

It is unchristian because Bishop Duncan is being punished for his faithful submission to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

*****

BISHOP DUNCAN'S STATEMENT ON HIS "DEPOSITION"

It is a very sad day for The Episcopal Church. It is a sad day for me, a faithful son of that church.

Nevertheless it is also a hopeful day, hopeful because of the unstoppable Reformation that is overtaking the Christian Church in the West. It is also a hopeful day for me personally as I am unanimously welcomed into the House of Bishops of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, an act applauded by Anglican archbishops, bishops, clergy and people all around the world.

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh will move forward under its new Ecclesiastical Authority, its Standing Committee. That body will carry the diocese through to our realignment vote on October 4. With the success of that vote, it will be possible that we be joined together again as bishop and people.

I offer my deepest thanks to the company of saints all around the globe who have sustained me, my work and all who are dear to me in these days.

Robert Duncan
END

International Finance Meltdown

If only this worked with the finance people.

The first hint of the mortgage meltdown came to me when I was teaching a supervisor in building homes. He was firing crews right and left. "No one can afford our homes. There will be a big sell-off at the end of the year." That was the end of 2006. Then a friend told me the subprime money funds had evaporated in early 2007. Soon the dominoes started to fall.

Now, almost two years later, world finance has come unglued, after several massive interventions. One person explained it well to us non-experts. The go-go banks started with $1 and borrowed $40 against it. They bought mortgage bundles with the $40 but found the bundles were worth $17 when the underlying liar-loans began to stink. Now they had lost their initial $1 and owed $40 for $17 worth of securities. Meltdown.

The Western governments are using their treasuries (our taxes) to bail out these improvident bankers. I do not have an MBA, a CPA, or a business degree, but I was shocked that all the major banks were giving mortgages to people without having their income verified. In Phoenix everyone was buying homes with liar loans and flipping them for a quick profit to other fools. Like all pyramid schemes, they ran out of fools all at once. A lot of homes were sold to illegal immigrants, using teaser rates, so the officers knew that the homes would be foreclosed in one year or two. Most Mexicans, especially illegal Mexicans, do not make enough money to afford a home. Loan officers who objected to this fraud were by-passed.

In my memory we have had the commercial property/ savings and loan meltdown, where the federal government arranged a massive bail-out, though nothing like the current one. Before that Carter froze bank accounts because of banks' greed or incompetence. We also had the bail-out on Mexican loans, where the government gave Mexico $40 billion to pay their loans, in effect giving American banks $40 billion.

The new bail-out will subsidize the entire world economy and soak up tax dollars for many years to come. Interest rates will be almost zero for some time to come. All securities have lost value. Right now people are buying US obligations that pay virtually no interest, just to be safe.

These developments will have profound effects on synodical funds and people's retirement. A number of people have told me how everyone is very cautious about spending anything.

Just before the meltdown became obvious to the average person, Wall Street gave itself $65 billion in bonus money, then began reporting huge losses (which were not even close to the truth). The excuse was - "We have to reward performers to keep them working for us." I imagine the bonus babies were the financial geniuses who ran Bear Stearns (now gone), Lehman Brothers (dead after 150 years), AIG (80% socialized by the feds), and Merrill Lynch (sold to prevent bankruptcy). Some think CitiBank will fold or combine. Washington Mutual is on the ropes already.

One professor jumped me in the teacher's lounge. He said, "I can never retire now. Have you lost anything in the market?" That was a year ago.

I said, "Not a dime. I had nothing in the market."

I plan on working as long as I can, deo volunte. Online teaching and publishing are ideal for that plan. I wonder if anyone will trust the financial institutions again. I had a bit of trouble cashing an out of state check. The credit union teller said, "Have you cashed checks from this source before?"

I said, "Don't worry. It's not an AIG check."

In 1988 I used my two favorite bank jokes, which are only good during a crisis.

One - "I stopped at my bank today and they couldn't cash a $20 bill."

Two - "I got a new account at Chase yesterday, but I had to give them a toaster."

The cashier at Sam's Club laughed out loud. Now the jokes are funny again, but people will suffer because of it, far more than ever before.

My father had an expression he used whenever the weather was bitterly cold in Moline: "It's colder than a banker's heart today."

---

PS - How much will he make this year?

Question/Comment: Last year Lehman Brothers' CEO Richard Fuld, Jr. made $71 million. Today his company collapsed. How much will he make this year?

Paul Solman: I don't know about this year. You've covered last. In 2006, according to Forbes.com, he was the 5th highest-paid CEO in America: "Total Compensation $122.67 mil; 5-Year Compensation Total $375.81 mil."

Church of England Apologizes to Darwin

Church of England apologises to Darwin

Anglican Church’s neo-Chamberlainite appeasement of secularism

Published: 20 September 2008(GMT+10)

Creation on the Web

This weekend’s feedback is in response to a number of queries about the Church of England (Anglicans) officially apologizing to Darwin. However, they don’t speak for all attenders of this church, since many of them are still faithful to Scripture and are appalled by their ‘leaders’. There are numerous mistakes in the article by the official CoE representative, a Rev. Dr Malcolm Brown, on the official CoE website, and Jonathan Sarfati replies point-by-point.

Good religion needs good science
by Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, Director of Mission and Public Affairs Church of England

The trouble with homo sapiens is that we’re only human. People, and institutions, make mistakes and Christian people and churches are no exception.

Indeed, as the CoE has officially shown with this craven apology—as if apologies for the past are meaningful, given that both Darwin and those who allegedly wronged him are long dead. And who does he really speak for? Certainly not the large numbers of Anglicans who still believe the Bible.

When a big new idea emerges which changes the way people look at the world, it’s easy to feel that every old idea, every certainty, is under attack and then to do battle against the new insights.
Such superficial psychologization may be touching, but in reality, philosopher Daniel Dennett calls Darwinism a universal acid that ‘eats through virtually every traditional concept’—mankind’s most cherished beliefs about God, value, meaning, purpose, culture, morality—everything.

The church made that mistake with Galileo’s astronomy, and has since realised its error.

The church indeed made a mistake with Galileo … adopting the prevaling scientific framework of the University Aristotelians, and adjusting their theology to fit.

It can get tedious to see compromising churchians trot out the Galileo affair as an excuse for their compromise. The church indeed made a mistake with Galileo, but exactly the opposite of what Brown thinks. The church’s trouble was adopting the prevailing scientific framework of the University Aristotelians, and adjusting their theology to fit. When Galileo challenged the prevailing scientific framework, his scientific enemies persuaded the Church that he was attacking the Bible, which he was not.

***

GJ - This is no time for tongue-clucking. The American Lutherans have not been able or willing to teach Luther's doctrine. Creation by the Word is foundational for all Christian theology. Teaching against Creation runs parallel to advocacy for soi-disant abortion and homosexual rights.