Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
October 16, 2020
In what can only be described as a meaningless, cowardly act, eight Communion Partner bishops expressed their concern over the verdict that will ecclesiastically destroy one of their own, the Rt. Rev William H. Love, Bishop of Albany.
After a verdict finding the evangelical catholic bishop guilty of violating Resolution B012 mandating homosexual marriage, the eight bishops issued a statement regarding the hearing and conviction of the Albany bishop.
Their statement is absolutely meaningless posturing. While showing verbal support for Bishop Love, they are not actually doing anything.
Here is their lame response: "We remain dismayed that latitude is extended to some in the enforcement of our canons, but not to others. If members of the church who hold the traditional teaching on the question of marriage have "an indispensable place" (Resolution A227) in our church, as the General Convention has said, then securing that place needs to be a priority. Again, now is the time. This indispensable place should not be an unstable one." You can read their full statement here: https://virtueonline.org/communion-partner-bishops-offer-meaningless-posturing-statement-concerning-bishop-love
For a brilliant analytical look at the legal claims TEC has made to get rid of Bishop Love, you can read this piece by David Duggan, a Chicago-based lawyer. His in-depth analysis is worth your time to read. It is a study in sophistry. You can read it here: https://virtueonline.org/bishop-william-love-v-episcopal-church-exercise-sophistry
This bishop used pagan nonsense as part of her enthronement.
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So, the question that must be asked is this. Why doesn't the Archbishop of Canterbury, a Holy Trinity Brompton evangelical, not come out in full support of the evangelical catholic, episcopal Albany bishop?
Welby has no problem declaring his admiration for a heretic like Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who believes that General Convention resolutions override the authority of scripture on human sexual behavior. Welby invited Curry him to preach at a royal wedding and listened to his endless talk of "love" and "beloved community," which will soon be less one beloved bishop. So, Welby completely ignores a bishop who shares the same apostolic faith that he says he possesses?
But does he, that is the question?
Welby has shown himself to be deeply conflicted over homosexuality, even though the scriptures are abundantly clear on the subject. He agonizes over calling a spade a spade lest he appear uninclusive and homophobic. He is desperately trying to square the circle over a behavior that has never been theologically or morally endorsed in 2,000 years!
For his obfuscation and prevarication, Welby has alienated more than 80 percent of the Anglican Communion's clergy and laity. He has refused to uphold and enforce Resolution 1:10 and keeps insisting through his theological spokespersons that we can all get along if we would just give and compromise a little. His best-known agent provocateur is the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Thabo Makgabo. Makgabo has whined and cajoled Global South primates to attend Lambeth in 2022, while Welby uninvites ACNA archbishop Foley Beach to Lambeth 2022. How successful Welby is, we still do not know. By all accounts, all the GAFCON bishops will not appear and most of the Global South primates won't be at Lambeth 2022.
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A notable evangelical Episcopal bishop died this week. The Rt. Rev. William Carl "Bill" Frey spent most of his early ministry as a missionary in Latin America, until Guatemala's militarist government ejected him for protesting repression. He was filled with the Holy Spirit in the early days of charismatic renewal and crossed ideological divides as Bishop of Colorado and dean of Trinity School for ministry. He combined advocacy for social justice with a robust defense of traditional doctrine. One of the Episcopal Church's most influential evangelicals, Frey died at his home in San Antonio on October 11, aged 90.
After early ministry in rural mission churches in Colorado and as a rector in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Frey went to Costa Rica as an Episcopal Church missionary in 1962. There he operated the Spanish Publications Center in San Jose. He served as editor of a Spanish-language church newspaper for the scattered missions of the Diocese of Central America, which gathered Episcopalians from six Latin American countries.
During Frey's tenure in Colorado, he firmly supported women's ordination and insisted that all his parishes use the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, effectively seizing control of St. Mark's, Denver in 1984, when its rector, Rev. Louis Tarsitano, an Anglo Catholic, threatened secession from the diocese over the issue. Frey was Bishop of Colorado till 1990 when he became the third dean and president of Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA.
