Esau McCaulley Assumes Police Murdered George Floyd

Dr. Esau McCaulley excerpts his book Reading While Black and writes on a Biblical view of policing in the latest Christianity Today.  He makes some good points, but near the beginning he discredits himself with an inflammatory assumption [Emphasis mine].

The dark silt of that history has been brought to the surface by recent events, most notably the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police. The many protesters who have marched in our nation’s streets bear witness to the fact that Floyd is not the first. Black Americans have been “under the knee” for not days or weeks but centuries, and this cumulative oppression is once again front and center in our national consciousness.

Thus McCaulley, for publication no less, assumes police murdered George Floyd.  He in effect writes that police intentionally killed Floyd; for murder implies intent.  Further, it is not clear just what killed Floyd.  One possibility is that an overdose of fentanyl killed him; the medical examiner’s report states that his blood had a level of that drug that can be lethal.

What makes McCaulley’s assumption worse is that the police involved are to stand trial, for 2^nd degree murder in Derek Chauvin’s case.  McCaulley does not seem to appreciate America much at times, but one good thing about this country is that our courts assume a man is innocent until proven guilty.  And responsible writers and publications usually take measures to respect that.  Newspapers make a point to print “alleged” murderer, or whatever the accusation is, when someone has not yet been convicted.  Both McCaulley and Christianity Today are reckless and irresponsible when they assume the guilt of murder, either legal or ethical guilt, particularly in such an unclear case.  And, yes, it is unclear.  (That police horribly mishandled a difficult situation is clear.  That it was murder is not.)

Further, in the midst of riots, arson, looting, and attacks on the streets, McCaulley’s assumption does not help matters. 

The above is bad enough.  What makes matters even worse is that McCaulley is a cleric in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and should therefore be all the more passionate and careful about truth.  Further he is responsible for recruiting other clergy as head of ACNA’s Next Generation Leadership Initiative.  And now he has been placed on ACNA’s Working Group on Race, Racism, and Racial Reconciliation.

It is difficult to see how McCaulley will be helpful in bringing about racial reconciliation when he so assumes a white policeman is guilty.  And Archbishop Foley Beach has requested restraint from ACNA clergy and that they defer to the Working Group for a season:

Specifically, regarding racial issues, we now have a Provincial Working Group on Race, Racism, and Racial Reconciliation which has begun meeting and who will present their results to the bishops in several months. Until then, it is time to listen and not to pontificate our specific political positions. Let us love our neighbors as ourselves.

McCaulley’s article may not be a technical violation of this request, particularly since he submitted it before the Archbishop’s letter.  But an apology and much more restraint forthwith is appropriate given his importance in ACNA and on the Working Group.

And if I were Christianity Today, I would edit the offending paragraph and fast for reasons both ethical and legal.  To assume in print a man’s guilt of murder in such an unclear case and before he goes to trial is not a trivial matter.

ACNA Working Group on Race Announced

The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) has announced the composition of its Working Group on Race, Racism, and Racial Reconciliation:

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The group is charged with joining in godly conversation and then leading the Church in similar dialogue. As the Rt. Rev. John Guernsey, Dean of Provincial Affairs who was tasked with convening the group, said, “The polarization in our culture and political life, coupled with the sensitivity of matters of race, make this a very painful topic for many. Sadly, many do not feel it is wise for them to express their views except to someone they are confident agrees with them. As a result, it is clear that one of the primary tasks of this group is indeed to talk, and then, out of that experience, to speak to the Church at large in the hope of fostering greater openness and deeper healing throughout the Province.”

Co-chairs of the group, the Rt. Rev. Alphonza Gadsden and the Rt. Rev. Keith Andrews, added, “This working group is a commitment to courage; to listen, to learn, to speak, and to act in such a way that the voice of Jesus may be heard above all other voices. Perhaps what flows from our time together, at least in part, is a better view of all the nations (ethnicities) giving praise and glory to God because we truly see others through the heart of Jesus.”

Members of the Working Group are as follows:

The Rt. Rev. Keith Andrews, Co-Chair, Diocese of Western Anglicans
The Rt. Rev. Al Gadsden, Co-Chair, REC Diocese of the Southeast

The Rt. Rev. Bill Atwood, International Diocese
Sarah Culpepper, Diocese of Fort Worth
The Rev. Kimberly Deckel, Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others
The Rev. Gabe Garcia, Diocese of Western Anglicans
The Rev. Tommy Hinson, Diocese of Christ Our Hope
The Rev. Kempton Jackson, Diocese of Rocky Mountains
The Rev. Esau McCaulley, Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others
The Rev. Gerald McDermott, Anglican Diocese of the South
The Rev. Lawrence McElrath, Special Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy
Gabby Manriquez, Diocese of Western Anglicans
The Rev. Allan Tan, Anglican Network in Canada
Albert Thompson, Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic
The Rt. Rev. William White, REC Diocese of the Southeast

Ex officio as Dean of Provincial Affairs:
The Rt. Rev. John Guernsey, Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic

The group will work together through November and assess their progress at that time in order to determine next steps.

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I do not know enough about the participants to have much of an informed public opinion about the composition.  But I am glad to see there are a number of particularly vocal names that are not in the Working Group.

In my initial comments on the formation of this group, I said it may be helpful to defer public discussion in ACNA to a less angry, less polarized time.  That seems to be Archbishop Foley Beach’s desire as well.  Among his recommendations in his letter to the clergy yesterday was this:

Specifically, regarding racial issues, we now have a Provincial Working Group on Race, Racism, and Racial Reconciliation which has begun meeting and who will present their results to the bishops in several months. Until then, it is time to listen and not to pontificate our specific political positions. Let us love our neighbors as ourselves.

Now how much ACNA clergy or even Working Group members comply with that request in both letter and spirit is an open question.

I’ve opined that creating this group is something of a gamble.  But proceeding on an ad hoc basis was not working, to put it mildly.  The Working Group has a weighty and volatile task.  I will be among those praying for them.

Greg Goebel is “Celebrating” That Babykiller Kamala is Biden’s VP Pick

Even before Kamala Harris was elected U. S. Senator from California, I noted her babykilling ways.  Probably worst of all was her voting against the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Act as Senator, which would have required medical treatment of babies that survive late-term abortions.  She’s committed a lot of evil as a public official, but it’s hard to top that.

But before then as Attorney General she did try to punish David Daleiden for exposing Planned Parenthood, a major political donor to her, of course.  She even had his home raided for committing journalism.  I didn’t call her a feminazi for nothing.

But never mind the babykilling, the brazen attacks on the 1^st Amendment and much much more.  ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach’s Canon Greg Goebel is “celebrating the nomination of the first Black and South Asian woman as Vice President.” Because gender and ethnicity are so much more important than the lives of the unborn or of freedom of speech, don’t you know.

Yes, he actually uses “God’s image” to justify that.  He really goes there.  Using the image of God to celebrate the elevation of a babykiller.  

That is obscenity bordering on blasphemy. 

Again this is Foley Beach’s Canon in the Diocese of the South.

ACNA’s Gamble

Somewhat missed in the midst of all the mayhem lately, both churchly and worldly, is the following ACNA news reported by Jeff Walton:

Bishop John Guernsey, Dean of Provincial Affairs, has been tasked by the College of Bishops to put together a Working Group on Race, Racism, and Racial Reconciliation “to help us talk as Biblical Christians in the midst of a polarized culture.”

Given the difficulties the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), among other churches, is having in dealing with issues relating to race and racism, this is an understandable decision.  But it is also a gamble though most of ACNA may not know it yet.

I should say right off that from what I’ve been told, this Working Group is very early in its formation. If even part of its composition or remit has been determined, I am not aware of that.  Thus this post if based only on the initial information Walton has reported.  If anything is going on behind the scenes that is proving me right or wrong, I do not know.

Having said that, forming this Working Group is not without merit.  Issues surrounding race and wokeness are creating not a little discord in ACNA.  Some of you may have noticed that.  It is not only the culture that is getting “polarized.”  This contention is one more strain on unity ACNA does not need.  If done well, the Working Group could provide a relatively peaceful channel for discussion.  Further, bishops and priests who may be pressured to take sides could defer to the Working Group, saying they would like to wait and hear what it has to say.

Yes, that may seem to be passing the buck.  But as contentious as these issues are now, it might be wise to defer these to a future time with the hope that it will be a calmer time.  This might be a better way to proceed than trying to ignore these issues, which is virtually impossible anyway, or by having it out now in either an organized or disorganized fashion during this angry polarized time. 

Still the formation of the Working Group has potential pitfalls.  Bishop Guernsey, being the Dean of Provincial Affairs, was a logical choice to form it.  However, many among the more conservative in ACNA do not have a great deal of trust towards him.  Whether that lack of trust is justified or not, or is a reflection on him or on those who distrust him, I will leave aside.  But if the Working Group acts in ways that displease conservatives, they will that much more likely see those ways as intended from the start and from the highest levels of ACNA.

A related potential pitfall could be the selection of those to join the Group.  For one thing, to simply put in the Group those most interested in racial issues would be a mistake because the result would likely be a composition slanted towards wokeness since woke people are rather obsessed with race.  In any case, it is of the upmost importance that the Working Group not be slanted towards the “justice” wing of ACNA.

Another pitfall and perhaps the biggest gamble the College of Bishops of ACNA is taking by creating this Working Group is that they are raising the stakes.  Now there will be a more prominent group formed by and just below the College of Bishops that will likely be making pronouncements on these contentious issues.  Yes, there are already groups at the provincial level that have spoken to such issues, such as the Anglican Multi-ethnic Network, but these are perceived as projects.  The Working Group will be seen as of higher and more central authority.  Its pronouncements will be perceived as speaking more for ACNA.  (I am talking about perceptions here.  I am not in a position to know what, if any, authority the Group will actually have to speak for ACNA.)

Of course, if the Group’s pronouncements are wise and in line with scripture instead of in line with wokeness, that could be a good thing indeed.  Certainly, Archbishop Foley’s recent statements in this area, particularly his statement to the Provincial Council, have been helpful overall.  But it could be that, to lessen the risk of division, the Working Group may choose to avoid making statements or be very selective in so doing.  We shall see.  

Combine all this and perhaps unforeseen developments, and there is the risk that the Working Group will eventually end up being perceived as a pre-ordained effort to put ACNA in the Woke Church camp.  That this will further strain ACNA’s unity goes without saying.  Note that I see this as a worst possible scenario and that I am saying there is a risk that the result will be such a perception.  I am not making a prediction, nor am I saying such a perception would be fair.  I am saying the ACNA College of Bishops has just taken a big risk.

I am not even saying it is wrong to take this risk.  For ACNA’s current ad hoc approach to addressing this area is not working well.  Divisions within ACNA are getting worse.  An effort “to help us talk as Biblical Christians in the midst of a polarized culture” is surely needed.  So this risk, this gamble if you will, is noble and perhaps even wise.  But it is still a gamble and one worth watching.

A Call to Prayer from Archbishop Foley Beach

Today Foley Beach, the Archbishop of ACNA, issued a heartfelt and needed call to prayer.  I appreciate its spirit and balance and will most certainly participate.

His call to prayer follows:

Dearest People of God in the Anglican Church in North America:

I write you with a tremendous heaviness in my spirit and soul as I observe and participate in what is happening today in the United States of America. If ever there is a time for the people of God to fall on our faces before God and plead for his mercy and intervention, now is the time. As believers, we are given the privilege of coming to the Throne of Grace with our petitions and requests, and he promises to hear us. (1 John 5:14,15)

Consider what we have experienced in recent days and weeks:

• Another senseless killing by a police officer of an unarmed black man, George Floyd.
• Hundreds of thousands of people participating in peaceful protests.
• The unleashing of a spirit of lawlessness where rioting, violence, destruction of businesses and properties (mostly minority owned), unbridled theft, personal assaults on bystanders, store owners, the elderly, and police officers.
• Covid-19 closing whole countries down, reportedly killing over 100,000 people in the U.S., over 7,000 in Canada, and over 10,000 in Mexico, and creating an economic calamity with tens of millions of people unemployed across North America.
• Numerous businesses and churches have had to close down and many will not reopen.
• Incredible generosity of strangers helping strangers in the midst of calamity.

Sisters and brothers, I am asking you to join me in spending the next week in prayer and fasting for North America (Wednesday, June 3 – Wednesday, June 10). For those who can fast the whole week, a day, or a meal, I ask you set aside time to intercede on behalf of your community, state, and nation.

Pray in the Holy Spirit and as the Holy Spirit leads you, and as you do, consider these petitions:

• Show me my own sin; reveal to me the darkness of my own heart (Ps.139:24)
• Reveal to me the repentance I need in my own life.
• The ending of the lawlessness and violence.
• Justice for those who have had their lives taken from them, especially George Floyd, and comfort for their families.
• Comfort for the family and friends of the thousands of people who have lost their lives because of Covid-19.
• Help for the millions who find themselves suddenly without a job.
• Provision for all those business owners who have lost their business because of rioting, for those who have insurance and those who do not.
• Strength for the health care workers, nurses, doctors, technicians in hospitals and medical facilities who continue to work fearlessly to save lives.
• Wisdom for our government and civil leaders as they seek to keep us safe both from the virus and from the violence in our cities.
• Food and provision for those who are hungry and in need.
• Fresh anointing for the Church of Jesus Christ to faithfully proclaim the Gospel and reach people who are hurting, suffering, alone, and in need.
• Specific acts of grace and mercy that You want me to carry out in this time.

If you would like some specific prayers to help you pray, consider these from the Book of Common Prayer 2019 on pages 657-661:

• #39 – For our Nation
• #40 – For All Sorts and Conditions of Men
• #41 – For Cities, Towns, and other Communities
• #42 – For the Human Family
• #43 – For Social Justice
• #44 – In Times of Social Conflict or Distress
• #45 – For Those Who Serve Others
• #46 – For Commerce and Industry
• #47 – For the Unemployed
• #48 – For Agriculture and Farming
• #49 – For Schools, Colleges, and Universities
• #50 – For the Medical Professions
• #51 – For Those Who Inform Public Opinion

Jesus said: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (Luke 11:9,10)

Your brother in Jesus Christ,


The Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach
Archbishop and Primate, Anglican Church in North America

A Statement from Archbishop Foley Beach

A blessed Pentecost to all.  Speaking of which, I post this in haste as I need to get ready for church but wanted to get this out first.

ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach posted a statement last night addressing the rioting and violence since the killing of George King.  It is needful and I appreciate it.  It is the first statement from ACNA bishops that I have seen that addresses the rioting.  (Feel free to comment if I’ve missed something.)

The Archbishop’s statement follows:

Call to Prayer on Pentecost Sunday...

To the Clergy of the Anglican Church in North America,

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be people of peace and love, reflecting our Lord and Savior. We are called to be light in the darkness and, through the power of the Holy Spirit, shine Christ's love not only in our churches but in our communities. Watching the lawlessness and violence in cities all over the United States is not only heart-breaking and tragic, but completely defeats the purpose of the protests for justice. With our city here in Atlanta on fire, our own mayor broke into tears when reminding our citizens that our city's heritage is one of non-violent protest as the home and ministry center of Martin Luther King, Jr. 

For those of you in the United States, I am writing to ask you to lead your congregation in specific prayer during worship tomorrow (Pentecost Sunday) for peace and justice in our communities; for the violence to stop; for wisdom for our leaders; for comfort for those who have lost loved ones or have been injured in the violence; and for people to be drawn to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Almighty God, you created us in your own image: Grant us grace to contend fearlessly against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and help us to use our freedom rightly in the establishment of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP 2019, pg. 659)

A blessed Pentecost to you! Shalom.

BREAKING: ACNA Bishops Ask for No “In-person Worship Services”

From the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America Foley Beach:

I write to you after meeting with our bishops this afternoon. We considered the advice given by the President of the United States' Coronavirus Team, the Centers for Disease Control, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and by governmental authorities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States strongly advising that no public gatherings of 10 or more people be held.  It is our desire to partner with our civic officials as they seek to exercise their duty to protect our communities. Therefore, the College of Bishops is asking our congregations not to hold in-person worship services or gatherings until further notice, but to offer, when possible, worship services on a virtual platform. We realize these are extreme measures that we had hoped to avoid, but for the health and welfare of everyone in our churches and communities, this is something we all must put into practice immediately.

Each diocesan bishop will communicate to his diocese regarding the specifics of how this will be applied in each local diocesan context.

My initial response is similar to when the Anglican Bishop of South Carolina shut down services. I think it a once-size-fits-all response and well meaning over-reaching.

I am well aware mine is likely a minority opinion.

The Blocked by Greg Club and Accountability in ACNA

In recent weeks I’ve discovered I’ve become part of a club. I wish I could say it is very exclusive but it does not seem to be as it is growing and getting close to numerous. It is the Blocked by Greg Club, the club of those blocked by the twitter account of Canon Greg Goebel or by the Facebook page of his Anglican Pastor site.  I will say the club seems to be exclusive in one fashion: I only know of traditional Anglicans that have been blocked, not of others.  (There may be others; if so, I am not aware of them.)

The pattern often is that Goebel will post something that provokes traditional Anglicans.  And should one dare to express their provocation and disagreement in a manner displeasing to the Canon, he/she is blocked. 

Now one certainly has the right to act in such a catty manner on a social media account, even a public one.  But it is questionable coming from clergy, much less from a Canon in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).  Yes, all are entitled to private online space where one can include and exclude as one wishes more or less.  But I do not think that applies to public Twitter and Facebook accounts on which clergy comment on churchly matters and other public issues. Church people should be able to know what their clergy is saying in public or semi-public settings about church and political issues.  That is basic accountability.

It is fair to say ACNA handles accountability well more often than not and better than most church jurisdictions.  But there are times it does not, and this is one of them. It is not right for a Canon to block people, especially church people, from seeing what he is saying or doing as a minister, except in extreme circumstances or when privacy is appropriate.  Church people should be able readily to know what their clergy are teaching and advocating. And if clergy cannot handle critical responses to that better than blocking the responders, perhaps other jobs should be sought.

In this case, the problem of lack of accountability goes right to the top in ACNA.  For Greg Goebel is the Canon to the Ordinary in the Diocese of the South, the bishop of which is the Archbishop of ACNA, the Most Rev. Foley Beach.

The Political Litany of ¡Caminemos Juntos!

I post this with sadness.  My church supports ministry to Hispanics, and our beloved bilingual Rector is remarkably active in that.  As part of his ministry, working with ¡Caminemos Juntos!  (CJuntos) has been a possibility and may still be; it’s up to him (although because of the following I have advised him to work with other groups instead).  I had thought that perhaps CJuntos had backed away from its previous political activism for the sake of ministry and unity.  So I find their Litany Of Lament And Repentance For Our Treatment Of Immigrants And Refugees disappointing to say the least.

First, there is this introduction on the CJuntos site:

The last weeks have seen a dramatic increase in tension even in what has already been an incredibly tense climate for immigrants in the United States. Threats of raids and deportation, rapidly changing and confusing immigration law making it harder to legally enter the country to request asylum, rumors of the ending of all refugee resettlement and the increase of negative rhetoric in the news media has terrorized the immigrant community including those within out Caminemos Juntos family. We are in many ways a persecuted people. . . .

Oh please.  First, immigrants who have entered legally have nothing to worry about as long as they continue to obey the law. That’s the way it is for citizens, too, by the way.  Second, even illegal immigrants who have not skipped their court dates, have otherwise not committed crimes, and don’t have deportation orders on them have not much to worry about either.  There are 11 million or more illegals in this country.  Only a small fraction of those have deportation orders or are being deported.  The authorities are prioritizing who to deport because they have no choice with that many illegals here.

Besides that, being removed from a country you entered illegally is hardly terror.  If I entered the UK illegally or stayed longer than permitted and were then removed, I would look rather silly if I cried out, “Help! Help! I’m being terrorized!” If you really want to be “terrorized,” live in an area where the MS-13 gang of mostly illegals operates.

I will concede that we should watch our rhetoric especially in the current climate.  I hope CJuntos is also concerned about some of the rhetoric against those who oppose open borders. 

Note the conflation of both legal and illegal immigrants as simply “immigrants.”  There are a lot of legal immigrants who find that offensive. And this conflation is throughout this litany.

Finally, to equate enforcing immigration law and restricting who may enter and stay in this country with persecution is slanderous.  

Skipping a bit into the litany itself:

Officiant: You said: “Don’t oppress an immigrant.

You know what it’s like to be an immigrant,

because you were immigrants in Egypt.”

I don’t know Hebrew, but “immigrant” seems a sloppy translation for political purposes to me.  

But we have forgotten the hardships faced

by our ancestors who came to this country…

Speak for yourself!  My Granddad was a legal immigrant.  He worked himself to early grave, a few years before I was born, to provide well for his family.  My family still benefits, and I am here because of him.  I sure have not forgotten him or his hardships.

Officiant: You said “When a stranger sojourns 

with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.         

You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you          

as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself.”                                                                                                                                      

But we done wrong to the sojourners to this land:            

separating children from parents and husbands               

from wives, limiting opportunities for work                   

and education opportunities and not loving these              

new neighbors as ourselves. 

So much to dissect there.  First, when one breaks the law, the lawbreaker is often separated from his family.  That goes for citizens, too.  Second, as I have noted, there is rampant child trafficking along the border.  There have been several surges of migrants.  Dealing with the numbers and figuring out who are real families and who are fake families (of which there are many) and dealing with them accordingly is not an easy task at all.  There is not much question that the surges and caravans with accompanying child smuggling were designed to overwhelm the border.  So then to whinge when we struggle imperfectly to deal with that situation humanely is . . . well, I will allow readers to choose the adjectives of their choice.

Now, of course, the simplest way to keep illegals and their families together is quickly to deport them together or, better, to not allow them in at all.  But I doubt ¡Caminemos Juntos! would like that.  Instead, they likely want to let most to all of these families right on in together.  And then, after an eventual amnesty of some sort (which I would guess - just guess - CJuntos also likely wants), by chain migration, here come the extended families!  So really their whinging about “families” is advocating for open borders and mass immigration, or close to it.

Further, making too much of a priority to keep families together is encouraging and enabling the child trafficking at the border.  By the way, notice how the serious problem of child trafficking is not mentioned in this litany?

“Limiting opportunities for work…” So we should displace citizen labor with illegal immigrant labor?  Ask construction workers who have seen their wages depressed by cheap illegal labor what they think of that!  Where is the concern for those whose opportunities and wages are suppressed by cheap immigrant labor?  This lack of concern for citizens sounds more like the Democrat Party than the church.

That is another problem with this litany. It is not only out of balance; it pretends valid competing claims have no legitimacy worth mentioning.  

“Limiting . . . education opportunities…” How?  Thanks to an old Supreme Court ruling, public schools have to educate the children of illegals (which is overwhelming some school districts and harming the education of citizens).  Most universities welcome illegals and many even provide financial aid.  Many illegals get a far better education here than they would hope to get in their home countries.    

Skipping a bit…

But rather than recognizing your sovereign

disciple-making purposes in the dispersion of 

peoples across borders, we have seen 

immigrants as a threat. We have failed to 

practice Godly hospitality and instead embraced 

protectionist nationalism, not submit our ways of 

thinking to the authority of your word.

Well, MS-13 and other criminals streaming across the border are a threat to say the least.

“We have . . . embraced protectionist nationalism.”

That is a straw man.  To want controls on immigration and a secure border is hardly “protectionist nationalism.”  And what is that anyway?  If I love my country and want to protect it and its culture, does that make me a “protectionist nationalist”?  Instead of engaging with different views of what is appropriate immigration policy, CJuntos engages in buzzwords in a prayer no less. Maybe they should submit that “to the authority of your word.”

By the way, whatever “protectionist nationalists” are, I don’t think there are many of them at ¡Caminemos Juntos! meetings.  I thought confessing other people’s sins was an Episcopalian thing.

We have opposed change resisting any giving up of our ways of worship and life.   

That’s backward, isn’t it?  It’s immigrants (and now I include legal immigrants) who should change and become American if they are going to move to America. (Yes, different cultures enrich America.) If I were to move to England, even I would not insist it become Texan.  (Well, I have introduced Tabasco Sauce on eggs to Pusey House, but anyway….)  I would instead become at least English enough to participate well in that culture.  And if someone is going to become Anglican, Anglican churches shouldn’t change their “ways of worship” for him/her.  We should not starting dunking people and stop baptizing babies if a Baptist joins us.  We shouldn’t cavort during our processions if a Pentecostal joins us.  “Our ways of worship” are an integral part of being Anglican.

But maybe I am misunderstanding here. How should we change, even give up “our ways of worship” for immigrants other than providing language assistance? This seems to me more of what we hear from the social justice crowd, that the church should change to be more to their liking.  But that is a whole ‘nother post, and maybe I am hearing this wrong anyway. Am I?  It is a perplexing clause at best.     

At least the litany ends well:

Lord, have mercy upon us.                                            

Christ, have mercy upon us.                                    

Lord, have mercy upon us.                                                               

Let us pray. Oremos.

A Collect for Refugees and Immigrants          

Heavenly Father, from whom every family on earth derives its name, have mercy on all those who sojourn in this world. As you sheltered your Son Jesus who fled from the tyranny of Herod, so now provide new homes for all those who flee the violence of this age that they may know the peace of Christ. Grace your people with hearts of welcome and lives of courage through Jesus Christ who lives and   reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

That collect was written by Archbishop Foley Beach and serves as a godly example of making public prayer something in which all faithful Anglicans can participate.  Unlike most of the litany, I can pray that collect along with ¡Caminemos Juntos!.  Public prayer certainly should not smear and divide the faithful church along political lines.

Charlottesville Revisited

Joe Biden in beginning his campaign for President saw fit to smear President Donald Trump’s statement in the aftermath of Charlottesville. He is not the first to deceive about Charlottesville and Trump’s statement for political purposes, and he won’t be the last.  So it’s time to revisit Charlottesville.

First, Trump did not call white nationalists and the like “fine people.”  He did not, as Biden said, assign “a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it.”  Here is what Trump said, in context:

You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. ... I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name. ... So you know what, it's fine. You're changing history. You're changing culture. And you had people — and I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the White nationalists, because they should be condemned totally — but you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and White nationalists. Okay? And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly. Now, in the other group also, you had some fine people. But you also had troublemakers, and you see them come with the black outfits and with the helmets and with the baseball bats. You had a lot of bad people in the other group.

And Trump’s statement was and is accurate.  You had peaceful people who, like me frankly, are concerned about taking down history for current political motivations.  And on the other side you had peaceful people who, also like me, oppose extremist racist ideologies. (Please see my note below for more.)

At the same time, there were also violent extremists on both sides.  But all we hear about are the Neo-Nazis and the like and the man who ran down protesters and killed a woman. And we should be reminded of them.  But we rarely are reminded of the role violent Leftist groups, particularly Antifa, played that day.  But a great deal of violence came from Antifa and therefore some of the violence from the other side was in self-defense.  (Obviously, the car attack was not and should be condemned without equivocation.)

Don’t take my word for it.  Here are testimonies of eyewitnesses from various sides of Charlottesville, such as this:

University of Virginia student Isabella Ciambotti: "I was on Market Street around 11:30 a.m. when a counter-protester ripped a newspaper stand off the sidewalk and threw it at alt-right protesters. I saw another man from the white supremacist crowd being chased and beaten. People were hitting him with their signs. A much older man, also with the alt-right group, got pushed to the ground in the commotion. Someone raised a stick over his head and beat the man with it, and that's when I screamed and ran over with several other strangers to help him to his feet."

Such is par for the course for Antifa, along with using excrement as a weapon.  But we don’t hear much about that (By the way, although I remember numerous reports of Antifa violence in Charlottesville, search engines are not much help digging up those reports.  Funny that . . . in an Orwellian way.) – a double standard which enables more hate and violence as I noted shortly after Charlottesville.  Distorting history has consequences.

Sadly, the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) has enabled and even participated in distorting the history of Charlottesville. I do not think that was the intent, but it was the effect.  The Anglican Multi-Ethnic Network (AMEN) issued a Charlottesville Statement.  There was nothing really wrong in it and much to be commended.  What it omitted is the problem.  While repeatedly denouncing racism and “white supremacy,” it did not even mention Antifa or other violent Leftists or their role in Charlottesville.   And ACNA and Archbishop Foley Beach endorsed and promoted this statement.

Such partial truths are inadequate and can be used to deceive.  We in ACNA must do better.  All Christians involved in the political sphere must strive for better.

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NOTE: Now one may ask how the heck can “fine people” find themselves on the same side as Neo-Nazis (and Antifa for that matter).  I will tell you how from personal experience.

Back during my college days, I joined a rally against the Greensboro shooting verdict in 1980 (or 1981, my memory of the time is fuzzy.). I saw the not guilty verdict as unjust.  But during the rally, I saw that it was really more a platform to smear Reagan and promote loony Left ideas than to protest the verdict. Eventually I had enough and walked away.

Also in my college days, I participated in Marches for Life. I noticed some, well, interesting people there.  For one thing, I was intrigued by the leaflets in the Ticked Mary genre I was handed.  But the scattered odd balls were more amusing than obnoxious.  And the main cause remained the main cause.  So I marched on.

One can certainly question the judgement of those who were not White Nationalists or the like but were there in Charlottesville to protest taking down historic statues.  But sometimes when you get involved in honorable causes, you find yourself alongside dishonorable people.

UPDATED: ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach Signed the World Relief Immigration Letter

I’ve mentioned the latest open letter from World Relief on immigration politics and ACNA Bishop Stewart Ruch’s signing of it with “Anglican Church in North America” attached to his signature.

I have just now discovered that among those who have added their signatures is apparently Archbishop Foley Beach.  If the signature is genuine, he signed as “Archbishop Foley Beach” with “Anglican Church in North America” attached.  It is now on page 17 of the additional signatures, although that will change as people continue to sign.

His Canon “The Venerable Canon Dr. Jack Lumanog” has also signed, also with “Anglican Church in North America” attached.

As for me, I stand by my previous commentary.

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UPDATE: I have received confirmation that Archbishop Beach did indeed sign.

UPDATE 2: George Conger has dug a bit more into this matter and received a statement from the Archbishop’s office:

In a statement given to Anglican Ink, the Most Rev. Foley Beach said he had signed the letter in “his capacity as the Archbishop.”

Asked by AI by what authority he could sign the statement as primate of the ACNA, when the ACNA’s college of bishops or councils had not taken a stance on the issue, his spokesman responded:

“At his discretion, the Archbishop may choose to speak into issues facing the culture.”

The note went on to say:

“Statements from the Archbishop may have persuasive authority, but in these instances they do not commit the Church as a whole to a particular position.  The Church's definitive stance on issues facing the culture is found in the Constitution and Canons as passed by the Provincial Council and Provincial Assembly.  To date, the full weight of the Anglican Church in North America's authority has only been articulated on two controversial moral issues facing our nations: the sanctity of marriage and the sanctity of life.  On other controversial issues facing our nations it is recognized that faithful Christians may arrive at differing conclusions, and we urge our members to search the scriptures, follow their conscience, and pray for wisdom for our elected leaders.”

ACNA Holy Orders Task Force Report Released

The Holy Orders Task Force has released their report.  ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach has sent out a letter along with it with the following admonition:

Please note the following:

• The Task Force was not commissioned to resolve the issue, but was asked to develop resources to help the bishops in future conversation on this topic.

• Therefore the report does not answer the questions of what the College is to do, but it is a study presented to the College to help the College in our discussions.

• The report does not change our current practice regarding women’s orders as stated in our Constitution. Our current practice allows each diocese to determine whether it will ordain women as deacons or priests.

• The report will now be sent to the GAFCON Primates for their input and guidance for our discussions.

• The College of Bishops will now be studying the whole report, and we will meet in special session later in the year to discuss how we move forward together.

As your Archbishop, I ask the following from you:

1) Don’t comment on the report until you have read it all.

2) Don’t comment on the report until you can fairly articulate the opposite point of view.

3) Remember that no decisions have been made at this time to pursue changing our Constitution.

4) Remember that we are all followers of Jesus Christ on mission together, holding those with the opposite point of view in Christian love and charity.

5) Lastly, sincerely pray for your bishops as we seek to serve Jesus Christ in this matter.

That first request is a big ask.  The report is 318 pages.  But I intend to abide by my Archbishop’s request.  For all of ACNA so to do will take a miracle.

Both the report and the Archbishop’s letter may be found here.