You are currently browsing the monthly archive for August, 2007.
This blog received a whopping 304 unique visitors yesterday! Granted, a lot of folks landed on this blog because they were looking for news about Bishop Weeks. Not Bishop Weeks of Barnabas Ministries (formerly CEC and now with CCR). But, looking for news about Bishop Thomas Weeks III (pictured below). He’s married to Juanita Bynum and he allegedly beat his wife because she wouldn’t reconcile with him.
So, Google has been directing lots of traffic to this blog but we are turning up the wrong Bishop Weeks. Sorry.
Lots of other popular search terms generating traffic to this blog:
archbishop adler
bishop weeks statement
bishop craig bates
charismatic episcopal church cathedral
christ the redeemer communion
CEC bishop michael davidson
Bishop Zampino
Here’s a link to an online photo album of ++Adler’s visit to Kansas.
Edited 5 September 2007
In the interest of being even handed as well as for good writing, here is a piece by David Kyle Foster+ of the CEC featured on VirtueOnline. He writes about “The Judas Church” and it was likely picked up by VirtueOnline for its reference to The Episcopal Church.
Well cats and kittens, it seems that there’s reorganization afoot for CEC Missions. I went to their website to check in and found this message:
You have reached the home page of the former www.cecmissions.org.There is a reorganization taking place that effects this website.
In the mean time, you can visit this site for the International Development Agency here. (For those who are nostalgic for yesteryear and the days of yore with the CEC, you can always check out this handy archive of CEC Missions right here.)
Wow! I thought the IDA was blown up to smithereens for a fresh start. This is becoming a nimble little operation, isn’t it?
“Know thy audience” is one of the critical laws of marketing especially on the web. For some reason, whoever the powers that be on the CEC website have been insisting on putting bizarre pictures of ++Adler in his now trademark blue shades. (Those shades are so cool that everyone and anyone in/near San Clemente seems to be wearing them, too). If he was the College and Career Pastor at Mark Driscoll’s church in Seattle, he’d fit right in. However, if you want to be called “Patriarch”… you might want to re-think the whole look and go for something a little more respectable.
Well, ++Adler’s church is located in Orange County. Maybe he’s hoping to score his own reality series on MTV by looking “cool” … a walk-on role in the next Laguna Beach or The Hills perhaps?
At any rate, nice to see a decent picture of ++Adler on the main website. He actually looks “Patriarchal” pointing to the ground — you know, typical Patriarch stuff.
This is not new, but a reader of this blog pointed out to me that as early as last week, there was still a link to Bishop Philip Weeks’s website from the international CEC site. Oops. He’s only been gone for a while now, but they finally have been in cleaning mode on the international site.
At any rate, at +Weeks’s website, you can read his reasons for leaving the CEC. Click here or read on below for his official statement.
Bishop Weeks is now a part of the Communion of Christ the Redeemer. Many blessings to you Bishop Weeks!
BISHOP WEEKS RESIGNS FROM THE CHARISMATIC EPISCOPAL CHURCH
My resignation is NOT a renunciation of my Ordination and Consecration as a Bishop in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. It is a resignation as a bishop in the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church.
I consider my association with ICCEC a privilege, and to serve as Supervising Bishop, sometime in Rwanda, sometime in Tanzania, and retiring as Supervising Bishop of Burundi, a blessing. At the time of my retirement in 2005, I had in my short time as Bishop administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to 3,808 people, officially Received 639, Ordained 302 men and Baptized 95 children and adults. Through Barnabas Ministries, Incorporated, our work was done without any compensation from the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, for which we thank God and the faithful supporters of Barnabas Ministries.
I became acquainted with the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church through the kind invitation of the Primate of Southeast Territory to teach his men Convergence and prepare his churches for acceptance into ICCEC. I praise God for the relationship I was blessed to have with Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines. I was delighted to find a Communion that adhered to New Testament principles of church government, believed in and practiced the Three Streams of Christianity, and was unashamed of the exercise of the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit. Being a Canon and later consecrated a Bishop, receiving Apostolic Succession from the National Catholic and Apostolic Church of Brazil, which is a direct line from Peter, first Bishop of Rome, I count it all joy to have served the sunset years of our ministry in this Communion.
I do not leave without much regret and sorrow. I have remained quiet over the past several years regarding the cause of and fact of schism, embarrassed at times to be identified as a Bishop of this Church, and appalled at the reluctance of the properly constituted Council to discharge faithfully and honestly its duties to affect discipline, healing and reconciliation. To me it has become evident that the contributions my wife and I made to the growth of this church in Africa were not appreciated nor recognized. Much of the story of our labors are unknown to the Bishops of this Church; the money we personally spent; the wrist surgery required by my wife because of many corporals and altar vestments she prepared for the churches; the death of our Sheltie during one of our Tanzanian trips; to mention only a few… The Africans have been told not to communicate with me. It seems best that I become a vague memory.
The Consensus Government that I proudly believed in and taught to hundreds of African clergy has become a farce, when a program such as CEC MISSIONS, constituted by the House of Bishops in 2004 but announced to the Africans in 2006 and decided upon without the Consensus of the House of Bishops, that it no longer exists, although appeals continue to be made on the CEC MISSIONS’ web site, and contributors have not been notified to cease their contributions. (Since my resignation they have now sent a letter informing the people.) This has become a Church, not ruled by a Consensus of Bishops, but governed by several bishops making decisions apart from the rest of the body. To this day I have had no explanation as to why I was directed to transfer the CEC MISSIONS program to Archdeacon Dan Sharp during the September 7-9, 2005 Primate’s Council in Baltimore when the charges noted in the June 8, 2005 letter regarding the IDA finances and the Patriarchate accountability were discussed. When I transferred the money September 26, 2005 to Archdeacon Sharp I had advanced through December 2005 subsistence for all the clergy in the CEC MISSIONS program and transferred a balance in excess of $1,800 toward the next year. Not all bishops received their subsistence during 2006.
According to the Canons of this Church, no bishop is to go into another bishop’s jurisdiction without his permission, nevertheless according to sources, Bishop Francis Gogo of Uganda is sent by the Patriarch to Burundi to work with the deposed Archdeacon Severin Ndayizeye in opposition to what I was doing as appointed Supervising Bishop. I was not consulted prior to, during or after this visit by Bishop Gogo, and when confronted, no apology was tendered. If my leadership was under question, I should have been consulted rather than create further division by lending support to the deposed priest who was causing the division and disunity. I learned from a former Episcopal Bishop that what a Bishop may do privately should not disallow public support of his appointed authority lest he should undermine his own authority by demeaning the one he has appointed. A case in point is the humiliation of former Archbishop Randy Sly by the Patriarch in June 2006 in Maryland when his leadership was destroyed. It seems that some in our ecclesiastical hierarchy enjoy hearing unfavorable reports without asking any defense from the accused more than cherishing good news. I feel victimized by this behavior.
In Rwanda I traveled that country to every part and ordained every priest. With God’s blessing and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Emmanuel Ngirumpatse was raised up to take my place and I had the joy of being co-consecrator. In Tanzania I worked with the two men who later would succeed me: – Bishop Daudi Chidawali and Bishop Charles Sekelwa in whose Consecrations I participated. Under threat of death I traveled throughout Burundi, confirming and ordaining, and watching to see whom God would raise up as Bishop. With the consent of the Bishop’s Council during my final visit to Burundi in August, 2005, I recommended Canon Nestor Misigaro as Bishop, only to have my recommendation questioned as if I knew nothing of the desire of the priests, and poisoned by the continual contact and consultation with the deposed archdeacon who was guilty of fraud, lying, misuse of money and disobedience to his ordination vows. Rumor has it that Canon Misigaro and two other men will be consecrated in March but such information has not been passed to me by the attending Archbishop nor any inquiry into the election of the additional men, nor invitation to be co-consecrator of my successors. A major reason for problems among the African leadership today is due to the fact that bishops were elected and consecrated without due investigation by the Archbishop. This is not only bad practice, but improper conduct in protocol, and a blatant act of discourtesy.
“Relationship is what CEC is all about” declares the Patriarch, however, since the announcement of my wife’s Alzheimer Disease four years ago, the Patriarch has not called, emailed, written or asked about her condition or how I am handling this change in our life. No comment!
I do not leave ICCEC angry, but I do feel I have been victimized and treated unfairly. My service is no longer needed nor wanted although I probably know Africa better than any bishop setting or resigned. I pray that the Charismatic Episcopal Church may re-discover its original Vision (Revelation 2:4) and I covet your prayers for whatever use God may have for my life in my remaining years.
I have been received as Assistant Bishop to Bishop Rich Lipka in the Diocese of DELMARVA. The formation of a new communion by the seven bishops who resigned is pending.
For many years GLAD TIDINGS was the official organ of Barnabas Ministries, Inc and mailed to a large list of constituents. At my election as Bishop in 2002 we discontinued the publication. Now in 2006 we resumed the publication of an e-newsletter sent online to email addresses we have, and included in the receipt letter of contributors to Barnabas Ministries, Inc. If you wish to receive the monthly e-newsletter, send us your e-mail address at bishopweeks@verizon.net.
A commenter with a Roman Catholic background made a wonderful point about when someone leaves the RC, no one notices. However, the person wasn’t clear about what I referred to as “shepherding tricks”.
Here is a pretty concise article on what it’s about from wikipedia.
Here is another article on the subject. This article is far more complete and overall quite good.
Today has been a HUGE day for this little blog. We’ve had 255 unique visitors today alone. The comments have exploded across the posts as well.
I apologize in advance about the Login feature. Sadly, it has become an necessity because of all the autospam I’m getting and having to cleanup. I’d like for the comments to be pertinent to our discussion about the CEC – not about penile implants and “easy college degrees” posted automatically by some nameless/faceless spammer. Comments will also be held in an embargo until they are approved by little old me. So, this might slow things down in the discussion but that’s my right as the owner of this here blog. And, I’m trying to save myself the trouble of cleaning up the spam that would otherwise be a nuisance to all of us if left unchecked.
Also, the most popular search terms getting people to this here blog so far this week:
- ICCEC problems
- Bishop Dale Howard
- Communion of Corpus Christi
- Communion of Christ the Redeemer
- “What happened to the Charismatic Episcopal Church”
Clearly, there are a lot of people looking for answers. I’m one of them.
I’m also appreciative of some wonderful posters who have been gracious with me recently: klampert and anon4CEC. Even though we’re not seeing eye-to-eye on how things have been or are now in the CEC, there’s so much grace in their responses that I’ve had to stop, pray and consider what they’re saying to me. So, this has been helpful and my heart has been gladdened (is that even a word?) by your contributions. Clearly, I am bitter and angry. But, that hasn’t stopped some from taking the high road in dealing with me. That’s totally Jesus’ way even though I’m not exhibiting it in some of my posts.
I got that message loud and clear from someone who e-mailed me. Yes, it is depressing. It’s not what I’m aiming for nor is it the end game for me.
I am processing the bad times I had in the Charismatic Episcopal Church while not at all forgetting the good things I learned while I was a part of the CEC.
The bad:
- I was cheated out of years of ministry
- I was subject to all kinds of emotional, mental and spiritual abuse at the hands of “my fathers in God”
- I was lied to repeatedly
- I was pitted against others without my knowledge
I’ve had some who are still in the CEC say, “Yes, welcome to ministry.“ Yes, indeed. But, that’s not a good response to have to someone who is saying to you, “I’m hurting.“
Take for example those who are in the middle of all the mess with The Episcopal Church (TEC). There are plenty of those who have left TEC and moved on to other ministries. But, they are still working through their frustrations and hurt for the sake of those who are either still in TEC or trying to understand what the spent years have been all about.
I’m never going to let go Randy Adler’s vision of convergence worship. It was around before Adler and the vision is bigger than Adler and all of the CEC. But, Adler explained it in such an anointed way that it was hard NOT to accept that this was God’s vision for the whole Church!
And somewhere along the way, the CEC lost its way. Be it through money, power, jockeying for territory, outdoing another bishop who appears to be wealthier than you, etc., etc…
I haven’t gotten to the bottom of this. I suspect at the end of all this, I’ll find myself there. I’m not ruling that out. In fact, I’m totally expecting it. But, bear with me, God’s not through with me yet.
I’m not giving up the three streams vision. I just have given up that the CEC is the only vehicle for making it a reality in this world.
Spotted at a Mass (non-CEC) in Switzerland … though it’s hard to believe this didn’t happen at a CEC gathering.
Just when you thought you’ve seen it all and heard all the horror stories about dance and pageantry … then something like this comes along. CEC, don’t get any ideas!
Click here for a placeholder for the forthcoming website for the Communion of Corpus Christi. This is the new home created by Bishop Philip Zampino, formerly the CEC’s Abbot General and ordinary for the Mid-Atlantic Diocese. Bishop and Mother Zampino are good people and again, there is life after the CEC.
Seen on a posting on the ICCEC website:
Saturday, July 14, 2007 06:29 PM
Announcing the new location for St. Andrew’s CEC mission in St. Augustine. Beginning Sunday, July 22, 2007, we will gather for worship at the Riverview Club, 790 Christina Dr. in the St. Augustine Shores neighborhood.
For more information, please send me an Email with your contact information.
God bless!
+Doug Woodall
Interim Pastor
Well that’s interesting that the Archbishop for the Armed Forces will also be handling a parish in his new home of Florida. The Priest-in-charge recently moved to the Communion of Christ the Redeemer. I was under the impression that he and his whole mission made the trip but apparently not.
Well, apparently since the International Development Agency was such a colossal failure at the hands of Archbishop Dale Howard, it was time to re-tool the old thing into: CEC MISSIONS! (On a side note, if the IDA was so mismanaged and such a tangle, why not an audit? Hmmm… methinks it could point to an even greater sickness at the top where money is just spent willy nilly without any accounting.)
“But, ++Howard was deposed so that solved everything, right?” WRONG.
We’re back to the same old game but with many more players now with even fancier titles! Look with me, won’t you?
The Bishops are all now “The Most Reverend” because that title just isn’t for Archbishops anymore cats and kittens. We’ll leave that “Right Reverend” crap for abbots.
But, when you’re a CEC Bishop associated with CEC Missions, you travel in style, my friends. You are knighted or something into a … PATRIARCHAL LEGATE! What the hell is that all about?
I think that ex-Archbishop Sly was behind this little project. He was always good at handing out titles even though they weren’t worth a damn anywhere else. Because, really friends, why pay a Priest to do full time work when you can call him “Canon” and he’ll do the work for free?
But, here’s the list of PATRIARCHAL LEGATES and the regions they will be covering somehow:
Acting Coordinator of the Supervising Bishops: John Holloway
I’m sure that will need some re-examining in light of the very serious stroke he suffered a few weeks back.
Asia: Tom Hines
Perfect choice. The Primate of the CEC in Southeast Asia has a proven track record of success. You might not like his style, but he does have results to show for his life’s work.
Brazil: Paulo Garcia
A decent choice. Not sure why he was made a Bishop in the first place. Now Archbishop Garcia, but when he was Dean of the Anglican Cathedral in Brazil, he was crying about all the persecution he was suffering at the hands of his Bishop, Robinson Cavalcanti. Huh? If anyone in the CEC bothered to check his story, they’d find that +Cavalcanti was deposed for being too orthodox. Not exactly the liberal loony that ++Garcia claimed he was. ++Garcia is growing his cathedral and planting churches in Brazil. +Cavalcanti has been granted a spiritual home in the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone under Archbishop Greg Venables.
Africa: Chuck Jones
Probably not a bad choice. He’s actually been to Africa a few times. Not unlike ++Adler who has just apparently awakened to the fact that he has like quite a few churches there. He didn’t seem all that interested in visiting the continent that was showing forth the greatest amount of growth there for a while. He sent guys like +Weeks (now with the CCR) ++Jones and +Davidson down to Africa to keep the guys happy there. Judging from some updates to the international website for the CEC, ++Adler is getting with the program and acting like a Patriarch. That pallium has got to be worth something besides just hanging out at St. Michael’s going on and on about why this is the most fabulous church in the world and blah, blah, blah…
UK & Canada: Craig Bates
This guy needs to be an Archbishop already. A solid theologian, a trained psychologist, one of the best preachers in the CEC and clearly a good pastor. Plus, we’re seeing growth in his diocese and even some building purchases happening in some of his churches. It’s more that can be said for the CEC in other parts of the country that seems to be on some kind of poverty program. I have rough words to say about the CEC at times (sour grapes, who knows) but the Lord is blessing Craig Bates and the work at his hands and I don’t think that anyone can dispute that.
Europe: TBD
I don’t know this Bishop but I hope he’s good. Europe needs some help. Why not +Elmer Belmonte? He’s actually in Europe. And, he’s not a white guy like everyone else in charge. (The Patriarch’s Council until recently consisted of the “cool kids club”. I think they finally let ++Garcia and an African bishop on the council.) It might actually be an effective strategy that the CEC might want to look into. Wait a second, that would actually mean a real strategy would be necessary and who are we kidding anyway? Perhaps I’ll stop when an actual headquarters building is purchased, health care coverage is available for churches that need it and a pension plan is in place. I mean, come on, this movement is 15 years old already. Baby steps…
Middle East: Mike Davidson
This plan might have some traction. +Davidson only has a handful of churches left these days. He’s closed yet another church in Wisconsin (Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Darien, WI). Good thing he has a full time job at his cathedral parish, and a cluster of churches in his midwest province. (So, that’s his cathedral, a house church in Wichita, a house church in Columbia, MO and Bread of Life in Wisconsin.) The churches that didn’t run off from the CEC in Virginia and Maryland as soon as they found out they would be getting him after Sly aren’t megachurches or anything. The chances of him effectively opening any new churches in his massive province are somewhere between slim and none given his track record. So, by all means, +Davidson will probably have time on his hands to squander his massive area of the Middle East, too. Plus his “lock and load” schtick might actually work there. They’ve been “locking and loading” on each other for centuries in the Middle East so enjoy your PATRIARCHAL LEGATE … he gets you.
Mexico/Central America: John Holloway
Again, this will likely need re-examining. He has a long road ahead of him for recovery. Likely +Gene Lilly who has been giving all the updates on +Holloway’s recovery might take over for him. David Epps might be another replacement. He has like a million ordained clergy serving at his church – it appears like a shadow cathedral on his website maybe it’s just me that gets that impression. He was also such a good bulldog for the CEC when all the mess exploded before everyone’s very eyes on the Ancient-Future forum. He kept pontificating on his silly little local newspaper column about people who talk on the blogs that shouldn’t be entitled to their opinions and likening them to terrorists. Perhaps he’ll be rewarded with a miter.
Well, there you have it. My take on the CEC Missions sham setup. Visit the website here and be dazzled by the pictures of purple shirts, fancy titles and the lack of progress.
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