Lead, follow or get out the way!

Forward in Faith, the Resolution and the elusive Plan
For years, like Gnostics, Episcopal bishops like Ackerman have claimed they had a plan, they just can’t share it with us. They claim to support, no, more than support, they think they lead, conservative Anglicanism. Yet not one has left the “safety” of the The Episcopal Church (TEC). They talk one way to us and another to their fellow bishops of the TEC.

The time to act is now, to all the purple shirts, the Beadle says:

Lead, follow or get out the way!

We sent our priest Father Acker to the Forward in Faith,North America meeting with a resolution to be presented for adoption; the resolution consisted of four points:

1. Hold a convention of the representatives from each Common Cause Partner (a bishop, a priest, and a lay representative elected by the partner organization) to conduct the necessary organizational tasks to form a federal structure of the partner organizations to work together in unity (see the items 2-4).
2. Elect a Bishop Moderator from the representatives who will act as the chairman for a 4 year term. (Limited to one term and sequential Moderators must be from a different partner organization than his predecessor.)
3. Affirmation of a theological statement or covenant for membership of partner organizations.
4. The Moderator shall approach a primate to present this province for recognition by the Primates.

The meeting adopted the first three points for the most part and made representations as to the fourth. There was no date certain for the actions, which our resolution called to be completed by 30 September 2007.

The time for the Anglican Church of America to be formed is NOW. Delay is not acceptable. To follow the Anglican model, we need a national church, an Anglican Church of America. The primates need a national church in the United States to deal with. We need to coalesce. We need to come together under a common banner, to face a common enemy. No one needs give up autonomy, no one needs compromise on any point. They do need to agree on common points and follow a single leader. Not follow him down the TEC road, but rather God’s road. The point is not that God is on our side, but rather we are on His side. We just need to do what he asks.

If the bishop members of Forward in Faith won’t act, they will become irrelevant, just as the TEC bishops are irrelevant. We follow leaders, not sheep in the middle of the herd. We want a leader. It would be nice if he were already a bishop. But, we have dealt with that problem in the past and we can deal with it again.

If any of you know a bishop, read this to him slowly and very clearly so he can understand:

Lead, follow or get out the way!

Ecclesiastes or Useless, Useless, or So, what are we doing here anyway?

Some times life seems rather pointless, doesn’t it? Pointless or directionless, depending on your point of view. First reflect on this:

If you don’t know where you are going, you won’t know if you are on the right track, if you need to correct left, right, up or down or you won’t even know if you get there for that matter.

So, why are we here? If by here you mean on earth the answer is pretty simple: God put you here to make a difference. God put you here to do a bunch of things, depending on where you are in life:

• The first and most important obligation you have is to insure your children go to heaven;
• The second and corollary duty is to be there to meet them;
• He put you here to be a steward of the earth;
o To leave it better than you found it, to the best of your ability;
o This means to use, but not waste, resources;
o To actively change the environment for the better;
o To change not only things, but people; to help others to hear His Word;
• To bring His Word to all around you;
o To make it available, not to force it;
o To do good to all, harm to none;
• To defend good from evil;
• To provide for your family, your country and His Church;
• To exhort all to worship and work;
• To have fun with fellow beings;
• To be happy, for true happiness is found in doing God’s will.

If you aren’t making a difference, what are you doing here anyway? Breathing in oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide is not making a difference.

Consider these questions:

• What did you do today to make a difference?”
• What could you have done today to make a difference?