More on Blogging Priests

Fr Anthony Chadwick reflects:

Fr Stephen Smuts has reflected one of my closely-held convictions, that blogging can be a true Christian ministry… As I have experienced, the blog (or for that matter other social media like Facebook and Twitter) can be used for good or evil. If used for the purpose of pastoral ministry and Christian teaching, then it is excellent and should be encouraged by bishops and religious superiors.

It is spiritually and emotionally wearing, especially when we have to deal with conflict, in an environment where a person would be more evil or lacking in empathy in his or her expression than he or she would dare in a face-to-face situation. In a way, this is reassuring to the priest who asks himself whether blogging really is a true ministry…

You can read the whole post here.

There are more and more of us priests doing it and writing blogs on our own account as well as on behalf of our Churches. Many bishops are only beginning to discover what the Internet really is and what it is not. Church websites are vital, but the dynamism of the blog is what keeps it interesting to follow…

He understands the concept and medium of blogging well.

 

The Anglican Catholic

Clearly understanding (unlike some ecclesiastical blogophobes out there) the full value and tremendous potential of blogs, since having left the Traditional Anglican Communion for the Anglican Catholic Church, Fr Anthony Chadwick has started up a new blog simply entitled: The Anglican Catholic.

From the about page:

This blog is inspired by my previous and present experience of blogging and is intended to be a direct organ of communication of the Church to which I belong as a priest. My personal blog enables me to express myself more freely whilst upholding my promises as a cleric of this Church. This blog is designed to supplement existing organs of information such as the Church’s official websites…

Besides Fr Chadwick, the other contributors presently listed are Deacon Jonathan Munn and Fr Ed Bakker.

 

Suggestions for Anglo-Catholic Union

Fr Anthony Chadwick has them:

… The ideal of an Anglo-Catholic union is that it would be a single episcopal synod, where bishops get together, get their act together, and make mutual decisions about jurisdictional matters, and if necessary, a reduction of the number of bishops in proportion to the numbers of parishes in each diocese. That would be the most credible objective, but perhaps one that could be achieved in a number of stages…

If the TAC could get together with the ACC and the APA, that would give a large and credible communion, even better if other Anglo-Catholic communions like the Diocese of the Holy Cross can be in on it. Once stability is ensured, then perhaps there can be further stages at gaining the confidence of other Christians whether or not they identify with Anglicanism…

Anglo-Catholicism is now going to be more moderate with the transition of the Anglo-Papalists to the Ordinariate. I hope it will not have to be fettered to the Articles and the Prayer Book, a continuation of the old cognitive dissonance from which even moderate Anglo-Catholics have suffered in the past… There are lots of possibilities…

Also, a peaceful parting of the ways between Anglo-Catholics and broad / low Anglicans would free the low churchmen from having to accept doctrines not contained in the old Anglican formularies. It would do them a favour too.

Just a few ideas…

Read it all here.

And as an UPDATE:  Ideal Characteristics of Anglo-Catholicism.

 

Fr Chadwick’s TAC Survey

Fr Anthony Chadwick’s survey of the Traditional Anglican Communion has begun. At the moment, what he basically has done is visited and appraised the existent TAC web pages (most of these are already found by simply following the links here) and made a few further observations.

He has started with ‘the easiest – because the web sites are detailed and kept up to date’.

They are:

• The Anglican Church in America

• The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada

• The Traditional Anglican Church in Britain

• The Anglican Catholic Church in Australia

The TAC Presence on the Internet

Fr Anthony Chadwick has been working hard on the .net today! Earlier he made mention of his plans to undertaken a general survey of the Traditional Anglican Communion, globally. If you can help in this regard, do contact him (anthony.chadwick AT wanadoo.fr).

Now, he has just posted, The Regrouped TAC and its presence on the Internet:

I am approaching a tender subject, and some of the communications I am receiving suggest that I need to handle this with kid gloves. Some have paid a high price for following Archbishop Hepworth’s ordinariate scheme…

It seems best not to go over the past, but rather to take stock and look at what can be of value in the future. One thing impeding progress for some of us is the lack of computer literacy, basic technology or awareness of the use of the Internet to communicate beyond one’s own diocesan and parochial boundaries. The admissibility of using the Internet to get the TAC’s message out seems to be acquired. The most computer-savvy are the Americans, and the Canadians give monthly news of what is going on there. The English are presently working on The Traditional Anglican Church, though there still are a few frustrating things to clear up. I have the impression that the site is a standard model designed for business and commercial applications, and the person running the site is learning how to use it.

Very few of us are blogging. It’s really just Fr Smuts and myself. There used to be Christian Campbell of The Anglo-Catholic, but he went off at a tangent and has put the blog into hiatus. Deborah Gyapong posts in support of the Ordinariate movement, which is understandable. The South African website seems to be another standard business template job run by a kind soul with love in his heart but little experience with Internet work. I don’t know that much about html design, so I find the blog format most convenient, and have used the ultra-simple format of Civitas Dei for years. Old-fashioned websites take a lot of will and dedication to keep them up to date and relevant. My site usually gets about one major overhaul a year. This blog updates itself, and its template formula is user-friendly and adaptable for church work as business templates are not. For someone who has not been trained in web design, I don’t think I do too badly. The other thing is enjoying writing.

It’s going to be difficult to evaluate numbers in the TAC….

For the moment, there seems to be no way of getting accurate figures, though I’m open to new information. Perhaps a little less than half the number of clergy and laity in the USA, Canada, England and Australia have remained in the TAC, the others having gone to the Ordinariates or disappeared off the map. South Africa, Torres Strait and India would not have changed substantially in terms of numbers between the pre-ordinariate era and now. For anything like a reliable estimate of numbers, I will have to find informed persons I can trust, and that won’t be easy, especially in the local Churches where the Internet is not used.

Personally, I would like to see Bishop Michael Gill emerge as Primate, as his location in South Africa puts him midway between the western and English-speaking world and the mission territories of Africa, Latin America and India. Above all, we need modern communication and reactivity of the kind one finds in modern business. Another very positive omen is the desire of the Americans to grow into unity with the other Continuers. I have heard nothing but the highest praise for Bishop Paul Hewitt of the Diocese of the Holy Cross. If all those serious churches can be brought together without being dogged by unwise moves or excessive numbers of episcopal consecrations, then Continuing Anglicanism has a future.

It is of paramount importance to let go of the ghosts of the past, try to stay together and perhaps recover some of the “crumbs” that didn’t go to the Ordinariate. My information tells me that the TAC is not in ruins. Far from it! But, damage has been done, and the lack of modern communication is partly to blame.

The most useful sites presently available are (in all modesty), this blog and Fr Smuts. Among the official TAC sites, the most updated are that of the ACA and the American diocesan pages. As mentioned, the Canadians are giving regular and relevant news. Efforts are being made by the Brits, and Fr Gray’s new Advent Pastoral Letter is most uplifting and appreciated. The centralised site, The Traditional Anglican Communion is not bad, giving fairly regular news bulletins and official documents. But, we do need more blogging and interaction, more interpretation and more encouragement to foster a positive and optimistic vision of the future.

You readers can help Fr Smuts and I, and anyone else who decides to launch out into the exciting world of the blogosphere.

I hear what Fr Chadwick is saying, and his efforts appear to be both noble and admirable. Again, if you can contribute positively, then please do.

It all reminds me of a something Deacon Chris F once said in a comment on this blog:

Dear Fr Stephen…

There have been attempts by the remnants of the (non-Hepworth) TAC hierarchy to get in touch with clergy in the Eastern states, but for those of us in WA, we remain scattered and shepherdless.

I think it largely comes down to communication. Information within the TAC was very strictly policed under the previous regime – when I tried to make my fellow worshippers aware of positive or alternative sources of information about continuing Anglicanism outside our little circle, I was described as “negative” and “disruptive”. The vast majority of TACers here were not tech-savvy or users of the Internet – they relied on their clergy – all very pro-Ordinariate. I found my own affirmation through blogs such as this one – while I might not agree with everything they said, at least I got some balance…

The Internet is there. Yes, we should make good use of it (together with other forms of social media). In a digital age, it is all about information. People crave information and it must be at their fingertips (i.e. speed).  This is unavoidable and in order to be in any way relevant, we must keep abreast of technological developments.

The other thing that I have come to appreciate, being a blogging priest (or rather, a priest who blogs), is that the Internet is able to hold people accountable. You don’t get to do things in the dark and simply think that you’re going to snowball  (or ‘police’) people with clandestine motives/activities. Again, it’s the age of information. People are becoming tech savvy. People are searching. People watching. So propaganda, which otherwise could readily be spread, can now in fact be countered. Even within the Church. While a taxing, time-consuming and often unappreciated work, the results are always worthwhile - especially when people are helped and the work done, is done in the name of the Lord, for the furtherment of His Kingdom.

A Survey of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC)

A survey of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) is to be undertaken by a seemingly (and hopefully) reinvigorated Fr Anthony Chadwick. Here’s the gist:

… The history of the TAC over the past five years is of Byzantine complexity, but whatever went wrong with the aftermath of the bishops’ meeting in Portsmouth in October 2007, one thing that lacked was solidarity in the body of the clergy. I had many conversations with Archbishop Hepworth about what would happen to the irregulars in view of the complementary norms of November 2009 that clearly stated the categories of me would not be considered for the priesthood in the Ordinariates. I think he believed what he said to me – he was expecting special rules from Rome to cover the irregulars. There were none, not even for himself. By the time the Archbishop thought of setting up a Fraternity of Saint Benedict to create a pastoral provision for irregulars for the years it would take to make canonical appeals to the Roman canonical law courts, it was too late.

All that is left of the TAC, poo-pooed by the new converts, is what was regrouped in March 2012 under Archbishop Prakash and the organisational skills and energy of Bishop Michael Gill of South Africa, together with input from the American bishops and Bishop Botterill. What is more or less affiliated to this regrouping is difficult to fathom, in particular the TAC in Australia, Torres Strait and many local Churches in Africa and South / Central America.

There are ongoing attempts to define the regrouped TAC. Some are far from being impartial or laced with bitter reflections…

I am not going to go on with the blood feud or seek guilty persons to settle scores with. There may be some despicable clergy in the TAC, as there are in all churches and ecclesial communities. We either reject the faith or ecclesial life, stick our heads in the sand, or come to terms with the human reality. Alongside the sin, there is also ecclesial communion in Christ and a sense of solidarity, loyalty and obedience to those we believe are more likely to be right than ourselves.

So, what do I propose? I am going to try to make a survey of the TAC and find out what we have and how many we are – bishops, dioceses, parishes, priests, laity, religious communities. In places, there may be pitifully few as our critics underline in their writings. Where two or three are gathered together in my name… In other places, there may be entirely intact communities judging by pre-Portsmouth 2007 standards like in South Africa, and – as far as I can tell – in Torres Strait. One thing is sure, we are not 400,000! We may well not be a hundredth of that number.

Some information is available on the various official sites of TAC local Churches. There are the names of the bishops and local parishes, and in many cases the names of the priests and parish websites. I plan to write an article about each local Church of the TAC once I can find reliable information. It’s likely to be a tough job, and the recent events have driven heads into the sand and made the weak of heart retreat into silence and fear.

I intend writing articles on the present state of the local member Churches of the TAC in the United Kingdom, Australia, Torres Strait, Canada, the USA, the African continent, the Central and Southern American continent and India. I expect there will be a small and scattered diaspora in other countries, like myself in France. I will look for official communications, information bishops and vicars general are prepared to share with me for publication and other information from private persons if I am convinced of its reliability. I intend to perform this task in the spirit of casting the TAC in the most favourable light possible. I believe this would be of service to the TAC and would help complete and close the painful separation process between it and the Ordinariates.

I would appreciate all the help I can get for the preparation of each of these articles. You can write by way of comments or privately by e-mail (anthony.chadwick AT wanadoo.fr). Thank you in advance, and wishing you a happy Christmas Octave, celebration of the New Year and a holy Epiphany.

So, if you can help, do drop Fr Chadwick an e-mail or pop over to his blog here.

 

What Can We Learn?

Asks Fr Anthony Chadwick:

… If we want things better for ourselves and our posterity, it is up to each of us not only to rebuff the cynicism, scoffing and naysaying of others, but also to be committed to a positive course of action to offer the world what we consider as sacred and precious. I believe it is possible with this renewal of good will between our bishops…

Read it all here.

 

Fraternity of Saint Osmund

Being launched as

dispersed community of prayer for those who wish to live a life inspired by the Rule of St Benedict and the idea of the Secular Oblature.

by Fr Anthony Chadwick.

For more info / interest, do hop over to his blog for further details.

 

 

Some Blog of Interest

Fr Anthony Chadwick has a summation of blogs of interest that may be worth checking out.

I begin to be quite “alone” as this blog somehow continues to be of some interest and good to others in circumstances unknown to me.

Since The Anglo-Catholic went into hiatus, we have had to look all around to continue to have news about the TAC and its attempt to regroup and reconstruct its strengths after the advent of the Ordinariates. Father Stephen Smuts in South Africa took up the flag and has been most assiduous in providing us with news and views about the Ordinariates and the continuation of the TAC, often at the expense of the former Primate. This blog has been “under maintenance” for a little over a week, and most of us know that blogs need no maintenance. Comments continue to appear from time to time. It looks like hiatus to me, but we are all free to do what we want. I have had my own meltdowns through over-sensitivity to trolls.

Foolishness to the World is still going, and Deborah Gyapong keeps us informed about developments in Canada and other places where Anglicans have become Roman Catholics and / or joined the Ordinariates. I have always enjoyed collaborating with her, a professional journalist and talented writer, and a devout Christian.

St Mary’s Hollywood: The Cold Case File has appeared, run by a journalist called John Bruce, and he – from the point of view of a convert to the Roman Catholic Church – is writing about the remains of the TAC. I assume he engages his own liability before the law and is careful about what he writes. The main issue is the débâcle (déconfiture is another nice French word) of that nice neo-baroque church in Hollywood presently claimed by the TAC.

The Ordinariate Portal hasn’t moved for a long time. I think it has just been discontinued. Anglican Patrimony is still producing Ordinariate news and sympathetic articles. Fr. Hunwicke’s Liturgical Notes has a bit of a comeback with the good Father’s scholarly articles, but he probably no longer has much time for blogging. Father Ed Bakker’s Blog produces spiritual articles and the occasional nostalgic sigh.

The Continuum of Fr Robert Hart is now quiet, as he and other priests have been afflicted with illness and exhaustion. They need our prayers. The archives of this blog show highly polemical articles from the heady days of the TAC in its Hepworth era. Posterity will judge. Also from the Anglican Catholic Church – Original Province is Deacon Jonathan Munns blog O cuniculi! Ubi lexicon Latinum posui? which shows intellectual ability and resourcefulness.

Virtue Online is an old classic, and is not sympathetic to extra-mural Anglicanism or Anglo-Catholicism. It is worth looking at frequently, with a mind to check out facts against other sources of known reliability.

In the Roman Catholic world, we have the Australian Catholica Forum from an ultra-liberal and anti-Pell perspective. On the traditionalist side, there is Rorate Caeli. Fr Z battles on with great constancy, and you either love him or hate him! There are the Vatican-watcher old favourites www.chiesa and Whispers in the Loggia if you like that kind of thing. Damian Thompson used to be a real battleaxe with the English liberal RC bishops, but he is more concerned with English politics these days. If you have a taste for the exotic, there are Traditio and Novus Ordo Watch – it helps to share their particular convictions, as objectivity flies out of the window.

No Father, you are not ‘alone’… at least, not yet…

 

Still More on Archbishop John Hepworth…

The bloggers are rehashing the Archbishop John Hepworth situation today:

• Fr Anthony Chadwick has seen it fit to publish a correspondence between the wife of a Fr James Shovanek and Bishop Botterill.  Bishop Botterill on the TAC Tribunal.
• Mrs Deborah Gyapong who gets some mileage out of the above post with her: Insight into the charges against Archbishop Hepworth.
• And [UPDATE]  Fr Ed Bakker with: The impact of Bishop Hepworth’s handy work, here.

The official TAC position (lest we forget in all the natter), a Statement from The Traditional Anglican Communion College of Bishops Re: John Hepworth, is here.

The Traditional Anglican Communion

STATEMENT

The Tribunal of the Traditional Anglican Communion comprising Archbishop Samuel Prakash (India), Bishop Craig Botterill (Canada) and Bishop Brian Marsh (USA) on 6 October 2012 examined the charges brought by eight (8) Bishops against Archbishop John Anthony Hepworth under Section 10 of the Concordat of the Traditional Anglican Communion, and delivered the verdict that Archbishop John Anthony Hepworth was guilty as charged.

The following sanction was imposed:

1. THAT JOHN ANTHONY HEPWORTH, ARCHBISHOP, be, with immediate effect, permanently expelled from the COLLEGE OF BISHOPS OF THE TRADITIONAL ANGLICAN COMMUNION.

2. THAT all licences for any EPISCOPAL or PRIESTLY function within any affiliated church of the TRADITIONAL ANGLICAN COMMUNION, be with immediate effect withdrawn.

Charges under Section 6 of the Concordat are now being considered by the College of Bishops against Archbishop John Anthony Hepworth.

Johannesburg
South Africa
17th October 2012

Bishop Michael Gill
Secretary to the College of Bishops
Traditional Anglican Communion

_______________________________________________

That is where we stand at present. There is nothing new to report as yet.