South Dakota Boy Makes Bad

The American Anglican Council has apparently now the self-appointed "watchdog" for the Episcopal Church USA's recent ill-advised directive from the worldwide Anglican Primates to stop their 'Merican gay-lovin' ways. You can read the AAC's pompous press release here.

If you can stomach it.

The West River angle on all this is that the chosen mouthpiece of the Institute For Religion and Democracy-funded American Anglican Council today, is non other than Canon David+ Anderson, the former rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Rapid City. As one who considers himself forever a part of that faithful community, I apologize.

David+ seems to have fallen off the edge so far that he is recommending that the Episcopal Church to stack a kangaroo eccesial court to remove openly gay bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. As Dave Barry says: I'm not making this up. Sounds more like how a fascist state operates more than how a church is called to be... Funny, his realpolitik talk sounds like something Brit Hume or Bill O' Reilly would say... but then David Anderson's "network" is increasingly shrill, even (maybe especially) now in their moment of "triumph." It's very sad... because if they succeed in their calculated effort to tear off part of the Episcopal Church, in the end all they will accomplish is a tragic divorce, with a small minority of Episcopalians leaving our Church, isolating themselves from what we can accomplish together, and even some Anglicans aligning with the Roman Catholic Church, or going it alone, ending with a wonderful 150-year tradition of Anglican worldwide cooperation in as

More discussion on Canon Anderson's statement here.

The truth is, the vast majority of Episcopalians know that the inclusion of all people in the Church is no less than required by the Gospel, including gays and lesbians; the differences the mainstream has is exactly what that means. The Episcopal Church in South Dakota is planted firmly in the mainstream--we're not ordaining any gay bishops or priests around here, or even officating at gay commitment ceremonies, but are on the whole are welcoming and friendly and supporting to GLBT folk. At the 2003 convention, the rector of Emmanuel Rapid City at the time, Fr David+ Cameron, and our SD Diocese Bishop +Creighton Robinson both voted for the confirmation of Gene Robinson, figuring if the Diocese of New Hampshire had decided on him and the only outstanding issue was his open homosexuality, who were we to tell them what to do on this often difficult area--there are no simple answers. They took a lot of heat, but in the end the Diocese of South Dakota (mostly) took the larger view. We have moved forward from there, even... in 2006, we passed a resolution urging our membership and others to vote AGAINST the gay marriage amendment in our fine State. (Along with many other Christians I might add.)

My point is, David+ Anderson and the AAC are waaay out of the mainstream, even here in South Dakota.

I hereby strip Canon David+ of his princess points.