Lamb further charges Martins with playing politics for leading the charge in the Diocese of San Joaquin to take the diocese out of TEC should the General Convention reject the Windsor Report.

As it happens, TEC did not reject the Windsor Report, but promptly stomped on it by electing a non-celibate homosexual in the person of Gene Robinson to be the next Bishop of New Hampshire. Now who's playing politics?

Lamb charges that while residing in the Diocese of San Joaquin, Martins was very active in diocesan affairs. He was elected a deputy to General Convention multiple times, the last time in 2006. The Diocesan Council meeting minutes on April 8, 2006, report on a discussion of the upcoming Diocesan Convention resolution regarding disassociation from the Episcopal Church.

In response to a question as to why deputies to General Convention 2006 had questions about the timing of the resolution, the Rev. James Snell is referenced: "Read e-mail from Dan Martins. Endorse substance of proposal but concerned that (1) language provocative, (2) timing is ill-advised (prior to GC 2006) - diverts attention, (3) resolution will be spun by Bps adversaries, (4) robs GC deputations of effectiveness and credibility at GC. If GC rejects Windsor Report, then it will be time to act and Dan will lead the charge." (See http://www.diosanjoaquin.org/doc/CouncilMinutesApr2006)

Responding to these charges, Martins told the Episcopal News Service that the material cited in the letter, and also posted on the San Joaquin website, "represents an assortment of questionable documents ... incomplete information taken out of context that leads to an erroneous conclusion."

That conclusion -- that he might consider leading the Springfield diocese to break with the Episcopal Church -- couldn't be farther from the truth, he said.

"Am I going to lead the diocese out of the Episcopal Church? No. No, that's not anywhere on my mind and nowhere on anybody in Springfield's mind," Martins said. "I wouldn't have allowed my name to go forward in the process for bishop if it was.

"My vocation is to be in the Episcopal Church and I'm quite clear about that. I've never felt more called to a ministry in my life. I've fallen in love with the Diocese of Springfield and I'm excited about the possibilities for ministry. I feel good about the work we will be able to do in the next 10 or 11 years."

Martins adds that he is a little mystified why people would think otherwise. "I've had plenty of opportunities to leave. I could have stayed in San Joaquin and left."

The Rev. Christopher Ashmore, president of the Springfield Standing Committee, said he was satisfied with Martins' responses during the search process.

"I asked him point blank, 'do you have any intentions of trying to exit the Episcopal Church' and he said 'no, it's not my agenda,'" said Ashmore. He added that he's received inquiries from "a couple of standing committees expressing concerns" regarding the same subject.

"I don't know how the wider church will respond to this, but if it's a difficulty with standing committees or bishops my hope is that they will take time to inquire more deeply, to talk to us or Fr. Martins about it," Ashmore said.

"Consent is a part of who we are and what we do and it needs to be honored," he added. "But I would hope the way we go about doing that would reflect the fact that we're Christians and not out to accomplish particular ends in mind."

Martins said that some in the diocese of San Joaquin might have perceived he was part of Schofield's inner circle. "But, in fact he was very upset with me my last year in the diocese."

Letter timed to discredit Martins

Lamb's letter, clearly timed just before the consent process, is in full swing in order to discredit him. Lamb is not the only person who would like to see Martins discredited and dumped.

The unofficial HOB/D listserv, the brainchild of Louie Crew, has also weighed in on Martins and has found him ecclesiologically wanting.

"The Standing Committees of three dioceses requested alternative primatial oversight in 2006 when we elected Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori. San Joaquin was one of those three. Dan Martins+ was a member of the Standing Committee in San Joaquin 2001-2005, 2006-2007. He lists those dates in his statement to the Nominating Committee in San Joaquin," writes Crew.

So Martins is not permitted within canonical statutes to protest Jefferts Schori election and in doing so should therefore not be considered worthy of a miter for Springfield. Never mind that the Presiding Bishop has so split the Anglican Communion with her views that the Global South primates of the Anglican Communion who represent some 80% of the communion will not show up next January in Dublin.

Martins does have his supporters, among them Fr. Tony Clavier, rector, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, La Porte, Indiana, who wrote in his blog, "One of the first tests [for the leaders of The Episcopal Church] will be whether a majority of bishops with jurisdiction and standing committees ratify Dan Martin's election as Bishop of Springfield. He is a kind and holy man, firm in his commitment to TEC and to the faith TEC espouses in its formularies. He is certainly not a radical in the modern definition of that poor word. If he fails to gain the requisite consents a clear message will be handed to traditionalists: 'There is no place for you in this church'."

The Rev. Tom Woodward, an old fashioned liberal now living in Santa Fe, said that like Gene Robinson, Dan Martin is thoughtful, kind and respectful in his ministry and in his interactions with those with whom he disagrees. "He has been clear about his theological and ecclesiological commitments and I can't imagine him hiding an anti-TEC agenda. If we are really comprehensive as a denomination and communion, how could there be a problem?" Indeed.

Sarah Dylan Breuer, a member of the Executive Council, described Martins as a man of "unimpeachable integrity. By no stretch can it be said that he and I agree on the more divisive issues facing TEC. But if someone were to say that I have the degree of integrity Martins has, I would take it as a compliment to me."

Martins and Schofield

In several documents posted on the San Joaquin diocese's website, Martins is also being accused of having plans to separate the diocese from the Episcopal Church under the leadership of former bishop John-David Schofield.

"The Standing Committee and I contend Daniel Martins was instrumental to the process that led to first and second votes by the diocese to change the Constitutions and Canons that resulted in the failed attempt to unilaterally leave the Episcopal Church," according to the Oct. 16 letter.

Schofield, who has cited theological differences over ordaining women and gays, has been at odds with the direction of the Episcopal Church and the 2003 consecration of the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire and the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church.

According to the letter, at the December 2006 diocesan convention, Schofield cited Martins' participation in writing the amendment to the diocesan constitution and canons Schofield used to attempt to leave the Episcopal Church.

Martins said that while he did not overtly oppose Schofield's intentions to leave the Episcopal Church, he was attempting to "blunt and subvert them" by continuing to participate as much as possible on the diocesan standing committee and in other key roles, including as a General Convention deputy.

While acknowledging that he did participate in writing the amendment and voted for it on the first reading, Martins disputed that it led to the break with the Episcopal Church. He left before the convention was asked to vote on the second reading of the amendment, required for it to take effect.

"What led to the break with the Episcopal Church was a canonical change and I was not there for the canonical change," having left in 2007 to become St. Anne's rector.

Outcome

VOL has said all along that if elected, it would not be a cakewalk for Martins to obtain the necessary consents. VOL contends that South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence is the last orthodox bishop to get the nod. It took him two votes to get it.

With this blast by Lamb to the HOB, and with Crew manipulating the Standing Committees of the all the dioceses on the HOB/D listserv, it is a near certainty that Martins will not gain the majority of consents needed.

So Martins, who is orthodox in faith and morals, and happily married, gets nixed. Gene Robinson a homosexual, alcoholic, divorced father of two and now a bishop living with another man, who admits he cannot endorse parts of the creed gets a pass and is eulogized for his behavior.

As the revisionists close ranks in The Episcopal Church the emollient face of liberalism reveals how deeply fascist it can be when challenged. As power becomes more centralized, the orthodox are its inevitable victims. There is now little pretense where it is all going.

Fr. Dan Martins is the last gasp of historic orthodoxy as he reaches for the highest office in the church. Well might we echo the words of former PB Frank Griswold who condemned those who would not accept homosexuals with, "we have no place for you." His words are now an epitaph to orthodoxy in TEC giving witness to the hypocrisy of inclusivity and the meaninglessness of diversity and with it the words, 'there is no place for you.'

*****

I have posted on my blog some comments that may help clarify questions regarding my involvement in the Diocese of San Joaquin in the years prior to my departure from there. Here's the link: http://cariocaconfessions.blogspot.com/2010/11/consent.html

Dan Martins Bishop-elect of Springfield
(C, Northern Indiana 2009, San Joaquin 2006, 2003)

For full disclosure VOL is posting an e-mail exchange from Dan Martins to the Standing Committee of San Joaquin back when the diocese was leaving TEC.

http://www.diosanjoaquin.org/dioceseofspringfieldconsent.html