In an Open Letter to the Board of Trustees of Nashotah House, Fr. Marcus Kaiser Sr., a Member of the Board, said at a meeting in October 2013 when three of the non-TEC bishops, Archbishop Duncan, Bishop Iker, and Bishop Lawrence, were not present that this type of invitation would be unhelpful and that the best scenario would be an open forum with the Presiding Bishop and the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), ideally with the Archbishop of Canterbury or his delegate moderating. All agreed that the request from Deacon Star was made in good faith and with good intention.

"I believed then, and still believe, that the Dean understood these guidelines." Kaiser added that the Board, as a whole, found out about the invitation only after it was issued and accepted, in a manner and to a venue that violated any consensus at the October discussion.

"After this, Trustee Bishop Iker resigned and Honorary Trustee Bishop Wantland indicated that he could not support Nashotah under the current administration. Several Trustees emailed the entire Board to express concern that some might make this into a larger issue. When the Chairman emailed to inform the board of the invitation, he wrote, "It only has to be a crisis if we are looking to have a crisis."

Kaiser then sent a letter to the board that same week and got back responses saying they were "outraged". "I added my strong belief that this invitation was practically unwise, theologically indefensible, and recklessly destructive."

Kaiser went on to say that seven board members, including him, made a request privately to the Chairman of the Board for a special meeting. "That request was denied on both procedural and substantive grounds, with a response to the later questions coming from the Chairman alone even though questions were specifically put to the Dean. The seven then made a second request for a meeting, this time appealing to legal arguments to attempt to affect some discussion. That request was denied by the Secretary on legal grounds, with no mention of the merit of the concerns. One bishop then sent a personal request that we have a face-to-face meeting. The result was an invitation to discussion only, about which I shall say more."

Kaiser ripped Dean Salmon saying that the idea that a seminary's pulpit was somehow more resilient to heresy than a parish's was "indefensible."

"The idea that seminarians are more immune to heresy than are "ordinary" parishioners is both demeaning and unjustifiable. If the history of our tradition over the last half century has taught us nothing else, it has at least taught us that our seminaries are precisely where erroneous doctrines are incubated. The idea that professional and courteous attention to one known to present a false gospel will somehow be a witness and corrective thereto defies logic and is in violation of the clear injunctions of Holy Writ."

According to Kaiser, the Board today is now split. "A majority either laud the invitation simply do not want to make it into a crisis, or have remained silent. A minority believe that this is a crisis, and that it is the embodiment of denial to pretend otherwise."

SEMINARY IN AN UPROAR

More than one half of the current student body hails from non-TEC jurisdictions, noted Kaiser. 13 of the 25 bishops who currently have students at the House are from outside of TEC. The ACNA House of Bishops has stated their strong objection to the invitation. The alumni, at least the vast majority from whom the Alumni Officers have heard, are in an uproar. Whatever you think of the invitation personally, the devastating consequences cannot be ignored.

Dean Salmon now says that a new itinerary has been posted for the Presiding Bishop's visit that will not include her preaching at a Eucharistic service. She will only speak at an "academic colloquy" and preach a eulogy at Evensong for the late Deacon Star.

Kaiser said the latter would still fan some flames, though not nearly as much as the original invitation."

The trustee said serious issues still remain including the fact that the Dean has made no statement of remorse, repentance, or even acknowledgement of the harm done. "A statement recognizing that the initial invitation was a failure on the Dean's part to recognize the offense caused to so many would go a long way in healing this situation. It is ironic that the Dean, one whom I so admire, one who's gift to the Church has been in the importance of relationships, would not now publicly seek to repair the relationships that his own actions have torn asunder.

"Second, there has been no public statement for the reasons for the change. Instead, it appears that the administration is attempting to have it both ways - to give those offended by the original invitation a 'win' by changing the venue while allowing those favorable toward the invitation the freedom to think that the recent passing of Deacon Star was the impetus. The idea that the tragic death of a student would be manipulated for gain is unthinkable, so why has the administration said nothing to the contrary?"

Kaiser blasted the silence of the seminary's stakeholders. "I still believe that Nashotah boasts the finest faculty in North America. It is a place where Evangelical Christianity is taught, received, believed, and practiced in the fullness of what it means to be the Church Catholic. By your silent withdraw please do not let this truth become an epitaph for a once-great seminary. Nashotah will become a TEC-only seminary only if stakeholders assist in making it so by their silence.

"I renew the call for a special meeting, formal and called, to discuss only this issue and our response. The May meeting, after the Presiding Bishop has come and gone, is too late."

STORY GOES VIRAL

The troll driven Stand Firm blog immediately went on the offensive against the seminary prompting Trustee Springfield Bishop Daniel H. Martins to call Kaiser's letter "very disappointing."

"That Fr. Kaiser decided to take the conversation public, especially in as reactive and environment as Stand Firm. It exponentially complicates our task," he publicly blogged.

Fr. Matt Kennedy, an ACNA priest based in Binghamton, NY who lost his parish property to the Episcopal Church over faith and morals, blasted Bishop Salmon for his decision to invite the Presiding Bishop, "I see no difference between the 'Reconciliation' promoted by Canterbury and the 'Reconciliation' practiced by Dean Salmon at Nashotah. And yet there are some ACNA leaders who, seeking Communion legitimacy, would repudiate one and turn a blind eye to the other. The object, the precious ring, is membership in the Anglican Communion. Anglican legitimacy and denominational unity, it is suggested, can only be found within the embrace of world-wide Communion structures. Perhaps Canterbury's recognition might serve to snuff out or at least quell inter-ACNA strife over women's ordination, the nature of the Church, the perennial divide between Reformed and Anglo-Catholic forms of Anglicanism. But, at what price?

"If the Archbishop of Canterbury continues forward with his reconciliation plans, considering teachers who lead people away from Jesus to be "Christian" teachers (they recite the Creed after all), violating in every way the New Testament instructions for dealing with false teachers, and the ACNA seeks to be and (and I know this is a long shot) is received by Canterbury into the Communion, this would mean that once more parishes like Good Shepherd that made every effort to defend the people under their care from the slew and rot of heresy will, once more, be in full Communion with those who reject the gospel and, worse, be set under the enervating leadership of those who cannot tell the difference between a Christian leader and a wolf.

"No thank you. So, again, I commend this statement to parish leaders throughout the ACNA. We will not compromise the gospel in order to win Canterbury's approval."

This prompted a blast from an Anglo-Catholic bishop who wrote, "Matt Kennedy is a Calvinist puritanical extremist ideologue whose ecclesiological views are miles outside the mainstream of historic orthodox Anglicanism. I don't see a trace of good news in his version of 'gospel.' He is no more an 'orthodox Anglican' than Marcus Borg or John Spong."

Former Nashotah House Dean Robert Munday believes the story is far from over and heads could roll after the May appearance of Jefferts Schori when she comes to deliver a eulogy for Deacon Star.

"In the three years since stepping down, I have been determined not to criticize my successor. It is only this latest news of Bishop Salmon's decision to invite Katharine Jefferts Schori to preach at the House that has caused me to change my resolve."

"What saddens me most about this whole affair is that instead of being taught to be valiant for truth and to take risks for the sake of the Gospel, students at Nashotah House are now being led by example to "go along to get along," and that dialogue with heretics and even having them in your pulpit is a good thing if it promotes better relationships."

He also said that Jefferts Schori has discouraged attendance at Nashotah.

NASHOTAH HOUSE CALLS FOR PEACE

"There are many who look at our active practice of reconciliation and see us 'selling out' to one faction or another," the official statement said. "It is sad and hurtful to hear, but we know that many before us-our Lord, the saints, and founders of the House-went through the same," wrote Salmon.

The invitation was issued as a way to engage in its mission as "perhaps the only place ... in the Anglican Communion where ecclesial affiliation has remained secondary to our primary mission of forming faithful priests and lay leaders for service," the school said. "The mission of the House, the direction of the House, the theology of the House is not changing. A visit, even one involving a sermon, will not change what has been bought at a price."

END