Bishop Jeffrey Lee of the Diocese of Chicago said in a letter to his diocese, "The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and the Episcopal Diocese of Renk in the Church of Sudan have enjoyed a highly collaborative and deeply enriching mission relationship for ten years. We have visited frequently with them, and they with us. More than two dozen of our congregations work directly in partnership with parishes in Renk to build and support schools, churches and hospitals that provide essential services to people whose country was torn by war for decades and is now newly independent and fragile. Here in Chicago, we have been blessed beyond imagining by the steadfast faith and courage of our sisters and brothers in Renk.

"The political seasons of the Anglican Communion come and go, and tensions sometimes boil over. That appears to have happened last week when Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul chose to withdraw an invitation to visit that he had previously made to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. This was regrettable, but disagreements among primates who are often playing to audiences we are not aware of should not disrupt relationships among Anglicans working together in mission.

"We stand with the people of Renk, just as we stand with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Christians around the world, especially in places where they suffer violence and persecution. We will not allow communion politics or matters of theological interpretation to keep us from following the Gospel with any of our brothers and sisters in Christ."

The Bishop of the Diocese of Missouri Wayne Smith also responded to Archbishop Bul's blast saying, "What we know right now is just the contents of this letter. I would encourage the people of this diocese to avoid the rush to judgment until all facts are in, especially since the inner workings of ECS are often complex."

All of which is to say that it would be wise, at the moment, not to read too much into this disinvitation, said Smith.

"For what it is worth, the Church of Sudan has felt it necessary in the past to distance itself from the Episcopal Church in public statements that have had no particular impact on the relationships between partner dioceses," wrote one blogger.

Smith said he has calls in to the Presiding Bishop's office; to Suffragan Bishop David Jones of Virginia, president of AFRECS (American Friends of the Episcopal Church in Sudan) who was at the November meeting of the ECS Bishops; and Bishop Stephen Dokolo of Lui Diocese– and will advise his diocese when he learns more. For more on the situation in Sudan follow this link: http://afrecs.org/E-Blast_12.20.11.pdf

Sadly and regrettably, these Episcopal bishops don't get it.

How soon they forget what took place at the last Lambeth Conference. At an impromptu press conference, Archbishop Deng Bul blasted The Episcopal Church over homosexuality. He said if Bishop Gene Robinson was a real Christian, he would resign. He said nearly all Africans opposed the Episcopal Church for consecrating a practicing homosexual.

He went on to say that 300 bishops stayed away from the Lambeth conference because of Gene Robinson. "God is not making a mistake he is not correcting Adam and Eve. Are we saying God is wrong..."

The Archbishop later issued a statement at the Lambeth Conference condemning homosexual practice as contrary to biblical teaching and saying the consecration of Robinson has caused divisions within the Anglican Communion and has harmed the Church's witness in Africa.

"We require all those in the ministry of the Church to live according to this standard and cannot accept church leaders whose practice is contrary to this," said the Archbishop.

"We reject homosexual practice as contrary to biblical teaching and can accept no place for it within ECS. We strongly oppose developments within the Anglican Church in USA and Canada in consecrating a practicing homosexual as bishop and in approving a rite for the blessing of same-sex relationships. This has not only caused deep divisions within the Anglican Communion but it has seriously harmed the Church's witness in Africa and elsewhere, opening the church to ridicule and damaging its credibility in a multi-religious environment."

Has anything changed since Lambeth 2008? Only that TEC has consecrated an avowed lesbian to the episcopacy in the person of Mary Glasspool and raised the temperature in the Anglican Communion to the boiling point.

Archbishop Rowan Williams has been publicly excoriated by a number of Anglican leaders and orthodox media for his waffling approach to pansexuality and his inability to condemn TEC's actions. More recently, he publicly sided with the bishop of New Westminster Michael Ingham who was looking for a priestly replacement at a once orthodox Anglican parish. Ingham's actions over same-sex marriage have split the Anglican Church of Canada forcing two new Anglican denominations to form under his nose.

The two TEC bishops who believe that the Sudanese Archbishop's declarative statement on homosexuality is just a passing notion simply don't get it. They don't get it because they don't want to believe that sodomy can destroy the possibility of salvation, and they don't want to "offend" TEC's newfound doctrines of inclusivity, diversity and interfaith alliances.

"It is not something we can treat lightly or allow to be fractured easily. Our unity expresses the essential truth of the Gospel that in Christ we are united across different tribes, cultures and nationalities," said Archbishop Bul.

To take the necessary steps to safeguard the precious unity of the Church the archbishop had to speak up. Souls are at stake. TEC and its money will one day be gone, but the Good News of the gospel will remain.

END