First Anglican Bishop in North America

Samuel Seabury was American born in 1729 and died in 1796. He was ordained priest in England and remained faithful to the crown during the war of independence. He was consecrated a bishop on today's date in 1784 in Scotland by bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

The Episcopal Church in America today is in internal termoil and in danger of being excluded from the wroldwide Anglican Communion. The consecration of a bishop openly and actively homosexual is the crux of the matter but also approved blessings of same sex marriages. A number of dioceses are looking for alternative episcopal oversight from outside of America due to issues around the introduction of women priests and now a woman bishop appointed as Presiding Bishop.

There is intense activity around these issues in the run up to the 2008 Lambeth Conference involving Canterbury and other archbishops from around the globe.

Here in England such matters will be part of the private conversations between Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops at a residential meeting in Leeds. Next week the Archbishop of Canterbury visits Rome and is scheduled to meet His Holiness the Pope when such matters will also be part of the background to conversations.

Today is the 58th birthday of Charles, Prince of Wales who hopes to succeed his mother as head of state and head of church. He is a divorcee married to a divorcee and argues to be crowned protector of all faith rather than protector of the Faith. Meanwhile faithful Anglican Christian laity and clergy seek to love and serve their Lord in harmony with the teaching and practise of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church as it as been always and everywhere been taught and practised.

This week's Book of Common Worship Collect for Trinity 22 reads:
"Lord, we beseech thee to keep thy household the church in continual godliness, that through thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory of thy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."