Tankman

Tankman, the Seminary,

And General Convention

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I often think of “Tankman” these days when I consider the second great Communications Revolution. The first one, of course, was when Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press  in the 15th century made the written word, including the Bible and Thomas Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer, available to everyone throughout the civilized world.
“Tankman” represents to me the Second Communications Revolution, which is opening avenues of information and expression to everyone who has access to a computer. “Tankman” is the name that has come to be associated with the young man who stood in front of the tanks 20 years ago in Tiananmen Square and dared them to stop . . . .   .   and they did. You all know that famous photograph. It has come to symbolize the triumph of the individual over a totalitarian state.
No one knows what happened to Tankman. But shortly after his photo was taken, 17 young men who participated in the student uprising  turned up in Boston. One of them was asked during a television interview how they got the word out around the globe so quickly, days before the state-controlled, strictly-censored Chinese media reported their version of it – calling the protest and massacre “the June 4 incident.”

He smiled from ear to ear and said: “We had a fax!”

And that says it all.

Now we have the World Wide Web, and we can get the word out about how TEC is going over the edge of the abyss like a pack of mindless lemmings, scrapping all that is devout , beautiful, and true as they scurry headlong on their way; preaching “inclusiveness,” “diversity,” and “reconciliation,” while practicing these contemporary “virtues” with non-Episcopal and unchurched groups and individuals, ignoring their core membership – loyal Episcopalians who have supported the Church with their talents and treasure.
We can learn things by going online that previously have been hidden from us, to our great detriment. We also can be heard in a way we never could before.  It is said that a lie goes halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on. While, now the truth has half a chance because, with online communications, it can catch up with and, with your help, even surpass the obfuscations that TEC has used to baffle the people in the pews for too long.
ETF has been working on this website and other online communications so we can bring you the latest news about ETF projects and programs, and provide the tools for you to fight the corruption within our Church as the revisionists go about their destruction of our liturgy and, by extension, our very religion.  In the past, they have been unchallenged, unrestrained, as far as we can see, unrepentant, and most certainly unpleasant toward traditional, orthodox Episcopalians.  Watch our progress on this website as we add features that you can use to make your opinion count and to change minds and hearts. The second Communications Revolution has given you the opportunity to do that. God gives you the grace and the power.
You can make a difference today. Go to your computer and find the website for your diocese. If it is involved in a search for a bishop or bishop coadjutor, as Long Island is get the addresses and email addresses of the candidates and send them a concise email asking them where they stand on use of the 1928 BCP.  Let us know what responses you receive by emailing tcranmer@etf1928.org.

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80th Anniversary Celebration

We’ve been getting the word out that the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, our traditional liturgy, is alive, well, and in use in the Episcopal Church. On November 15, ETF celebrated the 80th anniversary of the 1928 BCP in the United States. We held a well-attended Evensong service at General Theological Seminary in New York City. The service was conducted by John Drymon, a seminarian, and was followed by a festive reception on Seminary grounds. The event was well publicized and well attended. Young people unfamiliar with the 1928 were impressed, as is anyone with faith and a brain who has the opportunity to compare it with more recent rites.
ETF’s Prayer Book Project continues to provide 1928 BCPs and 1940 Hymnals to Episcopal parishes requesting them. Most recently, we made a gift of 100 new 1928 BCPs and 100 1940 Hymnals to a parish on Long Island, NY.  Requests for these classic Prayer Books and Hymnals, unchanged by the fleeting whims of the day, may be sent to ETF at the address on the Home Page, or to tcranmer@etf1928.org.

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January 21 Marks First Edition of Prayer Book

January 21 marked 460 years of Common Prayer in the Church of England and, later, the American Protestant Episcopal Church, then named Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA), recently renamed The Episcopal Church (TEC). ETF sent out a special email communication about this occasion. Urge your parish priest and vestry to commemorate January 21 annually in your own church.
In 1549, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer issued the first Book of Common Prayer — written in beautiful, reverent  language, accessible to all, and, most important, based on holy scripture. That book lives today and provides all of us a guide through this messy world. Use it in your daily devotions during this Lenten season, urge your priest to use it in your local church, and spread the word about it in person and online.

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General Convention

ETF plans to send representatives to TEC’s General Convention in Anaheim, California, in July. It will be costly to send several people to this two-week convocation, at which the future of our right to worship as we believe might well be at stake.  Please be generous in your donation to ETF at this time. – Jan Mahood, Editor