Observant love. True love is always observant, and the eyes of Jesus never missed the sight of need. Nobody could accuse him of being like the priest and Levite in his parable of the Good Samaritan. Of both it is written, "He saw him." Yet each saw him without seeing, for he looked the other way, and so 'passed by on the other side'. Jesus, on the other hand, truly "saw." He was not afraid to look human need in the face, in all its ugly reality. And what he saw invariably moved him to compassion, and so to compassionate service. Sometimes, he spoke. But his compassion never dissipated itself in words; it found expression in deeds. He saw, he felt, he acted. The movement was from the eye to the heart, and from the heart to the hand. His compassion was always aroused by the sight of need, and it always led to constructive action. --- John R.W. Stott

What brings us together as Anglicans isn't shared mission or endless indaba. What brings us together as Anglicans is a common confession of Jesus Christ as Lord as revealed in the Scriptures. Out of that flows the greatest missionary imperative of all--Christ's Great Commission to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:16-20), teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded--including food for the hungry, and justice for the oppressed. --- Phil Ashey, American Anglican Council

On the one side are the shrinking liberal churches of the West, whose primary identity appears to be "running errands" for liberal social causes. On the other side are the growing churches of the Global South, whose historic connection with Christianity is doctrinal, not merely institutional. One side of this church is a shell. The other is the heart. --- Trevin Wax, Religion News Service

Uncontested deity. The New Testament letters contain no hint that the divine honours given to Jesus were the subject of controversy in the church, as was the case, for example, with the doctrine of justification. There can be only one explanation of this. Already by the middle of the first century, the deity of Jesus was part of the faith of the universal church. --- John R. W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
September 27, 2015

The Pope of the Roman Catholic Church touched down on U.S. soil this week, the fourth pope to do so and clearly the most popular. Christians make up 2.2 billion (32%) of the world's 6.5 billion people. One billion of these 2.2 billion Christians are in the Roman Catholic Church. By any reckoning, he is the most popular, most approachable pope in modern history. It's hard to find anyone who dislikes him. He has a 90% approval rating by Catholics of all stripes and 70% of all Americans like him. There are those conservative Roman Catholic theologians who think he is caving in on abortion, annulments, divorced persons taking communion, and more. But none of these things have happened at a theological or ecclesial level. The Pope is demonstrating a pastoral concern for his flock and he is winning hearts, minds, and souls.

His words cannot be viewed through the prism of left or right, Republican or Democrat, socialist or capitalist, they must be viewed through a spiritual prism that transcends all these categories. This is hard for politically conscious Americans, many of whom tend to see everything through political lenses and categories.

What is of more than of passing interest is that half of evangelical pastors in America say Pope Francis is their brother in Christ!

When I grew up, I was taught that the Pope was the anti-Christ. I no longer believe that and neither do millions of evangelicals and former Fundamentalists.

More than one-third say they value the Pope's view on theology, while 3 in 10 say he has improved their view of the Catholic Church.

Those are among the findings of a new study of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors, released this week from Nashville-based LifeWay Research.

Overall, the survey found that many Protestant pastors have taken a liking to Pope Francis.

Nearly 4 in 10 say the Pope, known for his humility and concern for the poor, has had a positive impact on their opinions of the Catholic Church. Almost two-thirds view Pope Francis as a genuine Christian and "brother in Christ."

For 43 percent of Protestant pastors, Pope Francis has not changed their views of the Catholic Church. However, half say the current pope has affected their opinions--and almost three times as many cite a positive impact (37%) over a negative one (14%).

However, half of Protestant pastors say they do not value Pope Francis' opinion on matters of theology.

Sixty-seven percent of all Americans think that Pope can and should speak out about political and social issues. His approval rating among U.S. Catholics is a whopping ninety percent and fully seventy percent of all Americans. The House and Congress can garner little more than a ten percent approval rating!

You can read a number of stories on the Pope's visit to the U.S. starting in Washington, working through New York City, and then to my hometown Philadelphia. I have posted some of the best commentary on the Pope's visit. I have refrained from hard news as most of you can see it on television and, short of sudden violence against the Pope, I am posting reflective pieces that puts the pope in his role of spiritual leader and as Bishop of Rome. I should remind readers that this is an Anglican, not a Roman Catholic News Service; stories that have an Anglican/Episcopal angle will get priority. You will see a couple of articles that mention the homogenital former bishop New Hampshire Gene Robinson who is doing his best to inject himself into the Papal visit. He has gone nowhere. Nobody really cares what he thinks and about the only worthwhile news to report is that he is now wearing an earring to show his availability for a new sexual partner.

I was fortunate enough to obtain a press pass and I met with a number of Catholic leaders and my dear friend, Rick Warren, America's leading Protestant mega pastor who has a profound love of all things Anglican. I have written a story about my meeting him again and his speech (along with others) that he delivered to the World Meeting of Families.

He is a generous and gracious man who supported GAFCON financially and has experienced much suffering in the suicide death of their son. We talked briefly about the easy access to guns in America and how his son was able to buy a 9-millimeter Glock online with no background check even though he had long history of mental illness. Gun madness will see 30,000 Americans kill each other this year. In the next 18 months as many Americans will shoot each other as those who died in Vietnam! In terms of freedom around the world, the U.S. ranks 12th behind countries like Canada (6th) and New Zealand (third). Guns are a form of servitude not freedom apparently.

If there is any good news, it is that Rick and his wife are able to meet all kinds of people and minister to those who have lost sons and daughters to violence, death, and disease. It is a healing time for them. "You don't get over it, you get through it," he told me.

Making the rounds here at the World Families meeting is a book titled NOT JUST GOOD, BUT BEAUTIFUL, the complementary Relationship between Man and Woman. Pope Francis along with religious leaders headlines this book. It renews the conversation on marriage and family. Some of the contributors include Rick Warren, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Johann Christoph Arnold, Cardinal Gerhard Muller, Sister Prudence Allen, and many others. It is produced by Plough Publishing House and can be purchased at www.plough.com and at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Not-Just-Good-Beautiful-Complementary/dp/0874866839

I have posted a number of stories on this huge event. Most of you have been following the news. My intention is to provide good commentary on what transpired here; stories you might not read anywhere else. Some I have written, other stories by serious Catholic commentators. I hope they fill in the blanks for you.

*****

A woman bishop has become the first in the Church of England to lead an ordination service.

Four clergy will be ordained by Rev Dame Sarah Mullally in Devon this weekend.

They have spent a year as deacons but once ordained they will be able to perform weddings and lead Holy Communion services.

Dame Sarah said it was "another step towards making women bishops a normal part of the Church of England".

On Saturday she ordained Leisa McGovern and Sheila Walker in Ottery St Mary and on Sunday Glyn Lewry and Jill Purser will be ordained in Sampford Peverell.

Dame Sarah, who was the fourth female bishop to be appointed in the Church of England, was consecrated as the new Bishop of Crediton in July.

The Church of England consecrated its first female bishop during a ceremony at York Minster in January.

*****

PEARUSA, the American Anglican branch of the Anglican Church of Rwanda, has moved legally to the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), but will remain relationally connected to Rwanda

The announcement was made at The Synod of the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda at its regular meeting on September 23rd, 2015, in a move for Anglican unity.

By affirming the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) as an Anglican Province, and by holding true to Anglican order, the Synod is calling for the legal transfer of PEARUSA to the ACNA under Archbishop Foley Beach by June. 2016. This call includes the PEARUSA Networks becoming ACNA Dioceses.

At the same time, Archbishop Rwaje and Presiding Bishop Steve Breedlove also announced that PEARUSA would now transition into Rwanda Ministry Partners, a ministry association within the ACNA.

You can read the full report in today's digest.

*****

The Governing Body (GB) of the Church in Wales was told this week that it has lost 40% of its members since Bishop Gregory Cameron was ordained. He does not see a dying church -- only the pattern of "every Sunday" worship is dying! If that sounds familiar, compare the attitude of the Archdeacon of Norwich who claimed that the citizens of Norwich were "doing their churchgoing differently" (i.e. staying at home) when challenged after the 2011 census revealed the City of Norwich to be the most godless city in England.

Not to be deterred, another bishop saw promising but tentative signs of change despite the continuing downward trend: the rate of decline has slowed. Given the severity of the crisis, one would have thought more time would have been devoted to the subject of Membership and Finances, but there was a pressing need to move on to consider the refugee crisis, not those made refugees in their own church, but those fleeing persecution abroad. Archbishop Barry Morgan thoughtfully reminded GB members that they should not be there if they dissented from the Statement from the Bench of Bishops and their Emergency Motion.

However, there was plenty of time to advance same sex marriage where the LGBT lobby and +Barry's acolytes gladly pushed his agenda at the expense of the Church. There was no formal motion but a 'straw poll' was used to inform the Bench how to take the subject forward. This is how GB voted:

OPTION 1= No change; Option 2=Blessing, Option 3=same sex marriage

Bishops 1 2 3
Clergy 21 1 26
Laity 28 6 32

The required majority would not have been met had the vote been for real; nevertheless, Morgan has been gifted by the Governing Board what he failed to gain when consulting the membership as a whole. This shows the extent of influence the LGBT lobby has where it matters and has enabled the media to declare "Church in Wales votes YES for gay marriage."

Not to be deterred, Archbishop Morgan's next crusade, while SSM goes on the back burner, is a return to the question of an Archiepiscopal See and the need for more, not fewer bishops, no doubt to accommodate his female accomplices. Meanwhile, the Anglican Communion is about to be dismembered.

*****

Samizdat, an orthodox Canadian Anglican blogger has weighed in on new Marriage Canon machinations in the Anglican Church of Canada.

The Anglican Church of Canada's commission on the marriage canon has produced its report. Insomniacs may find relief from their suffering by reading all 65 pages, he writes.

"The commission had no intention -- and was never asked -- to determine whether same-sex marriage is in accord with God's intent for marriage as revealed in the Bible. Instead, it worked diligently to demonstrate that same-sex marriage is 'theologically possible.':

"It is", he added, "one of three 'logical possibilities' being put forward by the commission, and something of a middle way between the other two. The other two possibilities, according to the report, are, on the one hand, to see same-sex marriages as an 'undifferentiated' form of Christian marriage, essentially identical to heterosexual marriages; and, on the other, to see them as 'blessed partnerships' rather than covenants before God.

"The commission said it arrived at a conclusion that it is 'theologically possible' to extend the marriage canon to include same-sex couples, without thereby diminishing, damaging, or curtailing the rich theological implications of marriage as traditionally understood.

"The idea appears to be to remove the boundaries that presently constrain marriage without changing the definition of marriage. It doesn't take much effort to realize that this is a clumsy sleight of hand. There is nothing that is not to a large extent defined by its boundaries; remove them and you are left with, as in music when everyone plays any note they want no matter how irrelevant, nothing but noise.

"Nicholls also stressed that the report does not suggest ways of changing the definition of marriage as it is currently laid out in church law. Rather, it is looking at changing those parts of the marriage canon that restrict marriage to male-female relationships.

""We're talking about the same vows, the same purpose, and the same definition of marriage. None of that has changed," said Nicholls.

"The assurances made to conservatives during the 2004 General Synod that same-sex blessing would not lead to same sex marriage were, as anyone with any sense knew, barefaced lies.

"Given that the Canadian church already affirmed the 'integrity and sanctity' of homosexual relationships at its General Synod in 2004, the commission said its report accepted that the current definition of marriage could be expanded to include same-sex couples."

Samizdat says Archbishop Fred Hiltz is worried that the church might "come apart over this". Perhaps Hiltz has had no access to the Internet for the last 10 years and is unaware that the church "came apart" over this quite some time ago. There were even lawsuits; did no one tell him?

"Does it keep me awake at night? Yes, it sure does. I do not want to see the church divide over this. The St. Michael Report used the helpful language of "core doctrine" and other kinds of doctrine. Core doctrine meaning the kind that's reflected in the creeds of the church. They [Primate's Theological Commission members] said, in the St. Michael Report, that they didn't believe the blessing of same-sex unions was a communion-dividing issue. I kind of think about that language still, at the back of my mind," I would hope that the church would not come apart over this", said Hiltz.

The "conscience clause" that permits clergy to opt out of marrying same-sex couples could, of course, be challenged in a civil court. Supposedly, the clause would hold.

The chancellor of CoGS, Canon David Jones, noted the "extraordinarily credible" legal opinion quoted in the report, suggesting that invoking the conscience clause could withstand legal challenge.

The question is, if a priest is sued for refusing to marry a same-sex couple, would the Anglican Church of Canada spend the money necessary to defend him? I would not count on it. Dean Peter Wall from the liberal-extremist Diocese of Niagara is already muttering against the conscience clause:

Dean Peter Wall of the diocese of Niagara felt that the conscience clause goes too far: "The drafters of the resolution were very generous--I think to a fault--with their interpretation of the word 'congregation.'" He said, explaining that the Anglican Church "has always been based on synodical and episcopal leadership and direction," and that he is "concerned about congregationalism," and the possibility of an individual church telling its priest whom he or she can or cannot marry.

If voters fall obediently into line with current prejudices -- theological possibilities, to use ecclesiastical jargon - the marriage canon will be changed at the 2019 General Synod, by which time no one outside and few inside the church - other than gay clergy and a handful of octogenarian conservatives - will care.

It is precisely why the ACNA and its Canadian branch the ANiC cannot live with the ACoC, and why in January it will be seen as one more arrow in the heart of Anglican unity disavowed by GAFCON and Global South primates. This should confirm in the minds of archbishops Eliud Wabukala (Kenya) and Nicholas Okoh (Nigeria) that they cannot ever sit in the same room as Jefferts-Schori/Michael Curry of Fred Hiltz. Those days are gone.

*****

Archbishop Justin Welby will welcome people fleeing the war-ravaged country of Syria in a four-bedroom cottage at the palace, his official London residence.

His gesture follows a similar move by the Catholic Church after Pope Francis said two refugee families would move into Vatican housing, but Lambeth Palace said it was something the Archbishop has been considering for "a while".

A spokeswoman said the cottage on the palace grounds is currently being redecorated and could provide room for a "family or two."

She said: "As a Christian who leads the Church of England, it is something he feels absolutely passionate about.

"As the Archbishop has said, Jesus was a refugee, and there are refugees here who are desperate for sanctuary from war-torn places and the archbishop is completely torn about their situation and wants to make a difference."

The rent for the refugees will be paid for by charitable funds under the Archbishop's personal control, the Sunday Times said.

It also emerged today that Syrian refugees will be brought to Britain more swiftly under a fresh push to tackle the growing crisis announced by the Government.

*****

The Anglican diocese of Montreal is to consecrate its first female bishop next week. Mary Irwin-Gibson, the bishop-elect, was born in Sarnia, Ont., but grew up around Montreal. She was ordained a priest in 1982, just six years after Canada's Anglican church allowed women to serve in the role.

Irwin-Gibson, who studied at the Universite du Quebec à Montreal, replaces Bishop Barry Clarke. The newly-elected bishop faces declining attendance in Montreal-area churches: there are just 11,000 people on the parish rolls compared to 93,000 in 1960.

This is unlikely to stem the rapid decline of the Church. The Diocese of Quebec is all but out of business, and the former Bishop of Quebec tried to become Bishop of Montreal to unite them. That failed. In time they will both disappear. It has been ordained of God that He will not allow heresy to reign indefinitely.

*****

The head bishops of the Anglican and Evangelical Lutheran churches in North America met in Washington, D.C. to talk about how to more fully live out and affirm their full communion relationships.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada; Katherine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church (TEC); Susan Johnson, national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC); and Elizabeth Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), continued a tradition of annual meetings that began in 2010. The meetings provide an opportunity for the bishops to have some time alone to speak informally together about topics that concern the four churches.

And what will they discuss of earth shattering importance that heaven will notice and most churches could care a less about? The "four-way" dialogue. One of the topics of the "four-way" dialogue includes lay presidency, a dispensation that allows for lay people to preside over Eucharistic services in some circumstances. A circumscribed form of this was adopted by the ELCIC in July.

That's it. The Diocese of Sydney raised this issue up several years ago and it got shot down almost unanimously by the Anglican Communion. If TEC and ACoC go for this, it will be another nail in the coffin of the Anglican Communion.

*****

FINAL WORD goes to Pope Francis and what he did and did not say to Congress.

Catholic writer R.R. Reno opined that it was a modest speech; one generous to the American experience but lacking in the sharpness this Pontiff is sometimes capable of.

The repeated use of the term "dialogue" was irritating. It's a buzzword among today's technocrats. They use it as a softening word, one that signals that they are not coming to dominate us, but instead to "listen" and play the role of "honest brokers."

In the body of the speech, he made two general appeals:

Toward the beginning, he appealed to a spirit of welcome to immigrants, which I think resonates with most Americans. But he did not say anything specific about current political debates, either here or in Europe. Those debates have to do with the practical, political limits that even the most welcoming society must sometimes put on immigration. Pope Francis's recent comments about the migrant crisis in Europe indicates that he's aware of these limits and respects the need for political leaders to grapple with them.

At the end of the speech, Francis appealed to a spirit of solicitude for the well-being of the family. Again, he steered clear of specifics, making no mention of no-fault divorce or same-sex marriage.

In three areas he was more specific: He called for the abolition of the death penalty. This has been a priority for the Church going back to John Paul II.

He denounced the international arms trade, another standard Vatican trope. He prefaced this with a vague endorsement of negotiation for peace, which could be read as an endorsement of Obama's approach to Iran. No surprise there. In general, the Vatican is pro-negotiation and anti-conflict.

One thing the Pope did not say and perhaps should have said at least to placate notions that he is not an ill-disguised Socialist is that more than 1 billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty in 20 years through the United Nations championed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), "the most successful anti-poverty movement in history."

You can read this and other stories in today's digest.

We apologize for the lateness of this weekly digest but we were hugely "interrupted" by the presence of the Pope and the fact that the cell phone usage of two million -- mostly people from out of town -- soaked up all the bandwidth, temporarily killing e-mail communication.

Warmly in Christ,

David

CORRECTION: VOL said Pope Francis was the third Pope to visit these shores. We erred. He is the fourth.

Radical and conservative. It is not sufficiently understood that our Lord Jesus Christ was at one and the same time a conservative and a radical although in different spheres. There is no question that he was conservative in his attitude to Scripture. 'The Scripture cannot be broken', he said, 'I did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfil them.' Again, 'not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished' (Jn. 10:35; Mt. 5:17-18). One of Jesus' chief complaints against contemporary Jewish leaders concerned their disrespect for Old Testament Scripture and their lack of a true submission to its divine authority. But Jesus may also be truly described as a radical. He was a keen, fearless critic of the Jewish Establishment, not only because of their insufficient loyalty to God's Word, but also because of their exaggerated loyalty to their own human traditions. Jesus had the temerity to sweep away centuries of inherited traditions ('the traditions of the elders') in order that God's Word might again be seen and obeyed. He was also very daring in his breaches of social convention. He insisted on caring for those sections of the community who were normally despised. He spoke to women in public, which in his day was not done. He invited children to come to him, although in Roman society unwanted children were commonly 'exposed' or dumped, and his own disciples took it for granted that he would not want to be bothered with them. He allowed prostitutes to touch him (Pharisees recoiled from them in horror) and himself actually touched an untouchable leper (Pharisees threw stones at them to make them keep their distance). In these and other ways Jesus refused to be bound by human custom; his mind and conscience were bound by God's Word alone. Thus Jesus was a unique combination of the conservative and the radical, conservative towards Scripture and radical in his scrutiny (his biblical scrutiny) of everything else. --- John R.W. Stott

Here is the bottom line. If the January gathering of Primates does not fully address the real issues, the Communion will not survive--nor should it --- Bishop Bill Atwood

President Obama would like to use the power and prestige of church and state to promote a heretical strain of Christianity, a false Christ that embraces his own political agenda. This false Christ will bless his views on abortion and same-sex "marriage" and lull Christians to sleep. This alternate Christ will also ensnare Christian's souls by leading them away from the true Christ. --- Ben Johnson, Charisma magazine

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
October 2, 2015

Pope Francis has come and gone, but he has left an indelible impression on millions of lives, my own included. We who live in the Washington, New York, Philadelphia triangle of cities will never forget his coming into our city.

He was a pope who exuded compassion without compromise. He revealed a compassionate orthodoxy few can match. His visit also revealed that liberals and revisionists are on the wrong side of history and truth and if you cling on to truth tightly enough you will prevail. The rest are little more than kissing Judases.

If there are lessons for liberal U.S. denominations like The Episcopal Church to be learned about Pope Francis's visit to the US it is this: you can (still) believe the gospel -- that people are sinners in need of a savior -- and at the same time address environmental issues like climate change, respect for human life (oppose abortion), hold the line on the Church's teaching on sexuality, and refuse to cave into its post-modern despizers.

Pope Francis addressed a nation that is rapidly post-modern, post evangelical, and many believe, is now post Christian, slowly being ruled by Nones. It is addressed to the Episcopal Church and to all mainline churches that have abandoned a transcendent gospel in favor of secular social initiatives posing as salvation, and watch as they slowly disintegrate and die.

The welcome given to Pope Francis was nothing short of inspiring, putting even rock stars in the shadows. In truth he came as a servant and not as a "star." That makes all the difference in the world. As one columnist observed, "He is a remarkable Pontiff, in many ways exactly what Catholics need. Humble, generous, thoughtful, hands-on and transparently ordinary, he is the closest the faith has come to finding accommodation with the irreversible liberalism of much of modern life."

I have written and posted some closing stories on his unique visit here in Philadelphia, plus a number of other pieces by VOL's own special correspondent Mary Ann Mueller.

*****

The church is at war. It is impossible not to come to this realization in light of the atrocities committed against Christians throughout the world. While we should be thankful to the Lord for providing a secure place for us to grow in our spiritual disciplines, we would do well to remember that the church in America is also at war.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, does not change this theological fact. When we reflect on the strategies that Satan would implement against the church, we should keep in mind that the evil one is shrewd.

Just as he manipulated the situation in the Garden so many millennia ago to lead God's people astray, so he remains devious in his tactics today. Militant oppression against the church would not be effective in silencing the preaching of the gospel in our society, which is already horrified by the brutality of ISIS and other terrorist organizations. This would lead to a greater outcry and sympathy for the cause of the church in America.

The Episcopal Church is at war with the Anglican Church in North America. The Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) is at war with the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC). Religious freedom in America is at war with the whole pansexual lobby who want, nay demand, full acceptance of their behavior, even when there is not a scintilla of evidence that the behavior is safe or life giving and that is truly narcissistic and self-absorbed.

The Anglican Global South is at war with the liberal/progressive/revisionist northern Anglican Church over, not just sex, but the very nature and meaning of the gospel. Traditional marriage is at war with gay marriage. You will read a number of stories in today's digest that reflect on this theme.

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The Anglican Church of Nigeria issued a communique this week saying that there is no change on Same-Sex Marriage within that province.

Archbishop Nicholas Okoh called on Anglican Communion leaders to repent of revisionist theologies. He said he would consult with GAFCON archbishops before deciding on the Archbishop of Canterbury's call to come to Canterbury next January.

The communique also called on its members to defend the orthodox biblical teaching on marriage and family. They also urged the Federal Government to continue to resist "foreign pressure" to make it rescind its stand on same-sex marriage.

The bishops and archbishops condemned the "revisionist theologies" of some Anglican provinces and called on the leadership of the Anglican Communion to repentance and renewed faith in Christ as expressed in the Bible, the Articles of Religion, and the Jerusalem Declaration. They also reaffirmed their commitment to those Anglicans throughout the Communion who abide by these truths.

You can read the full story in today's digest.

*****

There have been no refusals so far to the call of the Archbishop of Canterbury to Canterbury next January, except we have not heard from the leader of the most powerful Anglican province, the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh of the Anglican Church of Nigeria.

Responses, so far, range from mildly enthusiastic to heavily caveated with most of the West (Global North) positive.

The one thorn is how to interpret the appearance of Archbishop Foley Beach of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). The Episcopal Church's yet to be installed Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will attend.

The Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Most Rev. Archbishop Fred Hiltz welcomed the meeting as "a good thing." He described the decision to invite ACNA -- it is understood that the representative will be present for one day, before the formal meeting gets under way -- as "an opportunity for some conversation, in the ultimate hope that we might be able to find a way forward towards reconciliation."

Therein lies the problem. Hiltz is treating Beach's pre gathering appearance like a nuisance mosquito bite. That is not how Kenyan Primate Eliud Wabukala sees it.

The central issue for the GAFCON archbishops is the heretical stance of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. The ONLY reason the Global South archbishops will attend is if Archbishop Beach is invited to come.

That's a whole different take on the matter. Needless to say, climate change will not be on the minds of the Global South Primates. They want to know if TEC and ACoC are going to repent of their apostasies. If they don't, what sort of future does the Anglican Communion have?

You can read the full story in today's digest.

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Los Angeles Episcopal Bishop J. Jon Bruno is turning up the heat on the priest and parishioners of St. James the Great Episcopal Church in Newport Beach. VOL broke the story about the lawsuits back in August; things have only gotten worse in the meantime. Both sides are digging in for the long haul.

A misconduct complaint, filed against Bruno by members of St James, has been handed back to the national church's disciplinary panel for bishops after the parties were unable to reach an amicable resolution.

A FACEBOOK blurb, written by a spokesman for the parish, reported on Sept. 23, 2015, "We are sad, however, to report that we were unable to reach an accord in our presentment involving Bishop Bruno. The Episcopal Church (TEC) appointed an able, extremely dedicated and experienced conciliator to try to mediate a solution. His efforts are deeply appreciated by the St. James the Great congregation and we are glad to have worked with him and supported his efforts. At this point, TEC will either seek a conference or more likely, begin an investigation of Bishop Bruno based on the matters included in our presentment."

Bruno is taking no prisoners in dealing with complaints of bullying and dishonesty levelled against him by ignoring a request from the national church that he not prejudice the proceedings. The Bishop's attorneys have not relented in their legal campaign, and have sought to depose a Girl Scout leader whose troop had planted an herb garden at the parish, and the daughter of a woman whose ashes are interned at the church.

The Rt. Rev. Clayton Matthews informed the complainants that the "reference panel" had recommended the dispute be resolved with "conciliation pursuant IV.10" of the church's disciplinary canons. That apparently is not going to happen.

Under the church's disciplinary canons, if the parties are unable to reach an agreed settlement, the matter returns to the panel, which may dismiss the charges, investigate them further, or pass the matter onto the Presiding Bishop's office.

The letter from Bishop Matthews to the Save the St James the Great coalition further asked all parties to refrain from actions that would jeopardize the conciliation process. "[I]t is our desire that all parties will enter into this process in good faith," the letter stated. Bruno has ignored this advice and continues to harass members of the congregation, even though they do not have access to the property but meet in a park across the road.

What makes this story so interesting is that the former occupants of the church were the Rev. Richard Crocker who, as an Anglican, fought for the property against Bruno, lost, and then left with 90% of the congregation. When the remainder stayed, Bruno wanted them out so he could sell the property. That is not going to happen any time soon. Meantime, he is running up a huge legal bill estimated to be about $9 million. He wants them out. So the liberal stayers are getting a taste of a revisionist bishop. How ironic.

So the Presentment process moves to the next step. He is determined that we should just go away, said the woman priest. "We will not. With love and grace, we will stay together. Truth is on our side. We will persevere."

*****

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has announced the members of the newly-formed Episcopal Church Commission on Impairment and Leadership in the wake of the Heather Cook fiasco. Cook is the besotted bishop who killed a cyclist while driving under the influence and texting. She has pled guilty and will do time. Church leaders finally looked down and saw the bottom of the barrel and decided they could do better. Really. A gay bishop with a drinking problem! Oh no...think Vicky Gene.

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, in consultation with President of the House of Deputies, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, appointed its members. The Rev. Martha Horne will serve as chair of the Commission. Some questions come to mind:

Do you have a drinking problem? Check
Have you ever been arrested for drunk driving? Check
Do you or have you ever smoked or used an illegal substance while preaching a sermon? Check
Have you ever texted while driving and been drunk all at the same time? Check
Are you living with a man who is not your husband? Check
If you are an alcoholic, how long have you been sober? Check
How many years do you think you should serve in prison if you are caught drinking, driving, and kill a cyclist? Correct answer: at least 20 years. If you came up with less than that, you don't qualify to be a bishop.

*****

The Bishop of Niassa (Anglican Church of South Africa), the Rt. Rev. Mark Van Koevering, has announced that he will be resigning effective October 31, 2015 on the occasion of his 10th anniversary as Bishop of Niassa. According to all available sources, he is a pretty out there evangelical. He has actually worked very hard - gifted in the area of church planting - for many years in Mozambique, where he has spent 28 years of lay and ordained ministry. Always touted by the synod of bishops as a model Evangelical.

So the question must be asked why has he accepted a nomination to become the Assistant Bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia (a very liberal diocese) with a special mandate for mission?

This diocese, under Bishop Michie Klusmeyer, has voted consistently and positively on all the gay issues, including blessing same sex unions, so why would he invite a known evangelical unless it is out of sheer desperation.

From 2003 to 2014, Average Sunday Attendance has gone from nearly 4,000 to 2,300, the size of one decent sized Episcopal parish in Texas. Desperate times apparently call for desperate measures.

*****

Michael A. Bird, the mousy Bishop of Niagara, has shown once again what a narrow-minded, litigious, and mercenary-minded little man he is.

The following was reported in the Guelph Mercury News. The headline ran:
Contrasting tale of two churches compelling. It was written by someone called Stephen Runge.

Ethiopian church finds spiritual home in Breslau -- Sept. 26.

Last Saturday's feature on the Ethiopian congregation in Breslau was heartwarming.

Not only did the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church consider fellow Christians seeking worship space as worthy purchasers, they actually donated the church they no longer use to a congregation without a place to call home.

What generosity of spirit, what kindness and forethought, what admirable consideration for the entire community.

Such selfless motivation is sorely lacking in the saga of the former St. Matthias Church property in Guelph, which is owned by the Anglican Diocese of Niagara. In this case, the diocese outright refused a $1.2-million purchase offer from a local congregation for the redundant Anglican Church at Kortright and Edinburgh roads. Rather, they continue to favor a bidder who proposes to demolish the church and replace it with high-density housing.

Anglican claims of putting ministry ahead of money ring hollow when you see the opportunities the Lutherans (and some other denominations) create for other faith groups.

Why is it so difficult for the Anglican diocese to see through the shallow advice they are being given? Why advocate mercenary practices that preclude serious offers from other congregations because they cannot compete with developers?

This is exactly what is happening there in spite of community objections, in spite of Guelph city council questioning the entire process, and in spite of a developer using the Ontario Municipal Board process to get its own way.

What a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the Anglican Church of Canada.

The Guelph community expects more and will do their best to hold the diocese accountable for their decisions.

I wouldn't count on it. Bishops have way too much power and levering them out takes a three ton ecclesiastical bomb or a declaration that Jesus is the only way to the Father.

*****

The new Bishop of Montreal wants to make the church relevant. Bishop Mary Irwin-Gibson is the new bishop of the Diocese of Montreal, a diocese whose membership has plummeted from 93,000 in 1960 to 11,000 in 2015.

How does she intend to make the diocese "relevant?" Well, she is going to carpet bomb the diocese with cliches. We have: "think outside the box" -- a phrase I've heard used by witless business executives hundreds of times when they have run out of ideas -- "build up their [the clergy's] sense of engagement" and..... wait for it, "make ministry viable and sustainable". She does mention "sharing the Gospel,"which is odd since I'd have thought it too far inside the box to be worthy of attention. She is a liberal, so it is probably a gospel of the viable and sustainable rather than the real thing.

Needless to say, she has no "problem with same-sex marriage."

One newspaper wrote, "Irwin-Gibson, 59, said there are no easy answers on how to ensure the viability of Anglicanism in Quebec but she is up for the challenge."

With fewer than 11,000 members in the Montreal diocese, down from about 93,000 in 1960, the denomination faces an uncertain future.

"Often we get stuck in the patterns of how we've been doing it," said Irwin-Gibson, who replaces retiring bishop Barry Clarke.

Irwin-Gibson acknowledged the challenges are daunting, but said she is ready to think outside the box to keep the Anglican Church relevant, even if the model of a traditional church and full-time priest in every parish is no longer possible.

"How do we do ministry in a meaningful way without the model of some old guy (who) lives in the house next door?" she asked.

"My goal is to encourage the clergy, to build up their sense of engagement, to ... make ministry viable and sustainable for the next generation," said Irwin-Gibson, whose last posting was Kingston, Ont., where she was the dean of St. George's Cathedral for six years.

*****

Anglican Hell hath no fury at all. How many Anglican Church of Canada clergy believe in the reality of Hell? I suspect the number is very small.

When Hell is expunged from Christianity, there is no longer any need for a Saviour since there is nothing to save us from; sins are neither judged nor punished, so Jesus didn't need to take them upon himself and die for them. Since Jesus didn't die for our sins, he wouldn't need to be God incarnate, physically resurrected, born of a virgin or sinless. Perhaps, as Anglican priest manque Tom Harpur suggests, Jesus never actually existed. As you can see, without Hell, the whole thing falls apart -- just like the ACoC. Not to worry, though, there is still social justice.

Here is an interview with a clergyman who isn't at all interested in being saved from Hell:

"I came to be passionate about justice through Jesus, as I was introduced to him by figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Desmond Tutu. They introduced me to a Jesus that I wanted to give my life to -- not because if I didn't, I would go to hell, but because he was showing a way of life that was life, that was truth! When I hang out with my homeless friends, when I engage in social action, to me it is like a spiritual practice, I feel closer to Jesus."

I trust everyone has noticed my restraint in not making any cheap jokes about how the ACoC has invented - or "reimagined," to use the in vogue non-word - its own particularly torturous version of hell. Try sitting through an ACoC sermon.

*****

If you think that those afflicted with same sex attraction are all caving in, believing that people are defined by their sexuality. It's not true. Listen to this:
http://www.whitehorseinn.org/whiarchives/2015whi1277sep27.mp3

*****

The former Bishop of Harare, the Rt. Rev. Sebastian Bakare, has denounced claims in Zimbabwe's government backed newspapers that he is a tool of the US government and an enemy of the regime.

In an interview published on 17 Sept 2015 with NewsDay, Dr. Bakare rejected charges leveled on 13 Sept 2015 by Bulawayo24 -- a government radio/television station in the country's second city -- that he was involved in a plot funded by the US Embassy to bring opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and former Vice-President Joice Mujuru together to form a coalition to oust President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party in the 2018 elections.

Dr. Bakare, who heads up the nonpartisan National Convergence Platform (NCP) -- a civic group that seeks to bring the business, trade union, religious, political and social groups together to engage in a national dialogue on the future of the country -- denounced the stories as a smear campaign to derail the NCP. He said the 24 Oct 2015 opening meeting of the NCP would be nonpartisan and invitations would be extended to "everybody who is concerned at the meltdown of our economy, including all political parties, with no special treatment extended to any."

He added, "To associate me with the American Embassy, which I know may not have a very good rapport or relationship with the government, is trying to say to the nation: 'This is your bishop associating himself with the enemy of the nation.' I resent this to the very core of my being."

The accusations against him were from those seeking to protect their economic interests at the expense of the nation. "Such kind of maliciousness comes from those who are benefiting from the system that has denied Zimbabweans a peaceful and happy life," the retired bishop said.

*****

Three evangelical churches have been burned down in an area of northwest Tanzania where Islamist extremists have been making threats against Christian communities, according to Christian Today magazine.

The devastated churches were Living Water International, Pentecostal Assemblies of God, and Evangelical Assemblies of God, all in Kashfa in the Bukoba district. All three counted worshippers into the hundreds.

Vedasto Athanas of Living Water told Morning Star News that Christians are increasingly worried and frightened.

Tanzania is at number 33 on the Open Doors list of countries where persecution of Christians is most severe.

Athanas said, "What is worrying us is that the burning of the three churches happened within a span of two hours. What is even more worrying is that we have been receiving threats from Muslim extremists that they want churches reduced in this area.

"We have lost everything in our churches -- the buildings, the chairs and musical instruments. Our members have nowhere to worship."

One point of contention is over rules surrounding animal slaughter. Extremists in the area object to Christians slaughtering animals because they believe this is forbidden for non-Muslims.

Muslims make up about a third of Tanzania's population and Christians a little over half.

*****

Charity Commission has issued a warning against funding terrorism. The warning follows several cases where the UK charity assets have ended up in the hands of proscribed terror groups

Charity staff are being urged to act as whistle-blowers if they suspect funds are being used to finance terrorism.

The Government has issued an alert against charities that divert cash to fund terrorism and pledged to take action against trustees and charities who suspect this and fail to report it.

In guidance on the Terrorism Act, the Charity Commission says it is particularly relevant for charities in countries or areas where terrorists are active or in control.

"The intended use or diversion of charitable funds for terrorist purposes is completely unacceptable and undermines public trust and confidence in charities," the commission said.

Under counter-terrorism legislation, charity trustees and staff are obliged to report suspicions that funds are being misused, such as to fund terror. Failure to do this is punishable by fines or up to five years in prison.

The commission said it understands the risks charities and their staff face when working in unstable and dangerous countries.

In the cases where funds have been lost, there was no indication that the charities involved had knowingly allowed their assets to be used for terrorism, the commission said.

Earlier this year, the Overseas Development Institute warned that millions of pounds of donations to charities have been held up, blocked, or returned by banks over fears that the cash could end up financing terrorism. Several international banks had frozen UK charity accounts. The institute said a lack of guidance on how banks should respond to counter-terrorism legislation had caused overly risk-averse action towards UK charities in conflict zones.

*****

The next time I write to you it will be from Carthage (Tunis) in Tunisia, North Africa. I will be there to cover the SIXTH TRUMPET, the Global South to South Encounter where Anglican archbishops and bishops will engage challenges facing the future.

Among the speakers will be Archbishops Mouneer Anis (hosting the event), Ian Ernest, Tito Zavala, Eliud Wabukala, Onesphore Rwaje, Daniel Deng Bul, and a number of lay theologians and thinkers including Ashley Null, Michael Glerup, and noted sociologist Os Guinness.

Please consider a donation to help make this possible. VOL depends on its readers to keep us afloat. VOL has no corporate backers. We depend solely on you our readers to keep us afloat. Less than one per cent of you make a donation. Why? I have a small staff to pay along with web and communications bills. Yet the attraction of getting a "free service" seems overwhelming. Thousands go daily to www.virtueonline.org It is my responsibility to change that. We must have new donors to keep us going. If you have not contributed in the last year or so, please jump in and do so.

You can send a tax-deductible check to:

VIRTUEONLINE
570 Twin Lakes Rd
P.O. Box 111
Shohola, PA 18458

Or you can make a contribution through VOL's PAYPAL link here: http://www.virtueonline.org/support-vol/

Thank you for your support.

In Christ,

David

"One of the greatest threats to the Christian church is not heretics or false teachers, but rather those who have the right theology but are willing to overlook and tolerate gross error for the sake of unity, and castigate those who speak up for truth as being divisive or unChristian." --- Karl Dalhfred

Why can we not wholeheartedly embrace the gift of eternal life given us in the resurrection of Christ? Why are we cowards in the face of illness, aging and the inevitability of death? Why is the prolongation of this life our highest value? Why are our expectations about the length of our lives so unrealistic? A military man has to face the prospect of death in every assignment. Are we not all called to be soldiers of Christ? --- Rev. Ted Schroder

The Gospel of Niceness is not the Gospel of Nicea. --- Dave Robertson

"No man, however truly he loved his betrothed and bride as a young man has lived faithful to her as a wife in mind and body without deliberate conscious exercise of the will, without self-denial." --- J. R. R. Tolkien

"Materialism is idolized, immorality is glamorized, truth is minimized, sin is normalized, divorce is rationalized and abortion is legalized. In TV and movies, crime is sensationalized, drugs are legitimized, comedy is vulgarized and sex is trivialized. In movies, the Bible is fictionalized, churches are satirized, God is marginalized and Christians are demonized. ... The elderly are dehumanized, the sick are euthanized, the poor are victimized, the mentally ill are ostracized, immigrants are stigmatized and children are tranquilized." --- Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church, California

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
October 9, 2015

On Monday of this week, VOL obtained an exclusive report that the discipline of The Episcopal Church (and presumably the Anglican Church of Canada) will be the first item on the agenda when the Primates of the Anglican Communion meet in Canterbury in January.

If TEC and the ACoC are disciplined for their departure from the faith and do not leave the meeting, the Global South Primates will not be likely to stay, VOL has been told.

If they are disciplined, repent, and do the right thing and leave, the Global South archbishops will stay on, said the source.

A report by the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Canada, Fred Hiltz, that ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach had only been invited for one day before the formal meeting gets under way -- "as an opportunity for some conversation, in the ultimate hope that we might be able to find a way forward towards reconciliation," is simply inaccurate. Hiltz described this as "a good thing."

But VOL was told that this interpretation by Hiltz about what he thinks will transpire in Canterbury is simply not true and avoids the facts. Archbishop Beach will only come if the Global South archbishops come; they will only appear if Beach is invited and the issue of the North American departure from Scripture is the centerpiece of the discussion.

"The central issue of this meeting will be the theological innovations of The Episcopal Church and not climate change," VOL was told.

As soon as the story was posted, I got word that key players in Canterbury say that there will be no disciplinary action and "that is just not how Archbishop Justin Welby sees the Communion."

It may be that someone has said disciplinary action will be discussed, but that is not the same thing as committing to the principle of discipline. Welby will no doubt be happy for anything to be discussed, but we can sure he will do his utmost to prevent any sort of vote up or down on TEC and ACoC.

In short, this could be an elaborate "bait and switch" as it goes entirely against the policy Welby and his predecessors have followed so far.

*****

To heighten the tension in the Communion, the Provincial Synod of the Anglican Church of Kenyacondemned The Episcopal Church at its annual meeting, held at All Saints' Cathedral, and called for the exclusion of TEC from "all activities in the Communion as a measure of discipline."

Clearly with an eye to the Archbishop of Canterbury's call for all Primates to attend a special meeting in Canterbury in January to decide the future of the Anglican Communion, the Synod said it continues to disassociate with the Episcopal Church of America -- which has now officially sanctioned a liturgy for same sex marriages.

"The Anglican Church of Kenya supports the Global South and the arms of the Anglican Communion to exclude TEC from all activities in the Communion as a measure of discipline and recognizes ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach and calls for the exclusion of TEC from all activities in the Communion," the resolution said.

All this says that whatever charm Welby thinks he can muster to keep the Communion together, he can expect major pushback from the Global South primates.

We have still not heard from Nigerian Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, the biggest player in the Communion, as to whether he will attend or not, but we might have a clue in the recent elevation of 14 Reverends to Archdeacons and Canons in Nigeria.

"The acceptance of homosexuality by the Church of England and some Western dioceses of the Anglican Communion all 14 affirmed they were not members of any secret cult and declared that they had practiced neither homosexuality nor bi-sexuality nor had any plan to do so."

So if Welby tries to schmooze Archbishop Okoh next January in Canterbury, he will be in for a big surprise. It ain't gonna happen. Welby's reconciliation tactics won't work. This is the Anglican Communion, not an oil company and the lives and souls of millions are at stake.

*****

The shooting of nine people at a college in Oregon this week brought out the worst in the Episcopal Bishop of Oregon, one Michael Hanley. It was the most limp-wristed response ever by a sitting Episcopal Bishop over a mass shooting.

"Gun violence has intruded into too many places where people have always felt safe. As people of God we struggle with how to respond. We call for more vigilance, fewer guns, tighter controls, and all the other responses our hearts and our faith call us to. But, in the end, we find ourselves again faced with the blood of innocents. We know this will never end until our faith in the risen Christ has overthrown the voices of violence and fear that seemingly compel us to stock our lives with firearms.

"Let us respond with the transformative power of love and again dedicate our lives to ending all of these expressions of hatred and self-loathing. To the people of Roseburg, Umpqua Community College, and the community as a whole: Know that we are with you in your sorrow, loss and fear and offer healing prayers for your tomorrow [October 2] St. George's Episcopal Church in Roseburg has opened its doors as a place of prayer and healing for all the community."

That's the best the bishop could do? Really?

Overnight, CNN reported the Oregon shooter singled out Christians to murder. Yes, CHRISTIANS.

Liberal news outlets said not a word about the anti-Christian connection and neither did a liberal Episcopal bishop. This was a hate crime pure and simple and the bishop can't even say the words.

The shooter asked each person he killed if they were a Christian or not. When they said "yes," he said, "Good, because you're a Christian, you're going to see God in just about one second." Then he shot them dead.

What if he had said, "Are you a sodomite", or "are you a Muslim" and then said, "Good, because you're a sodomite or a Muslim in about one second you're going straight to hell."

Would the bishop have been so low-keyed in his response? Not likely. You would have heard screams and cries of homophobia and Islamophobia ringing from coast to coast. TEC's unofficial sodomite organization Integrity would have seen lesbian (the Rev.) Susan Russell with her bullhorn weighing in about America's increasing homophobia and blamed it on "institutional homophobia" or African Anglicans for not caving into their world view.

You can read my full story in today's digest.

*****

If you think that only the Episcopal Church can produce idiot bishops, think again.

The world's first Swedish lesbian Bishop has called for the Church to remove all its crosses and to install Muslim prayer space. The Bishop of Stockholm has proposed a church in her diocese remove all signs of the cross and put down markings showing the direction to Mecca for the benefit of Muslim worshipper

Eva Brunne, who was made the world's first openly lesbian bishop by the Church of Sweden in 2009, and has a young son with her wife and fellow lesbian priest Gunila Linden, made the suggestion to make those of other faiths more welcome.

The church targeted is the Seamen's Mission Church in Stockholm's eastern dockyards. The bishop held a meeting there this year and challenged the priest to explain what he'd do if a ship's crew came into port who weren't Christian, but wanted to pray.

Calling Muslim guests to the church "angels," the Bishop later took to her official blog to explain that removing Christian symbols from the church and preparing the building for Muslim prayer doesn't make a priest any less a defender of the faith. Rather, to do any less would make one "stingy towards people of other faiths."

The bishop insisted this wasn't an issue, after all airports and hospitals already have multi-faith prayer rooms, and converting the dockyard church would only bring it up to speed. Regardless, the announcement did arouse protest.

Next innovation includes gay priest marrying his dog by a transsexual bishop in a multi-racial church with the Dalai Lama offering up prayers of inclusion. Watch for it.

*****

The Diocese of Niagara announced this week that it will have a Justice Camp in Cuba. That's the Anglican equivalent of Saudi Arabia heading a UN human rights panel, locating a Justice Camp in one of the least just countries in the world outside of North Korea: Cuba. Perhaps the incentive was a promise of free cigars.

This was found at the Diocese's website (on page 10): The first-ever international Justice Camp will bring together a diverse group of Anglicans in Cuba from May 1-6, 2016, to explore the concept of the common good with an eye towards furthering God's justice and loving purposes.

It's a pity that the bishop couldn't use his vast "justice" skills in working with orthodox Anglicans in his diocese instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars suing for their properties when they disagreed with him over sodomy and gay marriage.

*****

The Anglican Church of Nigeria elevated 14 Reverends to Archdeacons and Canons at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Ikeja, in Lagos, during the 2015 Institution of Canons and Collation of Archdeacons Ceremony of the Diocese of Lagos West.

The clergymen, four of whom were collated as Archdeacons and 10 instituted as Canons, were installed by The Rt. Revd. James Olusola Odedeji, the Bishop, Diocese of Lagos West.

You have to understand that when a Nigerian cleric is elevated or made a deacon, priest, archdeacon, or bishop, that a part from the Submission to Synod of the Oath of Canonical Obedience and Oath of Allegiance to God, a key part of the declarations, involves affirmations concerning human sexuality and occultism.

The acceptance of homosexuality by the Church of England and some Western dioceses of the Anglican Communion nonetheless, all 14 affirmed they were not members of any secret cult and declared that they had neither practiced homosexuality or bi-sexuality nor had any plan to do so.

*****
So what's wrong with Presiding Bishop-elect Michael Curry's understanding of Evangelism?

In an interview with the Charlotte Observer, Episcopal Presiding Bishop-elect Michael Curry offered up his agenda on how he plans to run the Episcopal Church after Jefferts Schori steps down.

He offered up his definition of evangelism. It is: [He plans] to promote a form of evangelism that calls on members to listen to others' faith stories and then share their own.

Such evangelism, Curry said, isn't about converting people -- "that's God's job, not ours" -- but is about helping them "find their way to God."

He also wants to stress the love of Jesus, foster social justice, work for reconciliation -- racial and otherwise -- and preside over a church that's open to all, including both supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage.

Sharing stories is fine, but that is not evangelism. No one will dispute hearing how people come to faith in Christ, if that indeed is what the Presiding Bishop-elect means, is a good thing. Testimonies of faith, "once I was blind but now I see" and similar stories are indeed welcome.

But Curry has stated he has a different understanding of evangelism.

Winning people for Christ is at the heart of the gospel. Evangelism might be a dirty word to some people. In some quarters, it is clearly an embarrassing word especially for liberals and revisionists who prefer words like "inclusivity,""diversity," and interfaithery.

The truth is evangelism is the good word about Jesus. It is about proclaiming the Good News about Jesus, his life, death, and resurrection straight at the heart of its cultured despisers. It is telling people, graciously, that they are lost without Jesus. It is saying the hard word that we are all sinners, not merely by our acts, but we are born in sin - it is in our genes and DNA, and only through Christ's shed blood can we be released from the penalty of sin and made right with a loving God.

You can read my full take on this in today's digest.

*****

The Anglican Church in Sydney fears Christian photographers, bakers, and florists could be forced against their will to participate in gay marriage celebrations should such unions be legalized in Australia.

Ahead of the synod of the diocese next month, a report by one of the church's senior clergy says individual ministers should be able to choose to opt out of acting as marriage celebrants altogether if same-sex nuptials are legalized.

The Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth, has recommended those who believe participation in a revised Marriage Act make them "unacceptably complicit with the change and the ideology" could cease their legal role in marriages if they wish.

"That question is, in the end, a matter for the individual conscience of each minister in consultation with their parish," he wrote.

This is already a problem in the US and will likely get worse. While churches are not being forced to marry gay couples, bakers that won't bake a queer cake can be sued, fined, and put out of business.

*****

Victims outraged at sentence for sex abuse Bishop in UK. Campaigners have called for church leaders, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to "hang their heads in shame" after the former Bishop of Lewes was poised to spend less than a month in prison for each of his victims.

The 32 month sentence handed down by a judge to Peter Ball was branded "a failure to do justice" as the 83-year-old is expected to serve half of that.

Ball was sentenced for two individual counts of indecent assaults, and one count of misconduct in a public office which encompassed acts of "debasement" perpetrated on sixteen young men who had come to his home seeking spiritual enlightenment.

After the sentencing a former Archbishop of Canterbury was forced to deny that his involvement in the case in the 1990s amounted to a "cover-up".

Victims are threatening to sue the church for over a quarter of a million pounds over the case, which was first brought to light in 1992.

The current Archbishop of Canterbury has opened an internal investigation into the Church's handling of the case.

*****

The Bishop of London Richard Chartres says we in a post denominational phase and the only division that matters is whether a church is dead or alive.

Chartres was delivering a Lambeth lecture entitled "London's Burning" focusing on the growth of the Church in the Diocese of London.

He said the Church must be "vision-led, not problem-led" in the "post-denominational phase" we are now entering, seeking "street-level cooperation" between the Anglican Church and the wider Church body.

The key to growth, according to Chartres, is whether a church is dead or alive, not whether it is Anglican or not.

He said we must refuse "to see the many divisions in Church life, between High Church and Low Church between Catholic and Protestant tradition. There is only one division that truly matters in a diocese like ours, and that is the division between dead church and live church.

"And that can embrace almost any expression of Christian faith." Strong ecclesial identity is something of history, according to Chartres.

Of course the evangelicals in his diocese are the ones who have led growth in the Diocese of London, not the broad church or Anglo-Catholics. The ALPHA driven parish of Holy Trinity Brompton has seen phenomenal growth over the years and sees no signs of things abating.

*****

If you think the Church of England is up against the ropes with little chance of its long term survival, consider this piece of welcome news.

Over 450 clergy and lay leaders came together for what is believed to be one of the largest gatherings of conservative Anglican evangelicals in recent years. The 2015 ReNew Conferencewas held at Chesford Grange in Warwickshire.

The centrepiece of "ReNew 2015" was the rallying together of conservative evangelicals through the chairmanship of Rev. William Taylor who provided a stirring Chairman's Address outlining the history, necessity, and strategy of ReNew as he called for churches to work "shoulder to shoulder" for the evangelization of England.

One of the highlights of ReNew was the presence and video message of Revd Rod Thomas, Bishop-designate of Maidstone, who promised to uphold the cause of Anglicans who held to a complementarian position on the issue of women in leadership. Bishop Rod noted the situation of evangelicals as "feeling rather on the back foot in the Church of England and being aghast at some of the changes that are taking place. By having a place in the episcopacy we can make sure that our voice is heard," he said. "Time will tell whether it can be done," he added. "We believe very firmly in the confessional basis of the Church of England," he emphatically stated. He went on to discuss how churches could opt into his oversight.

The delegates rejoiced at the good news of churches that had been planted or revitalised across England, and healthy churches that were being established in different contexts and communities. However, there was also the sad news of clergy who were facing obstacles and impediments placed before them, sometimes by bishops and archdeacons. In one case a cleric talked of how he had applied for 36 incumbencies and had never been appointed, sometimes explicitly told because he held to a complementarian understanding of ministry.

You can read the full story in today's digest.

*****

I am on the eve of leaving for the city of Carthage in Tunisia, North Africa. I will be there to cover the SIXTH TRUMPET, the Global South to South Encounter where Anglican archbishops and bishops will engage challenges facing the future.

Among the speakers will be Archbishops Mouneer Anis (hosting the event), Ian Ernest, Tito Zavala, Eliud Wabukala, Onesphore Rwaje, Daniel Deng Bul, and a number of lay theologians and thinkers including Ashley Null, Michael Glerup, and noted sociologist Os Guinness.

Please consider a donation to help make this possible. VOL depends on its readers to keep us afloat. VOL has no corporate backers. We depend solely on you our readers to keep us afloat. Less than one per cent of you make a donation. Why? I have a small staff to pay along with web and communications bills. Yet the attraction of getting a "free service" seems overwhelming. Thousands go daily to www.virtueonline.org It is my responsibility to change that. We must have new donors to keep us going. If you have not contributed in the last year or so, please jump in and do so.

You can send a tax-deductible check to:

VIRTUEONLINE
570 Twin Lakes Rd
P.O. Box 111
Shohola, PA 18458

Or you can make a contribution through VOL's PAYPAL link here: http://www.virtueonline.org/support-vol/

Thank you for your support.

In Christ,

David

BREAKING NEWS. My trip to Tunisia has just been cancelled. An outbreak of violence this morning forced the Tunisian Government to cancel the Global South meeting.

Held in high honor. Even in other religions and ideologies Jesus is held in high honour. Hindus would gladly recognize him as an 'avatar' (descent) of Vishnu, and so assimilate him into Hinduism, if only he would renounce his exclusive claims. Jews who reject Jesus as their Messiah have never lost interest in him. Their scholars write books about him, and their hostility has often been more to Gentile anti-Semitism than to Jesus himself. Muslims acknowledge him as one of the great prophets, whose virgin birth, sinlessness, miracles, inspiration and future return are all affirmed in the Qur'an. Marxists, while fiercely critical of 'religion' as an opium which drugs the oppressed into tolerating the injustices of the *status quo*, nevertheless respect Jesus for his confrontation with the Establishment and his compassionate solidarity with the poor. --- John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
October 16, 2015

It was a revelatory week in the life of The Episcopal Church this past week. Latest figures reveal a Church in serious decline with little evidence that the situation can be reversed any time soon. If ever.

When the 2014 stats came out, it was no surprise that The Episcopal Church had again lost membership across the board. However, the newest released figures show that there is a dip in most church growth indicators -- total membership, ASA, congregations, baptisms, communicants, faith formation pupils, confirmations, and receptions from other Christian denominations. There is a slight uptick in marriages and an increase in funerals.

For the first time in 75 years, The Episcopal Church's total membership dipped below the two million member mark. TEC's just-released official 2014 stats show worldwide church membership standing at 1,956,042. The last time Episcopal Church membership was below two million was in 1939 when there were 1,996,434 Episcopalians.

At the close of World War II, the Episcopal Church had a high water mark of 7,894 congregations; following the war, with the glut of baby boomers, The Episcopal Church grew and climbed over the three million mark in 1958 with 3,126,662 members. TEC's membership peaked in 1966 with a 3,429,153 baptized souls.

From 1967 until 2003, when gay Bishop Vicky Gene Robinson (IX New Hampshire) burst upon the scene, the Episcopal Church's membership ebbed and flowed -- up one year and down another. Once Bishop Robinson joined the House of Bishops, TEC's worldwide membership has steadily declined from 2,419,562 (2003) to 1,956,042 (2014), a loss of 463,520 souls in just a little more than a decade.

The 100 domestic dioceses of the Episcopal Church first dropped below two million members in 2010 when a 1,951,907 domestic membership figure was reported. You can read the full report in two stories in today's digest; one by Mary Ann Mueller and another by Jeff Walton of IRD. Taken together, they present a full report on the state of the church today.

The 2014 Table of Statistics is viewable here: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/files/2014_table_of_statistics_english.pdf

The 2013 Table of Statistics is viewable here: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/files/2013_table_of_statistics_0.pdf

Even the few remaining orthodox dioceses, and they are fewer by the year, are hemorrhaging members.

The evangelical catholic Diocese of Albany, under the Rt. Rev. Bill Love, saw a decline in membership. The 2013 membership stood at 15,750 with an Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) of 6,277. In 2014, membership was 15,232 with an ASA of 6,143. Total membership was down 518 (-3.3%) and attendance was down 134 (-2.1%). That's the equivalent of one decent sized parish or two small parishes.

The Anglo-Catholic Diocese of Springfield, under Bishop Daniel Martins, saw a decline in membership. In 2013, it was 4,466 with an ASA of 1,620! In 2014, membership dropped to 4,242 with an ASA of 1,574. Overall membership was down 224 or (-5%) and attendance was down 46 (-2.8%). Springfield is definitely hurting -- a 5 percent membership drop in a single year is an enormous loss. The average Sunday attendance at The Falls Church (Anglican), Virginia is now larger than the entire diocese of Springfield.

The evangelical diocese of Central Florida in 2013 had a membership of 28,917 with an ASA of 13,318. In 2014, membership had dropped to 28,386 and ASA had dropped to 13,085. Overall, membership was down 531 (-1.8%) and ASA was down 233 (-1.8%).

Albany's rate of decline is better than the national church's. Central Florida can absorb these losses quite easily, but Albany and Springfield cannot.

*****

Episcopal participation in Gay Pride parades is not new. Episcopal bishops from New York to San Francisco have been regular habitues at such events, praising, and supporting the LGBTQ community in all its pretentious colorful array and full precocious public acclamation of pansexuality.

However, until now we have not seen a bishop so overtly supportive of such events featuring bizarrely dressed men and women as we have when the Rt. Rev. Robert C. Wright, Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta, participated in a Gay Pride parade IN THE PRESENCE OF CHILDREN.

This is not merely the support of a lifestyle condemned by Scripture, the Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Churches, the Southern Baptist Convention, numerous evangelical churches, 2000 years of church history, reason, and revelation. The gay lifestyle is now being eulogized and proclaimed as good and right in the eyes of God--because a revisionist Episcopal bishop says so.

This behavior comes from a diocese that proudly hosts regular Safeguarding our Children programs on child sexual abuse awareness. A blurb on the diocesan website says the program provides participants with information they need to protect the children they know and care for in their personal lives and in their ministries.

You can read the full story here http://tinyurl.com/q7xy77p or in today's digest.

*****

Meeting in Cairo this week are the Global South (GAFCON) Primates and ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach. There they will be joined by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who will fly in from the US to meet with these orthodox Anglicans. They are there to discuss Welby's Invitation to meet in January in Canterbury with all 38 Primates.

An Anglican TV network said it is a secret meeting. It is not. This was on the cards even before the Global South meeting in Tunisia was cancelled. Archbishop Beach was there to preach in the cathedral and to have private talks with Middle East Archbishop Mouneer Anis.

The GAFCON primates attended at the public invitation of Middle East Archbishop Mouneer Anis.

This will be a Kairos moment for Welby in Cairo. He will be quizzed on whether the aim of the meeting in January is to focus on issues like global warming or whether the faith can be maintained in a Communion torn "by heresies distressed."

A communique is expected following the meeting in Cairo. Watch for it.

*****

Virginia Theological Seminary drew more than 1,000 to the reopening of Virginia Theological Seminary's Immanuel chapel which was destroyed by fire in 2010 and rebuilt in 2015. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was present for the occasion and said in his sermon, "Is it possible? Can such an event ever be seen to the glory of God? Why yes, because in death and resurrection we are drawn back into the presence of the living God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead."

Welby warned during his sermon that church buildings can be both blessings and burdens: "Sometimes they are the servants of the church," he said, and sometimes they are the church's tyrant with their "demands and instructions."

Church buildings are only brick and mortar but, buildings such as the new Immanuel Chapel's "astonishing and wonderful and beautiful space" welcome pilgrims and give them a sense of "exultation and beauty."

People drawn together to worship come with untidy hearts filled with joy, sorrow, worry, undiscerned callings and shame of sin, and emerge transformed and reoriented towards service, he said. "Holiness is not neat and clean, abiding by rules," he said. "It is fire and flame, consuming the dark and the dirt. It is beauty and fear, causing us to fall on our faces, appalled by our sin, drawn by its radiant light and healing heat. But holiness is never tidy."

And, while worship can transform and reorient participants, it should never seek to make people conformists, he said. "Let this never be a place that seeks to tidy people up," Welby said.

The archbishop called for the chapel to "orientate and shape those who will carry the torch of unity." Saying his heart breaks when he contemplates the divisions in the world, Welby prayed, "O God, we needed a united church."

Welby also cited the Anglican Communion's divisions, "in which I am personally, deeply implicated." He called on the congregation to "recognize, contemplate and mourn" the fact that "we too turn from God and lose sight of God's mission."

The church must be built on the rock of obedience to Jesus' word, the archbishop said.

It should be noted that this is a moderately orthodox seminary, but not enough to attract African Anglican seminarians. Global South African leaders will not allow their people to study there. There are known homosexual and lesbians on the staff. President Ian Markham says that sexuality is a "second order issue."

*****

The Underground Pewster reports this from Philadelphia.

All Saints Episcopal Church in Torresdale, near Philadelphia, PA is right across the street from Saint Katherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church and Elementary School This past week, the Episcopal parish posted the above announcement on their roadside message board.

"The 'in Your Face' sign right in front of the neighboring Roman Catholic Church and School is an insult to Roman Catholics.

"This is not what I would call being a good neighbor. For one thing it has not been the church's habit to display wedding congratulations for their heterosexual members. It is clearly an attempt to say, "Hey look at us!" It also sends a message to children being ferried to and from the R.C. elementary school across the street that the R.C.'s teachings on same-sex marriage should be questioned," writes the Pewster.

Never mind the fact that this parish has lost 38% of its Sunday pewsitters over the past 10 years.

One reason might be that their social activism includes distributing 1,000 packets of information on The Episcopal Church at the Philadelphia Outfest this Sunday.

*****

There are two Newark, New Jersey's with two very different religions posing as Christian. One is the Episcopal Diocese of Newark which has a third of its priests living in openly homogenital relationships. It is the home of layman Dr. Louie Crew and his male partner, founder of Integrity organization and pusher of all things pansexual at numerous general conventions. It is also a diocese that is losing market share and not attracting new converts. In 2014 its ASA was 8,260. In 2012 it was 8,630. Go figure.

Then there is the Roman Catholic story of Newark and its Archbishop John Myers who recently released new guidelines for priests on banning Catholics who support gay marriage from communion and whose marriage is not valid in the eyes of the church.

In a two-page memo, he set out the following. Catholics, "especially ministers and others who represent the Church, should not participate in or be present at religious events or events intended to endorse or support those who reject or ignore Church teaching and Canon Law."

The guidelines could also up the ante for the coming election season when Catholic candidates who support abortion rights or gay rights are sometimes challenged by conservatives over whether they should receive Communion.

A spokesman for Myers said in an email on Tuesday (Oct. 13) that the archbishop saw this as an opportune moment to set out the guidelines for priests in the northern New Jersey archdiocese.

The memo is titled "Principles to Aid in Preserving and Protecting the Catholic Faith in the Midst of an Increasingly Secular Culture." Guess which version of the Faith is growing and which one is dying.

*****

United Methodist and Episcopalian Church Clergy led a prayer rally to "bless" an abortion clinic in Ohio. The Rev. Laura Young says she believes pro-life protesters in front of Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities have "misguided faith." In fact, she thinks these clinics should be blessed, which is why she went out to an abortion facility called Preterm on October 8th in Cleveland. In 2014, Preterm was involved in the abortion-related death of Lakisha Wilson.

Young explained her acceptance of abortion like this: "Christianity, like most faiths, is founded on love. Watching protesters shouting judgment and hate based on what they call religion is horrible. Is that loving God? Is that loving your neighbor as yourself?"

You will see the full story in today's digest but the photo (at the website) includes Tracey Lind, dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, in Cleveland. She is not a bishop. She cried out, "Bless this building. May its walls stand strong against the onslaught of shame thrown at it. May it be a beacon of hope for those who need its services."

Lind is also a partnered lesbian and has been for years, so it is no surprise she is one of the shepherds leading the Episcopal Church away from Christianity.

The Rev. Dr. Robert Munday writes, "One could write a whole essay on why lesbians, such as Tracey Lind, Katherine Ragsdale (former dean of Episcopal Divinity School) and Susan Russell (former head of Integrity) for whom, theoretically, abortion should never be a need, are so adamant in their advocacy of it. For the moment, I will only speculate that once someone defies God's law in one aspect of sexuality and reproduction, one feels sympathy and support for those who defy God's law in other aspects of those same areas--misguidedly viewing rebellion against God as 'freedom.'"

The blessing event outside the Preterm abortion clinic was arranged by Rev. Laura Young, a United Methodist minister who is executive director of RCRC's Ohio chapter, reports the Columbus Dispatch. Young calls herself a "progressive theological thinker and a feminist," and says her goals include urging more clergy members to advocate for organizations that provide abortions and contraception.

At the abortion clinic, clergy members held up signs that read, "Pro-Faith, Pro-Family, Pro-Choice."

*****

Forward in Faith UK bishops of Beverley and Fulham were elected to the General Synod, recently. The Bishop of Beverley, the Rt. Rev. Glyn Webster, and the Bishop of Fulham, the R. Rev. Jonathan Baker were elected by the suffragan bishops of the Provinces of York and Canterbury respectively. Bishop Glyn topped the poll in the Northern Province.

*****

The Anglican Diocese of Sydney defended traditional marriage at their Synod this week. Canon Sandy Grant moved, and Mrs. Tara Sing seconded, the motion "Affirmation of marriage as between a man and a woman."

Mrs. Sing stated, "As we approach this discussion, I want to recognize that this is a deeply personal issue. Our world has intertwined sexuality and identity, so as we discuss LGBTI issues, we need to keep in mind that at the heart of these issues are two core questions, who am I, and am I worthy of love?

"As Christians, in light of the gospel, we can answer these questions. We are all people lovingly created by God to live in the world he has designed. And because of who we are, the second question then changes from 'am I worthy of love' to 'how do I live, and how do I love, knowing who I am?' It is to Jesus we must always turn, because at the cross we find fully the answers to these questions. Through his glorious death and resurrection, we see all things in their rightful place, including sexuality. We see sexuality in its true context, as an expression of our relationship to Christ and our dependency on him.

"But we have not always communicated this well and so we need to resolve to address this discussion with sensitivity and grace, grounded in the gospel. The solution is not to shy away from speaking up, or to stray from the integrity of the gospel. As pressure mounts to turn from God's word, we must cling to the cross as we engage with the world.

"We must never condone violence against or mistreatment of those who identify as gay or lesbian, but must always act in love towards them.

"We must always share God's word with them, therefore we need to call on all Australian Christians to engage respectfully in the debate over marriage and to pray for the members of the Federal Parliament in their consideration of this matter. If we do not, what will our silence say?

"In a world where definitions are fluid, we need to affirm the biblical definition of marriage that marriage is, as a gift from God who made us male and female, is the Union of a man and woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

"And we need to affirm this in both our churches and our communities. One way we can do this is to urge the Federal Parliament to uphold the classical understanding of marriage as being between a man and a woman, in accordance with current provisions of the Marriage Act of 1961.

The world is at odds with God. The preaching and teaching of God's word may and has caused offence in the past. So we must always aim to conduct ourselves in a way that shows grace and compassion to all. But if and when people are offended, may it be only because of the message we preach and not the manner in which we speak it. Because when we don't speak out of fear of causing offence, what are we really saying to the world about God and the integrity of his word?"

*****

At the Synod in Rome there are tumult and public clashes between traditionalist orthodox Catholics and progressive/liberal Catholics over homosexuality and more. Many commentators are saying it as the worst they have ever seen. Many blame Pope Francis.

One video I watched seemed to bear that out when a Vatican spokesman said that issues like homosexuality must be decided in a "local" context and not by a Vatican theologian or the Magisterium. Naturally it was a Western cleric who said this. But if this happens, then all bets are off that the Church can maintain a unified stance on sexuality and each archbishop, cardinal, and bishop can decide how they choose to engage the hot button issue. If this turns out to be the case, it will put "local option" -- an idea right out of the playbook of The Episcopal Church -- on center stage.

But the West won't easily get away with this. Read what one Global South cardinal had to say:

The headline screamed: African Cardinal says liberals and Islamists are 'Beasts of Apocalypse'

A top African cardinal described the threat posed by Islamic extremism and western liberal culture as the twin "Beasts of the Apocalypse" comparable to Nazism and communism.

In an intervention at an ongoing synod of bishops on the future of Catholic teaching on the family, Guinean cardinal Robert Sarah reportedly described Islamist militants and western thinking on abortion and homosexuality as sharing "the same demonic origin".

"Theological discernment allows to see in our times two unexpected threats -- almost like the Beasts of the Apocalypse -- from two opposite positions: on one side the idolatry of western freedom, on the other religious fanaticism," said the cardinal, who is one of the leaders of the Church's conservative wing.

"What Nazism-fascism and communism were to the 20th century, western ideologies on homosexuality and abortion and Islamic fanaticism are to today," the cardinal said in comments made last week in the closed-doors synod and published Tuesday by several Italian media outlets.

Sarah reportedly said the secular western world's way of thinking threatened to destroy the family through "quickie divorces, abortion, homosexual unions: look at gender theory, Femen (a feminist group known for topless protests), the LBGT lobby.

"On the other side, there is the pseudo-family of an ideological Islam which legitimizes polygamy, sexual slavery, child marriage: look at Al-Qaeda, IS, Boko Haram.

"Certain keys allow us to discern the same demonic origin of these two movements: they both advocate a universal and totalitarian law, they're both violently intolerant, destroyers of families and the Church, and openly anti-Christian."

I remember a similar exchange at Lambeth 2008 when an attempt was made by an African bishop to cast out the demon of homosexuality from a Western gay man.

Now we are watching as the Anglican Communion looks like it might dissolve before our very eyes over unrepentant homosexuality in the next few months. Will the RCC be able to hold out against this pansexual onslaught?

*****

Historic village churches across England could be closed down except on holy days such as Christmas and Easter under radical plans being considered by the Church of England to cope with decline.

A major report on the future of the 16,000 Anglican places of worship in England acknowledges that parts of the centuries-old parish system may soon no longer be "sustainable" as existing congregations age and overall numbers dwindle.

It discloses that one in four rural parishes -- or about 2,000 churches -- now have fewer than 10 regular worshippers and half would be unable to muster even 20 on a Sunday.

At the same time, parishes collectively spend about £160 million a year on maintaining their buildings, which include almost half of all the grade one listed buildings in the country.
Rural churches have been hit not only by a general decline in religious observation but long-standing population shifts leaving some once-thriving parishes effectively marooned in the midst of fields.

A committee of senior clerics and laity is recommending a change in ecclesiastical law to allow some with dwindling congregations to be designated as "festival churches," a new category of parish used only for important celebrations or occasional weddings and funerals.

The idea, already piloted in a handful of dioceses, offers an alternative to the current choice between maintaining a church with almost no congregation and closing it completely.

The group's Social Attitudes survey found that 40 percent of the British population identified as Anglicans in 1983, but that number is down to only 17 percent in 2014. Presently only 8.5 million Britons identify as Anglicans, the survey said.

People of no religious faith now make up close to half of the population in Britain, or 49 percent, which is up from their 31 percent count in 1983.

With the steady rise of immigration, the rise of non-Christian faiths has also been well documented, with Islam making up close to 5 percent of all Britons in 2014, up from 0.5 percent in 1983.

*****

A 17th-century work in progress: Earliest draft of the King James Bible has been discovered. The notebook pages were scribbled somewhere between 1604 and 1608, the deadline year for six teams of collaborative translators tasked with translated the King James Bible, which was first published in 1611. The New York Times reports on the discovery and what it illuminates about the creation of the King James:

David Norton, an emeritus professor at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and the author of several books about the King James Bible, called it "a major discovery" -- if not quite equal to finding a draft of one of Shakespeare's plays, "getting on up there."

The discovery brings to four the number of known drafts:

While some records of the committee that supervised the overall translation survive, only three manuscripts of the text itself have been known to exist until now. The Bodleian Library at Oxford owns nearly complete drafts of the Old Testament and the Gospels, in the form of corrected pages of the Bishops' Bible, a 16th-century translation that the King James teams used as a base text. Lambeth Palace Library in London has a partial draft of the New Testament epistles.

Jeffrey Alan Miller, an assistant professor of English at New Jersey's Montclair State University, was in Cambridge researching Samuel Ward, one of the King James translators and a master of Sidney Sussex School there, when he found the draft.

The notebook had been cataloged in the 1980s as a "verse-by-verse biblical commentary" with "Greek word studies, and some Hebrew notes." But as Professor Miller tried to puzzle out which passages of the Bible it concerned, he realized what it was: a draft of parts of the King James Version of the Apocrypha, a disputed section of the Bible that is left out of many editions, particularly in the United States.

*****

It's Official: Terrorists Are Now the Persecuted Church's Greatest Threat. Secretary of State John Kerry released the latest religious freedom report. During the past two years, reports of terrorist attacks against Christians have steadily emerged from the Muslim world: 7 Egyptian Christians executed on a Benghazi beach, 165 Christian girls kidnapped from school by Boko Haram, and 21 Coptic Christians beheaded near the Mediterranean Sea, among other incidents.

The US State Department's latest International Religious Freedom (IRF) report, released Wednesday, confirms that the biggest threat to minority Christian communities and other religious minorities worldwide is now the "new phenomenon" of non-state terrorism, particularly in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia.

"[N]on-state actors, including rebel and terrorist organizations, ... committed by far some of the most egregious human rights abuses and caused significant damage to the global status of respect for religious freedom," according to the 2014 IRF report. This echoes the concerns of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which identified non-state actors as a "major challenge to freedom of religion or belief" in its 2015 report earlier this year.

You can read the full story here: http://tinyurl.com/q36pva4

*****

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"I think the one thing missing from the [Roman Catholic] Synod is a prophetic voice-- a prophetic voice where we just call the sin a sin like John the Baptist. But this is a pastoral synod, so we're talking in terms of pastoral, like what can we do and this and that. But then he came back to his prophetic point again and said, 'But I don't think pastoral is the best way to be prophetic.'' --- Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of South Africa

"God's full revelation. We have much more to learn, but God has no more to reveal than he has revealed in Jesus Christ." --- John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
October 23, 2015

Will it be the last tango in Canterbury for the Anglican Communion next January? Issues that have divided the Anglican Communion have persisted for nearly three decades, and the Archbishop of Canterbury does not want to leave a divided Communion to his successor.

In Cairo this past week, some 13 GAFCON archbishops heeded Archbishop Justin Welby's call to attend next year. However, they made it quite clear that ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach will come as a fully recognized Anglican archbishop and the ACNA should be acknowledged as a full partner province of the Anglican Communion.

In Cairo, Welby was greeted warmly by the orthodox wing of the Communion, but he made no comment on the actions of the GAFCON archbishops. Archbishop Foley Beach told VOL that he was warmly greeted by Welby without the ABC giving any signals that he would now or in the foreseeable future recognize the ACNA as a full partner province or Beach as a full partner archbishop recognized by the Anglican Communion.

In that event, such a decision would have to go through the Anglican Communion Office and into the hands of its General Secretary, Josiah Fearon. It is by no means certain that that would support such a decision since the ACO's biggest paymaster is the American Episcopal Church. Josiah Fearon would never bite the hands that feed him. Both TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada are decidedly opposed to any form of recognition by Canterbury. Notably absent from the primates' meeting in Cairo was Nigerian Archbishop Nicholas Okoh. That speaks volumes.

You can read a number of stories on this game-changing event in today's digest.

*****

Conservative evangelicals in the Church of England had every reason to rejoice this week when they celebrated the election of the three leaders of the "living out" community to the General Synod of the Church of England.

Here's why. Dr. Sean Doherty, who lectures in Christian ethics at the evangelical St. Mellitus College in London, topped the clergy poll in the London diocese. Also elected were Rev. Sam Allbery, Associate Minister of St. Mary's Church, Maidenhead and the author of Is God Anti-Gay?, and Ed Shaw, Associate pastor at Emmanuel Bristol.

All three experience same-sex attraction but live out a lifestyle in which they consciously "help Christian brothers and sisters who experience same-sex attraction stay faithful to biblical teaching on sexual ethics and flourish at the same time."

What a smack in the face for the Rev. Colin Coward and Changing Attitude, the openly gay CofE organization that has been trying for more than a decade to change the church's teaching on sexuality and get a bishop or two to either roll over or come out of the closet. No bishops have done either, leaving CA (which is a clone of Integrity, the unofficial pansexual American Episcopal organization), whistling Dixie.

This is also a wake-up call to Archbishop Justin Welby, who has waffled on the issue (and now won't even talk about it). Well, now he has not one but THREE same-sex attracted but faithful gay men on Synod who not only obey the teaching of Scripture by not acting out same-sex attraction but have actually married women and now have families! What a blow to sodomy that is. You can read the full story in today's digest.

*****

There's an interesting interview with the incoming Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry by someone called Hazliansyah at https://treeangle.co.id/ The Episcopal Church's First Black Head -- and Its 'Tortuous' Path Toward Integration. Of course, the article focuses mostly on race, Curry being black and all. But here's an interesting tidbit buried in the story:

"His mother, who grew up Baptist, switched to the Episcopal Church after she read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. His father, who was a licensed Baptist pastor and came from a line of Baptist preachers, followed her."

So this begs the question as to why Curry doesn't agree with Lewis on such hot button issues as sexuality. It was Lewis who famously wrote in his book Christian Behaviour, "Either sex between a man and a woman in marriage or total abstinence." Must have slipped by the new incoming boss of TEC.

*****

Global South Archbishops beware. Church of England Bishop Graham Kings is coming your way with reconciliation talk in the air aimed at your theologians. The bishop is starting his global quest to heal the rifts in the Anglican Communion at the request of the Archbishop of Canterbury as the ABC's Mission Theologian. His task? Reach out to the church's Global South and talk up the necessity to stay in the Communion with endless talk of reconciliation.

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Graham Kings was formally installed as the first ever Mission Theologian for the Anglican Communion on a rainy Sunday last month, shortly before the Archbishop of Canterbury summoned the leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion for crisis talks. A poignant if low-key ceremony took place at Canterbury Cathedral.

The subtext is that Kings's role might help to heal gaping rifts in the Communion, so long as they can all agree that sodomy is right, not wrong or something we can all live with if we keep talking endlessly about reconciliation. Of course, his job could be moot after January if the whole Communion happens to blow up if fabled reconciliation talks fail. Archbishop Welby is pulling out all the stops with theologians, reconcilers, Indaba procurers, facilitators, the ACO office heavies and anybody else he can find to keep the Communion together.

*****

A couple of interesting news items from two of The Episcopal Church's most conservative seminaries-- Nashotah House and Trinity School for Ministry.

A strong but unseasonably warm breeze gusts through the Nashotah House Cemetery one morning in late October. Apparently the House has its very own ghost.

The leaves shiver in the wind. A shadow dressed in a black cassock wanders slowly, eternally, through the gravestones, his head bent toward the inscriptions marking each plot. He appears to be reading all the names and epigraphs on the headstones, or perhaps searching for one that isn't there: his own.

The wind stirs again. The leaves, some just beginning to explode with the colors of autumn, quiver. The shadow disappears.

Around the seminary this apparition is not an anomaly. He has a name and a history, and people have been talking about him for more than 100 years.

The ghost is called the Black Monk. According to legend, Daniel Pope was a priest who was murdered by his wife in 1852 to accommodate an affair she was having with another man. Pope was hanged by his wife, but the death was ruled a suicide--a repugnant sin--so Pope's body was not allowed to be buried in the consecrated grounds of the cemetery at Our Lady of Spring Bank Cistercian, where he served.

Nashotah House was nearby, but Pope was not allowed to be buried in hallowed ground there, either. His tombstone stands to this day but is isolated from the other graves at the seminary.

On her deathbed, the legend goes, Pope's wife confessed to her crime. The priests, horrified at their mistake, exhumed Pope's grave, but they found his casket empty. Now, 163 years later, Pope's ghost is said to appear every Halloween and wander the cemetery in search of what should have been his final resting place.

Newspaper articles dating back to 1902 detail various ghost sightings and supernatural experiences. One story claims that spirits were fluttering about the seminary's halls in 1876 on the day one of the school's founders, James Lloyd Breck, was buried.

Other more recent accounts related the stories of a seminarian's daughter who saw a ghost walking toward her in a hallway in 1983 and who twice saw the shadow of a person who wasn't really there. Tales from 1990 describe apparitions wandering past students strolling through campus. The ghosts passed through them, the students said, as if they were composed of nothing but air.

Rocco Medina, the Nashotah House maintenance director, said that the school property looks creepiest at night, when some areas of the campus are engulfed in darkness.

The feelings of dread even extend below ground, where a network of tunnels, cramped and dust-ridden, connects various campus buildings.

"You wouldn't want to get stuck down here," Medina said during a recent tour. Then, as if to emphasize his point, he turned off a light inside the tunnel and plunged the corridor back into darkness.

There's different but perhaps more upbeat news from TSM in Ambridge, PA. While nearly all of TEC's seminaries are suffering from low intake of qualified students, financial problems, and bad theology, TSM is on a roll.

The Rev. Dr. Justyn Terry, Dean and President, reports that TSM has 41 new students beginning their studies on campus, the largest class in over 10 years, representing 19 states or countries. This growth is due in part to an increase in available scholarship funds, allowing the institution to offer more scholarships to more qualified students.

"We have also grown in what we have to offer the Church," writes Terry. "This year we began Spanish speaking Anglican and Episcopal congregations. 2015 also saw the start of our Master of Divinity Presbyterian track as we partner with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church."

*****

New Zealand Anglicans and Methodists eye closer ties, say reports out of Aotearoa. Methodist Minister Bob Sidal, his wife Lay Minister Morven Sidal, and acting Anglican Archdeacon of South Canterbury Reverend Jill Maslin all agree that working closer is beneficial.

The Anglican and Methodist churches are in talks, which could bring them closer than ever.

The two were working on equal recognition of each other's ordained clergy and had discussed their relationship at an annual meeting between the two churches in Auckland in September.

John Wesley founded Methodism with parishioners from the Anglican Church in the 18th century.

Malcolm Muggeridge once wrote that ecumenism of this sort is like two drunks walking down Oxford Circus each holding desperately on to the other to stay up. If one falls, they both go down together . . .

*****

More pedophile clergy who managed to conceal their crimes for decades are being exposed for crimes they committed.

The worst and most prominent this week was the exposure of Bishop George Bell.

The Church has acknowledged that this man who was revered as a peacemaker--and granted the closest thing Anglicanism has to a saint's day--was a pedophile. He was once touted to be an ideal Archbishop of Canterbury by former Archbishop Rowan Williams.

Bell, who was bishop of Chichester for 30 years until his death in 1958, sexually assaulted a child who is still alive in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

The Church of England issued an apology to the surviving victim, who wished to remain anonymous and has asked even for their gender not to be disclosed. A legal claim for compensation was also settled.

The victim first came forward in 1995, but the complaint was effectively ignored by the then Bishop of Chichester, Eric Kemp, who died in 2009.

It was not until the victim contacted the office of the current Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, two years ago that the allegations were finally investigated properly.

Bell is the second bishop from the Diocese of Chichester to have been acknowledged as a sexual predator, just over two weeks after Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes, was jailed for abusing 19 young men.

From Australia comes word that the former Anglican Bishop of Grafton, Keith Slater, has been stripped of any standing within the church over his handling of allegations of abuse at the North Coast Children's Home.

Slater was Bishop of Grafton for 10 years until his resignation in May of 2013. He quit the post after admitting he put the finances of the church ahead of the interests of 40 victims.

The victims were men and women who had been sexually, physically, and or psychologically abused at the North Coast Children's Home in Lismore between the 1940s and the 1980s.

A compensation battle was settled in 2007 for 38 of the victims.

Earlier this year, a former Registrar of the Diocese, Patrick Comben, was also removed from holy orders over the same issue.

*****

The former Bishop of Rochester, Dr. Michael Nazir Ali, spoke in London recently on "Extremism, Then and Now, Global and Local, and What We Can Do About It." He was appointed to a 20-member panel that included the Home Secretary. He urged hospitality and engagement as a better response to tolerance, which he disavowed.

"Tolerance" had led to the failed policy of multiculturalism and the emergence of ghettoes, said Nazir Ali. "It is better to require people to learn English than spend public money printing leaflets in seventeen languages. Muslims must decide the terms on which they would live here with freedom of belief. The question will then have to be faced whether sharia should become part of public law. If not, then sharia itself would require them to emigrate."

In a meeting chaired by Rehman Chishti, MP for Gillingham and Rainham (and who is also a Muslim), Bishop Nazir-Ali set the issue of extremism in a historical and global context. It is an ideological form of Islam which seeks to build an economic and social program irrespective of time and place. Thus there are no purely local Muslim issues. Their goal is to reconquer lands lost to Islam: the Iberian peninsula, Eastern Europe, the Holy Land, and India. To this end, a global movement is recruiting Jihadists to a global cause. The ideology should not be confused with the conditions under which people are being recruited.

Contradicting secularists who argue that religion is a source of conflict, the bishop claimed that religion has been a source for cohesion, bringing ways of living and order to society, as well as allowing ordinary people to challenge the "powers that be" through its prophetic role.

He contested the view that democracy alone would bring the required changes to the Middle East by recalling that democracies had also needed Magna Carta and Bills of Rights to prevent tyranny by the majority and to ensure both common citizen's and basic human rights for all. The "dhimmi" status of non-Muslims and sharia do not deliver those.

Islamicism therefore needs to be brought to the bar of accountability of world opinion and human rights. Nazir-Ali is not interested in "kissy-kissy dialogue." Therefore, the reopened British Embassy in Tehran should focus on human rights issues and not just the end of sanctions and the nuclear deal; Pakistan needs to appreciate that the Prophet of Islam himself forgave those who insulted him and reassess its apostasy law; the President of the United States needs to reassess the free pass he gives to Saudi Arabia on the issue of human rights by waiving any report to the U.S. Center for Religious Freedom. Saudi Arabia allows no churches, no crosses, and no bibles.

A counter-narrative to Islamicism is needed from within Islam. Such a narrative should adapt its teachings to local situations. Thin, so-called British values are not enough. Additionally, Emergency Detention Orders must only be given for reasons recognized in international law, such as incitement to violence or discrimination against an individual or group, or subverting the basis of national life (which used to be known as treason).

*****

The Episcopal Church in South Carolina doesn't seem to know when to quit. They have filed yet another Notice of Appeal with the Fourth Circuit Court. (My attorney tells me this is their final shot at Bishop Mark Lawrence and the real Diocese of South Carolina.)

Attorneys for Bishop Charles G. vonRosenberg filed a notice in federal court of an appeal to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The notice would seek to overturn a federal judge's decision to abstain and stay the federal false-advertising lawsuit against the bishop of a breakaway group.

The lawsuit, vonRosenberg v. Lawrence, was filed in March 2013, a few months after Mark Lawrence and a breakaway group announced they were leaving The Episcopal Church. The suit involves a claim of false advertising under the federal Lanham Act. Bishop vonRosenberg is the only bishop recognized by The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina. By continuing to represent himself as bishop of the diocese, Mark Lawrence is committing false advertising, the lawsuit says. Read more about the case here.

In September, U. S. District Court Judge C. Weston Houck issued a stay in the case, delaying his ruling until the final outcome of a separate state lawsuit that is now before the South Carolina Supreme Court.

Judge Houck had initially granted a motion to abstain from the case, citing the pending state lawsuit. On appeal, the Fourth Circuit Appeals Court found that the judge applied the wrong legal standard in deciding to abstain and should have followed the principles set forth in the Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States decision, which says the court may abstain only in "exceptional" circumstances.

In his order on September 22nd, Judge Houck said that the case does present the exceptional circumstances necessary for him to defer to the state courts on the matter.

The state litigation involves a suit filed by the breakaway group against The Episcopal Church and its local diocese, The Episcopal Church in South Carolina, over control of the assets and identity of the diocese. An appeal in that case is currently before the South Carolina Supreme Court. Oral arguments were heard September 23rd, and a ruling could come at any time.

*****

Maybe it's not news any more, but the liberal United Church of Canada, the country's largest Protestant denomination, elected a lesbian minister as its moderator today. She is Rev. Jordan Cantwell of Saskatchewan.

Cantwell is following in the footsteps of Rev. Gary Paterson, of St. Andrew's Wesley United Church in downtown Vancouver. Paterson is married to Tim Stevenson, a Vancouver city councillor who is also a clergyman.

When Paterson was elected three years ago, he became the world's first homosexual leader of a major Christian denomination. Most Christian denominations, and the majority of other global religions, do not allow openly homosexual clergy.

After impressing the delegates to the convention in Newfoundland, Rev. Cantwell emerged as the winner on the fifth ballot. (Rev. John Young, a professor of church history from the Maritimes, came in second for the second time in a row.)

*****

Evangelicals in the U. S. are stepping back from support of the death penalty. The National Association of Evangelicals has released a statement that changes--somewhat--its formerly pro-death-sentence stance, recognizing that many of the millions of members of "more than 45,000 local churches from nearly 40 different denominations" it represents are still in favor of it. At the same time, the statement recognizes that the justice system is imperfect, as evidenced in eyewitness error, coerced confessions, prosecutorial misconduct, racial disparities, incompetent counsel, inadequate instruction to juries, judges who override juries that do not vote for the death penalty, and improper sentencing of those who lack the mental capacity to understand their crime.

The Washington Post reports:

The board of directors of the National Association of Evangelicals approved a resolution that changes its 1973 resolution that favored the death penalty, the group announced Monday.

While the new resolution, which is now the standing policy of the NAE, does not reverse its earlier position, it acknowledges evangelicals who oppose the death penalty.

Jonathan Merritt responds to the statement in Religion New Service ("Thank God: Evangelicals shrink back from support of death penalty"):

Publicly acknowledging disagreement on a matter isn't exactly visionary. But it is a step in the right direction. Before now, the organization's standing resolution on the matter supported capital punishment as a deterrent for violent criminals and called on lawmakers to reinstatement it in places where it had been outlawed. The NAE's capital punishment resolution is a hopeful sign that evangelicals are catching up to the rest of America.

According to statistics cited by the Post and by the Christian Science Monitor, a sizable majority of white evangelical Protestants (71 percent) support the death penalty, according to a March 2015 survey from the Pew Research Center. That support, however, has dropped from 77 percent in 2011. Overall, the 2015 survey suggests 56 percent of Americans support the death penalty, a drop from 78 percent in 1996.

Evangelicals have served as an important constituency for some political leaders. As an umbrella group for many evangelical denominations, the NAE can serve as a barometer for where evangelicals stand on some issues.

*****

PORN and what to do about it: Playboy magazine has apparently decided to no longer run frontal nudity of women. It has dropped in circulation from 5 million to 800,000, citing the fact that porn is too readily available online, so it will now concentrate on less skin exposure and more on serious articles. It is too soon to say if this will work. Meanwhile, in a byline story in today's digest, culture writer and Anglican Mike McManus takes up the subject of pornography and wants politicians to make it a campaign issue.

"Where Do Candidates Stand on Pornography," he asks? Porn is involved in half of all divorces, he writes, yet there has been no vigorous prosecution of pornographers for three decades.

Patrick Trueman, President of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, told McManus, "Pornography is now a public health crisis, and every family in America has been harmed by it, or is concerned about the potential harm. What other crisis has affected so many people than this one?"

He stated that "more than half of the marriages that break up in America are caused in part by pornography." He is right. Multiple studies report that between 56% and 58% of divorces involve the addiction of one spouse to hard core pornography.

He added, "The destruction of about 650,000 marriages a year is clear evidence that Trueman is correct in asserting that "Pornography is now a public health crisis." You can read his and Albert Mohler's article in today's digest.

*****

Life Now Has a Price Tag, writes Allan Haley of Anglican Curmudgeon. It has now come to this. The price for human fetal parts and tissue ranges from $30 to $100 per specimen. The price for one of the largest-ever-seen bull elephants in Africa is $60,000. All life now has its price, from the tiniest specimen to the largest.

For God, the price was infinite. He gave up his only Son to pay it--for our sake. But Man, driven by Satan's lusts, now cheapens it. In doing so, he mocks the unfathomable worth of Christ's sacrifice, and the caverns of Hell rock with scorn. This is a sin-sick world. May we yet repent of this madness. And may God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.

*****

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In Christ,

David

Unsullied love. Only one act of pure love, unsullied by any taint of ulterior motive, has ever been performed in the history of the world, namely the self-giving of God in Christ on the cross for undeserving sinners. That is why, if we are looking for a definition of love, we should look not in a dictionary, but at Calvary. --- John R.W. Stott

The Lords Spiritual now have a woman bishop and a black bishop. We now need a disabled one, a transgender one and a Muslim one. --- Archbishop Cranmer Blog

And the bottom-line solution for this entire [Synod] mess is, as simply stated as possible, to be a living saint--not him, not her, but you--and me. --- Michael Voris

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
October 30, 2015

For the first two centuries of our history, American culture was enlivened with an unofficial, rambunctious, all-pervasive Protestantism. That Protestant establishment, however, is gone, a casualty of Enlightenment liberalism with its undermining of the revelatory authority of the Bible. A generation ago, leading public intellectuals argued that the "Catholic Moment" had arrived in American culture. With Protestantism's waning cultural influence, only Catholicism remained, it was argued, as a substantial basis for a conservative retrenchment and renewal of our culture and civilization.

Today, however, the Catholic moment also appears to have passed. Its cultural sway is also waning. Whether Protestant or Catholic, Christian influence is perhaps at its lowest ebb in American history. Christianity no longer sets the tone of American law, popular culture and entertainment, or elite intellectual and artistic opinion. What used to be normative ideals and values are now regarded as hateful bigotry.

The Rev. Dr. Peter J. Leithart argues for a more hopeful outlook of Christian influence in cultural renewal. It requires, he says, for Christian people to change frames by learning how to see political obstacles and impasses as opportunities for ministry in what may ultimately prove to be a pre-Christian culture rather than a post-Christian one.

Now I don't know if Dr. Leithart is completely correct, but if we as a nation are reaching the bottom of the moral swamp with political corruption, ecclesiastical compromise, theological heresies, financial mayhem and gay marriage now a reality, then perhaps those of us who are starting over in small start-up church plants of faithful orthodox Anglican Christians should take heart that though we may be discouraged at our small numbers and what we see around us, God is doing a new thing. When Mao swept through China with his Little Red Book, everybody thought that Christianity was finished. Missionaries were either killed or fled the country. Everybody gave up on China. Not God. Through the faithful witness of a handful of Chinese Christians, China today has 130 million evangelical Christians, and the Government doesn't know what to do about it except to remove crosses off churches, a pretty weak response. We should have hope even in the midst of so much human depravity. God has not forgotten us, and we will grow in the midst of so much that is horrible and depraved.

*****

The former Suffragan Bishop of Maryland Heather Cooke left the courthouse this week in handcuffs, sentenced to seven years in prison for killing a cyclist while driving drunk and texting.

Cook, 59, pleaded guilty last month to automobile manslaughter in the death of 41-year-old Thomas Palermo, a married father of two young children. She was taken into custody at the conclusion of the sentencing hearing Wednesday.

The case outraged cyclists and shook the church. Prosecutors said Cook had almost three times the legal level of alcohol in her blood and was texting while driving at the time of the crash on December 27.

Prosecutors wanted a sentence of 10 years followed by probation, but the judge handling the case had said he might hand down less time. She got seven years. You can read Mary Ann Mueller's analysis of this in today's digest.

*****

The Episcopal Church will receive a new Presiding Bishop this weekend. The consecration service (VOL obtained a copy) of Bishop Michael Curry at the Washington National Cathedral provoked this response from an ACNA priest who read and analyzed it in detail. Here is what he wrote:

"There are a number of problems with this liturgy. There is nothing (read me: NOTHING) remotely ANGLICAN about this order of service. There is no homage to the theology or pastoral import of classical Anglican liturgical forms, no distinctively Protestant declaration of any kind, nothing that even remotely resembles what Cranmer and Ridley and those archbishop fought and DIED for. It's a mishmash of ecumenical liturgical renewal vagueness infused with a pantheist humanism.

"There's nothing in this service which even follows the 1979 Book of Common Prayer; the whole thing is an exposition of the liturgical chaos which now defines TEC. So much for "Common Prayer."

"They have representatives from various religions giving prayers, the Muslim who is asking God to help us receive the truths of the "Holy Koran." Never mind that his prayer betrays him as a thoroughly secularized Muslim (the "image of God" his prayer cites as his base is a Biblical and decidedly NOT Koranic theological category . . . orthodox Muslims most certainly DO NOT BELIEVE that we share God's image, or that God has an image to be shared at all). The very presence of a Muslim blessing "Holy Koran" in the context of a Christian service, let alone at the installation of an Archbishop, is an abomination.

"The "ecumenical" partners present reveal how far TEC has fallen in its relationships with other Christian churches. According to this order of service, they have attracted a Jew, a (secularized) Muslim, a liberal Canadian Anglican, and a (doubtlessly flaming liberal) Moravian to participate. No Roman Catholic representative, no Eastern Orthodox representative, no non-white non-North American Anglican representative (which is rather ironic considering who they are consecrating), no representative from any believing denomination at all.

"All that proves that TEC is no longer a conversation partner with the "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church," let alone a vital part of it. What we have here is a humanist social club, and nothing more. There is nothing "Anglican" or "Protestant" or even "Christian" to defend in TEC anymore.

"They're installing a heretic. That anybody with half a brain could call that man an "evangelical" betrays how theologically vapid and incompetent most TEC leadership has become, including some "conservative" commentators who insist on remaining in that bankrupt and poisonous denomination. One wonders if they aren't being deliberately blinded. "Handed over" is the Biblical turn of phrase."

https://www.cathedral.org/pdfs/20151101PBCurryInstallation.pdf

*****

Next week Katharine Jefferts Schori, the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, will be history.

For many it can't come too soon.

During her occupation as the titular head of the Episcopal Church for nine years, she uttered more heresies than any other sitting bishop up to that point, with the possible exception of Charles E. Bennison, Bishop of Pennsylvania, whose line that "Jesus was a sinner who forgave himself" might earn him a place in the sixth circle (heresy) of Dante's nine circles of suffering located within the Earth.

But she did try hard, and the Inferno might still be her reward.

Over the course of nine years, she variously denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus and the full deity of Christ, referred to Jesus as "mother Jesus" at one point, and said St. Paul should have listened to a demoniac girl for spiritual guidance.

She was the perfect ecclesiastical piñata.

Every time she uttered a heresy or two, I would whack her and the piñata would break open and more heresies would pour out of her. Her staff would patch her up again and on she would go.

I have written about her tenure at length in today's digest. You can click on it here:
http://www.virtueonline.org/episcopal-presiding-bishop-katharine-jefferts-schori-heretical-pi%C3%B1ata

*****

For years liberal Episcopal Church leaders have played word games with the church and gotten away with it. They still do. The language of liberal/progressive/revisionist Episcopal-Anglican clerics and their followers have used language in such a way first to gently coerce you with a soft shell approach and then to badger you and beat you down (or over the head), finally numbing you through either guilt or apathy into full acceptance.

The language has nearly always to do with sex, specifically same sex attractions (and that never-to-be-repeated word "sodomy"), and those who would broker pansexuality into the Anglican Communion. None of these words apply to the Nicene Creed, but they have a lot to do with "niceness" or being "nice" to people you disagree with.

Now, in the course of listening to pansexualists wanting their linguistic way with you, you may feel a strange urge or need to be "compassionate." We strongly advise you to resist the urge because you will only play into their hands. The moment you show any "compassion," you will be accused of harboring years of homophobia that you will need to repent of, along with years of bottled up hatred you have for people you never knew were afflicted with same-sex attractions. You're guilty anyway.

You have just been blindsided. You can read my full list of words revisionists use and my analysis of them and what they are designed to do to you.

*****

The time for talking is over, Kenyan Archbishop Eliud Wabukala has warned, and it is decision time for the Anglican Communion, says the GAFCON primate.

Hard decisions must now be made about the future of the Anglican Communion, he says. In his latest pastoral letter, the head of the Global Anglican Futures Conference (GAFCON) said: "There is now a shared realization that the time for dialogue is over and there must be a decision that will settle the future direction of the Communion and free us from being dragged down by controversy and confusion."

Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, who is also Primate of Kenya, was commenting on the Archbishop of Canterbury's decision to summon a meeting of Anglican Primates from around the world to discuss changing the structure of the Communion in an attempt to avert schism.

Archbishop Wabakula, writing after a visit to a mission conference at ACNA's Church of the Resurrection, housed in a converted disused factory in Chicago, said: "My experience of this new wineskin in North America brought home to me just how much is at stake when the Primates of the Communion meet in Canterbury at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury next January. I believe this will be an historic meeting unlike anything that has gone before."

Speaking about the GAFCON Primates' recent decision to accept the Archbishop's invitation next January, he added: "Noting the unique nature of this proposed meeting, we are agreed to go, and I am confident that in doing so we will not compromise the Biblical principles for which we stand."

Quoting Ezekiel 33, he said he felt called by God to be a "faithful watchman" in this "time of crisis and confusion." This ministry was "a matter of life and death."

The gospel "is not a worldly message about how to achieve prosperity or self-fulfillment." Robbed of its true meaning, the gospel is not the biblical gospel, he said.

One shrewd observer is more skeptical and said that on far too many occasions he has waited with eager hope/expectation that "this time something will surely happen," but all that ever happens is more talk while the city burns.

"On this occasion I doubt whether either side will do anything decisive--neither Lambeth nor GAFCON. Too many people are still ideologically attached to their membership in the Anglican Communion to walk away. There will be a date set for more talks, more indaba, more yakkety-yak, but no action." We shall see.

*****

CORRUPTION IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION. There was a time when the most corrupt province in the Anglican Communion was the Anglican Church of Mexico. VOL reported in 2006 that the Mexican church's former archbishop and one of its bishops made off with over $2 million from ECUSA's coffers. No one was watching the till or asking for an accounting at 815 Second Avenue, the Church's national headquarters in New York, which dished out the money. When VOL blew the whistle on this gang of thieves, these two made off with the money, never to be heard from again. The new Presiding Bishop and Bishop of Mexico Carlos Touche-Porter made a cameo appearance at General Convention in GC2006, pleading for understanding and more money. He probably got it.

Now first place goes to the Anglican Church of India, which has been steeped in corruption (in both North and South India) for years and is slowly going under. A former priest in that country says India STINKS of corruption. You cannot become a bishop without bribing the committees that elect you, and bishops sell church property and accept 'donations' from church schools. It is sickening. India is corrupt to the core, but instead of the church taking a stand against it, the church seems to be leading it. It is also extremely racist, and a person from one part of India cannot become a priest in another part of India because he does not belong to the same region and caste!

Financial corruption is worse in the Church of North India, while racial corruption and caste nepotism is worse in the South. This explains why the bishops from India are sitting on the fence when it comes to the gay issue.

For more than two years, VOL has received weekly accounts of corruption in the Church of South India (CSI). Major Joseph Victor, an activist layman and General Secretary, Laity Association of CSI - Madras Diocese, has steadfastly exposed the high crimes and misdemeanors of the Moderator of the Church of South India, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Devakadatcham, Bishop of Kanyakumari Diocese, who was elected as the Moderator in 2012.

Nothing seems to happen to contain the corruption, which continues despite Victor's best efforts to expose what is going on.

He writes: "It is sad to find the Ecclesiastics of the CSI showing scant regard for the law of the land and the constitution of the Church. They seem to have become law unto themselves. In John 8:44, Jesus refers to his opponents as children of the devil and then goes on to describe the devil as a 'liar and father of lies.' Of course, this refers to their behavior of obscuring the truth about Jesus Christ. But how would we understand the behavior of the Moderator of the Church of South India and his fellow Bishops if they grievously error on the side of falsehood, questioning the very existence of a God who watches over us and our behavior?

"It is with great dismay that these instances of the grievous moral turpitude of the Moderator of CSI are brought to the public. The Moderator had not only acted fraudulently to subvert the judicial system but also made a mockery of the democratic process in the dioceses."

Major Victor has exposed numerous corruptions in the CSI over many years and asks how such crooks can be our church leaders. How can they dictate terms to us? Can they can be permitted to ordain pastors and conduct communion and confirmation services? Can such people be permitted to continue in their posts, even for a little more time? He appeals to the churches, "Don't you think you have to work hard to STOP the deceitful amendments being brought in--specially preventing these disgraceful and disloyal men from sticking on to their seats for 2 more years?" He described the Moderator as "the Liar and Father of Lies."

"The congregational members have to prove their loyalty to Christ and remove them," said Victor.

*****

The Church of England was rocked yesterday after a third Sussex priest in as many weeks was found to have committed sexual offences.

Vickery House, former vicar of Berwick, was convicted of five counts of indecent assault on males - with one as young as 14 - over a period of 16 years.

He was cleared on three further counts at the Old Bailey.

It comes after former Bishop of Lewes, Peter Ball, was jailed for 32 months on October 7 for committing acts of "debasement" in the name of religion with regards 18 vulnerable victims.

On Thursday last week, former Bishop of Chichester George Bell, was also outed as an offender after the Church paid compensation to a victim he abused more than 50 years ago.

Campaigners are now insisting that the national Goddard Inquiry, into sexual abuse, must start with the Diocese of Chichester.

*****

Anglican and United Churches in Canada are about to pool their ineffectiveness, according to Canadian Anglican blogger Samizdat. Apparently there will be a great deal of living into things, which is always a bad sign.

Here is a press blurb: The United Church of Christ and The United Church of Canada have both formalized a full communion agreement in a worship service at St. Andrew's United Church, Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Through the agreement, the U.S. and Canadian-based churches, both members of the World Council of Churches, agreed to "commit to living into a common vision of ministry and mission together."

On Oct. 17 they "committed to exploring the possibilities of this full communion relationship, and to finding ways of living into deeper, fuller expressions of witness that will strengthen the Church as we learn and grow together."

There are similarities between the two churches in their commitment to social justice and commitment to inclusion of diversity in sexual and gender identities, in disabilities, in theological openness and expression.

The important similarities, writes Samizdat, between the two denominations are that they have both displaced the gospel with obsessive social action, same sex-marriage, gender confusion and an openness so vast that all meaning has dissipated. A marriage of convenience, made in hell.

*****

In other Canadian news, Samizdat writes: "In an uncharacteristic flash of insight, the Anglican Church of Canada's bishops have realized that overturning 2000 years of Biblical teaching on marriage by merely voting to do so might not be what God wants. That doesn't mean they won't do it, of course: the few tenacious conservatives remaining in the ACoC haven't felt enough pain yet.

Here is a press blurb: "The Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada say that they recognize the 'deep pain' that will be caused by next year's General Synod vote on allowing same-sex marriage in Church; and question whether the Synod's parliamentary-style procedures are 'the most helpful way to discern the mind of the Church, or of the Spirit, in this matter.'"

No matter, they will go ahead and do it anyway. They are only following TEC, and that really is a church worth following.

*****

The Archbishop of Canterbury will host His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during his visit to London next week.

It will be the second meeting between the two leaders who first met in Istanbul last year and in June this year made a joint call for action on climate change.

During the visit the two leaders will discuss issues facing the Anglican and Orthodox Churches and the wider world, and they will attend services in Anglican and Orthodox cathedrals. On Monday 2 November the Ecumenical Patriarch will preside at the Great Doxology in the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom. The Archbishop of Canterbury will be present at the service. The Patriarch will also be spending time with leaders and members of the Greek Orthodox community in London.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who is based in Istanbul, Turkey, is Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and occupies the First Throne of the Orthodox Christian Church worldwide.

*****

The government has blocked plans by an ultra-conservative Islamic group to build Britain's biggest mosque.

Plans by the Tablighi Jamaat sect would have created a "megamosque," which would have had three times the floor space of St Paul's Cathedral. The plans were originally rejected by Newham Council in 2012.

The proposed site, near the Olympic Park in east London, would have housed around 9,300 people in segregated prayer halls, as well as a further 2,000 in a separate hall.

A bitter 13-year struggle surrounding the construction of the mosque has seen street blockades, accusations of racism and High Court action.

*****

The Dutch Reformed Church is the latest denomination to slip into the Great Falling Away. The church has decided to recognize same-sex relationships.

The Dutch Reformed Church didn't even put up much of a fight. Sixty-four percent of the church voted in favor of this strong delusion, which also opens the door for ordaining gay ministers who do not practice celibacy.

"It is historical because with this decision we actually are at a point where there can be no doubt that the Dutch Reformed Church is serious about human dignity," Dutch Reformed Church moderator Nelis Janse vanRensburg said. "And you know that we are living in this country where we have so many problems with the dignity of people."

*****

WATCH THIS VIDEO: A German pastor faces censure from 50 of his fellow clerics over his defense of the gospel against those who would water down the faith in the face of a militant Islam now streaming into Germany. Pastor Olaf Latzel says, "If you preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and everyone is clapping his hand, then you have a problem."

Just like most Western nations, Germany is now being covered by a "profound spiritual darkness," according to Charisma News. True followers of Jesus Christ in the country are under fire in the media, by their own government and even denounced by fellow Christians whose faith has been subverted, according to Pastor Olaf Latzel of Bremen, Germany.

Latzel knows full well what he is saying since he is one of the prime targets of what he regards as an anti-Christian conspiracy in his country.

In today's Germany, Latzel said traditional Christian teaching is now viewed by many as bigoted, hateful, and even "un-Christian."

"I'm only preaching the Gospel in a clear way," Latzel told Charisma News. "I think it is my duty to do this preaching in this way for our Lord."

http://videos.cbn.com/services/player/bcpid1697316436001?bckey=AQ~~%2CAAAAqwZdoRk~%2C5p3D8wQwoZ8oJO3MI2xIgOgYVJVg2DJk&bctid=4567985102001

*****

Anglican and Vatican cricketers met for the second time in Rome last weekend in a match that saw the St Peter's XI victorious. Saturday's match was played at the Capanelle Ground in Rome, coinciding with the conclusion of the Roman Catholic Church's Synod on the Family.

The Vatican side reached 147 for 6, with the Archbishop's XI all out for 105.

Last autumn, in a historic first match between Vatican and Anglican sides, the Archbishop's XI narrowly triumphed with five balls to spare in a memorable showdown at the Kent County Cricket Club ground in Canterbury.

Played in front of a 1,000-strong crowd, including Archbishop Justin Welby and the Papal Nuncio, the match raised money for the Global Freedom Network, a joint anti-trafficking initiative. The Vatican side comprised of seminarians studying in Rome, many of them from India and Pakistan.

The Anglican side was made up largely of ordinands and young priests who answered a search by the Church Times (sponsor of clergy cricket in the UK).

*****

A new national poll has Ben Carson passing Donald Trump in the Republican presidential race. The African-American pediatric surgeon who is now leading the real estate tycoon 26% to 22% is a well-known Seventh-day Adventist. Multiple polls also show Carson with a big lead--as much as 14%--over Trump in Iowa, the nation's first caucus state.

Trump couldn't resist the opportunity and attacked Carson over his religion. He said, "Look, I don't have to say it, I'm Presbyterian. . . . Boy, that's down the middle of the road, folks, in all fairness. I mean, Seventh-day Adventist, I don't know about. I just don't know about."

It is troubling that so many evangelicals like Trump, who stands for just about everything Jesus didn't stand for. Polls show Trump leading among evangelical voters--a fact he brought up several times during a recent speech. But that support could be thin, especially given his personal history (three marriages) and his past stance in favor of abortion rights. Even though he said his favorite book is the Bible, Trump, a Presbyterian, has refused to name his favorite passage. "The Bible means a lot to me, but I don't want to get into specifics," he said last month. He also brought along his confirmation certificate and waved it to evangelicals.

He did emphasize his love of Christmas. "I love Christmas. I love Christmas, and I would bring back Merry Christmas if elected president." Now that should make you all feel much better.

Seventh-day Adventists are a Christian sect, not a cult. The Adventist movement can trace its influences back to William Miller, a farmer-turned-Bible-teacher who predicted that Jesus would return to Earth sometime between March 1843 and March 1844, based on his interpretation of Old Testament passages and other Scriptures. That prediction didn't come true, of course, but the ensuing reflection eventually led to the church's official founding. Its name, the Adventists, reflects that its adherents are awaiting the Second Advent of Christ.

One of those people was Ellen G. White, who along with others officially founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1863. A prolific writer on faith and health, she is seen by the church as a prophetess who was instrumental in cementing many of the church's early beliefs. Overall, she wrote more than 40 books and over 50,000 articles. The Adventist Church boasts 1.2 million members in North America; with more than 18.7 million members worldwide, it is among the fastest-growing denominations. The Pew Research Center found it to be the most racially diverse religious group in the U.S. earlier this year.

Unlike most other Christian denominations, Seventh-day Adventists attend church on Saturdays, which they believe to be the Sabbath instead of Sunday, according to their interpretation of the Bible.

There is also an emphasis placed on health and wholeness, partly drawn from White's writings. That includes abstention from alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs and even meat. The church has an approach it abbreviates as "NEWSTART"--nutrition, exercise, water, sunlight, temperance, air, rest and trust in divine power.

As for some of the dietary guidelines, they're just that--guidelines. Not eating meat isn't a requirement to be a Seventh-day Adventist, though it is encouraged.

How do their beliefs differ from traditional evangelicals? Aside from different days of worship and a greater emphasis on health and nutrition, doctrinally the two are about the same. Evangelicals and Adventists believe in salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and many of their original members came from other related denominations, like Methodism, or even Roman Catholicism. The current Seventh-day Adventist Church considers itself to be Protestant.

By contrast, Mr. Trump was a Presbyterian but jumped ship to Marble Collegiate Church in New York under Norman Vincent Peale, whose "power of positive thinking" gave rise to the later health and wealth gospellers. "Change your thoughts and you change your world. . . . Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy. . . . Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure," wrote Peale. Trump seems to have imbibed that philosophy in spades.

*****

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to VOL. We are in urgent need of funds as we round out the year. Every dollar helps support our website, our staff and travel. VOL has no corporate backers. We depend solely on you--our readers--to keep us afloat. Thousands visit www.virtueonline.org daily. We must have new donors to keep us going. If you have not contributed in the last year or so, please jump in and support us.

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Thank you for your support.

In Christ,

David

No matter, The Episcopal Church's bishops in all their Almay array heralded a man who says he believes in Jesus...talks up Jesus' love, the Jesus Movement, Jesus for racial equality, Jesus for reconciliation, Jesus for evangelism, Jesus for this and Jesus for that--everything except the hard core business of Jesus for repentance and real reconciliation. No talk of Jesus as redeemer and savior.

Archbishop Foley Beach of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) had this to say about the potential for this leadership change to spur reconciliation.

"I would be delighted if there were true reconciliation. It would be an answer to my prayers, and the prayers of many in the Anglican Church in North America," said Beach.

"However, if Bishop Curry and the Episcopal Church are unwilling to genuinely repent of the unbiblical teaching and destructive actions that caused the division, then reconciliation simply isn't possible."

Curry "pushed orthodox members of his diocese to the periphery" when he was bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina, said the Rev. Cannon Andrew Gross, ACNA's Director of Communications.

"There has been a lot of talk about 'going to Galilee' [a Curry refrain], but unless there is a trip to Damascus, the crisis within the Episcopal Church will continue, and the divisions that it has caused internationally will only deepen."

So there you have it. Curry in his sermon repeatedly intoned "Don't worry, be happy," oblivious to the fact that this dated pop song from early 1988 was foreign to most people's experience. Yet everything done in the installation service was foreign to most people's experience. Curry seemed like a magician trying to dazzle people with his bizarre liturgy accented by the loud drumming that accompanied music and movement, wrote Sarah Frances Ives for VOL. Comment: Is this a direct quote? If so, it needs double quotation marks.

"Wildly rhythmic drumming began the day with about 150 bishops processing in to this. The repeated syncopated rhythm created a hypnotic effect that became not joyful, but oppressively overwhelming. Almost every musical selection included drumming, always loud and long. Moving with these beats, some dancers carried long-silvery ribbons that were thrown and tossed about in the air."

You can read the rest of the Rev. Dr. Sarah Frances Ives's take on this event. Her report clearly stung liberals. To date the story has gone viral with more than 13,000 hits, a number that's growing by more than 1,000 a day. By the time the story hits VOL's archives it will have been read by more than 50,000 people. No mean feat.

It was interesting to note who was and was not present for this event. There were no Global South Primates from Africa, Asia or Latin America. Fred Hiltz, Anglican Primate of Canada, was there because the Anglican Church of Canada and TEC are clones of one another. Also spotted among the processing bishops was the new Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Office in London, Josiah Idowu-Fearon, a former Nigerian Anglican Archbishop. As his office is largely funded by TEC, his attendance should come as no surprise. Also in attendance was the Rt. Rev. James Tengatenga, chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, the communion’s main policy-making body.The line-up of liberal glitterati did not include Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox representatives. I think they believed that if they showed up, there might be another earthquake and the collapsing cathedral could cost them good irreplaceable men. Surprisingly absent was the Archbishop of Canterbury. No one even brought greetings from Lambeth Palace!

Don't pass up Dr. Ives's brilliant reporting on this event. It is memorable. You can read it in today's digest or here: http://tinyurl.com/p48zeaa

*****

Episcopal Church closings are increasing across North America. It's hard to keep up with all the closures.

One significant development this past week was the closure of St. Martin's in Monroeville, PA, an historic evangelical Episcopal congregation whose death was hastened by the Culture Wars raging in The Episcopal Church.

The Episcopal Bishop of Pittsburgh, Dorsey McConnell, announced the death of this once proud parish that saw the birth of the ACNA and Trinity School for Ministry in a statement at the diocesan website.

A sign over the church reads "Jesus is alive," and it is visible from the highway. The church, however, is closed and dead, killed off by the culture wars in The Episcopal Church.

St. Martin's, Monroeville was a center of evangelical renewal in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Now under Dorsey W. M. McConnell, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, it has admitted defeat and closed its doors forever.

VOL sent an email to the bishop and asked him if he would consider selling it back to its original owners. We never got an answer. Based on past history and what the former Presiding Bishop ordered her bishops to do, Episcopal bishops have not been allowed to sell church buildings back to any Anglican congregation. Jefferts Schori has instead preferred to sell them to future saloon owners (her favorite) or to Muslims for mosques.

Fr. Kua Apple, who leads the breakaway St. Martin's Anglican Church, which meets over the road at Bethel Presbyterian Church, said the whole congregation of about 50 left in 2012. "We did not sue to stay. We left on good terms. We polished the silver, made sure the boilers were working, and left."

You can read the full story in today's digest.

Bishop James Mathes of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego announced the closure of three parishes this week.

"After consultation with our standing committee and executive council, area missioners, the clergy of our diocese, and fellow bishops, I write this pastoral letter with a heavy heart to announce my decision to dissolve Santa Rosa Del Mar, Desert Shores, effective immediately; to sell property used by the mission congregation of St. Anne's, Oceanside; and to declare All Saints', Vista a mission action parish with likely similar property-related actions in the near future," wrote the bishop.

This diocese is now reaping the whirlwind of pansexuality: the departure of some nine parishes a few short years ago and now three more this week. This is the wrecking ball of Gene Robinson's consecration, which has come home to destroy churches.

One wonders when we will be told that the Diocese of Bethlehem and the Diocese of Easton are no longer viable and will be merged into other dioceses.

Recently the Diocese of Long Island sold an historic parish for $15 million, and in the Diocese of Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno (who faces presentment charges) is trying to sell off an historic parish for $20 million with little success, one should point out.

In the Diocese of Huron in the Anglican Church of Canada, an historic parish in Walkerville now faces possible demolition. The Windsor Star reports that St. George's Church and Hall, known for its distinctive contrast of old and modern architecture, could soon be torn down.

"This church was struggling financially for a number of years, and unfortunately we weren't able to maintain the building due to a lack of resources," Paul Rathbone, the secretary-treasurer for the Diocese of Huron, said Wednesday. "Walls are starting to bow and there are various other signs of disrepair."

In the spring, the 36 parishioners from St. George's moved east to the former St. Michael and All Angels Church, which had a congregation of 35, leaving their old building in limbo.

"It's sad," Rathbone said. "It's a historic church in that area. It had some historical significance. But it's unsafe. It needs to come down." Comment: Please confirm that the closing quotation marks have been added in the correct place.

These closures are happening at a faster rate in the dioceses of Ontario and Quebec, where it is expected whole dioceses will close in the eastern half of Canada.

*****

The Diocese of Albany saw the resignation this past week of the cathedral's dean over the gay marriage debate, which has dogged most dioceses, with the exception of those who have already collapsed and rolled over to play dead on the issue.

Dean David Collum resigned his position at the Episcopal Cathedral of All Saints amid a heated controversy over Bishop William Love's opposition to same-sex marriage, which caused numerous parishioners to leave.

In a letter to members, Collum, priest to the cathedral congregation for the past five years, said he made the decision "with a heavy heart" but denied the decision was influenced by the gay marriage inbroglio.

"Given the controversies surrounding the larger church, some may conclude my action is a reaction to the challenging situation," Collum wrote in a letter mailed Wednesday. "I would assure you that it is not." However, Mr. Collum did not respond to requests for additional comment. Now you can be sure that it is about gay marriage, and while he may deny it, a member of All Saints' Cathedral followed up with this line: "The situation is clear as mud, but the dean's decision to resign leaves me with grave concerns about the future of the Diocese of Albany within the framework of the national church," said Don Csaposs, a member for more than 15 years at All Saints'.

Bishop Bill Love has given no indication that he intends to leave TEC, and his diocese is holding its own in one of the most secular areas of the country. No small feat in this day and age. Bishop Love is no pushover. He has allowed Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO) for several of his parishes, but he has not backed down on approving sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman, which was no doubt brought home to him on a recent trip he made to Africa, where African Anglicans staunchly oppose sodomy and gay marriage. Comment: Has he not backed down on sex between men and women, or same-sex sex, or both? This should be clarified.

This diocese, along with the Diocese of Springfield, will be the ones to watch after the primates meet in Canterbury and January. We will see what devolves from that.

Evangelical Central Florida Bishop Gregory Brewer has drunk the Episcopal Kool Aid and will now go along to get along.

*****

The evangelical bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota, Michael G. Smith, said he will allow his clergy who want to perform same sex marriage rites to seek Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO). He says he will appoint another bishop to provide ecclesiastical oversight.

In a letter in the July-August issue of The Sheaf, the Diocesan magazine, he included the reasons why he could not in good conscience authorize the trial rite of same sex marriage for the Diocese.

"Although the enabling resolution for the rite gave authority to the Diocesan Bishop to make such a decision, it also included the directive that the Diocesan Bishop 'will make provision for all couples asking to be married in this Church to have access to these liturgies.' I have concluded a process of consultation, seeking the advice of those clergy who are responsible for solemnizing marriages, about what course of action I should take."

Is this just the thin end of the wedge? A couple of posters seem to think so. One wrote, "This is such a sad situation. While in TEC, this Bishop and Diocese must live by the assertion that both points of view are valid, while individual people do not really recognize the validity of the opposite point of view. Another wrote, "The tension for more orthodox priests and bishops is palpable. Diversity is fine with some things (adiaphora) but it is nothing short of heresy for a behavior where the teaching is clear and consistent throughout the scriptures and uniform through 2000 years of Church tradition (and in all Christian churches until this recent half century). To not only accept homosexual behavior but to celebrate it with false "marriages" is so far out there as to be anti-Christian." Comment: Please confirm that the end quotation marks have been inserted in the correct location. The spirit of antichrist is alive ... and killing the churches in the west.

A firmer voice wrote this: "Rationalization, Michael G. Smith. It is time to go. Think, too, what you may be doing to other souls by your hanging on by a thread. Yes, we all will face the Lord. What will you say if asked, have you done enough? No, it isn't easy. Many can attest to that, but their consciences are clear."

*****

Last week the Church of England broke through another "stained glass ceiling" as the first female bishop took her seat in the House of Lords. The Upper Chamber rose to its feet to cheer and applaud the landmark moment of her introduction as one of the parliament's 26 Lords Spiritual.

The woman to have made this small, significant and long step into the history books was the Bishop of Gloucester, Rachel Treweek.

She admitted that both historically and in present times, both here and across the world, there has been big division on this issue.

Despite her appointment, Treweek says the church still had "a long way to go" before it achieved gender equality. "I won't lie. I think it's frustrating it's taken so long to get to this point. But importantly we've finally reached this place where those with different views can stay together within the church. And I think that's something to be commended."

In keeping with the theme of unity and dialogue, she defended Archbishop Justin Welby's decision to bring together the world's Anglican church leaders to try and avert a permanent split over issues such as homosexuality.

In an effort to deal with increasing division of the Anglican Communion in recent years, the crisis talks in January will be an opportunity for the 38 leaders of national churches who represent 80 million Christians around the world to come together and discuss their differences.

Welby is expected to propose that Anglican churches with opposing views loosen their links but remain connected.

Bishop Rachel calls the talks "a wonderful idea. It goes back to theme of listening to people and hearing different views."

Addressing undoubtedly the two biggest issues facing the Church worldwide--the rights of LGTB people and the inclusion of woman in the church--she says, "I think it's very unlikely we'll see a situation where everyone will have the same view."

Really.

VOL was told this week that there is a growing mood towards disestablishment of the Church of England, which could certainly change the whole ball game if it ever came about.

*****

It was a good week for values voters. Voters of Houston came out in massive numbers and soundly rejected Mayor Annise Parker's ordinance proposal that would have allowed men to enter women's bathrooms, showers and changing areas based on gender identification. The HERO (Houston Equal Rights Ordinance) proposition was rejected by a vote of 61 to 39 percent with 95 percent of the ballots counted.

The proposition saw nearly a quarter million voters take to the polls to send a clear message to the city's leaders. "Houstonians sent a clear message and voted for common sense by rejecting this dangerous ordinance," said Briscoe Cain, who worked with Campaign for Houston, the group which opposed the measure.

Harris County GOP Chairman Paul Simpson told Breitbart, Texas in an interview Tuesday night, "Thanks to the efforts of our precinct chairs, Republican volunteers and activists, and dedicated staff, HCRP made more than 100,000 volunteer phone calls and knocked on 30,000 doors to turn out conservative voters to defeat HERO." Comment: Is Breitbart Texas a location? If so, the comma should be added. If it's some sort of group, it should be deleted.

"This is a national game changer," said Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values Action, in a statement obtained by Breitbart, Texas. "Today's vote is a massive victory for common sense, safety, and religious freedom, not just in Houston, but for all of Texas. The eyes of the nation were on Houston, and the people sent a clear message and soundly rejected this intentionally deceptive and dangerous ordinance."

Ohio voters on Tuesday shot down a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana, but advocates remained hopeful for another measure that could be on the ballot in 2016. The swing state of nearly 11.6 million people would have followed five other jurisdictions where both recreational and medicinal marijuana are now legal: the states of Oregon, Alaska, Colorado and Washington, along with Washington DC.

In England, the Church of England won a round in the courts when The Rev Canon Jeremy Pemberton, a hospital chaplain in Lincolnshire, accused the Church of discrimination on grounds of sexuality by stripping him of his licence to preach in Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, where he lives, after he married his long-term partner Laurence Cunnington last year.

Although he works in Lincolnshire outside the diocese and is employed by the NHS rather than the Church, the decision to take away his licence effectively thwarted a planned promotion to a senior chaplaincy post because it meant he was no longer seen as "in good standing" with the Church.

An employment tribunal in Nottingham ruled in the Church's favor, finding he was "not complying" with his ordination vows by rebelling against Church policy. Despite being blocked for promotion, Canon Pemberton still works in his existing role as a chaplain in Lincolnshire.

The judge also noted that the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, was "aware of the competing tensions" within the Church on homosexuality.

Interestingly, the Archbishop of Canterbury urged clerics to stick to the "line" over rebel priest's gay wedding. According to a tribunal, Justin Welby instructed Church of England officials and clerics to brush off questions about a priest who defied a ban on gay marriage rather than openly engage in further discussion about its teaching on homosexuality.

An email circulated within the Church of England last year after the Rev Canon Jeremy Pemberton married his partner Laurence Cunnington, revealing that Welby asked staff at Lambeth Palace to ensure senior figures stick to a standard pre-agreed "line" if asked about the issue.

They were told that the Archbishop wanted to "move the conversation on" to other subjects such as poverty. They were urged to deflect any media inquiries by insisting that the Church did not want to "prejudice" a long-drawn-out consultation process it is holding over the question of sexuality, expected to take several years.

Clearly the Archbishop wants to avoid the "hot potato" issue, but he can't for much longer. It will all come to a head in January in Canterbury when the Primates meet. It will be interesting to see where he stands and what side he will take and what the implications will be not only for the Church of England but for the whole Anglican Communion.

*****

Anti-Christian bigotry is growing in Canada. Some say it is even worse there than in the US, where we are protected by the First Amendment. Here's the story.

Yonge & Dundas Square is like Canada's version of Times Square in New York, with concerts, buskers, demonstrations and events--everything from Hare Krishna chants to marijuana rallies to a permanent kiosk where Muslim men hand out Korans.

All manner of artists apply to use the space at Yonge & Dundas Square, including a group called Voices of the Nations, who have held a concert there for five years.

As a Christian organization, musicians who perform as part of the Voices of the Nations event sing songs about Jesus. But this year, when Voices of the Nations applied for another permit, they were turned down. A Toronto bureaucrat banned them from the public square because their previous events had featured songs that included the words "praise the Lord" and "there's no God like Jehovah."

According to the bureaucrats, Voices of the Nations weren't allowed to use the square because they were promoting religion, even though there are Muslim preachers using the same space.

So having a booth specifically for the purpose of converting people to Islam is fine under the city's "no-converting people" policy. But singing a song in a concert that happens to praise Jesus--that's illegal.

Anyone can sing in that square. Except Christians. Anyone can proselytize in that square--except Christians. And even just singing the words "praise Jesus" is considering proselytizing--and it's banned.

This isn't the first time Christians have been censored in this same place.

Just last year, a Christian pastor named Rev. David Lynn was charged by police with illegal "busking" for singing Christian songs at Yonge & Dundas Square, less than 50 feet from the Muslim Koran kiosk. The Rebel helped recruit a civil liberties lawyer to fight Rev. Lynn's case, and we won.

You can watch a video here: http://www.therebel.media/antichristian

*****

What are people thinking about when they visit museums? Maybe it isn't always intellectual inspiration. A team launching a project at the Victoria and Albert Museum have revealed the type of searches made on the London museum's website.

In the top 10 this summer, along with design-related searches such as "floral patterns," was "homo-erotic." The museum has a gay history project this month as part of the Being Human humanities festival.

At the launch at the Hunterian Museum in London, V&A assistant curator Zorian Clayton explained that the project would examine the hidden histories of the museum's collection and its intersections with gay and lesbian culture.

He revealed the level of potential interest from people searching the art and design museum's website. Along with "ships,""flowers," and "cinema,""homo-erotic" was one of the most popular searches.

This prompted a VOL reader to write, "My heart mourns at society's being drenched in this stuff as if it is high art and the soon to be touted acme of human civilization. The V&A is about the most reputable museum in London [a reputation enhanced by their rejection of Margaret Thatcher's wardrobe]. It really depresses me. NPR advocates this cultural and moral aberration almost daily. Even Alabama's local station devoted time to the stories of the LGBT community. I can only turn off these items with nauseous disgust. I think we have plunged into this state of decadence without hope of recovery and only the prospect of severe judgement. It's a Sodom situation and Gomorrah generation--proudly wicked. Everyone takes "gayism" and atheistic evolution for granted (I don't discount evolution as a divine process that glorifies God). Perhaps the church needs to adapt to survival mode in a situation of divine abandonment. By all means we continue to call the world to repentance, but perhaps we ought to concentrate on gathering the chicks under the mother hen for safety and sustenance. The wolf is ravaging the fowl pen.

"I have never felt so close to, and in need of, the Parousia. I can't think we can sink any further, knowing that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg, and I don't wish to discover what is below. I can hardly endure the contempt for God. I know these things weigh heavily upon yourself. Everything is so grotesque. I scan Rolling Stone regularly to monitor trends, but the content is now too repellant. We must nurture the believing remnant, and the church must cease pandering to the world. What a disaster the Church of England is.

"I truly think God is easing himself out of our situation. The hubris and hatefulness of man is so horrid. The church by and large is effete at best and dangerous in its worst "avant-garde" expressions. I know the Lord can do exceedingly more than we can think or imagine, but there is a deadline and I think it is fast approaching."

As for the Evangelical constituency: Grimshaw's rebuke to Whitefield on the latter's optimistic estimate of the spiritual health of Grimshaw's congregation--"Oh sir, for God's sake, do not speak so! I pray you, do not flatter them! I fear the greater part of them are going to hell with their eyes open."

*****

We are approaching the years' end, and I need to anticipate VOL's needs for 2016. As you consider your giving, I hope you will include VOL in your thoughts, prayers, and check book.

Your donation allows me to pay a small staff, travel, maintain a website, and access the worldwide Internet wherever I travel. We pay the bills each month and hold our breath for the next month. Your tax-deductible donation is stretched to breaking point. This is a ministry. Nobody is getting rich. Every dollar is accounted for by an independent accountant/auditor. We depend solely on you--our readers--to keep us afloat. Thousands visit www.virtueonline.org daily. We must have new donors to keep us going. If you have not contributed in the last year or so, please jump in and support us.

You can send a tax-deductible check to:

VIRTUEONLINE
570 Twin Lakes Rd
P.O. Box 111
Shohola, PA 18458

Or you can make a contribution through VOL's PAYPAL link here: http://www.virtueonline.org/support-vol/

Thank you for your support.

In Christ,

David

ON THE CHURCH: What we are experiencing, my friends, is not just a natural cycle, not just a pendulum swing. There is a mountain of evidence--still growing--that we are well into a monumental sea-change, not an organic evolution, but a tectonic shift of the sort that happens only every several hundred years. I would argue that the change we are in the middle of will turn out to be more significant than the Reformation of the 16th century. In fact, we need to go back about 1,700 years, to the early 4th century, to find the other bookend. --- Bishop Daniel Martins, Diocese of Springfield.

We must admit that our [Episcopal] church is broken, terribly broken. We have been consumed - and continue to be consumed by the unholy trinity of Lawsuits, Legislation, and Liturgies. We need to admit that this trio is not the solution to our decline and may, in fact, be one of the reasons for it. We claim to be healing agents in the world when we can't even be healing agents in our own Communion or our own Province. We must quit making excuses for our decline, citing the decline of the mainline denominations (our decline is worse), blaming the falling birth rate and increasing death rates of our members. Instead, we must look to our own complacency, our own conflicts, and our own self-focus as sins of which to repent. --- Neal Mitchell, Diocese of Dallas

By David W. Virtue DD
www.virtueonline.org
November 13, 2015

In case you missed it, here are the most recent TEC figures on its losses from 2010 to 2014.

TEC lost 241 churches from 2010 to 2014, an average of 48 churches per year. (That's almost one a week.)
TEC lost over 189,000 members.
TEC lost over 82,000 in average Sunday attendance.
Median average Sunday attendance went from 65 to 60. (It is probably less now in 2015).

From 2013 to 2014 the average Pledge increased from $2,553 to $2,626. (However, if you account for the inflation rate, TEC's effective giving decreased by .9%.)

BY CONTRAST The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) had 700 congregations in 2009 but by 2014 it was 948. Membership also rose. In 2009 it was 100,000, and by 2014 it was 110,006. Attendance in 2009 was 69,197, and by 2014 it was 71,664. The ACNA is now bigger than the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) with an estimated 80,000 ASA.

*****

The militant LGBT lobby is about to face some serious opposition in the Church of England. The tide is slowly turning in favor of conservatives on the issue of gay marriage.

A source told VOL that the number of Evangelicals in the Church of England has been rising steadily for 20 years, and the proportion of clergy who are relatively orthodox has therefore been rising. "The demographics all point to an Evangelical outcome, provided we can see off the current challenge from the fading liberal faction."

Two cases in point. Conservative evangelicals in the Church of England rejoiced recently when they celebrated the election of the three leaders of the "living out" community to the General Synod of the Church of England.

Dr. Sean Doherty, who lectures in Christian ethics at the evangelical St. Mellitus College in London, topped the clergy poll in the London diocese. Also elected were Rev. Sam Allbery, Associate Minister of St. Mary's Church, Maidenhead and the author of Is God Anti-Gay?, and Ed Shaw, Associate Pastor at Emmanuel Bristol.

All three experience same-sex attraction but live out a lifestyle in which they consciously "help Christian brothers and sisters who experience same-sex attraction stay faithful to biblical teaching on sexual ethics and flourish at the same time."

This was a clear smack in the face at the Rev. Colin Coward and Changing Attitude, the openly gay CofE organization.

More recently the Church of England won a round against an openly homosexual priest, one Canon Jeremy Pemberton who was prevented from taking up a post as a hospital chaplain. He sued the Church but an employment tribunal found he was not discriminated against. In a 58-page judgement, the panel also dismissed a claim of harassment made by Pemberton.

The case was brought against the former acting Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, the Rt. Rev. Richard Inwood. Pemberton claimed that the Church of England's stance on same-sex marriage breached the 2010 Equality Act. It came after his permission to officiate was revoked after marrying his partner in April 2014.

So here is a priest who was married, had 5 kids, divorces his wife--that's adultery--takes up with a man whom he marries and thereby commits homosexual fornication, and then expects the church to roll over and have him assist the sick and dying with words of comfort when he himself is so deeply conflicted and living in sexual sin. Would you want this poof by your bedside while you lay dying?

Perhaps, as one observer noted, "The Church of England is not in terminal decline despite its past and current failures. The dead wood is being pruned, and the new shoots that are growing up in its place will bear plenty of fruit if they are watered well and allowed to flourish. As we have seen time and again, God refuses to let his church slip away. The Church of England is not dying--it is regenerating." Pemberton is clearly part of the dead wood. You can read a story about this in today's digest. The Canon is taken to task and debated by an evangelical priest on television.
You can watch the video here: http://www.psephizo.com/sexuality-2/debating-the-pemberton-tribunal-2/

*****

Anglican Bishop Robert Duncan announced he will retire next year as head of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh, seven years after leading conservative churches locally and throughout North America in a historic and stormy break with the liberal Episcopal Church and its Canadian counterpart.

Last year Bishop Duncan had already ended his denomination-wide leadership of the wider Anglican Church in North America, the ACNA, which formed in the wake of the split. He told local Anglicans that at age 67, he is now also ready to let go of his duties in Pittsburgh. His retirement will be effective June 30. No word on who his successor might be.

"As I have said my prayers and sought counsel, it has seemed to me like the work I was called to do is as complete as it can be," Bishop Duncan told hundreds gathered for the diocese's annual convention at St. Stephen Church in Sewickley.

"The years of conflict--and of course-correction--within the body of Christ are past now," he said. "The challenge ahead is one of strengthening the church for discipleship and evangelization in a hostile and needy nation and world."

Bishop Duncan, who was elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1995, emerged as the foremost spokesman for conservatives long disenchanted with liberal trends in the Episcopal Church. The simmering conflicts exploded with the 2003 ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay person to achieve that office.

Bishop Duncan and a majority of Western Pennsylvania congregations split with the Episcopal Church in 2008.

He served five years as archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, a position he turned over to current Archbishop Foley Beach in 2014.

Bishop Duncan said he and his wife, Nara, will retire to the Laurel Ridge area of Westmoreland County. You can read more about this in today's digest.

*****

The Supreme Court in Israel has exonerated the former Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem of allegations by the current Bishop of Jerusalem. A seven-year long confrontation between Bishop Riah Abu El Assal and Bishop Suhail Duwani was apparently resolved by the court in Riah's favor.

Riah had accused Dawani of personal corruption and the misuse of Church funds.. Riah claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars were carelessly spent on groundless allegations in legal and court fees which must be repaid to the Church.

"In addition to recovering lost Diocesan funds, an investigation is imperative into other incidences of harassment and persecution by Bishop Dawani, who abused his church authority by mistreating the former Bishop who served the Church for over 43 years." Riah said Dawani should step down as bishop. You can read the full story in today's digest.

*****

United Church of Canada Moderator Mardi Tindal won't state the minimum in which her members should believe. She notes, "There are enough religious voices that would say, 'I have all the truth.'"

The United Church of Canada, which was formed 86 years ago with the grand vision to bring Protestants together "in one glorious national church," is undergoing one of the most precipitous slides in modern religious history.

In the midst of a breathtaking erosion in its membership, the church is undertaking what some call a great experiment to redefine itself through an intense engagement with the surrounding secular world; whether it be through advocating for the environment, fighting for the rights of homosexuals to marry or taking on the cause of the Palestinians, the church has attempted to blur the boundaries between religion and the broader society.

Supporters believe this strategy will eventually right the ship because they are following the word of God to engage in the world.

To others, though, the United Church is engaged in a self-destructive act, aiming to be so many things to so many people that it will morph into just another social advocacy group disconnected from 2,000 years of Christian tradition. Critics say there is a severe lack of orthodoxy, lax demands on belief and even too much latitude for ministers who can question the existence of God and the divinity of Christ.

Connie denBok, a United Church minister in Toronto, is among those who despair that the church has become so much of the world, so focused on popular issues, that it is evolving away from the core of Christianity.

"I would say that the United Church no longer has many unifying factors."

In 1926, Congregationalists, Methodists and Presbyterians joined to create a church with 600,000 members -- which rose to a peak of 1.1 million by 1964. Today, estimates put membership at around 500,000 and falling.

The Anglican Church of Canada faces exactly the same problems because of similar theological and spiritual compromises, and it is also fast disappearing. Now it is a gamble on who reaches the bottom first.

*****

Following the departure of Bishop Heather Cook from the Diocese of Maryland into jail for killing a cyclist while drunk, the diocese has now welcomed a new woman bishop in the person of Chilton R. Knudsen.

Knudsen is the former Bishop of Maine and is herself a recovering alcoholic.

The diocese has been without a bishop suffragan for 10 months since Heather Cook struck and killed a cyclist while driving while intoxicated. She resigned her position and last month was sentenced to a seven-year prison sentence.

You'd figure the diocese might have picked a straight, white, happily married heterosexual male without a drinking, drug or texting problem. Apparently they are not to be found.

*****

The Board of Directors of Bexley Seabury Seminary Federation (BSSF) has announced that beginning with the Fall 2016 term, the seminary will operate all programs--Anglican Studies, Master of Divinity, Doctor of Ministry, and Lifelong Learning--from one site, in Chicago. The change, recommended to the board by its Beyond Walls Task Force, was adopted by unanimous vote.

The move will bring to Chicago Bexley Seabury's Master of Divinity program. The seminary will split from its partnership with Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio following a collaboration that began in 1999. The current agreement with Trinity runs through Spring Term 2016. Transition planning is underway in consultation with current M.Div. students, so that they can complete their studies on schedule.

"Consolidating Bexley Seabury's operations in Chicago will bring new energy and focus to our work and, I am confident, will create still more choice and flexibility in course offerings while continuing to provide the kind of rich community life that has been one of the Columbus program's greatest strengths," said BSSF Board Chair, the Rt. Rev. W. Michie Klusmeyer, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia.

By all accounts Bexley Seabury is on the ropes and probably won't last another five years. There are fewer seminarians, less money to pay for them and few Episcopal parishes that can afford a full time priest when they graduate.

*****

The dwindling Christian population of the Middle East could vanish completely within a decade unless the global community intervenes, say alarmed aid groups. Followers of the Bible are being killed, driven from their land or forced to renounce their faith at an unprecedented pace.

The world has largely stood by as a dangerous tide of intolerance has washed over the region, according to a new study by the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. The study includes disturbing data about the plunging numbers of Christians in the part of the world that gave birth to the faith, and makes a dire prediction of what could happen.

"It's an answer that depends on the response of the world," Edward Clancy, director of outreach for the New York-based Aid to the Church in Need, told FoxNews.com. "What response is there going to be toward us if we act?"

SO why have we not heard from the new Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry on this enormous potential for the extinction of Christianity in the Middle East?

Furthermore why are we hearing nothing from the Presiding Bishop about black on black violence in cities like Chicago? Are we always going to hear whining about white privilege or will he start speaking up on issues that touch the hearts of millions around the world and in our own backyard?

*****

The International Reformed-Anglican Dialogue (IRAD) between the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) and the Anglican Communion met for its historic inaugural meeting in Kochi, in the State of Kerala, India, 26 to 31 October 2015. The Co-Chairs are The Rev. Elizabeth Welch (Reformed) and The Most Rev. David Chillingworth (Anglican).

"Communion" is the theme of the first dialogue in more than 30 years between the Anglican and Reformed communions.

It is hoped that this dialogue will result in a "better understanding of each other during a time of rapid change, a better understanding of ourselves and how we may resolve disagreement better and an improved ability to concentrate on what matters most--namely, articulating the gospel of Jesus Christ today," said Iain Torrance, president emeritus of Princeton Theological Seminary and former moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

The theme of this first meeting was "The Nature of Communion" and drew on the New Testament word koinonia, as it currently describes the nature of the interrelationships between churches. The perspectives on communion from the recent World Council of Churches document The Church: Towards A Common Vision played an important role in the conversation, as did presentations from a number of the participants.

"What I found so good and in a certain way a highlight was the deep desire of all of us to see the communion as a gift of God that is lived out in a very concrete way in being active in the world we live in," said Douwe Visser, the WCRC's executive secretary for theology and communion.

This first meeting, which took place 26-31 October in Kochi, Kerala, India, was hosted by the WCRC and facilitated by the Church of South India (CSI). The CSI, a member of the WCRC [and the Anglican Communion], is a union of churches from the Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian and Reformed traditions. The dialogue group was welcomed by Bishop Thomas K. Oommen (CSI deputy moderator) and D. R. Sadananda (CSI general secretary). Besides having an official delegate on the WCRC's team two local scholars from the CSI also participated in the meeting.

*****

The Bishop of Iceland Agnes Sigurðardórtti has categorically stated that there is no possible way of interpreting Icelandic law to enable Church of Iceland priests to refuse to marry couples on the grounds of their sexuality.

In a letter to the Icelandic Minister for Home Affairs Ólöf Nordal, she said that as bishop she will never put forward any proposal which has the effect of enabling discrimination of this type.

The letter was read out at the ongoing Church of Iceland Synod by Rev. Guðrún Karls Helgudóttir, the driving force behind a proposal to scrap any notion of 'freedom of conscience' for priests, i.e. the freedom to refuse to marry couples (who are otherwise eligible to marry) on the grounds of their sexuality.

In 2007, the Synod passed a resolution stating that "the freedom of clergy in these matters must be respected," but Rev. Helgudóttir feels now is the time to "take things the whole way and place no limits on human rights."

"The Church is the channel for Christ's love and celebrates life in all its diversity," concluded the Bishop's letter.

*****

VOL readers might be interested in a new book by Oxford University Press: Keeping the Vow: The Untold Story of Married Catholic Priests by D. Paul Sullins, OUP.

Following the Episcopal Church's 1976 decision to ordain women, Catholic leaders in America and Rome were approached by Episcopal clergy who opposed the decision and sought conversion as a result. The Catholics responded by establishing rules that would allow the Church to receive married convert priests as exceptions to the rule of celibacy--a decree known as the Pastoral Provision. In this fascinating book, D. Paul Sullins brings to light the untold stories of these curious creatures: married Catholic priests. Sullins explores their day-to-day lives, their journey to Catholicism, and their views on issues important to the Church. Surprisingly, he reveals, married Catholic priests are more conservative than their celibate colleagues on nearly every issue, including celibacy: they think that priests should, in general, not be allowed to marry.

Drawing on over 115 interviews with priests and their wives, as well as unprecedented access to the U.S. records of the Pastoral Provision, Keeping the Vow offers the first comprehensive look at these families and their unusual and difficult journey from Anglicanism to Catholicism. Looking to the future, Sullins speculates on what the experiences of these priests might tell us about the future of priestly celibacy.

*****

Are we slouching to oblivion? The newest survey data from Pew Research Center is now out and it confirms what your own eyes, ears and observations have already been telling you: Religion in America is a dying proposition.

Here is the overall take-away: The older are more religious than the young, who are pretty irreligious. As the religious old die off, they are replaced in the culture by an increasing number of irreligious younger people. There isn't a soul in the Western hemisphere who can be surprised at this.

The categories generally break into three major ones in these types of surveys: those born before 1946; those born between 1946 and 1986; and those born after 1986. Or in terms of age: those older than 70; those between 70 and 30; and those under 30. The only crowd with any measurable sense of religion are the older than 70 crowd. Those between 30 and 70 are barely religious. And those under 30--forget about it, statistically at least.

Here is the great precipice that the Church is now facing. Most of the adherents, most of the financial supporters, most of those who keep the Church viable are going to be dead in less than 10 years. What you have is a group paying the bills for the other group, small and indifferent as that other group may be. When they are off the scene, it will be lights out for many parishes. As these liberal priests and clergy bury their parishioners, they might as well jump in the hole themselves, for they will head back from the cemeteries and find fewer and fewer people in the pews.

And why is this? Because liberal Protestants sold out to the Social Gospel, overtly denying anything transcendent. They turned from the true Gospel to no gospel at all. They shot themselves in the foot, head and heart. It doesn't take a saint to realize that fewer children today translates into fewer adults tomorrow.

There is a bad combination brewing: a shrinking Church meeting an ever-increasing hostile culture. In 10 years, this will have accelerated to such a degree that the decline will be approaching unmanageable. And do not look to the immigrants or converts--not enough in either category, and those who do convert generally don't stick around. It won't happen with a boom or big thunderclap, and that's because it is happening right now, as we speak. We are currently slouching toward oblivion. [Source: Michael Voris of the Vortex]

*****

If you want some Christian and other thoughtful responses to Transgenderism you can read from the latest research in the blogs below:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Transgenderism on All Souls' Day By gentlemind
http://gentlemind.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/invasion-of-body-snatchers.html

Navigating the Transgender Agenda, by Ian Paul, Psephizo
http://www.psephizo.com/sexuality-2/navigating-the-transgender-agenda/

The New Bigots, by Brendan O Neill, Spiked
http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/the-new-bigots/17590#.VkO789LhCt8

Of Bullied Boys and Bathroom Bills, by gentlemind
http://gentlemind.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/of-bullied-boys-and-bathroom-bills.html

How Should Christians Respond to the Transgender Phenomenon, by Robert Gagnon, First things
http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2015/09/how-should-christians-respond-to-the-transgender-phenomenon

*****

We are fast approaching that time when we ask what the future holds for VOL in 2016. Momentous decisions will be made as early as January when the Primates of the Anglican Communion meet in Canterbury, England. VOL will be there to record this occasion that could see a split in the communion.
Archbishop Justin Welby will need all his reconciliation skills to keep it altogether. There will be later meetings of the ACC and primates.

To make our coverage possible we need your help. We run a lean (and many would say mean) operation to keep the news flowing without interruption day in and day out. We try never to miss a story that we think you should know about. We cover conferences no one else covers. We get the story and then you get it.

So please take a few moments and throw a few dollars our way to keep it all coming. Nearly 15,000 visitors have read the story by Sarah Frances Ives on the consecration of new Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. That's a lot of readers. Within a week over 2,000 of you will have read these VIEWPOINTS. But the number of supporters who will write out a check or hit the PAYPAL link at www.virtueonline.org will be in the single digits. Frankly we don't understand that. It makes no sense.

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In Christ,

David

It becomes progressively more and more difficult to find worthwhile stuff about which to blog or comment these days. My erstwhile denomination, the Episcopal Church (USA), has sunk into the mire of blasphemy and irrelevance, and is not even worthy any more of notice. My country is headed by an utterly self-absorbed, pusillanimous and law-breaking President, whom neither his friends nor his enemies will rein in. It has a Congress consisting largely of people so absorbed by their need to get re-elected that they are afraid to have any principles, and consequently are beneath contempt. And it has five Supreme Court justices who simply mock the law and their function as the tribunal of last resort in a putative democracy, and see nothing wrong with making up the law as they go, while openly flouting their contempt for the rule of law. --- Allan S. Haley, The Anglican Curmudgeon

Those of us who fear that Islamic radicals might be lurking among the refugees have been called every name in the book: bigots, Islamophobes and un-American. But the cold hard reality is that Protestants, Catholics and Jews aren't the ones beheading people. --- Todd Starnes

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
November 20, 2015

We need a religious response to ISIS, says Greg Scandlen of THE FEDERALIST. "Watching and reading all the news about the Paris attacks by eight Muslim fanatics has been disconcerting. All of the analysis has been about how we should respond diplomatically and militarily. These things should certainly be done, but there is a gaping hole in the analysis: the religious response.

"It is hard for the secular Western press to grasp, but ISIS is primarily a religious movement. These people take their religion very seriously, indeed--to the point that they are perfectly willing, even joyful, to sacrifice their lives in obedience to God.

"To most of the Western press this idea is madness--mass insanity. The secular media has little doubt that God is a myth, and it is beyond their belief system that anyone would die in service to a fantasy. To the extent they recognize religion at all, it is the type of westernized milquetoast mainline religion that is mostly a cultural artifact. People who go to church do so for nostalgia. They take comfort in ancient rituals and traditions. Nobody can actually believe this stuff.

"Yet people have been willing to die in service to God for a very long time. All of the apostles except John did so, as did many thousands of Christian martyrs during the reign of Nero. Even today thousands of Christians are being killed, even beheaded and crucified, because they will not deny God. While Christian martyrs and Muslim terrorists are both willing to die, only the latter are willing to execute others for their beliefs."

In the meantime, millions of Muslims are converting to Christianity.

That is a very big difference. Christians believe people come to Jesus because he has called them, not because of social pressure or terroristic threats. As Christians, all we can do is show love, preach the gospel, and witness to what Jesus has done in our own lives. Then we pray that our example and witness will open the hearts of others to be more receptive to the Spirit of God. Most of us aren't very good at this, but that is the model we try to follow.

And this model works. Millions of Muslims are converting to Christianity as a result. The Lapps are old order Amish who were prompted to become missionaries by the international attention given to the Amish after their example of love and forgiveness following the 2006 school shooting in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

They have traveled all over the world explaining how they were able to do this. One of the trips took them to a medical mission in Iraq, where one of the Iraqi physicians said to them, "When Muslims come here, they come to kill, but Christians come to help. How can I become a Christian?"

ANOTHER perspective about France's "massive" retaliation for the Paris attacks is from Israel. Israel must naturally feel that when they respond to terror they are held to a double standard by the international community.

French President Francois Hollande called the terrorist attacks an act of war and promised that France would take revenge. On Sunday, 12 aircraft--including 10 fighter jets--dropped a total of 20 bombs on Raqqa, ISIS' de-facto capital.

"It was normal to take the initiative and action and France had the legitimacy to do so. We did it already in the past. We have conducted new airstrikes in Raqqa today," France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. "One cannot be attacked harshly, and you know the drama that is happening in Paris, without being present and active."

Now Israelis are asking themselves how the world would respond had Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the same remarks following Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis. They have little doubt that Netanyahu would be denigrated for suggesting that it was "normal" and "legitimate" to respond the way France has. Good question.

Pope Francis didn't just criticize the ISIS attacks in Paris. He pretty much damned them. His weekend reactions used both religious and humanitarian terms--"blasphemy,""not human,""homicidal hatred." It was some of Francis' strongest language yet.

The attacks, Pope Francis said, were an "unspeakable affront to the dignity of the human person."
"The path of violence and hatred cannot resolve the problems of humanity, and using the name of God to justify this path is blasphemy," he said.

And the best Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry could come up with was a milquetoast response telling Episcopalians to say the Lord's Prayer, with no indictment against the Islamic State.

Later he addressed the Syrian refugee crisis and said this: "Be not afraid! In times like this fear is real. And I share that fear with you. Our instinct tells us to be afraid. The fight-or-flight mentality takes hold. At the present moment, many across our Church and our world are grasped by fear in response to the terrorist attacks that unfolded in Paris last Friday. These fears are not unfounded. We can and should support law enforcement officials who are working hard and at great risk to protect us from crime and keep us safe. And yet, especially when we feel legitimate fear, our faith reminds us 'Be not afraid.' The larger truth is that our ultimate security comes from God in Christ.

"Refugees from places like Syria seek to escape the precise same ideological and religious extremism that gave birth to the attacks in Paris. They seek entry into our communities because their lives are imprisoned by daily fear for their existence." Let's hope the State Department vets these folk.

*****

The lesbian suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles, Mary Glasspool, is leaving Los Angeles and moving to the Big Apple--New York City. She will become an assistant bishop in the Diocese of New York next April. At the time of her installation, Glasspool was the 17th woman to be elected a bishop in The Episcopal Church, and the first openly lesbian woman to become a bishop in the Anglican Communion.

She should fit right into decadent New York City with nary a peep about her sexual preferences. The Bishop of New York, Andrew Dietsche, told delegates at the diocese's annual convention that "she will bless us in myriad ways, and it is such a personal joy to make this announcement!" Sure she will. She can minister the new "evangelism" of PB Michael Curry to all the lesbian bars in NYC with her partner as she shares her faith story, whatever that is. God help us all.

*****

The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina has announced that the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee will serve as assisting bishop on Dec. 1. He is the former Bishop of Virginia.

The Rt. Rev. Anne E. Hodges-Copple, Bishop Pro Tem for the Diocese of North Carolina, said, "Bishop Lee is a man of great faithfulness, great wisdom, vast experience, and he will bring us a calm and steadying hand that will multiply into all kinds of blessings."

"We feel very fortunate to be coming back to North Carolina," said Bishop Lee. "We consider Chapel Hill home, and I'm eager to be of assistance to [Bishop Hodges-Copple], to serving God and the people of the Diocese of North Carolina."

*****

The Diocese of Northern Indiana announced five nominees for bishop to replace the retiring Edward S. Little II. The slate of five nominees to stand for the election as the eighth bishop of the diocese are:

The Rev. Canon Lynn Carter-Edmands, Canon for Formation and Transition, Diocese of Southern Ohio
The Rev. Canon Andrew T. Gerns, Rector of Trinity Church, Easton, Pennsylvania
The Rev. Susan B. Haynes, Rector of St. Paul's Church, Mishawaka, Indiana
The Rev. Douglas E. Sparks, Rector of St. Luke's Church, Rochester, Minnesota
The Very Rev. Raymond J. Waldon, Dean of St. Mark's Cathedral, Salt Lake City

VOL searched through their resumes and could not find a single nominee who could be described as orthodox in faith and moral teaching. Bishop Little was an outspoken evangelical, and a Communion Partner bishop. His orthodox legacy will now die with him. The most likely winner is Waldon. He has impeccable liberal credentials; plus, he kept St. Mark's on track as the host cathedral at the last General Convention in Salt Lake City. He's smooth, charming and debonair, the perfect counterpoint to Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.

*****

The Church Pension Fund of the Episcopal Church will now offer retirement benefits for same-gender spouses, VOL learned this week.

"As you know, if you are legally married to a same-gender spouse, your spouse is eligible for full spousal benefits if you earn at least three years of credited service while married.

"Acknowledging that same-gender marriage was only recently recognized by all 50 states, and also in response to General Convention Resolution 2015-D047, we are relaxing eligibility requirements for same-gender spouses until December 31, 2017.

"Specifically, whether you are active or retired, we are allowing same-gender spouses to receive full (or partial) spousal benefits if you are legally married and can present an Affidavit of Committed Relationship by December 31, 2017, to prove your spouse's eligibility for benefits. Same-gender surviving spouses of retired participants may also be eligible for spousal benefits under certain circumstances."

*****

From Mississauga, Ontario in Canada comes news that half a millennium after the birth of the movement that saw much of western Europe torn by religious wars, the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches are now contemplating taking communion together, Council of General Synod (CoGS) members and their counterparts in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) heard at a joint session of CoGS Saturday, November 14.

In a presentation on the commemoration in 2017 of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the Rev. Andre Lavergne, assistant to the bishop, ecumenical and interfaith at ELCIC, said American Lutherans and Catholics took an extremely important step last month.

On October 30, the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops jointly issued a document entitled Declaration on the Way: Church, Ministry and Eucharist. The document, Lavergne said, invites the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) to "create a process and timetable to address outstanding issues" between them. It also suggests there should be more opportunities for Lutherans and Catholics to receive Holy Communion together, he said.

The document itself states that "the possibility of occasional admission of members of our churches to Eucharistic communion with the other side (communicatio in sacris) could be offered more clearly and regulated more compassionately."

Although baptized non-Roman Catholics are occasionally given communion by Catholic priests in certain circumstances, the practice is currently very rare.

"If that comes to fruition, we've reached a major, major milestone...I didn't believe it until I'd read it myself," Lavergne said.

"Who knows what tomorrow will bring, in a place where 500 years after the Reformation, Lutherans and Catholics are talking about communion together?"

*****

Arson hit Masjid Al-Salaam, a mosque in Peterborough, Ontario, and Shazim Khan, the imam of the mosque, was immediately surrounded by supportive Anglicans. It was an "isolated incident. This will not change our perception of this community, which is peaceful, loving and welcoming." Anglican churches rallied and joined the broader Peterborough community in an outpouring of support and generosity for the members of the city's only mosque. Committed late in the evening of November 14, the attack was probably a hate crime.

The clericus of the regional deanery of Peterborough donated an initial $250 and called on all deanery parishes to match this amount, which should bring in several thousand dollars, according to Dean Gloria Master. "We received a message from Bishop Linda Nicholls saying, 'Do what you can in reaching out.' Almost all of our congregations have offered matching funds."

All Saints' and St. Luke's Anglican parishes offered to provide the mosque's members with worship, meeting and educational facilities. "A couple of other Anglican churches also offered space, but All Saints' is more centrally located," said Master.

"It is possible that we may use the All Saints' space offer once we know our space needs," said Dr. Kenzu Abdella, president of the Kawartha Muslim Religious Association (KMRA) and chair of Trent University's department of mathematics.

*****

RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE AND BIBLICAL ANSWERS by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Rabbi Sacks talks with Mark Bauerlein of FIRST THINGS and discusses his new book, Not In God's Name: Confronting Religious Violence, a timely rumination upon religious conflict in the world today. The standard conception of episodes of religious violence, namely, that extremist faith leads to fanatical aggression, is mistaken, he argues. The horrors we have witnessed have other sources, primarily sibling rivalry (broadly conceived), which, though often expressed through religious differences, can be reconciled through religious instruction. For Rabbi Sacks, our clearest way out of conflict is through the lessons of the Book of Genesis, particularly in the stories of sibling tension. Religious fervor is not going to disappear--that's a secularist fantasy, he says. On the contrary, the 21st century shall witness a "de-secularization of society," and instead of regarding the decline of religious faith as the answer to violence, we should return to the sources of faith for solutions. Please join us for this powerful discussion.

Watch the video here: http://www.firstthings.com/media/religious-violence-and-biblical-answers?utm_source=First+Things+Subscribers&utm_campaign=cb70b3038a-First_Things_Interview_with_Rabbi_Sacks11_15_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_28bf775c26-cb70b3038a-172542025

New York Times writer David Brooks weighed in on the book with an article, Finding Peace within the Holy Texts. You can read his excellent summary here: http://nyti.ms/1YeoYc9

*****

The Anglican Church of Canada announced that it would use indaba groups for the same-sex blessing vote. Canadian Anglican blogger Samizdat made the following tongue-in-cheek observation:

"The whole idea of the indaba groups is to create a climate of respect during which delegates put on a display of hugging, crying and earnest pondering while, in the background, there are secret machinations to pass the same-sex marriage motion and once again bamboozle the few remaining hapless conservatives still clinging to risible notion that the ACoC bears a passing resemblance to a Christian church."

A press report said this:

"Council of General Synod (CoGS) has stressed that delegates to the 2016 General Synod need space, time, and appropriate preparation in order to keep discussions around same-sex marriage from becoming antagonistic.

"The use of an indaba process or a Sacred Circle type of process is going to create a climate of respect," said Don Wilson, of the ecclesiastical province of British Columbia. "There is a view of some that the revisionists are heretical and the traditionalists are stuck in the past, and if we can get beyond that and into a kind of respect, it could smooth things out." (Indaba is a Zulu word for decision-making by consensus. The Indigenous Sacred Circle often involves the process of talking circles.)

"Though the resolution that brought the issue before General Synod ultimately requires delegates to give either a 'yes' or a 'no,' CoGS has vowed to make the conversation leading up to that vote as non-adversarial as possible."

*****

Episcopal Church Center in New York is renting out space to make money. Episcopal Cafe reports that Bishop Stacy Sauls, Chief Operating Officer of The Episcopal Church, Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, has made a statement regarding tenants of the building at 815 Second Avenue in New York City.

One group that got the heave-ho because it couldn't pay the rent is the Episcopal Church Foundation. It is moving into The Interchurch Center. The 2016--2018 triennial budget, passed by General Convention, mandated that office space at the Episcopal Church Center be rented at market rate in order to maintain the increasingly expensive Manhattan street address.

The Episcopal Church Foundation cited this new cost as their reason for relocating to The Interchurch Center from the Episcopal Church Center.

*****

The Executive Council of The Episcopal Church met this past week at the Conference Center at the Maritime Institute in Linthicum Heights, Maryland. You can read my report in today's digest. Much to their annoyance, they discovered the three day event was being bugged. Officers of Executive Council made the unsettling discovery before their morning session on Wednesday: a hidden audio recorder.

The Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe, executive secretary of General Convention, announced the discovery as the council came to order. "We discovered this morning a tape-recording device that had been concealed and was running," Barlowe told a shocked room. "Look under your tables to see if anything was taped."

Council members and staffers quickly rose from their chairs, lifted tablecloths, and searched under tables to see if any other recorders were planted in the meeting room. They found none and the meeting continued.

Around 9:30 a.m., the council went into executive session to discuss both staff issues and Haiti. Non-members left the room. Staff members closed the door to the meeting area and instructed everyone who had left the room to move away from the partition and cluster in a far corner of the dining room.

The hidden tape recorder was found on the floor near the lead table, where top church leaders had been seated throughout Executive Council, including Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and House of Deputies President Gay Jennings.

Church staff will investigate whether any surveillance cameras may have recorded someone hiding the recorder.

"This has never happened before," said Neva Rae Fox, the church's officer of public affairs. She said the council might discuss whether to take additional precautions.

Fox said the Episcopal Church Center in New York has never been known to be bugged during her nine years on staff. She said the church has no theories on who might have done it and has not decided whether to report the matter to police.

Question: Who would possibly want to bug a church that is dying and has passed all the hot button issues at various General Conventions? What is there left to bug, pray tell? The color of Curry's socks?

*****

Liberal Protestant seminaries are on the ropes in America. Richard Ostling, former TIME correspondent, writes that it is closing time for Andover Newton Theological School, the oldest U.S. institution for graduate-level clergy training, which has a 208-year history. It announced it is no longer "financially sustainable" due to falling enrollment and must sell its leafy 23-acre campus outside Boston.

This carries high symbolism for "mainline" Protestantism, which for centuries exercised such broad influence over U.S. faith and culture, writes Ostling.

"The school, which has 'historic' links with the United Church of Christ and American Baptist Churches, plans two more years of operation while it ponders two radical proposals: either relocate and merge within a larger institution (preliminary talks are under way with Yale's Divinity School) or else switch to ministry apprenticeships with basic coursework but no full-service residential campus."

Based on an interview with Daniel Aleshire, executive director of the Association of Theological Schools, MacDonald says this and seminary trauma elsewhere is "the fallout from decades of declining membership numbers in mainline denominations," noting that their seminary enrollments have dropped 24 percent since 2005.

At Andover Newton, enrollment totalled 271 students in the last A.T.S. report. Only 40 percent were full-time and only 25 percent lived on campus, compared with the 450 full-time students a generation ago. Enrollment is 63 percent female, and the average student age is 49.

The school requires no creed of the faculty and instead defines itself doctrinally by "core values" like integrity, innovation, openness, understanding, academic freedom and the sustainability of creation. The school emphasizes "multifaith education," and 10 percent of its students are non-Christians (variously identified as Unitarian Universalist, Jewish, Muslim, Baha'i, agnostic or atheist). Andover Newton points to its recognition from the liberal Religious Institute as "sexually healthy and responsible," and welcomes "our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning students."

By contrast, another Protestant school based in the Boston suburbs, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, is thriving, with a student head count of 2,067, including satellite campuses. This seminary was founded in 1969 through a two-way merger and purchase of a former Catholic seminary. It's resolutely conservative, with a statement of faith that defines the Bible as "free from error" and a campus code that upholds traditional Christian doctrines on sexual morality.

Among the nation's major Protestant seminaries, the Southern Baptist Convention operates a sizable network. Then there's an archipelago of interdenominational, evangelical seminaries, many of them younger than the "mainline" schools. The largest besides Gordon-Conwell, measured by enrollment, are Asbury (1,467), Dallas (2,084), Fuller (3,258), Reformed (1,082, with its 8th satellite campus opening in New York City next September), Talbot (1,105), and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (1,170). Sample enrollments for some prominent interdenominational seminaries known for their liberalism are as follows: Chicago (324), Harvard (336), Union (232), Vanderbilt (233), and Yale (412).

This should be a wake-up call for the Episcopal Church. Nearly all 11 of its seminaries are on the ropes financially and are losing students. The exception to this is Nashotah House, an Anglo-Catholic institution, and the evangelical Trinity School for Ministry (TSM). Both of these schools are thriving. By contrast, General Theological Seminary in NYC is in turmoil with few students and is selling off properties to stay afloat. There was a huge uproar a year ago with faculty threatening to resign. Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA had a lesbian president running the school for a while, but she is gone now. The school is sustained by property sell offs.

Just last week the Board of Directors of Bexley Seabury Seminary Federation (BSSF) announced that beginning with the Fall 2016 term, the seminary will operate all programs--Anglican Studies, Master of Divinity, Doctor of Ministry, and Lifelong Learning--from one site in Chicago. The seminary will split from its partnership with Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio following a collaboration that began in 1999.

Liberals will argue that that the old model of a full-time residential seminary is becoming unsustainable and lays too much debt on graduates who may become only part-time pastors. To save money and time, many schools today offer "distance learning" via computer.

But that's only half the story. The real story is the failure of Protestant liberalism, which has been slowly going bankrupt over the last few decades. This failure is now climaxing with the closing of seminaries, churches and more.

American Protestant Christianity was led over the cliff by Walter Rauschenbusch (1861--1918), who taught at Rochester Theological Seminary. Rauschenbusch was a key figure in the Social Gospel and "Single Tax" movements that flourished in the US during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In seminary he imbibed Higher Criticism, which led to a refutation of the inerrancy of the Bible, substitutionary atonement. In his words, "[substitutionary atonement] was not taught by Jesus; it makes salvation dependent upon a Trinitarian transaction that is remote from human experience; and it implies a concept of divine justice that is repugnant to human sensitivity." He was wrong of course, dead wrong, but his legacy is playing out in the US today with disastrous consequences. Liberal seminaries are dying as conservative ones are growing. While conservative seminaries are labeled homophobic, uninclusive and more and get beaten up by the secular media, they are quietly winning the culture wars. It may take another generation of refuting political correctness to get there, but God has plenty of time, even if we don't.

Most of the Anglican seminaries and theological colleges in the UK are orthodox in faith and morals, and while the CofE looks to be dying, the next generation of seminary graduates might prove us all wrong. A revival could be coming, but it won't come from the liberals and homosexualists.

TEC is dying and so are its seminaries, and well they should. But God has raised up the ACNA and a new day has dawned. Stay tuned.

*****

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David

It was another black eye for the Episcopal Church this week when the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world, conducted another of its famous analyses of church trends in America.

A 2014 Religious Landscape Study conducted by Pew revealed that the Episcopal Church ranked dead last in a 22-denominational count in attendance and membership with only 13% of Episcopalians actively involved in their churches.

By contrast The Anglican Church in North America had double that figure with 26% of those attending being actively involved in their churches.

The church with the largest most active laity were Mormons with a 67% activity rate and Jehovah's Witnesses with 64%.

There is much irony in that two non-Christian, theologically heretical groups (I can't call them churches) ranked at the top of the list while evangelicals of all denominational stripes denominations fell short of the engagement levels found among Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Seventh-day Adventists were more successful than any evangelical denomination involving members in the local church, according to the Pew Research Center.

What this tells us is that Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has an uphill climb if he wants to reclaim The Episcopal Church in any meaningful sense. With two-thirds of TEC being women over 60 and the other third being old white men and a few families, it is hard to imagine how his three-fold call to evangelize, preach anti-racism and push the Jesus Movement can do anything at this late hour in the game.

First of all his understanding of evangelism is defective as evangelism is traditionally understood and he admits that.

Pushing anti-racism training is not going to work in TEC either. At a press conference following the meeting of the Executive Council in Maryland last week I asked him WHO the racists are in TEC and never got a straight answer. He coupled anti-racism training with evangelism but that's a non-starter.

Who are the racists in TEC and who needs anti-racism training? Women over 60! Men over 70! This would be a better sell with the Police departments in St. Louis and Chicago but it won't fly in TEC. What it looks remarkably like is a kick at White Privilege which bishops like Atlanta Bishop Rob Wright constantly push as a way for white men to be guilty for being well white while at the same time beating the drum for pansexuality. But that could backfire bearing in mind who pays the bills in TEC. Bishop Curry is playing a dangerous game with his elderly White constituency.

Furthermore the presiding bishop keeps talking about two million Episcopalians. That's a fiction. Average Sunday Attendance is the true measure of the Church's health and there are now about 650,000 active Episcopalians and as we have said they are old and dying.

*****

TEC's Executive Council professed transparency principle faced a test this past week in the final plenary session of the new governing board's four-day meeting in Linthicum, MD. Members had just finished orientation when they experienced the challenges of acting independently at the Episcopal Church Center staff.

At issue was a resolution (FFM 019) to authorize housing allowances in particular amounts for 20 staff members, including new Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Chief Operating Officer Stacy Sauls. Under the federal tax code, housing allowances allow clergy to pay less in taxes than if they take all their compensation as salary.

The Joint Standing Committee on Finances for Mission approved the specific housing allowance amounts and recommended that the council do the same. But when the resolution reached the floor, all the amounts were blacked out on the projection screen. They were also blacked out on versions distributed to reporters.

"I'm puzzled that we talk so much about transparency at the beginning of the meeting, and now suddenly we're trying to hide information," said the Rev. Nathaniel Pierce of the Diocese of Easton. "I'm troubled by being asked to vote in favor of a financial document required by the IRS where all the numbers are blacked out. I'd vote against it just on principle. Don't ask me to vote on it if you're going to black out the figures."

"Our intention was to display the numbers," Canon Lloyd said. "I'm not sure why they're blacked out here." Really. Then the resolution was redone and all the figures came through -- not blacked out. Now they're blacked out again. I don't understand why we're going back and forth on that."

Lloyd told members they could find the resolution with dollar figures intact on an extranet site restricted to council members.

Members of the council continued to raise questions. Some said their congregations publish compensation figures for all clergy, as do at least two dioceses: Massachusetts and North Dakota. One member asked why housing allowance amounts for church-center clergy are hidden from the public while those of local clergy are not.

The debate came at the end of a four-day meeting in which a number of sessions were closed to the public and concerns about confidentiality rose to the fore.

But then a huge surprise occurred when it was discovered by a General Convention staff that they had found a tape recorder running beneath a table where Presiding Bishop Michael Curry sits. Instructions were given to everyone to search under their tables for hidden recording devices. None were found.

Ya don't think this is a little paranoid do ya! With all the hot button issues now firmly in place who would want to know much of anything now!

The entire council declared a rare executive session on Wednesday and met privately for slightly more than an hour. Press and certain staff were required to leave the meeting room and were barred from the half of the dining room that abuts the meeting room. Staff members clustered observers in a far corner of the dining room and made sure they stayed there.

Earlier in the four-day meeting, at least two joint standing committees went into executive sessions in which no reporters were allowed. The commission on governance and administration declared one to discuss legal matters, and the commission on world mission declared another to discuss Haiti. Rebuilding St. Vincent's School for handicapped children in Port-au-Prince was among the topics discussed behind closed doors when the entire council went into executive session, sources said.

At a press conference following the meeting Presiding Bishop Curry and House of Deputies President Gay Clark Jennings made it sound like all was sweetness and light with everybody working off the same page to push the church forward into the 21st Century, but even she admitted that she hopes for a miracle as the Church faces an uncertain future.

Admitting that the Church needs real renewal, Jennings said, "God knows it's not about buildings or full-time clergy or social status or endowments...I believe God has a new mission for us." She indicated that it would no longer be business as usual.

Citing research done by Matthew Price, VP of Research and Data for the Church Pension Fund, Jennings said that of the congregations that had one clergy person in 2006, 30% had no clergy in 2013. "So if the old model of a dedicated building with a full-time priest is required for us to do God's mission, we're in trouble," Jennings warned.

Jennings said research shows that between 2006 and 2013, congregations experienced a 7 percent decline in operating revenue, an 8 percent decline in pledge income, and an 11 percent decline in pledge cards, but no decline in clergy compensation amounts. Spending a higher proportion of the church's resources on clergy pay than in the past is not sustainable, she warned.

She said The Episcopal Church finds itself "crossing some new threshold we had never anticipated."

The deeper truth is with an aging Episcopal population, the inability to draw in Millennials, pushing pansexuality and more, the Episcopal Church faces enormous hurdles going into the future--and not the least of them is its capacity to survive. You can read my story about all this in today's digest.

*****

Desperate for a win, the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina named a new cathedral at their recent diocesan convention. They designated Charleston's historic Grace Episcopal Church as Grace Church Cathedral.

Some 300 Episcopalians from across eastern South Carolina named the new cathedral and adopted resolutions to work for racial reconciliation as they met for the 225th Annual Diocesan Convention of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina at Holy Cross Faith Memorial Episcopal Church in Pawleys Island. This means that Bishop Charles vonRosenberg can puff out his chest, don his miter and strut up and down a near empty "cathedral." Legal challenges still continue for both dioceses.

*****

Across the pond the Synod of the Church of England met this week with Queen Elizabeth II making a speech on Christian unity and the approaching Primates meeting in Canterbury.

She opened the 10th five-year-term of the Church of England's General Synod with an address which spoke of major advances in Christian unity and the need for prayer for January's Primates Meeting.

Earlier, during a sermon at a Eucharist in Westminster Abbey attended by the Queen and other members of the General Synod, the Preacher to the Papal Household, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, said that disagreements over moral issues should not divide churches.

That little phrase about 'moral issues' not dividing the Anglican Communion caught my attention and was picked up by VOL commentator Gavin Ashenden who did a theological rip on what the RC preacher said.

"This is a beautiful phrase, but a misuse of the concepts it contains. How should we be united? It is exactly the love of Jesus that ought to make us love what he taught and stand in mutual obedience to him together. Jesus was very clear about 'moral issues like sexuality'. There was to be no sex outside marriage and a man and woman were to leave their parents, cleave together and become one flesh. The love of Jesus unites us in obedience. It does not provide a mandate for uniting us to that which stands against Jesus and against obedience to the templates of creation and co-creation that Father has laid down for us." You can read Ashenden's piece here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/nh2uft5

The Queen recognized the divisive nature of the some of the Synod's business, saying that the "last Synod will be particularly remembered for the way in which, after prolonged reflection and conversation, even in the midst of deep disagreements, it was able to approve the legislation to enable women to be consecrated as bishops.

"This new Synod too will have to grapple with the difficult issues confronting our Church and our world. On some of these there will be many different views. And I am sure that members of the Synod will pray earnestly that the gathering in January of the Primates of the Anglican Communion will be a time when, together, they may know what is God's will."

We'll see, but those of us who know how the Global South think we should not hold our breath that this will necessarily turn out well.

On this synod's agenda was Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby's program of "Reform and Renewal" program spearheaded by the ABC himself.

Although the program has been given a spiritual makeover, the changes it proposes are simply managerial -- geared towards efficiency and performance, arresting decline and increasing its membership base to keep it in business.

The business model of reform and the economics of renewal are underpinned by one objective: the numerical growth of the church. Many of the mission plans across the church are drawn in such a way as to address the underlying problem of ageing church membership and declining new arrivals.

Instead of making sense of the demographic change of the society, the church leadership has identified issues with leadership as the core area for development. The ambiguous 2014 report by Stephen Green laid the platform to develop chief executive-style leaders who are equipped to turn an ailing business into a growth-oriented business -- in this case a successful church with growing congregations.

There is expected to be a wrangle between modernizers who advocate a redistribution of funding away from failing rural churches and reactionaries who oppose reform.

IN another development the ABC got positively litigious over cinemas deciding not to show an advert featuring the Lord's Prayer before the latest instalment of the Star Wars saga. The Church of England has said it is "bewildered" by the refusal of the country's biggest cinema chains to screen a 60-second advert featuring the Lord's Prayer.

The short film features Christians from all walks of life - including the Archbishop of Canterbury, weightlifters, a police officer, a commuter, refugees, schoolchildren and a festival-goer - praying one line each of the Lord's Prayer.

The clip was cleared by both the Cinema Advertising Authority and the British Board of Film Classification - but the UK's three largest cinema chains have refused to screen it, the Church said.

The Church said Odeon, Cineworld and Vue - which control 80% of cinema screens around the country - have refused to show the ad because they believe it "carries the risk of upsetting, or offending, audiences".

The Church's communications director the Rev. Arun Arora said: "The prospect of a multi-generational cultural event offered by the release of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' on 18 December - a week before Christmas Day - was too good an opportunity to miss and we are bewildered by the decision of the cinemas.

"The Lord's Prayer is prayed by billions of people across the globe every day and in this country has been part of everyday life for centuries.

The synod unanimously backed a motion calling -- effectively -- for military action in support of the establishment of safe routes for refugees fleeing persecution everywhere.

Archbishop Welby warned delegates on Wednesday that supporting the creation of 'safe and legal' routes for refugees 'essentially commits us to supporting the use of armed force overseas'.

Bishops cheered after the motion, put by the Bishop of Durham Rt. Rev. Paul Butler, was carried.

Welby spelled out clearly that is was likely that establishing 'safe and legal routes to places of safety' might lead to military confrontation.

*****

There is a question floating around the Internet and it is this; Would Jesus Bomb ISIS? There is little doubt that ISIS needs the Gospel, but should we bomb them back to the Dark Ages. A number of critics are playing the Jesus card declaring us as sinners to be analogous to ISIS jihadists, and compared Jesus to the innocent victims of their attacks.

Here are a couple of examples. "This is so away from Jesus I don't even know where to start. Good thing Jesus didn't take this approach when we put him on the cross. Another commentator said this; Did Jesus keep the legions of angels at bay in the Garden of Gethsemane so that his "followers" could advocate unleashing the modern version 2000 years later?"

The analogy behind these complaints is essentially this: We are like the terrorists. Jesus is like the victims of terrorist violence -- dead Parisians, dead Russians, dead Americans, etc. And since Jesus didn't blow up those who crucified him or let legions of angels go all seraphim on us, our political leaders should not blow up ISIS.

There are at least two glaring problems with this. First, I am not Jesus and neither are our political leaders. Jesus came to earth for the express purpose of sacrificing Himself to provide a means of restoring us to God, "the Just Judge of all men." He permitted Himself to be killed for our salvation because He was God. He knew exactly what good it would do because he had planned it from all eternity.

The second issue is the bigger one that has to do with how shallow our evangelical theology pool has become. Someone is missing from the analogy. God the Father, the Just Judge of all men. He was the one standing in the place of authority at the crucifixion. Our national rulers act with authority ordained by Him as they enforce the law and protect people charged to their care. God the Father did not stand idly by when sinners killed Jesus. He did not engage in self-loathing as the Left demands our leaders do. He presented us with the same option I proposed that we give these jihadists -- change your ways or face the consequences. To put it bluntly, repent or die. Be reconciled through the cross and empty tomb or face your own destruction.

One commentator noted, "We need to dump this portrayal of Jesus as an effeminate wuss who would never raise a finger to protect the innocent and to crush the evil doer. Scripture paints a vastly different picture of God that is both gentle and forgiving AND just and full of righteous wrath. From Psalm 2 we read, "Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us."

*****

The Ambridge-based Trinity School for Ministry announced this week that they received a gift of $1.5 Million from the Hansen Foundation of Sewickley, PA to support the work of the seminary's Robert E. Webber Center for an Ancient Evangelical Future. The gift will go towards building an endowment for the Webber Center to help sustain its work for many years to come.

"Embracing the vision the leaders at Trinity have for the Robert E. Webber Center means more to us than just nodding our heads," remarked Ms. Gretchen Hansen, a representative from the foundation. "Their vision for eternity and providing resources and direction for developing leaders is exciting and rewarding. The Foundation's sharing God's abundance is merely a response to the Holy Spirit and giving what is His in the first, middle and always place."

"The Hansen Foundation's commitment to promote Christian education throughout the Pittsburgh region is an excellent match with the Webber Center's mission to provide high-quality parish resources for Christian formation and discipleship" said the Rev. Dr. Joel Scandrett, Director of the Webber Center.

*****

IN CANADA, two historic Anglican parishes will close their doors forever, the victim of bad theology and equally bad morals. Their decline mirrors the long steady decline of the Anglican Church of Canada. The Historic Bishop Cronyn Memorial Church will shut its doors forever in London, Ontario and St. George's Anglican Church in the Walkerville, Windsor, Ontario will be demolished. Both parishes have deep roots in Canadian history.

Canadian blogger Samizdat said St. George's, Windsor is being demolished because the congregation has withered and the diocese doesn't need the building. Of course, when St. Aidan's congregation -- also in Windsor - joined ANiC, the diocese took them to court because they really needed the property - rather like my dog: if I pick up a stick, he must have it, only to lose interest when I drop it.

But officials at the Anglican Church's Diocese of Huron -- which owns the Walkerville property, with an asking price of $250,000 -- aren't holding their breath.

"We're going to proceed with demolition but because the city really would like to see if we can sell it first, we're going to test it on the market for a couple of months," Paul Rathbone, secretary-treasurer for the Diocese of Huron, said, "But we're not going to hold it on the market long at all.

*****

In other Canadian news, the Marriage Canon Report emerged with no secret that the purpose of the marriage canon report was to find a way -- any way -- to justify the marriage of same-sex couples. It was an exercise in using theology to disguise what the Bible clearly teaches; it was a rationalization. Wycliffe College theologian Ephraim Radner put it well when he wrote, "It was not a theological report. It was a report that used some theology, but for a non-theological purpose."

For Radner, the report was compromised from the very beginning due to its starting assumption that committed, adult same-sex relationships are acceptable expressions of human sexuality.

Radner's frustration also stems from the fact that the commission's mandate was not to look into the theological possibility of same-sex marriage, but to provide an argument for why Canon XXI, which governs marriage, could be changed to include same-sex couples.

"I don't think it was set up in order to be methodologically sound with respect to the issue at hand," he says. "It wasn't actually asked to think through an issue in some kind of steady state, even-handed, neutral manner in the Christian tradition."

"What's missing is concern about the survival of Anglicanism in Canada," he says, citing dwindling attendance and sales of property. "I think moving ahead on this very controversial issue is just hammering another nail into the coffin."

*****

A global warming Advent. For those who think that Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus, the Canadian Council of Churches has news for you: the real Advent is all about global warming.

The Council of Churches even prepared a sermon for Advent 1. Here is the beginning of that sermon, I won't inflict it all on you.

A Sermon for Preachers Preparing for the First Sunday of Advent:

"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Luke 21.25-26)

"This prophecy could easily be a description of our times.

"You see there was once a time when we had to argue about the reality of climate change.

"There was once a time when the interesting debate to be had was whether our actions as human beings could have an impact on the climate.

"However, I think, as a global culture, that time has passed.

"Climate change is a reality."

*****

We are going down to the wire for end of year donations to VIRTUEONLINE. We hope you will make a tax deductible donation to keep us going into 2016. Without your support we simply won't make it. There are stories to be written, travels to be made, bills to be paid, a website to maintain a webmaster and writers to support. Please help us out. We don't specify an amount. We say 'as the Lord leads you' a refrain of my late mother...and we mean that.

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Advent blessings,

David

The Episcopal Church of the Sudan hurled an ecclesiastical bomb at the American Episcopal Church this week and announced that they were severing all ties with the US Church because TEC had endorsed gay marriage, changed its canons on marriage and allowed trial liturgies. The Sudanese church argued that such innovations are not in conformity with the Scriptures.

Meeting in Juba, Sudan the Episcopal Church of Sudan’s 43 House of Bishops in a single stroke broke complete ties with US Episcopal Church and then promptly announced that they would formally recognize the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and its Archbishop Foley Beach.

The House of Bishops said they were encouraged by the 18 TEC Bishops who issued a minority report dissenting with the TEC resolutions: “We encourage these Bishops to stand firm on their position as well as those parishes within the TEC who disagree with TEC resolutions but abide with the Biblical understanding that marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman.”

The bishops said they would make an exception to the dioceses of the 18 TEC bishops who issued the minority letter of objections to TEC Convention resolutions.

This is the first blow at the new Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and drives a wedge into the heart of TEC. Curry might have hoped for a honeymoon period with the Global South and an opportunity to do his “don’t worry be happy” song and dance routine in Canterbury next month.

Not going to happen. He just got gob-smacked by the powerful Sudanese Episcopal Church and their fearless leader Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul (aptly named I think). Not to state the obvious, but the Sudanese Primate just ratcheted up the pain on Archbishop Justin Welby, who might have hoped that his Consigliere for Reconciliation, one David Porter (who works part time on the Archbishop's personal staff at Lambeth Palace), might pull a reconciliation rabbit out of the Anglican Communion hat in January.

That now seems less likely. Primate Deng Bul said he will attend the Primates Meeting in January in Canterbury and will probably give Curry if not Welby a piece of his mind Nigerian Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Kenyan Primate Eliud Wabukala, Uganda Primate Stanley Ntagali and Rwandan Primate Onesphore Rwaje will likely do the same. It doesn’t look good for Welby.

The central and first agenda item when the Primates meet is the disciplining of The Episcopal Church regarding the Dar es Salaam Declaration and Lambeth 1.10. If the vote goes against the GAFCON primates, will that force closure of the event? Will they then leave?

The truth is this. The ABC is pushing “sin management,” not reconciliation. This is a phrase made famous by the late Dallas Willard, and I don’t believe the Global South will buy it. There is talk of a federation of dioceses loosely held together if the idea of a communion is no longer viable. This might include a two tier system. But there is no hint that leaders like Okoh or the GAFCON primates will go for that. Sin is sin, and the ratification of sin by TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada, Wales and Scotland is untenable and irreconcilable.

The African Primates have Islam to consider, and they hate sodomy and anybody associated with sodomy. Why should the GAFCON primates jeopardize their own lives to save Curry’s pride—or Fred Hiltz (ACoC), for that matter?

These two Western prelates have nothing to fear from extremists except the extremism being pushed on the church and the West by a growing Anglican Gaystapo!

The Global South will die for Jesus. They will not lay down their lives for Bishop Gene Robinson or Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.

That’s a totally lost cause, and they know it.

You can read the full story on Sudan’s break with TEC in today’s digest or here. http://tinyurl.com/pg3ksqf

*****

The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island and its Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano took a hit this week and lost yet more dues paying members. St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, led by the Rev. Juan Moreno and comprised of 120 members, departed from TEC and is now with CANA East / ACNA, which is led by Bishop Julian Dobbs. The congregation left its buildings and finances to TEC walked out the door over TEC’s endorsement of gay marriage and continued theological heresies. The congregation currently worships in the Knights of Columbus Hall in Brentwood, NY.

*****

What do you do with cathedrals that have lost their mission and way and no longer serve the gospel cause?

In the Diocese of Rhode Island word is out that the former Episcopal cathedral is being turned into a museum of the slave trade. The 200-year-old stone Cathedral of St. John, which up until two years ago served as the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, will be a museum and reconciliation center dealing with the history of the slave trade. The cathedral closed in 2012 because of dwindling membership.

That history will soon become more prominent as the Episcopal diocese, which was steeped in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, establishes a museum dedicated to telling that story, the first church in the country to do so, according to scholars.

In the Diocese of Delaware the last worship service at the Cathedral Church of St. John in Wilmington was more than a year ago. VOL attended the final service and heard the last sermon delivered by former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold.

Now it is going to be an elderly housing unit, VOL has learned. The diocese recently hired Colliers International to lead a search for a suitable buyer. Situated at the corner of Market Street and Concord Avenue, the property is key to the neighborhood's future, city leaders said. It has been there for more than 150 years. There is also an office building and parking lot, all for the asking price of $1.5 million.

Nationwide, demographic trends have caused congregations from a variety of religious traditions to move out of churches and synagogues that have become too burdensome to maintain. It can be a painful experience for those who have to say goodbye to familiar traditions, but it can also be an opportunity, experts say, to find a way to ensure treasured community buildings are maintained.

"Part of the solution is recognizing these places are de facto public assets," said Tuomi Forrest, executive vice president of Philadelphia-based Partners for Sacred Places, which assists religious communities with ideas for managing historic properties.

Congregations offer a "halo effect" on the surrounding community, according to a 2010 study by Partners for Sacred Places and the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice. The report estimated that 12 congregations in Philadelphia infused $52 million into the city. The religious communities serve as "economic catalysts," according to the report.

The Delaware church was designed by John Notman, a Scottish immigrant who was one of the two men from Philadelphia invited to be a founding member of the American Institute of Architects. The cornerstone was laid June 4, 1857. The church was built of Brandywine blue rock "in pure Gothic and in cruciform design," according to "The Churches of Delaware," by Frank R. Zebley.

The church opened November 3, 1858. The last service at the cathedral was in July 2012. The congregation was welcomed at the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew in Center City Philadelphia.

Late last year, the diocese leadership said it would also move. They have occupied a building adjacent to the cathedral for 60 years, but the space "no longer meets current needs," Bishop Wayne Wright wrote in a November edition of the diocesan newspaper. The diocese is moving into the former St. Albans' Episcopal Church, north of the city.

The Episcopal Diocese of Delaware is offering three other properties in Wilmington for $1.5 million. The diocese has hired Colliers International to help find a suitable buyer. The revisionist Episcopal diocese is paying the ultimate price of no gospel—no future.

*****

The Anglican Church of the Diocese of Recife under Bishop Miguel Uchoa lost the last of its four properties save one claimed by the liberal Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil, (IEAB) a clone of The Episcopal Church, this week. A judge sealed their fate.

In August 2013 the largest Anglican congregation in South America, under the leadership of the rector, the Rev. Uchoa, quit the diocese of São Paulo and the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil. This week, now as bishop, Uchoa wrote to VOL to bring the latest news.

“I hold in my hands an order I was to sign requiring us to return some of our church buildings to the Episcopal Church. These buildings, without exception, were built with the resources and great effort of faithful parishioners who have been a part of these same communities for decades.

“I’ve just signed this order, fulfilling what the law required. I accepted God’s call on my life with careful consideration, but never did I imagine I would be involved in this kind of situation.”

Uchoa said the ties that bound his congregation to the Episcopal Church in Brazil do not bind them anymore. “We are completely free now, without any connection any more to the Episcopal Church. Today, following these actions I read a verse in Acts 27:40: ‘Cutting the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time untying the ropes that held the rudders. Then, raising the sail head to wind, they made for the beach.’

“You can read that when the anchor was cut, this connection was loosed and they were free to get to the beach. They then came to Malta, established a church there and went on to Rome. This all occurred after these bonds of apparent security were released. Growth and release of the Word of God followed. God defeated that storm and the gospel continued advancing unhindered.”

Bishop Uchoa told VOL, “I do not consider any of this easy. I witnessed our cathedral being built brick by brick. I was there at the groundbreaking. I lived through battles and blessings beyond measure. I was baptized at the age of 23 when I met Christ and was born again. Despite all this I do believe the testimony from the Word and from history: ‘The glory of this new Temple will be greater than the former’ (Haggai 2: 9). It is in our hands to work hard for all of this to become a reality. God is with us and so the Church will continue. As our late Bishop Robinson Cabilcanti loved to sing: ‘it is holy work, nobody can stop it.’”

The evangelical bishop called on his people to stand firm and to make this Church and diocese something no one has yet seen in this country since the arrival of theological liberalism that consumed and is destroying historic Brazilian Anglicanism.

“We are the faithful remnant, the faithful Church, the growing Church. We are the face of a renewed Brazilian Anglicanism and have the support of more than two-thirds of the global Anglican Communion. Our diocese now has 45 congregations and among them, the largest Anglican congregation in all of Latin America. This is who we are. Our work is extremely important.

“Four empty buildings cannot serve the worship of the living God. While we have the Church and all the people came with us, they have empty buildings. From God's perspective, which is better?

“The Anglican world is watching. Let us be united in heart, putting aside differences and shine our light for the world to see. Let us be open to the Holy Spirit that he may do a revival work among us. May many from around the world arrive at our airport eager to see what God is doing in this land through this part of His Church. Let us move out of any comfort zones, and receive the word of Paul to Timothy when he says: ‘Awaken the gift that is in you because God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of love, power and self-control’ (2 Tim 1).

“I love God and I have given my life for His service. I understand that my task is to fight the good fight for this Church. Here I stand. Let us stand together!”

The bishop said the diocese gave back four buildings, including the cathedral, but there is still one building under the court to be decided. “Our people are with us.”

*****

An unauthored article in The Living Church entitled "Primatial Option for the Covenant" argues that the Primates meeting in January 2016 should express a preferential option for the Covenant. This is farcical if not fantastical thinking. It is absolute nonsense to think the Covenant will have any part of the dealings in Canterbury in January.

The Covenant has been DOA for months now. No one talks about it and only a handful of provinces have signed on to it. They are: Mexico – accepted and subscribed; Myanmar – adopted; West Indies – adopted; South East Asia - adopted, together with its own preamble; Ireland – subscribed; Papua New Guinea – adopted; Southern Cone – approved; Aotearoa/New Zealand Polynesia – subscribed sections 1-3, unable to adopt section 4; Scottish Episcopal Church – defeated a resolution to adopt. There is no commitment to the Covenant by General Synod or General Conventions anywhere. The article says the Covenant is still the only game in town. In reality, nobody cares. It was the fictional last ditch effort by Rowan Williams to rescue the Anglican Communion from itself.

*****

Several months ago VOL received word that the Anglo-Catholic Church of the Ascension in Chicagowas in deep turmoil, with two musicians let go and its rector David Cobb coming under fire.

Ascension has always been the standard-bearer for the authentic Anglo-Catholic tradition in the diocese.
Its worship has maintained and exemplified what that tradition looks like, smells like, feels like, and sounds like. It has shone in its subdued, dignified way like no other Episcopal church in the United States. The music has been an essential part of this. Then the two musicians got the pink slip.

At a special meeting of the Vestry back in August, the Junior Warden demanded that the Rector resign.

This action, VOL was told, was the culmination of the past seven months' concerted campaign of Save the Ascension and others to undermine Church of the Ascension's common life and work. The Vestry adopted a resolution censuring the Junior Warden and asking for her resignation.

Also at this meeting, the Rector offered to tender his resignation in an effort to end the discord. The Vestry voted not to accept his offer of resignation.

Now, as a decimated Church of the Ascension emerged from 9 months' warfare with its now-departed Rector, Chicago Bishop Jeffrey Lee introduced his choice for Ascension's interim leader: a retired Minnesota bishop known for his smooth manner in "reforming" traditional Anglo-Catholic churches. His name? Bishop James Jelinek. His job is to turn the Anglo-Catholic parish into an Affirming Catholic parish. He will probably be successful.

The disastrous 18-month tenure of ex-Rector David Cobb was marked by the summary firings of the entire senior staff; a reduction in choral forces at Solemn High Mass; and numerous innovations to the 145-year-old Anglo-Catholic liturgy in which the parish had always prided itself. The ongoing strife and anguish at Ascension has impressed many observers experienced in working with distressed parishes -- including Bishop Lee's spokesman, who called it "the worst I've ever seen."

In September, parishioners were told that Bishop Lee would soon submit a list of candidates for their next Rector. Senior Warden Rod Luery said, "The Vestry feels that it is entirely desirable to host meetings of the parish to begin the process of reconciliation, and information on those meetings will be forthcoming."

No such information was forthcoming. But less than a week later, Bishop Lee convened the Vestry secretly to advise them of his new plan: interim leadership by retired Minnesota Bishop James Jelinek, 73.

Jelinek threw his miter into the ring after hearing of Cobb's departure, according to East Coast sources. As a retiree, he is not canonically qualified to become Rector, but he is the choice of Diocesan officials for an interim contract at Ascension lasting anywhere from 3 to 8 months.

This weekend, Jelinek will be in town for secret meetings with the Ascension Vestry, which is expected to approve his appointment. Jelinek just finished a term as interim Priest-In-Charge of St. Paul's K Street in Washington, D.C. There he fulfilled an agenda to convert the parish from traditional Anglo-Catholicism to "Affirming Catholicism".

Jelinek is no lover of orthodoxy. He finagled a homosexual priest to take over St. Paul’s K Street, even though the priest had a sordid past. He once prevented Kenyan Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi from preaching in his diocese, and he voted to depose The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan Bishop of Pittsburgh.

One can safely say this is the end for this parish. It will slowly die.

*****

There’s an Interesting little article in the December Montreal Anglican about a renaming service for non-binary transgender people in the Diocese of Ottawa. Being non binary transgender means that a person identifies as neither man nor a woman – presumably then, one is bisexual. The nuttiness continues, this time north of the border. Apparently TEC does not have all the crazies.

*****

Four men were arrested in Luton, England on suspicion of plotting terror attacks this week. Another 14 men and women were killed by Muslim extremists in California.

In light of the Episcopal Church’s newfound love of Islam (they are free to worship in the National Cathedral and other Episcopal watering holes), the new Presiding Bishop Michael Curry should come out now and say: "These arrests only serve to highlight our need for more interfaithery with our Muslim brothers and sisters. When we love the terrorists as Jesus loves us, then the Muslims will love us back and stop doing terror to us. They just want to feel welcomed and included. Through our Abrahamic outreach to them, they will feel the kind of love that will make them meek and mild like we are. That's who they really are, and they are waiting for us to lead them into self-awareness that transcends their terror urges. We can't help them if we fear them. The time is now for love through Jesus instead of prejudice through bigotry."

*****

Can we or can’t we, that is the question. The Vatican’s cardinal in charge of liturgy and the sacraments has strongly defended the Church’s tradition on reception of Communion in the wake of Pope Francis’ comments to a Lutheran woman suggesting she could choose in conscience to receive.

Speaking with Aleteia reporter Diane Montagna, Cardinal Robert Sarah said, “Intercommunion is not permitted between Catholics and non-Catholics. You must confess the Catholic Faith. A non-Catholic cannot receive Communion. That is very, very clear. It’s not a matter of following your conscience.”

In responding to a Lutheran woman seeking to go to communion with her Catholic husband, Pope Francis said, “There are questions that only if one is sincere with oneself and the little theological light one has, must be responded to on one’s own. See for yourself.” The pope, who was speaking to a Lutheran community in Rome November 15, added that both Lutherans and Catholics believe the Lord is present in Holy Communion, and that while there are “explanations and interpretations” that may differ, “life is bigger than explanations and interpretations.”

Pope Francis concluded it was not within his competence to allow a Lutheran woman to receive Holy Communion with her Catholic husband, but to answer her question, she should, “Talk to the Lord and then go forward.”

"A person cannot decide if he is able to receive Communion. He has to have the rule of the Church,” he said.

But Cardinal Sarah, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, contradicted this suggestion. “It’s not that I have to talk to the Lord in order to know if I should go to Communion,” he said. “No, I have to know if I’m in accord with the rule of the Church.”

*****

Alfred Kinsey, the godfather of gay rights, was an agenda-driven reformer with a dark background, says a story in Mercator.

During the 20th century, no one individual did more to bring homosexuality into the public forum than Alfred Charles Kinsey (1894 – 1956). A professor at Indiana University, Kinsey was a zoologist by training and spent the early years of his career studying gall wasps, collecting thousands of specimens of the insects. Kinsey then transferred his obsessive and taxonomic approach of research to the study of human sexuality. Kinsey and his colleagues gathered thousands of “interviews” in which he or his researchers asked detailed questions about the sexual backgrounds of research participants.

Kinsey compiled the findings from these interviews into two books, the opening salvos of the sexual revolution that soon swept the United States: Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953). Both works contain many sweeping assertions and often move quickly from tables full of data to moral speculation about the repressed sexual ethics of America.

Kinsey officially began sexual research in 1941 with the help of funds from the Rockefeller Foundation and the assistance of the National Research Council. In 1947 Kinsey founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now simply known as The Kinsey Institute. What has become clearer in the years since the publication of the Kinsey reports is that Kinsey was not merely gathering information about other people’s sexual experiences. He was also engaging in assorted sexual practices with various members of the research team.

Instead of the staid atmosphere most people associate with academia, the Institute for Sex Research became a kind of sexual utopia for the gratification of the appetites of Kinsey and his team. According to one biographer, “Kinsey decreed that within the inner circle men could have sex with each other; wives would be swapped freely, and wives too, would be free to embrace whichever sexual partners they liked.”[1] Kinsey himself engaged in various forms of heterosexual and homosexual intercourse with members of the institute staff, including filming various sexual acts in the attic of his home. My purpose here is not to engage in ad hominem attacks on Kinsey, but to emphasize that Kinsey was not a dispassionate scientist seeking truth. He was an agenda-driven reformer bent on changing the sexual ethics of a nation.

You can read the full story at: http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/godfather-of-gay-rights/17280#sthash.0gNC4Hn6.dpuf

*****

An impression of a biblical king's seal was found in Jerusalem this week. Alice Linsley, a scholar in these matters, said the find is absolutely amazing!

The discovery raises a big question mark over the modern Jewish narrative which would have us believe that Abraham was the first Jew and his beliefs and religious practices had no connection to his ancestors mentioned in Genesis 4, 5 and 10. You can read her piece in today’s digest.

*****

Tasmania elected a conservative evangelical bishop this week. The Chairman of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Australia) selected the Ven. Richard Condie to succeed the Rt. Rev. John Harrower, who retired earlier this year after 15 years of service.

Evangelical leaders in Australia said they are pleased with the election of Dr. Condie, as it strengthens the traditionalist witness within the Anglican Church of Australia’s House of Bishops.

Dr. Condie serves as vicar of one of Melbourne’s largest parishes and is also Archdeacon of Melbourne. He previously served as a lecturer in New Testament at Ridley Theological College, Assistant Minister in Murwillumbah, NSW, and a Research Officer with the Queensland Police Department.

*****

Many of you will have received an online appeal for funds to keep VIRTUEONLINE going in 2016 this past week. I hope you will take a few minutes to read it and consider writing out a check or making a PAYPAL contribution to keep us afloat.

We bring you the news locally, nationally and internationally as no one else does. We bring you stories about individual churches, the Episcopal Church, the ACNA and the wider Anglican Communion with an eye on the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England. We bring you the best of the culture wars, theological commentary, archeology, history and much more. Please support us.

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Advent blessings,

David

No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices.--Edward R. Murrow, broadcast journalist

A transcendent event. An example of the importance of considering each part of Scripture's teaching on any subject in the light of the whole is the second coming of Christ. It would be easy (and dangerous) to be selective in the texts from which we build up our doctrine. Thus, some passages indicate that Christ's return will be personal and visible, indeed that he will come 'in the same way' as he went (Acts 1:11). But before we press this into meaning that the return will be a kind of ascension in reverse, like a film played backwards, and that Christ will set his feet on the precise spot on the Mount of Olives from which he was taken up, we need to consider something Jesus said to counter those who wanted to localize his return: For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other (Lk. 17:24). The truly biblical Christian, anxious to be faithful to all Scripture, will want to do equal justice to both these strands of teaching. The coming of the Lord will indeed be personal, historical and visible; but it will also be 'in power and great glory', as universal as the lightning, a transcendent event of which the whole human population of both hemispheres will be simultaneously aware. --- John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
December 11, 2015

So it has come down to this. Would you invite a friend to join The Episcopal Church if you would be told you must be "evangelized" out of your White Privilege and then must undergo anti-racism training just to make sure that you understand your place in The Episcopal Church? Then once you had understood the ground rules a la Presiding Bishop Curry, you would then have to affirm that gay marriage is approved of by God (who has apparently changed His mind about how humans should sexually behave). You would of course approve liturgical rites for same sex marriage as well as sodomy and a number of other sexualities that the Episcopal Church has now approved of. You would have to confront the possibility that the priest in charge of your parish may have had a sex change operation and he, or is it she, would now be in the pulpit. Somehow you would have to explain that to your children in the name of inclusivity, of course.

If you haven't headed for the hills, then don't blame anyone but yourself when the sexual tsunami sweeps over your friends' heads and seduces them all into the new Episcopal morality and you wake up one morning and discover you will never have any grandchildren.

One last note. The Episcopal Church desperately needs your money because increasingly more parishes are living off their endowments, and that is a recipe for disaster. That still doesn't mean you won't have to undergo anti-racism training, but then it is nice to know that if your homosexual son or daughter marries another gay person and then adopts, the Bishop of Central Florida will baptize the child without a moment's hesitation. You have been warned.

There now, doesn't that make you feel better?

In case you missed it, here is a choice morsel from the President of the House of Deputies, Gay Clark Jennings. In her recent address to the Executive Council she said that while congregations were slowly sinking into the sunset with an 11 percent decline in pledge cards, there was no decline in clergy compensation. Spending a higher proportion of the church's resources on clergy pay than in the past is not sustainable, she warned. She said The Episcopal Church finds itself "crossing some new threshold we had never anticipated."

That threshold is called 'going out of business.' it's just that no one has put up the 'For Sale' sign...yet. So ask yourself what organization or business in America would allow its employees to lose market share without major firings. There is not a single corporation in America that, if it revealed that income was going down, would continue to pay its employees and CEO the same salaries. There would be pay cuts and layoffs immediately, with only the CEO likely to get a golden parachute for going away.

But not the Episcopal Church. It rewards incompetence with the same, if not greater amount of money with COLA clauses and more.

What is even worse, most parish priests don't believe the gospel of God's transcendent grace nor are they committed to deepening people's relationship with Jesus Christ, nor to inviting people into a saving relationship with the living God.

If all you have to talk about is climate change, racism, pansexual acceptance and a nice Jesus who has saved us all without repentance, then why go to church at all! Why indeed....and then get fully paid while your congregation walks out the door!

*****

New numbers on the state of The Episcopal Church rolled in this week, and the details revealed an uneven decline in Average Sunday Attendance.

Jeff Walton of IRD did the homework on this and said that the Episcopal Church continued its membership and attendance decline in 2014. However, dioceses and provinces (regions) of the U.S.-based church varied widely in their rate of decline, with some treading water while others posted sharp declines.

"New statistical summaries and trend reports released by the denomination's Office for Research supplement raw statistics released back in early October, which can be viewed here. http://tinyurl.com/puu836v More than two months following the release of updated statistics, the Episcopal News Service still has not provided coverage of the denomination's changes in the most recent reporting year.

"As IRD reported in October, the church's domestic U.S. membership dropped -2.7 percent from a reported 1,866,758 members in 2013 to 1,817,004 in 2014, a loss of 49,794 persons. Attendance took an even steeper hit, with the average number of Sunday worshipers dropping from 623,691 in 2013 to 600,411 in 2014, a decline of 23,280 persons in the pews, down -3.7 percent.

"The new trend summaries reveal that 53 percent of Episcopal congregations report a 10 percent or greater decline in attendance over the past five years, while only 18 percent show 10 percent or greater attendance growth during the same time period. Seventy percent of Episcopal congregations have fewer than 100 attendees, with the denominational median congregation down to 60 attendees. The denomination reports a 25 percent decline in attendees and a 19 percent decline in membership during the past 10 years. Only 4 percent of Episcopal congregations report an average attendance of greater than 300 persons.

"The decreasing numbers have had an effect upon the ability of smaller congregations to employ full-time clergy. In a first, a plurality of Episcopal congregations in 2014 (34.5%) have only a part-time or unpaid priest, outnumbering those with a lone full-time priest.

"Among the church's regions, Province IV (Southeast, membership -5%, attendance -7.1%) and Province IX (Caribbean/Central America, membership -9%, attendance -5.7%) took the steepest hits, while Province VII (South Central) reported modest membership and attendance losses below 1%. Collectively, non-domestic dioceses posted a modest attendance growth (uniquely in the entire Episcopal Church) although their membership numbers were weighed down by the Diocese of Honduras dropping -19.2%, the second year in a row that the Latin American diocese has dramatically revised its numbers." You can read the full report in today's digest.

Now you may have noticed that the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire suddenly reported a 23 percent attendance jump: how is that possible. Well it seems they are now counting students attending compulsory weekday chapel services at Episcopal prep schools. Why didn't anyone think of this idea sooner? It turns out someone did: VTS Dean Ian Markham in 2013.

*****

This week we learned that Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry was admitted to hospital, where he was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma--a small collection of blood between his brain and his skull. He was visiting Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg and was transferred to a hospital in Richmond for treatment. He later underwent surgery to relieve the condition. A full recovery is expected in a week.

*****

The gathering storm over the Anglican Communion grows closer. We're now barely five weeks away from when some 37 Primates of the Anglican Communion will gather in Canterbury at a special summit called by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby.

One commentator, the Rev. Peter Ould, who lives in Canterbury, told Anglican TV this week that it will be a "make or break time" for the Communion. He is right. Canon Phil Ashey, CEO of the American Anglican Council, opined, "What a fascinating 'gift' the Archbishop of Canterbury seems to wish to give us this Christmas season, the thin gruel of institutional unity around himself. Deep, irreconcilable, theological disagreements on Christian essentials will be preserved side-by-side through the Anglican art of practiced ambiguity. Churches in the more secular and developed west will continue to compromise with the culture in ways that offend and even endanger Anglicans in the Global South while simultaneously sending money and Western-trained theologians to the Global South to help in 'mission' and (re)education. And in the end, the Archbishop of Canterbury will be the center of this faux communion."

Ashey goes on to ask, "Can the mind of Christ be 'divided'? Is there not a consensus fidelium, an undivided mind of Christ around such issues as human sexuality? Is not that consensus measured both in time and space by the millions of Christians who have let that mindset of Christ shape their own minds, decisions and actions?

"What would happen if the Anglican Churches of the developed West considered not their autonomy on matters of sexuality and Biblical faithfulness something to be grasped (see Phil 2:6) but rather emptied themselves (maybe even repented) for the sake of communion?"

Does Welby really think he can still lead as the titular head of a divided communion?

*****

Britain is no longer a Christian country, and it should stop acting as if it is.

A major inquiry into the place of religion in modern society has provoked a furious backlash from ministers and the Church of England.

A two-year commission, chaired by the former senior judge Baroness Butler-Sloss and involving leading religious leaders from all faiths, calls for public life in Britain to be systematically de-Christianised.

It says that the decline of churchgoing and the rise of Islam and other faiths mean a "new settlement" is needed for religion in the UK, giving more official influence to non-religious voices and those of non-Christian faiths.

The report provoked a furious row as it was condemned by Cabinet ministers as "seriously misguided" and the Church of England said it appeared to have been "hijacked" by humanists.

*****

Christians are the world's most persecuted group, and Europe can no longer ignore their plight, according to Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament.

Speaking at a meeting to discuss religious discrimination and attacks, Schulz said the persecution of Christians is undervalued and has not been properly addressed.

Vice-President Antonio Tajani, referring to the need to protect Christians from persecution, also warned that Europe sometimes "falls into the temptation of thinking we can ignore this task."

According to the human rights organization Open Doors, 150 million Christians worldwide suffer torture, rape and arbitrary imprisonment. Among those being persecuted most severely at the moment are Christians in Iraq, Pakistan, North Korea and Nigeria. Many of the persecutors are Islamic extremists.

Tajani said: "Each month 200 churches and places of worship in the world are attacked and destroyed. Every day and in every region of the world, there are new cases of persecution against Christians. No religious community is as subject to hatred, violence and systematic aggression as the Christians."

Religion could be the solution as well as the problem, he added. "In the name of religion, we have an obligation to condemn all those who show contempt for life and kill in the name of God. Whoever shoots in the name of God, shoots against God."

*****

A resident of Guelph, Ontario appeals once more to Michael Bird, the bishop of Niagara (Canada) not to sell St. Matthias to property developers.

In spite of claiming to make justice one of the centrepieces of its ministry, the diocese doesn't seem to have convinced those who live in Guelph: it would appear that "the word on the streets of Guelph is 'greed'".

Here is the open letter to Bishop Bird from citizens of the Guelph to the Anglican Diocese of Niagara:

"On behalf of the Citizens for Community and all the residents of Guelph, I would appeal to you not to renew the Anglican Church's conditional purchase agreement with HIP Developments for 171 Kortright Rd. W. Yes, you have the legal right to sell the St. Matthias church property - and to the highest bidder. That's all you have though. You don't have the moral right. The land is community space -- for the people of Guelph.

"You represent the Anglican Church. People expect higher moral standards of churches, not lower. If you sell the property, zoned 'institutional' for a much higher 'residential' or 'high density residential' amount, in the middle of a single home family neighbourhood, the Anglican Church will be held responsible. You will have failed morally.

"You can do better. The Anglican Diocese bought the land in 1981 for $110,000. It was zoned 'institutional' and for a reason. Communities need lands zoned 'institutional' for different faiths, hospices, nursery schools, service clubs, seniors' centres, not-for-profit housing, and a host of other organizations. To buy land zoned for 'institutional,' and then turn around and sell it for 'residential' or 'high density residential,' at a much higher profit, and to not accept fair market offers from other churches, is immoral. The word on the streets of Guelph is greed. People also aren't interested in money reinvested in Guelph that is more than the value of the property as 'institutional.' That would be tainted money. It would be totally unjust for Anglican ministries to be financed at the expense of the McElderry neighbourhood and their families.

"In the future, other organizations will need community space. People need a place to meet and to be community. The church stands for community. Other churches offered fair market value for the St. Matthias property. Why did you not accept their offers or negotiate with them? Why not now accept new offers from the same churches or other community organizations? The Anglican Church benefited from this land zoned 'institutional' for over thirty years! Why would you not give another church or community organization the same opportunity? The United and Presbyterian churches both sold their churches to other churches or institutions.

"I would encourage you to come from Hamilton to Guelph and to listen to the people. I assure you the majority would respond: 'Well, you can do whatever, but it definitely sounds like greed.' You also have caused the neighbours to raise and spend thousands of dollars and work countless hours to fight for their neighbourhood. If you succeed at the OMB with your initial decision to sell to HIP Developments, will you reimburse the local community for their expenses? I would hope so.

"What do you stand for? I believe (for) community and spirituality. How is what you're doing consistent with: 'Do unto others (other churches) as you would have them do unto you.' Other churches made fair market value offers. Reopen the sale process and do the right thing. No one will fault you for getting it wrong at the first. They will if you get it wrong in the end. Churches are human and as history proves don't always get it right. We know that only too well in Canada. We all get it wrong from time to time. Stop the renewal agreement with HIP, and do the right thing. The McElderry neighbourhood and the reputation of the Anglican Church in Guelph, a church that continues to serve Guelph well, are far more important than surplus money. Don't go down in history as the bishop who sold our community land out from underneath us. Go down in history as the bishop, like many bishops, archbishops and other religious leaders, who realized that getting it right in the end is what it's all about.

"Guelph is counting on you getting it right. Choose people over profit. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr: 'In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.' If you are our friend, let us know by your actions. The time is always right to do what is right. Contact HIP Developments and make a 'Good for the People of Guelph' and 'Good for the Anglican Church' decision."

You can read more here:
http://www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/?p=23583

*****

The Anglican and Catholic churches and both former and current MPs are to be investigated by the inquiry into >B>child sexual abuse, the inquiry's chair has said.

Justice Lowell Goddard said councils in Lambeth, Nottinghamshire and Rochdale councils will also be examined as part of 12 separate investigations in England and Wales.

The scale of the inquiry was "unprecedented" in the UK, but she was determined it would succeed.

The inquiry is due to take five years.

*****

History was made in Uruguay on Nov. 22 with the first-ever ordination of women to the Anglican priesthood in the country.

The Rev. Audrey Taylor Gonzalez, the Rev. Cynthia Myers Dickin and the Rev. Susana Lopez Lerena were ordained priests on the Feast of the Reign of Christ at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Montevideo. All three had been deacons since the late '90s, according to an email sent to the Anglican Journal by the Bishop of the Diocese of Uruguay, Michael Pollesel.

*****

The case of the naturist bishop got much attention in the British press this week, but in truth it was bit of a non story. You can read about it in today's digest.

Anyway, a VOL writer sent this along this piece of doggerel by way of amusement.

A naturist bishop named Gorham
Addressed a large clergy forum.
She had to confess
That her state of dress
Reduced attendance to a bare quorum.

Enough said.

*****

Training health workers for the future of South Sudan. South Sudan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world: almost 1 in 20 women die during childbirth (in the UK this is 1 in 6,900) and 1 in 7 children will die before their 5th birthday.

A 15 year old girl in South Sudan is more likely to die during childbirth than to complete her education.

The National Institute for Health Sciences is working to change this by training health workers to work in Sudan. The NIHS is run by the International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA).

View video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fluESbebThE

One of the key obstacles to improved healthcare in South Sudan is a lack of trained medical staff. Though the country is larger than France, there are fewer than 200 doctors, and most health workers have only very basic training. AID sees healthcare as a crucial area in which to invest and has been working to develop a solution, along with the Government of South Sudan (GoSS), the local Anglican Church; the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS) and the International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA). The outcome is the ICMDA National Institute of Health Sciences, Jonglei (NIHSJ), a training centre for clinical officers, nurses and midwives for South Sudan.

How the NIHS works

The NIHS is run by the ICMDA: the International Christian Medical and Dental Association, an organisation that links the work of Christian Medical Fellowships (CMFs) worldwide. It takes on 50 students a year to be trained as clinical officers, nurses or midwives over a period of 3 years. The institute focuses on training this lower cadre of health worker, as often, if doctors are trained, they will travel elsewhere to work where they can be better paid. Clinical officers do many of the same jobs as doctors and also have a managerial role in health cerntres.

Students are taught by leading medics from the ICMDA who have committed to teaching at the NIHS for the duration of the course. The team is led by Dr. Anil Cherian, a consultant pediatrician from India. Alongside him on a teaching front are his wife, Dr. Shalini Cherian, a consultant obstetrician, Jasper Damaris, a nurse from India, Dr Peter Wampaalu from Uganda, Jacqueline Nampijja from Uganda, and Dr. Peter Waitt from the UK. Besides this, there have been many visiting teachers from various countries who have worked at the Institute for a few weeks at a time. There is also a strong administration team. Teachers follow the South Sudanese medical curriculum, making some adaptions and including much practical experience in hospitals and Primary Health Care Centres.

Once qualified, the students will go and work in primary healthcare centres across the country, greatly increasing the percentage of the population that has access to quality healthcare and so reducing child and maternal mortality.

There are now 69 students studying at the Institute, which is made up of two year groups. In the first year group, which began in June 2014, 20 students are training as clinical officers (including 1 girl), 16 as nurses, and 15 as midwifes (all female). There was not enough space at Mengo hospital to take on another 50 students, so 18 more joined in Summer 2015, and all are studying to become clinical officers.

You can make a difference to health in South Sudan!

To enable these students to continue their studies and go back out into South Sudan, we need you to help! The first year's training was funded by the Dutch agency CORDAID. Anglican International Development will meet the costs for the remaining two. We are not there yet, so if you would like to contribute to this project, please do so via this page or contact john.inglis-jones@interanglicanaid.org

Costs

It costs 4,600 GBP to train each student for one year. Thus, the annual cost of training the current cohort of 69 students is just over 317,000 GBP. The first year of the NIHSJ training programme was significantly funded by an international development agency, CORDAID, which was willing to initiate the project. However, in future, the NIHSJ needs to attract funding from other sources. Anglican International Development (AID), based in the UK, is supporting the NIHSJ and has secured significant funds to help to sustain the training programme. However, 400,000 GBP has yet to be raised to ensure that the first year's intake of 51 students will be able to complete the 2nd and 3rd years of their training. Looking further ahead, if the NIHSJ is to achieve its aim of a rolling programme of training with an intake of 50 students per year, much more money will need to be raised.

See more at: http://interanglicanaid.org/our-work/healthcare/institute-of-health-sciences/#sthash.bH8fjDQA.dpuf

http://interanglicanaid.org/donate/

*****

I could not end this digest without this short but beautiful video about a husband and wife who have been married for 50 years. She has Alzheimer's and he looks after her.

Watch the video. It will bring a tear to your eye, but it will also remind you of God's unfailing love for us all and how this love is lived out in this one couple. A truly inspiring story. http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/an-example-of-love/17306

Advent blessingsl,

David

UNITED STATES. The empty suit met the man with few brains...and lo and behold, they turned out to be one and the same person: TEC's new fearless, "Don't worry be happy" Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry. The newly anointed PB took his first tentative leadership steps this past week, wading into the cesspool that is called the Episcopal Church. He suspended his COO Bishop Stacy Sauls and two other top officials this week at national headquarters in NYC without saying why. He announced the suspensions just as he emerged from brain surgery and is currently recuperating in North Carolina.

Speculation ran rife that it might have something to do with the bugging devices found under a table at the last Executive Council meeting in Linthicum, Maryland. But no one will say. The PB did say there would be a video conference on Monday, December 14, but none was forthcoming.

When VOL inquired as to why the PB had not issued the promised statement, we were referred to the statement issued by the PB of the previous week which announced the suspensions but nothing more.

It is a baptism by fire for the recovering PB! He is barely a week into the job and heads are rolling. One hopes that White Privilege is not meeting racism so soon on the job. We wait with baited breath for the other shoe to drop. You can read what we know in today's digest.

But this has not stopped the PB from constantly talking about White Privilege and racism (whenever he's awake). But why do we never hear him rail on about Christians today who are under attack from the culture as well as from the ineptness of our own leadership?? ISIS Sharia Law judges recently began ordering the execution of children born with Down Syndrome, and young girls are kidnapped to be used as sex slaves. The silence from leaders like Curry on matters such as these is deafening.

*****

In a development that few Episcopalians of four or five years ago could have imagined, the Episcopal bishopsof the most powerful and financially secure dioceses have begun to turn on their own once-strong but now severely weakened parishes. Having driven out all the dissenters at enormous expense to their coffers, these dioceses are increasingly trying to make up their losses by sacrificing valuable real estate -- even if it means turning out previously loyal congregations from their hard-won property. And -- who could have foreseen it? -- the parishes most harmed by the continuous litigation were precisely those with the most valuable properties.

So writes curmudgeon blogger and Anglican canon lawyer Allan S. Haley.

More than any other lawyer, Haley has catalogued the millions of dollars spent by TEC's lawyers on litigating for properties built and paid for by parishioners. This litigation is a stench that goes right up to the nostrils of God.

He goes on to point the finger at one Bishop J. Jon Bruno (Diocese of Los Angeles) as a prime example who for nine years waged war in the California courts against four dissident congregations to prevent them from keeping title to their own parish properties. Using the notorious Dennis Canon, he was singularly successful in having California courts impose an irrevocable trust on the local parishes' real estate so that when they voted to withdraw from the diocese, they necessarily forfeited all rights to their property.

Haley writes, "But his victories came at a tremendous cost: the Diocese had spent more than eight million dollars as of last year and was still incurring more costs to subsidize two of the remnant congregations in their newly recaptured sanctuaries. Bishop Bruno negotiated sales of two of the properties: the parish of All Saints Long Beach was allowed to purchase their property on a long-term contract, and he sold the church of St. David's in North Hollywood to a private school."

He documents Bruno's venality in the scandal of two parishes -- St. Luke's in the Mountains and St. James the Great in Newport Beach, the latter of which is still ongoing with the present remnants of St. James now suing the bishop for seizing, closing, and attempting to sell the property to a developer. Bruno faces presentment charges as well. He has spent more than nine million to date to wrest the property away from its present parishioners and its redoubtable Canon Cindy Voorhees and sell it. The remnant are not going down without a fight. As Alley notes, "The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has been given the gift of eternal litigation."

But Bruno is not the only bishop hanging churches out to dry. In the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, one of the diocese's older parishes is the Church of the Ascension, just north of the Magnificent Mile, which began as a mission in 1857 and by 1869 had become one of the Church's leading Anglo-Catholic parishes. It maintained that tradition faithfully, becoming renowned for the extent and beauty of its liturgy and music until the advent of the Rev. David Cobb in 2014. No friend of the Church as it had established itself, the Rev. Cobb promptly sacked Ascension's leading musicians, slashed the budget for the choir, and began reducing the number of paid services.

The moves threw the congregation into turmoil. Bishop Jeffrey Lee was forced to intervene. The Rev. Cobb eventually departed after having been voted a generous six-figure "severance package," and an interim priest was assigned, but the damage to the Church's musical and liturgical infrastructure was by then a fait accompli. The Church found a replacement organist and choir director, but one whose permanent residence is in London.

Now Bishop Lee wants to turn the Anglo-Catholic parish into an Affirming Catholic parish, and to that end he is bringing in retired Bishop James Jelinek of Minnesota, 73, to transition the Church from Anglo-Catholicism into "affirming Catholicism." (Bishop Jelinek, by all reports, managed this same feat during his recent tenure at St. Paul's Church on K Street, in Washington, D.C. "Affirming Catholicism" is to Anglo-Catholicism as anti-matter is to matter: in contrast to the traditions from which Anglo-Catholicism springs, it endorses the liberal agenda of ordinations to the priesthood of all and sundry, regardless of gender, identity, or sexual orientation -- and sees itself as a counter-movement to "biblical fundamentalism.")

You can read Allan Haley's fine piece in today's digest or here: http://tinyurl.com/os2yyev

*****

Numbers crunching in TEC continues, and a VOL reader and subscriber sent in some interesting observations taken from the official numbers coming out of TEC.

All statistics are dated 2014 unless otherwise noted:

AGE AND RACE:

90% of Episcopalians are white.

62.1% of all Americans are white.

31% of Episcopalians are 65 or older.

14.5% of all Americans are 65 or older.

79% of Episcopalians do not have a child under 18. (Think about that. No children, no future.)

CONGREGATIONAL AVERAGE SUNDAY ATTENDANCE (ASA)

60 is the median Episcopal ASA.

70% of Episcopal congregations have an ASA of 100 or fewer.

4% of Episcopal congregations have an ASA of 300 or more.

53% of Episcopal congregations lost 10 percent in ASA (past 5 years).

18% of Episcopal congregations gained 10 percent in ASA (past 5 years).

CONGREGATIONAL MEMBERSHIP

150 is the median Episcopal church membership.

60% of Episcopal congregations have membership of 200 or fewer.

14% of Episcopal congregations have membership of 500 or more.

40% of Episcopal congregations lost 10 percent in membership (past 5 years).

24% of Episcopal congregations gained 10 percent in membership (past 5 years).

47% of Episcopalians say the Bible is not the Word of God.

51% of Episcopalians seldom or never read Scripture.

18% of Episcopalians primarily look to religion for guidance on right and wrong.

79% of Episcopalians think abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

74% of Episcopalians favor same-sex marriage.

SOURCE: New FACTs on Episcopal Growth and Decline
The Office of the General Convention
Episcopal Domestic Fast Facts Trends 2010-2014

The Diocese of Eastern Oregon elected a new bishop this week. He is Patrick Bell, and he will be the diocese's seventh bishop. Bell said he was raised Episcopalian and attended Whitworth College, a Presbyterian school in Spokane, Washington. As a young adult, his faith turned toward evangelical Christianity. He received a Master of Arts in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California and served as a Pentecostal minister. In time, he said, he returned to the Episcopal Church.
"I realized I wasn't a fundamentalist," Bell said.

Neither Whitworth nor Fuller are "fundamentalist" institutions, but the two Episcopal seminaries he did his Anglican studies work -- Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois -- are decidedly liberal Episcopal institutions. It appears he turned his back on biblical theology while at these seminaries. Had he gone to either Trinity School for Ministry or Nashotah House that would not have happened!

The diocese he is taking over has a TOTAL ASA of just over 900 people! There are single parishes in the dioceses of Dallas and Texas that are bigger than that. In time the Diocese of Eastern Oregon will be forced to fold its tent into the Diocese of Oregon. In the meantime, Bell will be keeping his day job, as the bishopric of Eastern Oregon is only a half-time position. Bell said he will be in the diocese two weeks per month and maintain his residence in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where he is presently the rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

One wonders how long the fiction is going to be maintained that dioceses like Eastern Oregon, Northern Michigan, Bethlehem, and Easton have a future. They are all running on fumes.

USA TODAY reported this week that a Detroit gay Catholic couple got the Episcopal Church to do the dirty deed and marry them. Because the Roman Catholic Church forbids same-sex marriage, Bryan Victor and Thomas Molina-Duarte made their wedding vows this summer before a Protestant minister in a Detroit Episcopal church. Those in attendance included many family members, including Victor's uncle, who is a Catholic priest, and a Macomb County pastor. The Rev. Ronald Victor did not officiate but was there because, he told his nephew, the Catholic Church "needs more examples of gay holiness."

So sodomite behavior now qualifies as "holy"! Since when?

*****

CANADA. The Diocese of Niagara and its bishop Michael A. Bird have been accused of caring only about money -- again, according to Anglican blogger Samizdat!

The diocese, still smarting from being denounced as greedy, has decided to give Guelph residents who are upset with the sale of St. Matthias two months to come up with a plan more to their liking. The Diocese made the announcement in a news release this week.

Diocesan spokesman Rev. Bill Mous said that "the diocese cared deeply about Guelph," a piety which has not convinced at least one citizen, who announced in a letter to a local Guelph newspaper that the diocese "cares only about money," that Mous's words "ring hollow," that the community "does not feel cared for," and that the diocese has "cast a dark shadow on the reputation of the Anglican Church everywhere" -- not an easy thing to do considering the completion.

Two contract extensions in spite of the fact that the City councilors unanimously said no to the rezoning application. Two extensions in spite of the feelings of the neighbors who want the church to remain a church, and two extensions in spite of the hopes and prayers of local congregations who are longing for usable worship space. Preserve a church as a church? Why do that when you can reap an extra million dollars by selling to a developer who specializes in high-density construction?

The angry citizen's editorial boils the controversy down to this:

"The words of Bill Mous, spokesperson for the Diocese, ring hollow to anyone who has a stake in the neighborhood surrounding the church property. The Diocese 'cares deeply for Guelph'? This community does not feel cared for. It seems the Diocese cares deeply about turning a huge profit by rezoning institutional land to R-4 specialized. And the Diocese cares deeply about running the community out of money so that citizens lose their right to object at the board.

"It's a sad comment on Anglican officials who lack a social conscience and try to bafflegab their way out of any responsibility for the upcoming demolition of a church that other congregations would be thankful to be able to purchase at fair-market value for institutional land. Diocese decisions have cast a dark shadow on the reputation of the Anglican Church everywhere and the Synod clearly worships the almighty dollar rather than the Almighty."

The Quebec Anglican Church is on the brink of going out of business. It is being challenged by the exodus of parishioners. The Rev. Yves Samson says that without radical change, the Anglican Diocese of Quebec could soon be extinct.

"If we want to keep going on (the old) track we will all die," Samson says in an interview after his French and English sermon to a room full of near-empty pews at St. James Anglican Church.

Several Protestant churches across Quebec have closed rather than turn bilingual.

Samson's church is Anglican in name only. The 10 people who showed up to mass on a recent Sunday included Baptists, Presbyterians, and Unitarians.

The Anglican Diocese of Quebec includes three of the province's main cities --Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke, and Quebec City.

The Anglican Diocese of Quebec produced a gloomy report in 2014 about the future of its parishes, which span an area larger than France.

Almost half of its churches have fewer than 10 regular services a year, and close to 80 percent of its churches have a regular attendance of fewer than 25 people.

Forty-five percent of its churches ran a deficit in 2012, and a stunning 64 percent of congregations said last year that within five years they would be closed or amalgamated with other churches.

"We see a grim portrait of our future in this diocese," the report concluded. "We need to act quickly on urgent and radical change in our ethos and structures."

"(The church) is no longer here today," Samson said. "Anglophones are dying out."

In his Christmas message, Canadian Archbishop Fred Hiltz tells us that "as I read the Christmas story, I am always taken by the way we portray the innkeeper," an odd fascination for an archbishop, since in the Biblical account of Christmas, there is no mention of an innkeeper. Still, the important thing about Christmas isn't that it is an event of cosmic significance around which all history pivots -- because God himself entered time as a baby -- but that Canada must accept more Syrian migrants.
And for that we need an innkeeper.
The other problem is that Hiltz completely forgets about the little drummer boy.

*****

AUSTRALIA. The Anglican Diocese of Bathurst is liable for a $40 million loan from the Commonwealth Bank and may have to sell property, including schools, churches, and other land and buildings, to meet its outstanding debt.

The diocese covers about a third of NSW and oversees 34 parishes from the central west to the Queensland border.

These parishes may face a levy to help cover the money owed.

The Anglican Development Fund, a corporation under the aegis of the diocese, borrowed $40 million from the bank, which it on-lent to two start-up schools, one in Dubbo and one in Orange.

From May 2008 to December 2011, Macquarie Anglican Grammar School and Orange Anglican Grammar School together were advanced more than $28 million.

However, the development fund defaulted, still owing a large part of the loan to the bank.

This was due in part to enrolments not meeting expectations and staffing problems at the two schools.

In a judgment handed down in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice David Hammerschlag said, "The schools were overladen with debt, could not sustain themselves, and were incapable of repaying the borrowed monies ... such was the parlous position of the schools that some of the loans were described as emergency loans."

The only security taken by the bank for the loan was a letter, known as a "letter of comfort" from the bishop undertaking responsibility, on behalf of the diocese, for the loan.

He said there was church trust property available -- both real and personal -- that could be used to pay off the debt. These include churches, cemeteries, rectories, and halls throughout western NSW. Many have belonged to the diocese or its various organizations since the 1800s.

A spokesman for the diocese declined to comment. A spokesman for the bank said, "We acknowledge the Judge's decision today and will be considering the implications of his findings."

*****

CONTINUING CHURCH NEWS

The Trinitarian newspaper reports that the Anglican Catholic Church has amended its marriage canons to define without equivocation that Christian marriage as "in its nature a union permanent and lifelong...of one natural, biological man with one natural, biological woman." In addition, regarding human sexuality, the canonical changes make clear that any attempt to change a person's original, biological sex "also rebels against God by rejecting His image and His design" and that "God intends males to mate with females and females to males and any individual's contrary choice is a violation of God's plan and, therefore, of natural law." The canonical changes make it clear that natural law transcends civil law.

IN OTHER NEWS, the ties between the ACC and the Anglican Church in America and the Anglican Province of America which have drawn closer over the last four years recently took a giant leap forward, reports the Trinitarian. Archbishop Haverland said members of his church could take Holy Communion at an ACA or APA church when an ACC is not nearby. This places the ACC in de facto communion with the two Continuing Churches.

Marianne McCravey Morse, 71, wife of the Rt. Rev. Daniel R. Morse, died in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, December 13th. She served beside her husband in his ministry as a pastor in Presbyterian churches in Georgia, Pennsylvania, California, and Tennessee, and as a professor in the Old Testament Department at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. She was the devoted mother of four children and a grandmother of nine. The funeral service with Holy Communion will be celebrated at 2:00 PM on Saturday, December 19, 2015 at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church with the Most Reverend Royal U. Grote officiating.

*****

ENGLAND. The Equality and Human Rights Commission announced that the issues raised by Digital Cinema Media's (DCM) decision not to show a Church of England advert about the Lord's Prayer in cinemas will be examined as part of a major Commission report.

This report, examining the adequacy of the law protecting freedom of religion or belief, will be published early next year. The DCM decision has generated significant public concern about freedom of speech.

The Commission, the national expert in equality and human rights law, has also offered its legal expertise for the purpose of intervening in the case should the Church take legal proceedings against DCM.

Chief Executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Rebecca Hilsenrath said, "We strongly disagree with the decision not to show the adverts on the grounds they might 'offend' people.

"There is no right not to be offended in the UK; what is offensive is very subjective and this is a slippery slope towards increasing censorship."

*****

A former Church of England priest has handed himself in to authorities in India to face claims he abused a boy there in 2011. The Rev. Jonathan Robinson, 73, is accused of abusing the 15-year-old boy in the capital Delhi at a youth hostel. The boy was from an orphanage that Robinson founded in Vallioor in the south of India, which has now been shut down. Robinson denies the charges, and a submission given on his behalf to court has said that the alleged victim was "threatened and forced" into claiming he abused him.

The vicar was on Interpol's wanted list for four years. However, Indian authorities recently took him off in hopes that Robinson would voluntarily come forward. He has been granted bail. A full trial is expected early in 2016.

The Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, has called for a Christmas mobile phone and tablet switch-off as a new survey showed a quarter of the UK admitted to checking emails on Christmas Day.

Sentamu said Britain must put the heart back into Christmas by putting digital devices to one side for the holiday. This was in response to a survey commissioned by Traidcraft as part of its Show You Care campaign, which revealed that 24 per cent of UK adults check emails on Christmas Day and 66 percent, two-thirds of the population, believe Christmas has lost its true meaning.

Sentamu, who has nearly 60,000 followers on Twitter, said, "Christmas is a day of good news, a day of great joy and a day to give thanks. I would encourage all those not working on Christmas Day to focus on connecting with family and friends, to enjoy this time with loved ones. I love using social media and email because of the instant connection with the world they bring but have a 'phone fast' from work on this day."

Welcoming the climate deal reached in Paris this weekend, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the global church must be a key partner in tackling climate change. "I warmly welcome the agreement that almost 200 states came to in Paris on Saturday, setting a clear and ambitious path towards tackling global climate change.

"Earlier this year I, alongside many other faith leaders, endorsed the Lambeth Declaration on Climate Change. The Declaration recognized the COP21 negotiations as a pivotal moment in the urgent global challenge to tackle climate change.

"As faith leaders, we urged those participating in the negotiations to apply the best of our world's intellectual, economic and political resources to reach a legally-binding global agreement to limit the global rise in average temperatures to 2 degrees C. The commitment made by world leaders to hold the increase in global temperatures to 'well below' this level is welcome and courageous progress.
Those most affected by climate change are the poor. In our prayers and actions we must demonstrate our love for them through sustainable and generous innovation.

"One of the Anglican Communion's marks of mission says that we are 'to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth.' The global church -- extraordinarily led on the issue of climate change by Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch -- must be a key partner in tackling climate change. As the Body of Christ, his church is called to be incarnational. Each of us has a role to play, if we are to help achieve what has been agreed in Paris."

*****

NEWS OF THE WEIRD...AND JUST PLAIN STUPID

The New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art is being sued for displaying paintings featuring Christ as blond-haired and white. Justin Renel Joseph, 33, of Manhattan filed a suit with the Manhattan Supreme Court citing four paintings showcased by the museum as being "racist" for depicting Christ as an "Aryan" male.

Joseph, who is representing himself in court, called the famous paintings an "offensive aesthetic whitewashing" of the true appearance of Christ who had "black hair like wool and skin of bronze color."

According to court papers: The implication that someone who possesses physical features like the plaintiff could not be the important historical and public figure of Jesus Christ ... caused the plaintiff to feel, among other things, rejected and unaccepted by society.

*****

A NOTE TO COMMENTATORS AT VOL'S WEBSITE. Increasingly we are finding that people feel they can vent publicly without recourse to the story itself. Please don't waste my time (or yours) with quibbling over terminology or details that do not touch on the main point of the post. Be civil and respectful or don't comment. If you stray off the main point of the story and want to promote either yourself or some minor detail that does not touch on the main thread, we will remove you. We will also not tolerate ad hominum arguments, personal slams, or retorts that do not represent Christian civility. Thank you.

*****

We are heading down to the wire, and we urgently need funds to round out the year. We also need support as we enter the New Year, as I will be traveling in January to both Canterbury, England to cover the Primates' meeting and later to Charleston, SC for the annual Mere Anglican conference and the Global Anglican Leadership Institute, of which I am a member. Thousands of you access VOL's website each day to read stories you don't find anywhere else. Please consider a tax deductible donation to keep us going into the New Year.

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Advent blessings,

David

This man Joseph was the foster father of the Incarnate Word of God - and he loved Jesus with an exemplary and tender love. This same Jesus who learned to work with wood from the hands of Joseph would, during his 33rd year on earth, save the whole world through the wood of the Cross. --- Keith Fournier

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
December 25, 2015

In a recent poll of 1,000 Americans, LifeWay Research found six out of 10 Americans typically attend church at Christmastime.

But among those who don't attend church at Christmastime, a majority (57 percent) say they would likely attend if someone they knew invited them.

"Regular churchgoers may assume the rest of America has already made up their mind not to attend church," said Scott McConnell, vice president of LifeWay Research. "In reality, many would welcome going to a Christmas service with someone they know."

Americans living in the South (66 percent) and Midwest (64 percent) are more likely to attend church at Christmastime than those in the Northeast (57 percent) and West (53 percent). And throughout the U.S., more women than men are likely to attend Christmas church services (66 percent vs. 56 percent).
Those who attend church most frequently throughout the year (once a week or more) are the most likely (91 percent) to say they will attend church at Christmastime.

Younger Americans are less likely to participate in a service or Christmas mass than their elders. Fifty-three percent of those 18 to 24 say they attend church at Christmas, compared to 68 percent of those 65 and older and 67 percent of 35- to 44-year-olds.

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UNITED STATES. The recent announcement by the new Presiding Bishop Michael Curry that he was investigating the activities of his three top officials at 815 2nd Ave., NY NY., and had suspended them (without telling us why) and then hiring a law firm in NY and Philadelphia to investigate the charges, has the whole church abuzz if not in turmoil. He did this while heading into brain surgery.

What if the Pope had just been elected then in the same week he fired top Vatican officials or the head of the Vatican Bank for unnamed reasons and then headed off for an operation on his brain! The news would have rocketed around the world. The secular press doesn't seem to be that interested apparently...nor the religious press in Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. Does this speak to the growing irrelevance of The Episcopal Church?

When Ellen Cooke a former TEC treasurer absconded with $2 million bucks in the reign of Ed Browning it made all the papers including The New York Times.

What I think it does tell us is this. Episcopal liberals and revisionists have been successful in getting rid of the Church's orthodox evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics and now they are turning on themselves...as VOL predicted they would. They are beginning to cannibalize each other. As the TEC ship of state sinks slowly into the sunset, the passengers and crew are grabbing whatever they can before heading to the life rafts.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the Church Pension Fund can no longer take 18% from every church when nearly half of TEC's parishes no longer have a full time priest. While the CPF is one of the best run pension funds in America and there is plenty of pension money around for the moment, if more parishes increasingly fold, merge or die where will the money come from for future generations presuming of course that there are any.
Just look at how money is being spent in TEC. The National church has spent well over $40 million in fighting for properties, according to canon lawyer Allan Haley. Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno is a prime example of a spendthrift bishop. For nine years he has waged war in the California courts against four dissident congregations to prevent them from keeping title to their own parish properties. Using the notorious Dennis Canon, he was singularly successful in having California courts impose an irrevocable trust on the local parishes' real estate, so that when they voted to withdraw from the diocese, they necessarily forfeited all rights to their property.

But his victories have come at a tremendous cost: the Diocese had spent more than $8 million dollars as of last year, and was still incurring more costs to subsidize two of the remnant congregations in their newly recaptured sanctuaries. Bishop Bruno negotiated sales of two of the properties: the parish of All Saints Long Beach was allowed to purchase their property on a long-term contract, and he sold the church of St. David's in North Hollywood to a private school.

Think about that...$8 million! What depth of hatred does Bruno harbor against evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics that he would spend down the diocese's inheritance when he could have made money by selling the properties to the people who wanted to buy them and stay there in the first place!

What does that really tell you about a revisionist bishop like Bruno and bishops like him? All the while pansexualists say that they are the ones who are hated by a handful of orthodox Episcopalians who are still stupid enough to stay in TEC.

So the handful of orthodox Episcopalians get beaten up not once but twice. First they lose their parishes, their priests and bishops deposed, then, as they leave or are being kicked out the door, they are informed that they also hate homosexuals and lesbians and every other kooky sexuality! What person in their right mind would want to be an Episcopalian especially as the new PB will berate you for being White and you need anti-racism training to deal with your White Privilege!

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The Presiding Bishop's Christmas message was thin pickin's. Here are the best bits.

Hello. Our original plan was for me to tape a Christmas message in front of the United Nations building in New York as a way of sending a message that this Jesus of Nazareth whom we follow came to show us the way to a different world, a world rounded in God's peace and God's justice, God's love and God's compassion.

It occurs to me that this Jesus of Nazareth really does make a difference. And God coming into the world in the person of Jesus matters profoundly for all of us regardless of our religious tradition.

In the park across from the United Nations, the Ralph Bunche Park, the words of the Prophet Isaiah are quoted,

They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks
Nation will not rise against nation
Neither shall they learn war any more

What's not there is another part of that passage that's in the second chapter of Isaiah, and it says,

Come, let us go to the mountain of God,
That he may show us His ways and teach us His paths

We who follow Jesus believe that the mountain came to us when God came among us in the person of Jesus to show us the way to live, to show us the way to love, to show us the way to transform this world from the nightmare it often is into the dream that God intends for us all.

Then read what SC Bishop Mark Lawrence wrote about Christmas:

"There were such moments of course two thousand years ago when the interplay between God's script and the unscripted response of his people played itself out on the world's stage occurring as it did in a minor country, among a seemingly unimportant tribe; and yet with electrifying purpose (as astonishing as it may seem to the eyes of the skeptical) God through the incarnation and atoning work of Jesus Christ brought salvation for all people (Titus 2:11)."

Or this from ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach who says Christmas is not just about the birth of the savior of the world but that his life death and resurrection is central to the message of the Christmas story. He cites 1 John 4:10, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

Curry doesn't even touch the issue of sin and redemption.

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The new Presiding Bishop has just hired a black woman to be his Canon for Evangelism and Reconciliation. She is the Rev. Stephanie Spellers. You can watch a couple of episodes of the TV program Black Jesus recommended by Spellers. I'm stunned!

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2014/09/22/canon-stephanie-spellers-preaches-at-house-of-bishops-meeting/

Her sermon wherein she recommends the TV program is at the above link. Here are several of her remarks:

"Some Thursday night, when you're feeling brave and have half an hour to kill, I hope you check out this new TV show: "Black Jesus." The language is for mature audiences only, so don't say I didn't warn you. But if you keep listening, I promise you it's worth the effort. These brothers are saying something important about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

"With all due respect, I hope the show survives. Because it may be crass and it may be crude, but it's a remarkable vehicle for sharing gospel truth. What's blasphemous about Jesus gathering this young posse, entering their homes, being humble, being truthful, welcoming them into union and transformed life with God their Father? That's not blasphemy. It's a scandal: the scandalous, incarnational way that Jesus rolls. And if we follow him, I think it's how we're supposed to roll, too."

Here are Youtube links for several Black Jesus episodes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wz5h8bkHdY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWHBjzhgBUc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXjK_6PwIIc

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The Case of the Adulterous Virginia Theological Seminary Professor

This news comes from ACNA Bishop Quigg Lawrence.

"I opened the VTS Annual Report this morning and was shocked, honestly outraged to see a scholarship named for Milton Crum and his former mistress, now second wife.

"Professor Crum's first wife was a good and godly woman, of clear mind but was wheelchair bound with significant physical challenges. We all marveled at how Dr. Crum loved his wife and involved her in seminary life. For nearly two decades seminarians would visit her in their home.

"One day in the mid 1980's, for no apparent reason, Dr. Crum puts his wife (who I think was about 60 years old?) in a nursing home and then began proceedings to divorce her. People at VTS were shocked. What happened? Why would this loving husband do that when his wife was of sound mind and her physical condition seemed unchanged. It reminded us of a football player running a kickoff back 95 yards with great speed and talent and then fumbling on the 5 yard line. Only this "fumble" had much more dire implications.

"Turns out that Dr. Crum was having an affair with another VTS employee Käthe Wilcox.

"Even our most theologically liberal professors and students were enraged and several confronted Professor Crum directly.

"Nothing changed his adulterous path. He was not disciplined by the Seminary. He was not brought up on charges or defrocked by the diocese.

"Dr. Crum married his mistress and he retired in 1989 with a sizable pension.

"Now Dr. and the new Mrs. Crum give a large amount of money and VTS names a scholarship in their honor. Are you kidding me? It's blood money. The seminary must return it.

"In the article there was no mention of the wife of his youth that he put away without biblical cause so he could marry his mistress."

VOL reached out to VTS president Dr. Ian Markham for comment and this is what he wrote VOL:

Thank you for being so kind and giving me a chance to respond. This is a statement from the seminary.

"As Dean and President, one does not investigate the lives of all donors, seeking only to accept gifts from those who are faultless. One especially does not take action when those closest to the events (and therefore knew most about them) decided that the actions did not warrant any discipline. Given that every human life is full of complexity, one recognizes that there are seasons when we all make decisions that others will see as totally inappropriate. This gift from Milton and Kathe will enable clergy to grow and develop in their congregational expertise. We are grateful for the impact this gift will have on congregational leadership for the future of the church." --- Dr. Ian Markham

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ANGLICAN NEWS IN NORTH AMERICA. The ACNA and AMIA are in Reconciliation Talks. Leaders from the Anglican Church in North America and the Anglican Mission recently met in Atlanta, Georgia, this week to take steps towards personal reconciliation.

During the past six months, leaders from the Anglican Church in North America and the Anglican Mission have met for two days of discussions and talks. It has been a fascinating, enlightening, humbling, and challenging time for those of us involved in these discussions, said ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach

We have found that as we have talked, "old tapes" began to surface of experiences where we had been wronged, hurt, and misunderstood. These old tapes brought forth the need for humility, confession, repentance, and forgiveness before the Lord. It has been difficult, yet SO healing in many ways. You can read the full story in today's digest.

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CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEWS.A "historic" agreement has been reached between the Church of England and the Church of Scotland - marking their first formal working arrangement.

A document - the Columba Declaration - will be debated by the ruling bodies of both Churches next year.

It commits the Churches to "grow together in communion and to strengthen their partnership in mission".

Founded in two different branches of Protestantism, England's Church is Anglican and Scotland's Presbyterian.

The declaration has been authored by Kirk minister the Rev. John McPake, and the Church of England's Bishop of Chester, Peter Forster.

They say the agreement will allow clergy and lay people from each Church to be welcomed into the other when they move across the border.

The pact also recognizes that the two Churches have constitutional responsibilities in separate parts of the UK.

*****

GLOBAL NEWS. As we get closer to Canterbury and the meeting of the world's 38 Anglican Archbishops there is growing concern as to what the agenda should be and who really owns the communion.

Two archbishops, one Canadian and the other Kenyan are at odds over what should take place and what the topics should be. The fur is beginning to fly. Canadian Archbishop Fred Hiltz says the gathering is "not a decision-making body" and he is trying his best to pre-empt Kenyan Archbishop Eliud Wabukala and ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach in a deflection maneuver to focus on poverty, refugees, and global warming. Meanwhile, his African counterpart has made it abundantly clear that the chaos in the Communion is "spiritual and moral."

The two could not be further apart. Hiltz wants to focus on his triumvirate of temporal issues while Wabukala and Beach argue that the issue of human sexuality, much debated for more than 25 years is a salvific issue (I Cor. 6:9) involving eternal life or eternal damnation, something that seems to be lost on the revisionist North American archbishop.

The GAFCON chairman says the Anglican Communion is at a crossroads and it will be up to Archbishop Justin Welby and the mostly liberal West to decide which way they will travel. You can read my full story in today's digest.

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The Anglican Communion is at a Crossroads say GAFCON primates. They believe Canterbury meeting will be decisive for the future of the Communion.

At stake is a basic church-defining principle they say: Will Christ rule our life and witness through His word, or will our life and witness be conformed to the global ambitions of a secular culture?

This was the reason GAFCON was formed in 2008: to renew a Communion in crisis, drifting from biblical truth. While the presenting issue was human sexuality, this was really just one symptom of a deeper challenge, the emergence of a false gospel which rejects the core Anglican commitment to the truth and authority of the Bible. You can read more of what they had to say in today's digest.

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Return to God, Anglican bishop charges Nigerians. The Rt. Rev. Justus Mogekwu, Bishop, Anglican Diocese of Asaba, Nigeria, has urged Nigerians to return to God in order to attract His mercy.

Mogekwu, who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba, on the importance of Christmas, said only God would bring back prosperity to the country.

He said that in spite of the political and technological advancement, the world was gradually winding down because they have neglected God.

The clergy urged leaders to show love to the people which he said was the main reason for celebrating Christmas, for "Christ is Love.''

"This season must make us humble enough to come closer to God and ask for His mercy, for we have transgressed.

"Nigeria has been very fortunate that all these years things that would have torn apart this country have happened and we have survived them.

"So the hope we have is to retrace our steps back to God and on how we are running our politics.

"When men who are elected to build up the nation pocket the resources of the land, that is injustice and where there is injustice, there cannot be peace," he said.

The bishop said that no nation could grow when the leaders kill, cheat and maim one another. He, advised the country's leaders, be they Christians or Muslims, to go back to God and retrace their steps.

"When they turn to God and retrace their steps, God will help us and in spite of the fall in oil prices, we can go into agriculture and God will bless the land.''

Mogekwu said that celebrating Christmas was not for just eating and drinking, but to reflect on the reasons for His birth which was to save mankind.

"Therefore, it is illogical for anybody to say that he is celebrating Christmas unless he knows the Christ, who is the reason for the season.

"But when you celebrate Christmas as a true Christian, then it is an occasion to rejoice and thank God for what the coming of Christ has done in human history which is to reconcile man to God.

"Christianity is not just a religion but an experience, a lifestyle developed from an inner encounter with Christ," Mogekwu said.

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Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo resigns as International Director and CEO of Barnabas Fund.

It was with great sorrow that the board of trustees of Barnabas Aid International had to announce the resignation of Dr. Sookhdeo as a trustee of Barnabas Aid International and from his positions as International Director and CEO of Barnabas Fund as of 22 November.

They said that Dr Sookhdeo, who founded Barnabas Fund, had led it with zeal, vision and integrity for 22 years. Their press release explained: 'We are immensely grieved that current circumstances oblige him to step down.' On 23 February, Dr Sookhdeo had been found guilty of sexually assaulting a female member of staff. However, close friends have always expressed doubts about the facts of the case.

The Rev. Paul Mursalin will become Acting International Director and Hendrik Storm will become CEO.

Dr. Sookhdeo said: "It has been a privilege to serve the persecuted church for many years. I have always been motivated by the needs of Christians facing suffering. I hope for many years to come I can continue serving those whom the world often doesn't notice. My inspiration has always been Barnabas, the encourager, who stood up for the suffering saints of the early church. Please pray for me, as I pray for others."

IN OTHER NEWS Barnabas Fund announced two new Patrons, Canon Andrew White and Baroness Cox were confirmed in key changes at Barnabas Fund, UK this week. The Marquess of Reading was appointed Chair of Barnabas Aid UK. "We are in the midst of unmentionable terror, suffering and persecution of Christians around the world," said Barnabas Aid's new Patron, Canon Andrew White. "Barnabas Aid has always stood with those most in need. It is an honor to be asked to serve as their Patron."

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In 1847, one of the greatest hymns ever written, O Holy Night, in its third verse, sings the same cry of the slave to be human, and thus free. This is the Gospel, and as we celebrate the incarnation of Jesus, we celebrate the One who comes to set all the prisoners free, from personal and political sins alike.

O holy night!
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming
Here come the wise men from Orient land
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger
In all our trials born to be our friend

Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name

As we await the coming of our Messiah and Savior let us remember the words taken from the Handel's Hallelujah Chorus...AND HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER AND OF HIS KINGDOM THERE WILL BE NO END.

VOL wishes all its readers in 170 countries around the world a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope to see you all in 2016.

Warmly in Christ,

David

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) have been rising among gay and bisexual men, with increases in syphilis being seen across the country. In 2013, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men accounted for 75% of primary and secondary syphilis cases in the United States. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men often get other STDs, including chlamydia and gonorrhea infections. HPV (Human papillomavirus), the most common STD in the United States, is also a concern for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. -- Center for Disease Control in Atlanta

There is a great battle going on for the soul of Anglicanism. The Western industrial nations have pretty well caved to the voice of the times, and it is one of those every 500 year struggles. It is all quickly coming to a head. In January, there will be a gathering of Anglican Primates in Canterbury. There have been many conversations leading up to it. Leaders from GAFCON and the Global South are clear that they know what is at stake. There needs to be clear consensus and commitment to "the faith once delivered" (Jude 1:3) in order for the Communion to survive. --- ACNA Bishop Bill Atwood

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
January 1, 2016

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. The story of the week, and the one that racked up nearly 10,000 hits before it made it into this week's digest, is the story of a rector of a parish in Louisville, KY who was forced to resign because he would not go along with his vestry or his bishop to perform gay marriages. This was despite the fact that General Convention said no priest or bishop had to perform the ceremony if doing so would offend his or her conscience.

The Rev. Jonathan Erdman, Rector of Calvary Church in Louisville, KY, will leave his church January 10, 2016. His organist later announced that he was leaving January 19.

The vestry of his parish had been trying to force him out since the Episcopal Church authorized priests to perform gay weddings, and Fr. Jonathan, a high churchman, said he would not, in conscience, do that. The vestry has the support of Kentucky Episcopal Bishop Terry Allen White, who was complicit in the forced resignation of Erdman from his position as rector of the church.

At last summer's General Convention, The Episcopal Church adopted a resolution allowing gay marriage but also stipulated that it would honor theological diversity and specifically, "that no bishop, priest, deacon or lay person should be coerced or penalized in any manner, nor suffer any canonical disabilities, as a result of his or her theological objection to or support for the 78th General Convention's action contained in this resolution."

It was left to the bishops to enforce this resolution in their respective dioceses. Bishop White not only did not enforce this resolution, he was complicit in forcing the resignation of Fr. Erdman from his position as rector of Calvary Church. He did not have his back. It is a story of the ongoing vilification, hatred, and finally removal of godly priests who won't toe the line on the ordination of women or sodomy. As a result of their objections, they must be removed in the name of inclusivity and theological diversity, which of course is a fiction. One wonders whether there is a difference between suicide bombers who wrap themselves in explosives and priests and bishops who wrap themselves in the sanctity of sodomy and wonder why, when the theological bomb goes off, priests and churches die.

You can read the full story here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/gn5yj6v

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In the Diocese of Albany an Episcopal priest in Delmar was accused of video-taping a woman in a changing room. The Rev. Adam Egan, 35, Episcopal priest of St. Stephen Church in Delmar, faces felony charges after Colonie police say he was caught taking video of a woman changing clothes inside a dressing room at the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Latham.

He has been charged with Unlawful Surveillance and Tampering with Physical Evidence arising from the incident.

Albany Episcopal Bishop William H. Love noted the arrest "with great sadness" and said he had met and prayed with Fr. Egan. "Due to the serious nature of the offense with which he has been charged, as the Bishop Diocesan, I have placed Fr. Egan on indefinite Administrative Leave, during which time he is not to function in any capacity as a Member of the Clergy of this Church, nor is he to wear clerical dress." You can read the full story in today's digest.

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CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEWS. Women clergy will be the death of the Church of England, says Kathy Gyngell in an article in Conservative Woman."The Church of England tests my loyalty sorely. My local church clergy 'team' is almost entirely feminized. In my neck of the woods, there is literally no escaping them, or their dumbed down approach to their 'calling'. To a woman they appear to be laboring under the impression they are running a Sunday school. That is how we are treated.

"With their predictable pudding basin haircuts these female clergy are, in my experience, particularly graceless. 'Sit down', not please be seated, is how we are addressed at the start of the service. Forget any idea of starting with a priestly procession behind a cross or a choir.

"Regard for any aspect of the liturgy and the conduct of the services is scant and bears virtually no relationship at all to the Book of Common Prayer. Sentences from the scriptures, collects, general confessions, or absolutions are rarity between the Christingles and all the other modern service forms. I sometimes wonder if they know the order of service at all. And when we are treated to this rarity, few of these lady priests seem capable of projecting their voices, let alone able to sing. Sacred music has all but disappeared."

Of course we have seen how this has gone in the Episcopal Church. Women priests have not made churches grow. Women bishops have been liberal and revisionist to the core, with many of them participating in annual gay parades. They too have not made churches grow or brought people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Church of England will, in time, sadly go the way of the extinct Dodo bird. You can read Gyngell's full account in today's digest.

The Church of England is to fast-track black and ethnic minority clergy into senior positions amid accusations of institutional racism.

A "talent pool" of black, Asian and minority ethnic (Bame) potential leaders will be identified in 2016 for training and mentoring with the aim of increasing representation among bishops, deans, and archdeacons.

The church selected its first talent pool this year, but fewer than 7% of those chosen were from ethnic minorities. A second round is currently being selected. The church is to devote a third group specifically to Bame clergy.

However, only 2.8% of CofE clergy are from ethnic minorities, which limits the numbers available for fast-tracking. At senior levels, the sole Bame bishop is John Sentamu, the archbishop of York; there is one Bame dean and three archdeacons. Only 3% of the members of the last synod -- the church parliament -- were from ethnic minorities; figures are not yet available for the new synod elected in October.

This is all well and good, but if these new minority priests do not have a clear fix on the gospel they will be no better than their white liberal counterparts. Orthodox Anglican African provinces will still keep pushing the AMiE as the alternative to the Church of England. You can read the full story in today's digest.

Anglican priest Fr. Giles Fraser publicly smeared the Virgin Mary and got publicly whipped for it by a Roman Catholic priest (and former Anglican), Fr. Dwight Longenecker.

Longenecker writes, "Just when you thought the Anglicans couldn't stoop much lower, in a disgusting article published, predictably, on Christmas Eve, Anglican priest-journalist Giles Fraser not only publicly denies the Virgin Birth, but he ridicules the idea, proposes that the Blessed Virgin Mary was just another teen fornicator and that it's probably a good thing that Jesus was a bastard conceived when Mary had a romp with a Roman soldier.

"I'm surprised that he didn't title his article, 'That's Why Our Lady is a Tramp.'

"The crass arrogance of Fraser's article in London's The Guardian is only superseded by its ignorance. Fraser writes, 'The earliest polemic against Christianity focused on the circumstances of Jesus's birth. "We have not been born of fornication," says a hostile gathering to Jesus in John's gospel. The implication being: we weren't, but you were. In the second century, the Greek writer Celsus wrote a book about how Jesus was the illegitimate low-birth offspring of a spinner called Mary and a Roman soldier called Panthera. The implication may also have been that she was raped. Various later rabbinic texts refer to him as Jesus ben Pandera. All of which was intended as an insult: Jesus was a bastard. Obviously the son of God couldn't be a bastard. So, the argument goes, Jesus was not the son of God.

"'The idea that Jesus was born of 'pure virgin' could well have been a reaction to these insults.'"

A Church of England priest familiar with Fraser wrote VOL and said Fraser is the best example of a champagne socialist who talks about the poor but craves the hallowed setting of the Oxbridge elite. He is also a very shallow thinker made famous only by his left-wing bluster. You can read the full article in today's digest.

A Church of England report which attacked key policies of Margaret Thatcher's government was denounced as "Marxist" by one of her closest advisers.

The publication of Faith In The City in December 1985 was seen as a landmark event, sparking intense public debate about the role of the Church in society and the impact of Thatcherism at a time of inner-city breakdown and perceived rising inequality.

The report, which had been commissioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, referred to the Government's "dogmatic and inflexible" economic policies and the "unacceptable" effects of high unemployment.

Brian Griffiths, head of the No. 10 Policy Unit, said it showed "a deep hostility to government policy and the philosophy on which it is based" and accused the Church of adopting a "Marxist analysis" of society.

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GLOBAL ANGLICAN NEWS. As we get closer to D-Day in Canterbury, it is interesting to watch the spin by liberals over what they THINK will happen among the Primates based on a false reading of what has already taken place.

I face off with a certain Matt Gardner of the Anglican Church of Canada in an article titled Twenty-first Century Brought Family Disagreement at the Primates Meeting.

He argues that the last four Primates Meetings, which took place every two years between 2005 and 2011, saw major discussions break out revolving around issues of human sexuality, particularly concerning the blessing of same-sex unions. Striving for unity amidst open differences, the differing views among Primates took on the character of a family disagreement within the Anglican Communion.

However, it was much more than just that. The "differences" were fundamental. After the Episcopal Church in the United States consecrated an openly gay bishop and the Anglican diocese of New Westminster in Canada allowed the blessing of same-sex relationships, the issue of sexuality came to the fore at the 2005 Primates Meeting in Dromantine, Ireland.

Mr. Gardner seems to think that other issues like climate change and poverty dominated the conversation. Not true. When the orthodox primates were absent, temporal issues certainly took center stage, but pansexuality is the elephant in the sacristy and the last line in the sand. We will see how this all plays out next month in Canterbury. You can read my take on Mr. Gardner's rant in today's digest.

In a startling revelation in the New York Times, it was revealed that U.S. support of gay rights in Africa may have done more harm than good.

Since an anti-gay law went into effect last year, many gay Nigerians say they have been subjected to new levels of harassment, even violence.

They blame the law, the authorities, and broad social intolerance for their troubles. But they also blame an unwavering supporter whose commitment to their cause has been unquestioned and conspicuous across Africa: the United States government.

"The U.S. support is making matters worse," said Mike, 24, a university student studying biology in Minna, a town in central Nigeria. He asked that his full name not be used for his safety. "There's more resistance now. It's triggered people's defense mechanism."

Since 2012, the American government has put more than $700 million into supporting gay rights groups and causes globally. More than half of that money has focused on sub-Saharan Africa -- just one indication of this continent's importance to the new policy.

America's money and public diplomacy have opened conversations and opportunities in societies where the subject was taboo just a few years ago. But people on both sides of the gay rights issue have contended that American intervention has also made gay men and lesbians more visible -- and more vulnerable to harassment and violence. The American campaign has stirred misgivings among many African activists, who say they must rely on the West's support despite disagreeing with its strategies.

"The Nigerian law was blowback," said Chidi Odinkalu, chairman of Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission and the senior legal officer for the Africa Program of the Open Society Justice Initiative, which supports gay rights on the continent. "You now have situations of gay men being molested on the streets or taunted. That was all avoidable."

Fierce opposition has come from African governments and private organizations, which accuse the United States of cultural imperialism. Pressing gay rights on an unwilling continent, they say, is the latest attempt by Western nations to impose their values on Africa.

"In the same way that we don't try to impose our culture on anyone, we also expect that people should respect our culture in return," said Theresa Okafor, a Nigerian active in lobbying against gay rights.

This was the same message delivered to President Obama by the President of Uganda during his visit.

This of course raises the obvious objections by this writer. What right do Obama and America think they have to push their "values" on another nation when they constantly preach about inclusivity and diversity and multi-culturalism among their own people? Liberals constantly rant about the need to "listen" and have "conversation" with those with whom we disagree, but then they turn around and literally bribe a handful of African gay people with millions of dollars that could be better spent on poverty, housing and a zillion other good causes like clean water and better health care.

Perhaps the Obama administration should read the latest statistics from the Center for Disease Control on STDs among gay men. "Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) have been rising among gay and bisexual men, with increases in syphilis being seen across the country. In 2013, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men accounted for 75% of primary and secondary syphilis cases in the United States. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men often get other STDs, including chlamydia and gonorrhea infections. HPV (Human papillomavirus), the most common STD in the United States, is also a concern for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men." In 2015 the figures were worse--and to think millions of tax-payer dollars were spent in finding a cure for HIV/AIDS. Apparently nothing has changed. So now society blesses pansexuality and the churches are rolling over to embrace a handful of men who demand full acceptance of behavior that does nothing but shorten their lives and ultimately kill them.

American conservative and Christian groups have also turned to Africa, where the vast majority of people still share their opposition to same-sex relations and marriage. "There is an intentional effort to coordinate with Africa specifically because we don't want them to make the mistakes we've made here in America," said Larry Jacobs, managing director of the World Congress of Families, an umbrella organization of social conservative and religious groups based in Rockford, Illinois.

*****

ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA. The Diocese of Niagara is in decline, writes Canadian blogger Samizdat. The Anglican Church of Canada is squeamishly shy about publicizing how many people attend its churches. No complete statistics for membership and average Sunday attendance have been published since 2001, although the ACoC did claim a membership of 545,957 in 2007.

The Diocese of Niagara's paper, however, has published some statistics for 2013 and 2014:
Average Sunday attendance fell 7.2 percent in one year. We cannot know, of course, whether this rate of decline will increase or decrease as the years pass but, if it remains the same, in 60 years there will be 91 people left in the diocese or, since there are 89 parishes, around one person per parish -- presumably the priest.

On a less gloomy note, the number of green parishes increased by three, demonstrating, I suppose, that the diocese overestimated the drawing power of its Gaia god.

The historic All Saints Anglican Church in Sandy Hill, Ottawa has been sold and will gradually be developed as a mixed-use building for meetings, weddings, and neighborhood-scale businesses.

The Gothic Revival church on Laurier Avenue between Chapel Street and Blackburn Avenue was listed for sale at $1.7 million. The purchase price hasn't been disclosed.

What makes this interesting is that in 2011, the Diocese of Ottawa moved the congregation of All Saints into St. Alban's, a church that had been vacated by an ANiC congregation as part of a negotiated settlement with the Diocese of Ottawa. The diocese, having ejected the ANiC congregation, was eager to create the impression that they had a use for St. Alban's.

This has left All Saints without a viable congregation. As a result, it has been sold.

The faux-new St. Alban's congregation takes pride in not defining doctrine in a single confession, in encompassing a diversity of views -- other than the diverse view that Christians who set a high value on a diversity of views have lost the thread -- and in Pride itself.

*****

CHURCH OF IRELAND. Church of Ireland bishops issued a report in the form of questions to answers in response to the recent passage of the Marriage Equality Referendum in the Republic of Ireland and the subsequent legislation. It is recognized that in the Church of Ireland there are differing opinions and responses to the outcome of the referendum itself. There will be many new situations of pastoral sensitivity that will arise, the bishops said.

Hitherto the Church and the State in both jurisdictions have substantially overlapped in their definition of marriage. This is no longer the case in the Republic of Ireland.

Under current legislation, involvement of a member of the clergy of the Church of Ireland as a solemniser (Republic of Ireland) or an officiant (Northern Ireland) in a wedding is an expressly legal function.

In a response to the Pastoral Letter from the Church of Ireland's House of Bishops concerning same-sex marriage, Reform Ireland said that the legislation to allow same-sex marriage was passed in the Republic of Ireland earlier this year. "Northern Ireland, being part of the UK, has to date, praise the Lord, not enacted such legislation - it is a devolved matter - the rest of the UK has such legislation but not here in Northern Ireland. Three times such legislation has come before our legislative assembly and three times it has been defeated. It is now before our high court for a judicial review in light of human rights legislation." You can read the bishops report and Reform's response in today's digest.

CHURCH OF AOTEAROA. From Christchurch, NZ comes word that The Anglican Church has agreed to consider "reinstating" the Christ Church Cathedral at a Dec. 23 conference.

The Anglican Church is resisting a full commitment to reinstating Christ Church Cathedral because of concerns over safety and cost.

Bishop Victoria Matthews partially endorsed a plan to reinstate the quake-damaged church, but did not rule out building a new, contemporary cathedral in its place.

A report by Government-appointed mediator Miriam Dean QC found the cathedral could be either reconstructed to be "indistinguishable" from its pre-quake self or replaced.

Matthews said the Church Property Trust (CPT), which owns the cathedral, would look at safety and cost issues of reinstatement. If they were manageable, a working group would lead an effort to revitalize the stricken building. Further announcements were expected in April.

CULTURE WAR NEWS. A Bible museum is coming to a very secular Washington. The National Mall may be the nation's front lawn, but religious displays are prohibited. Even at holiday time the museums that line it are only lightly decorated with Christmas trees and lights, and nothing religious.

But a new museum is going up just a few blocks away -- the Museum of the Bible -- that wants only to celebrate Christian scripture. The $400 million project, located two blocks south of the National Air and Space Museum, doesn't have to worry about laws or rulings that keep religion and state separate.

The museum is the brainchild of Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby, the privately owned Oklahoma City-based crafts chain that follows its owners' evangelical beliefs, including closing its 600 stores on Sundays.

In 2014 Hobby Lobby won a Supreme Court decision exempting it from Affordable Care Act requirements regarding birth control coverage, which conflicted with the owners' beliefs.

Green has had a vision of a Bible museum for several years -- it was first intended for Dallas -- to make Scripture more accessible. Construction in Washington began in February on the site of a former refrigeration warehouse and design center. It will be one of the largest museums in the city, with eight floors, 430,000 square feet, and a garden on the roof.

"The Bible has had a huge impact on our world today -- from culture and politics, to social and moral justice, to literature, art and music, and more," Green told a group of civic leaders last year at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. "Our family has a passion for the Bible and we are excited to be part of a museum dedicated to sharing its impact, history and narrative with the world."

SPOTLIGHT -- The movie. This week my wife and I saw the movie Spotlight. It's a gripping drama set in 2001. Editor Marty Baron of The Boston Globe assigns a team of journalists to investigate allegations against John Geoghan, a defrocked Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting more than 80 boys. Led by editor Walter "Robby" Robinson, reporters Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Matt Carroll and Sacha Pfeiffer interview victims and try to unseal sensitive documents. The reporters make it their mission to provide proof of a cover-up of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church. They trace the cover-up right to the top, reaching Bernard Cardinal Law himself. (He later fled to Rome to escape prosecution. He still resides there.)

As a journalist I found the movie gripping and the interviews with abused boys, many of them now men, sickening. The movie made me very angry. It's a high newsroom drama that reminded me of Watergate, only much better. Celebrities like Robert Redford don't make good reporters. This movie will stick with you for many reasons, chief of which is that this was not just about sexual abuse but spiritual abuse and putting the institution ahead of children. I thought only of the words of Jesus: that it would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Hundreds of men will never darken the doors of a church again. They will never trust a priest who supposedly speaks for Jesus again. Sadly, they may never trust Jesus, bearing in mind who supposedly spoke for him.

In one scene, a priest is confronted by a reporter and all he could say was to admit he did it but that he got no pleasure from it! The lies go on. Some 269 priests molested over 1000 children in Boston during that period. Most of the priests never went to jail, and those molested were bought off by the Archdiocese. See this movie, but you have been warned. It is not for the faint of heart. You won't come away with nice thoughts about the Roman Catholic Church.

*****

As we face the New Year, I hope you will consider a tax deductible donation to keep VOL going. The story about the priest who was forced out of his parish by the vestry and bishop because he would not go along with gay marriage has had nearly 10,000 hits! You would not know about this priest or what he suffered at the hands of his "friends" if it was not for VOL. So why did this story catch fire? There are many reasons, but one that comes to mind is that it speaks to what many priests suffer. Sadly, they are too afraid to talk about their objections because they want to keep their jobs and pensions in The Episcopal Church. Secretly, they cheer this priest, but they remain silent. VOL breaks down those silent walls and tells you what no one else will say.

Please make a donation. Of the 10,000 people who read this story, less than 20 made a contribution to keep VOL afloat. That's not right. So please help out.

You can send a check to:

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Thank you for your support.

*****

So here's my New Year's gift to Jesus. I'm going to do everything I can to focus on Jesus Christ. I want to get to know him better. I want to introduce others to him better. All the liturgy, all the devotions, all the worship, all the education and catechesis, all the evangelization, all the writing, all the prayer, all the work to help the hungry and homeless, all the work in prison, all the work in school, all that I am and do I want to be focused on him.

A Happy New Year to all VOL's readers in 170 countries.

David

The baptism of the Spirit. The teaching of the Pentecostal churches, and of many people in the charismatic or neo-Pentecostal movement, is that we receive the 'gift' of the Spirit when we first believe, but then need a second and subsequent experience called the 'baptism' of the Spirit, usually evidenced by 'speaking in tongues'. What the New Testament teaches, however, is not a stereotype of two stages, but rather the initial blessing of regeneration by the Spirit, followed by a process of growth into maturity, during which we may indeed be granted many deeper and richer experiences of God. These often bring a fresh experience of the reality of God and a more vivid awareness of his love. But they should not be called 'the baptism of the Spirit'. The expression to be 'baptized with the Spirit' occurs only seven times in the New Testament. Six of them are quotations of John the Baptist's words 'I baptize with water, but he will baptize with the Spirit', a promise which was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. The seventh (1 Cor. 12:13) emphasizes that all of us have been 'baptized' with the Spirit and been made to 'drink' of the Spirit - two graphic pictures of our having received him. --- John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
January 8, 2016

A source deep in Lambeth Palace tells VOL that Archbishop Justin Welby is trying to engineer a split between the GAFCON primates. Divide et imperia is an old trick, and the source said that some of the GAFCON primates are likely to be lured by Welby's charm and the desire to remain attached to Canterbury.

If the Archbishop thinks he can pull that off, then Houdini was an Anglican.

The gathering of Primates next week will be a make or break time, and there is little doubt that Welby will do almost anything to keep the GAFCON archbishops at the table. That is easier said than done. Not only does he have a herculean task of keeping them at the table, he has to figure out what to do with ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach, the veritable thorn in the Anglican side of North American Anglicanism.

Can Welby schmooze US Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Canadian Archbishop Fred Hiltz into accepting Archbishop Beach as primus inter pares? That remains to be seen. Certainly nothing that Hiltz has said to date indicates that. He is willing to let Beach make his pitch at the beginning of the week-long talks, but then he wants him gone. But that's not going to fly.

The GAFCON archbishops have made it very clear that first on the agenda is the disciplining of those errant provinces that have departed from Scripture and have promoted pansexuality and "another gospel." They won't be fobbed off by "agonizing" diatribes over poverty, climate change and racism, which the primates can do little about except to pass resolutions at their synods and conventions.

The Dar es Salaam statement will be rolled out and Welby will have to face the fact head-on that the Primates Meeting in 2007 laid out a plan to bring discipline and restore order and was unanimously supported by all 38 Primates of the Anglican Communion. However, the statement was never implemented and was later unilaterally overruled by former Archbishop Rowan Williams. This further breach of trust only deepened the tear in the fabric of the Anglican Communion. Welby won't be able to get away with it this time.

One observer told VOL that Anglican revisionists of North America and Europe do not aspire to re-write or deny the past. They want to revise the present and future -- and control it. "As with most progressives, they are disinterested in the past." How true, how true.

What Welby should do (and it is doubtful he will) is hold firm to orthodox Christianity as historically presented by Anglicanism. He should side with the majority of the Anglican Communion (even if it is not the majority of Primates) and declare the gospel cannot be changed and that traditional sexuality written in Scripture cannot be rewritten to satisfy a handful of pansexualists. He should declare that all provinces preach the gospel, plant new churches and make disciples of all nations -- no compromises, no finger crossing -- and then say if bishops and archbishops are not willing to do that then they should go find another line of work.

The question is this: Is Welby able to gird up his loins and resist the revisionist pressures? Regrettably there is little to indicate this will happen without a miracle, and the Anglican Communion is short on miracles.

The truth this time, unlike previous occasions, is that GAFCON chairman Eliud Wabukala and the rest of the GAFCON Primates are fully organized in message, procedures, relationships, and rhetoric, to avoid the duplicity foisted upon them in the past decades.

The day of Anglican fudge is over. The revisionists can't pull off any more indaba or diversion on issues like global warming. The Global South have plenty of issues, like people being slaughtered for their faith by ISIS and Boko Haram. Just ask the Archbishop of the Sudan Deng Bul. Canadian Primate Hiltz, who is carrying the ball with TEC's Michael Curry hors de combat, can play that card, but it is a losing hand.

The Archbishop of Uganda Stanley Ntagali announced this week that "godly order" must be restored in Canterbury or else he will walk out. He will not be alone. He and his fellow GAFCON archbishops will never be in communion with TEC.

Furthermore, the post-colonial attitude of many British bloggers that without Canterbury there is no communion is patronizing rubbish.

If it means the result will result in a smash-up with primates flying in all directions, with the GAFCON/Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans departing from the old Anglican Communion, then so be it.

The Global South is quite capable of rebuilding a global structure and breaking communion formally with the heretical, imploding Western provinces while keeping strategic lines open with Canterbury for the longer-run.

Whatever happens, I believe that this meeting will be THE transformative event for modern Anglicanism.

You can read multiple stories on all this in today's digest, including my own take here: http://tinyurl.com/jgo7duo

The next time I write to you all, it will be from Canterbury.

*****

In yet more signs that some Africans can be compromised, VOL learned this week that the daughter of former Southern African Archbishop Desmond Tutu tied the knot with a woman professor in the Netherlands. The Rev. Canon Mpho Tutu wed Professor Marceline van Furth.

According to Netherlands broadcaster Jeanette Chabalala of News24, the couple reportedly "married" in a private ceremony held in Oegstgeest in the Netherlands. The couple is set to celebrate their wedding in Cape Town in May.

Tutu is currently the executive director of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, while Furth is a professor in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Vrije University in Amsterdam, and holds the Desmond Tutu Chair in Medicine at the university.

It is the second "marriage" for both. You can read the full story in today's digest.

*****

Closer to home, we learned this week that scandal has broken out at St. George's School in Middletown, Rhode Island, where some 40 former pupils say they were sexually abused by priests and a chaplain and that a cover up occurred. Two attorneys representing victims said that the more than 40 people contacted them with stories ranging from molestation to rape by staff and students at the Episcopalian prep school in Middletown, R.I. Most of the alleged crimes took place in the 1970s and '80s.

Note this is NOT about pedophilia. It is about homosexual priests seducing and raping young, vulnerable, pubescent men.

The Episcopal bishop of Rhode Island, the Rt. Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely, has called for "disciplinary proceedings" at the school.

He said in a statement that he is in contact with Rhode Island State Police, "and I am following their direction as the investigation is being carried out" into the episodes discussed in a report issued by the school in December and in media coverage.

So far two Episcopal priests and a third person who worked in Episcopal congregations have been named in the report or ensuing media coverage, but we have heard nothing from the principal of the school.

The Boston Globe reported that past St. George's administrators "repeatedly broke Rhode Island's law that requires schools to report credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors"; and that current administrators in 2012 and 2015 "tried to 'gag' victims from talking about'' abuse.

Two former St. George's staff members -- an assistant chaplain and the choir director -- "left the school after they admitted to sexual misconduct with male students. No mandatory abuse report was made by the school. They both went on to work in schools and churches and are still in settings where they are at risk to re-offend."

The only good news is that that there is no statute of limitations in Rhode Island on sex crimes. Watch the lawsuits fly. You can read two stories about this in today's digest.

*****

It is with profound sorrow and deep regrets that we inform you of the death of the Rt. Rev. Donald James Parsons, 93, 6th Bishop of Quincy, former Dean of Nashotah House, and mentor to generations of priests. He died at approximately 9:30 P.M this evening. May he rest in peace and rise in glory. Please pray for the repose of his soul and for his children, Mary, Rebecca, and Brad.

*****

The College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America met on January 6, 2016 (the Feast of the Epiphany) and elected the next bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes.

Three candidates, The Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton, The Rev. Allen Kannapell, and The Rev. Dr. Canon Ronald Jackson, had been nominated when the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes met in an extraordinary Synod on October 3, 2015.

While at Christ Church in Vero Beach, Florida, the College heard the testimonies of all three candidates and had the opportunity to ask them questions about their faith, ministry, and calling. After a time of prayer, the College elected The Rev Dr. Ronald Jackson.

Archbishop Beach gave thanks for the election saying, "I am very excited about this godly man whom God has raised up to serve His Church."

Rev. Jackson will be the second bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes, taking over the episcopal ministry from diocese's first bishop, The Rt. Rev. Roger Ames. The consecration of bishop-elect Jackson will be in Akron, Ohio on Thursday, April 28th, 2016.

*****

The head of the Anglican Church in Scotland has warned the Church of England against treading on his ecclesiastical territory in an historic agreement with the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

The bishop of St Andrew's, David Chillingworth, known as the "blogging bishop" who is also primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, said, "The Church of England is not a Scottish Church nor does it have any jurisdiction in Scotland. The Anglican way is to recognize the territorial integrity of each province -- they are autonomous but inter-dependent."

He said the document had already caused damage to long-established relationships and called for its publication to be delayed to allow a fuller consultation to take place.

The Columba Declaration commits the Church of England and the Church of Scotland to growing closer together in communion and mission and to recognizing each other's clergy and laity. The document appears to take little account of the Anglican province in Scotland, the Scottish Episcopal Church, which withdrew from the talks early on but remained present as an observer.

The Church of Scotland and the Church of England published the Columba Declaration on the morning of Christmas Eve, stating they had reached an historic agreement to work more closely together. Both churches will debate it later this year at General Synod in York and the General Assembly in Edinburgh.

*****

An Anglican Seminary in Toronto is now offering Orthodox ministry training. A new Master of Divinity program at Trinity College, Toronto, is helping to prepare students for ordained or lay ministry in the Orthodox Church.

The post-graduate degree -- the only one of its kind in Canada -- is often a requirement for those seeking ordination in the Orthodox Church. Previously, students who wanted the degree had to travel to seminaries in the United States, usually a prohibitively expensive undertaking.

Trinity College's faculty of divinity has been offering courses in Orthodox Christianity for the past 10 years and the new degree, established last year, is an extension of that, says Father Ready. "We decided to take it to the next level," he says.

Three students were enrolled in the program in its first year, and Father Ready is hoping for up to 12 when the next school year begins in September. The degree includes courses in biblical studies from an Orthodox perspective, liturgics and pastoral ministry.

The Revd Canon David Neelands, Dean of Divinity, says the enhanced Orthodox curriculum and the new students it will attract will benefit the college. "I think it's a great development," he says. "It will benefit us and a new population."

Anglican students enrolled in Master of Divinity or Master of Theological Education programs at the college can take the Orthodox courses towards their degrees. "Orthodox historians and theologians have a lot to offer in terms of early church writers and history, and Anglicans have a long tradition of interest in Eastern Christianity -- its icons, its spirituality and its authentic character," says Canon Neelands.

*****

The Anglican Church in Canada continues to decline. In the Diocese of Newfoundland & Labrador it was a significant day in Trinity South. Four Anglican churches along the Trinity Shore -- St. Matthew's of Green's Harbour, St. George the Martyr in Whiteway, The Good Shepherd in Cavendish, and St. Matthew's in Heart's Delight-Islington -- were all deconsecrated this week.

The churches have been combined into a single parish, now located in the old Epiphany Elementary school building in Heart's Delight-Islington, which has been refurbished for the needs of the parish.

*****

An Anglican Bishop of the Province of Nigeria was accused of cultism and chased out of the church.

The Rt. Rev. Michael Adebayo Oluwarohunbi, the Bishop of Yewa Anglican Diocese, has been barred from presiding over church activities over allegations that he belonged to a cult and allegedly cancelled existing religious activities.

The Nigerian Pilot reports that members of the Cathedral Church of Christ, Onala in Ilaro area of Ogun state stormed the church with placards and barred the bishop from presiding over the first service of the year on Sunday, January 3.

It was reported that the intervention of security operatives prevented the case from degenerating into conflict and the religious center was eventually placed under seal.

A member of the church accused the bishop of cancelling a revival and installing in its place a family fun fair. It was reported that Solomon Oluwarotimi Adewunmi, the former provost of the church, refused invitation by the bishop to join his cult.

The bishop's decision to cancel all standing committees in the church led to protests. Nicholas Okoh, the primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, called the parties to a meeting in Abuja and ordered the reinstatement of the standing committees.

*****

The Anglican mission agency Mothers' Union is celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2016. Throughout the year it will hold a number of events to mark 14 decades of "faithful outreach to families of all faiths and none."

The Mothers Union was formed in 1876 when Mary Sumner brought together parents in her own Hampshire parish to build their confidence in bringing up their children. Since then it has grown to an organization of over four million women - and men - in over 80 countries of the world, and it continues to encourage parents in looking after children, not only physically and mentally but also spiritually. From the outset, the Mothers' Union recognized that strong relationships and the role of family, however defined, are crucial in building healthy communities.

"Whilst the ways in which we operate to fulfill that need may be different from that of the world of the 19th century, our vision today is still of a world where God's love is shown through loving, respectful, and flourishing relationships. This is the essence of our work," the agency says on its website. "We aim to show our Christian faith by the transformation of communities worldwide. We can do this through the promotion of stable marriage, family life and the protection of children. This is our mission. It is what we aim to achieve."

A special anniversary celebration service will be held on 22 September at Winchester Cathedral, England, where the Mothers' Union was founded. Service resources are being made available to help local churches hold their own Mother Union anniversary services on Mothering Sunday (6 March), Lady Day (4 April), and Mary Sumner Day (9 August).

The Mothers' Union has also set itself a fundraising challenge of £1.4 million to provide practical support for 500,000 people throughout the year.

*****

An evangelical Christian preacher, Pastor James McConnell, has been found not guilty of making "grossly offensive" remarks about Islam. The 78-year-old from Shore Road in Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Ireland denied two charges relating to a sermon he gave in a Belfast church in 2014.

A judge said that while he considered the remarks offensive, he did not consider them "grossly" offensive under the law. Supporters of the pastor applauded when the verdict was given.

Speaking outside court, Mr McConnell said his only regret was the response from the Muslim community that he was "out to hurt them. There was no way I was out to hurt them. I wouldn't hurt a hair on their head, but what I am against is their theology and what they believe in."

*****

Dear friends,

The next time I write to you all it will be from Canterbury, England. Please keep me and all those faithful to the gospel in your prayers as the Communion faces the greatest spiritual and ecclesiastical crisis in its history. Much is at stake. Pray for ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach as he will come under much scrutiny from primates across the communion. Pray for the GAFCON primates and the GAFCON chairman, Kenyan Primate Eliud Wabukala. Pray that Wabukala will be given the grace to stand even as he upholds the authority of Scripture and biblical morality. Above all, pray that God's will, will be done.

In Christ,

David

The Pope has reportedly urged non-Catholics not to convert. In July 2014, he told a group of Evangelicals at a lunch in Rome: "I'm not interested in converting Evangelicals to Catholicism. I want people to find Jesus in their own community." As cardinal, he once reportedly said the Anglican Ordinariate "was quite unnecessary" as the universal Church needs those wishing to convert to stay "as Anglicans." --- Edward Pentin in the NC Register

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
January 22, 2016

To repent or not to repent, that is the question. This week the Episcopal Church through its Presiding Bishop Michael Curry made it very clear he and they would not repent of their sins of endorsing pansexuality, allowing gay marriage and changing the Church's canons and constitution to do so.

In fact, if you read carefully what Curry said, he made it clear the Episcopal Church would not change direction: "We are the Episcopal Church, and we are part of the Jesus Movement, and that Movement goes on, and our work goes on. It may be part of our vocation to help the Communion and to help many others to grow in a direction where we can realize and live the love that God has for all of us, and we can one day be a Church and a Communion where all of God's children are fully welcomed, where this is truly a house of prayer for all people. And maybe it's a part of our vocation to help that to happen."

The subtext is this. TEC is not going to change. They say they will forget repentance, and if possible they will turn the tables over time on the Communion and see the rest of the Anglican world accept their point of view on pansexuality! In other words, they will use their vast financial resources to coerce, cajole and finally win over as many Anglican provinces as they can while Curry is Presiding Bishop. Africa, Asia and Latin America: you have been warned. TEC still thinks it holds the keys to the Anglican kingdom, and this temporary three year setback is nothing. The long term outlook is ours, is the message Curry conveyed. The Culture Wars are in his favor over the universal adoption of gay marriage. Time is on his side, and he has a president who is also on his side, Scripture be damned. However, Curry might heed the words of Sir Thomas More in A Man for all Seasons when he said to Master Richard Rich, "And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?"

The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, President of the Episcopal Church's House of Deputies, was even more belligerent and said this: "I want to assure you that nothing about what the primates have said will change the actions of General Convention that have, over the past four decades, moved us toward full inclusion and equal marriage. And regardless of the primates' vote, we Episcopalians will continue working with Anglicans across the globe to feed the hungry, care for the sick, educate children, and heal the world. Nothing that happens at a primates' meeting will change our love for one another or our commitment to serving God together."

Then she blew smoke right up the Primates' robes and said this: "The practical consequences of the primates' action will be that, for three years, Episcopalians will not be invited to serve on certain committees, or will be excluded from voting while they are there. However, the primates do not have authority over the Anglican Consultative Council, the worldwide body of bishops, clergy and lay people that facilitates the cooperative work of the churches of the Anglican Communion."

So now comes the "fun" part. The man in the middle then is no longer the Archbishop of Canterbury, who thinks he has kept the Anglican ship of state afloat for at least the next three years. No, the man who now must face the music is the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Office, Josiah Idowu-Fearon, a Nigerian archbishop whose boss, Nicholas Okoh, is implacably opposed to sodomy and has his own Anglican branch office in America called CANA -- the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) under Archbishop Foley Beach!

If Beach ever applied for membership in the Anglican Communion he would have to go through the ACO, where his application would be surely denied. Fearon recognizes that TEC alone is the sole owner of the Anglican franchise in North America. However, such a rejection would ruffle the feathers of Okoh. Furthermore, with the GAFCON primates in impaired and broken communion with TEC one wonders what relevance the ACO has anymore. Fearon is walking on broken glass and he may find a few shards penetrating his feet as he walks alongside TEC and the Anglican Communion over the next three years.

Fearon came out firmly against homosexuality. It is not biblically allowable and his province will not recognize homosexuality as a legitimate sexuality. However, he can't afford to say too much against sodomy or the money he gets from TEC (some $400,000 a year, or $1.2 million over three years) will dry up and he will be out of a job. He dare not bite the hand that feeds him.

He tried to fudge a response at the press conference following the meeting of Primates when he said this: "There are gays and lesbians in Africa. Our cultures do not support the promotion of this kind of lifestyle. They do not propagate it as a way of life. The problem is of strong groups from outside Africa coming to impose what is culturally unacceptable. If the West would leave Africans alone, we know how to live together in our differences. I would not support the word lobby. The primates make clear that the Anglican Church would always make room for pastoral care and concern for those who have different sexual orientation, so let the church make everyone feel at home."

However, it is not pastoral care that homosexuals and lesbians want. They want full and total acceptance of their lifestyle with no strings attached or holds barred. They want an equal playing field with heterosexuals and they will stop at nothing until they get it.

I saw plenty of evidence of this on the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral while the press conference was being held inside. A group of about 30 mostly young Africans led by Peter Tatchell, England's leading queer and human rights campaigner, held up placards and screamed, "Anglicans, repent your homophobia" and "We are African LGBTI Anglicans."

Inside the press room, Archbishop Welby opined, "The group outside of LGBTI people with Peter Tatchell remind us of the pain and suffering of many LGBTI people around the world where they are criminalized. I have deep sadness that people are persecuted for their sexuality. I want to take the opportunity to say how sorry I am for the hurt and pain that the church has caused and the love that we fail to show in many parts of the world. It causes people to doubt they are loved by God. I want to say sorry personally."

In saying this he managed to appease the some 105 bishops and deans who had earlier written to him asking him to formally apologize to the LGBTQ crowd at Canterbury. He kept that promise.

At the press conference Welby put his own spin on what happened. "The week has been complicated and up and down with much to talk about in ways that were quite difficult. As we went through it was clear that everyone had come with a desire to listen. The spirit was good. We were all together. On Wednesday everyone indicated they wanted the churches to walk together. It was a public unanimous vote.

"I am pleased we decided to walk together. It is clear that it is not for us to divide the body of Christ, the church. The unity shown by the primates here is going to be costly and painful; as well as joyful and remarkable. We are a church in 165 countries alone, with 38 provinces, with 2000 languages and 4500 cultures. One thing we do say is that we love and seek to serve Jesus Christ. We also sin and fail and need to seek forgiveness."

He asked rhetorically, "What does it mean to walk together?"

"My primary fear for the majority of Christian communities and Anglican communion churches is the violence they face daily. The risk in the Congo for a woman going to get water of being raped, of [being blown up] going to church in Pakistan." He said the Primates' best couple of hours of the week was when they joyfully committed to proclaim the person and work of Jesus Christ unceasingly and to all. "We decided that we will have a Lambeth Conference in 2020."

Welby also talked about a fixed date for Easter. "After meeting with the Coptic Pope and with Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch, we wish to join with Pope Tawadros in unifying and fixing the date of Easter celebrated by the global church. Tawadros put forward the idea of the 2nd or 3rd Sunday in April.

"There was a very moving and powerful discussion on refugees -- 1 million in Tanzania alone with far fewer resources to deal with the issue -- it is a huge issue around the communion. We also looked at corruption, tribalism and ethnicity and what church leaders can do to tackle these issues that face hundreds of millions of people."

During question time Welby said the process of TEC was "complicated."

"The issue for the meeting was much more that they (TEC) went ahead with a basic change ahead of the rest and without consultation. We have no power to sanction. But if any province [behaves in such a way] on a major issue on how the church is run or believes there will be consequences."

Welby said several times that the word "sanction" was not the correct word. It was "consequence." But sanction was the word used by Archbishop Foley Beach and most reporters seemed to think that TEC was being sanctioned. Of course by using the softer language, Welby hopes to keep TEC at the table, or conversely bring them back three years from now regardless of whether there is any repentance or not.

Actions have consequences, but the issue will be to what degree they will be enforced three years from now.

Welby made it clear that the Episcopal Church will play a full part on moral issues of refugees, corruption, evangelism, and worship -- but not on issues of doctrine and how we run ourselves for the moment. There would be a similar response to other subjects, he said.

Ironically, the liberal South African archbishop Thabo Makgoba, whose province has been bought and paid for by TEC over the years and is the only serious liberal province on the African continent (though others might be turning), said, "We are a household and we have ways that govern a household. There are consequences if there is divergence on how we operate. TEC has amended its [doctrine] without observing process." So nothing about truth--just process.

When asked how concerned he was about how LGBT people will receive this news, Makgoba said, "We are a church of those who support people in same-sex unions and of those who oppose this. We are all created in the image of God. The decision is not seen as sanctions. We are hoping we are doing it for the good of the church and its impact on of all God's people."

Welby then chimed in saying, "We are all concerned to make the strongest statement on the issue of the criminalizing of LGBTI people."

When asked if there is a desire or attempt by the Church to influence governments in Africa in an effort to reverse criminalization, Welby said the basic answer is yes. "We would love to see a change. A lot of African governments say we have heard quite enough from the former colonial power about how we live. We want our own situation to demonstrate a good example that helps overseas. The CofE was one of the first churches to campaign against the criminalization of gay people under Archbishops Michael Ramsey in 1960s."

Welby said the condemnation of homophobia was not in the joint resolution -- someone leaked it a day early.

The make-up of the press panel consisted of primates from liberal provinces like South Africa and Hong Kong. The ultra-liberal UK reporter Stephen Bates asked, "If you are all walking together, why is no GAFCON Primate on the Press Conference Panel?" Welby replied that the last one left 20 minutes ago.

Questioned on membership for the ACNA in the Anglican Communion, Welby replied that that was a matter for the Anglican Consultative Council but that invitations to the Lambeth Conference are the prerogative of the Archbishop of Canterbury. When asked if he will invite the ACNA to Lambeth 2020, Welby replied, "I do not know."

When I asked the Archbishop of Canterbury what assurances he would give that things would not be swept under the rug if The Episcopal Church does nothing to repent, he replied, "See what happened this week. We spent 2.5 days working on this point. Everyone was listened to with great care. We have no idea what will happen in three years' time. I cannot speak for other primates -- as to what happens in three years' time. This week we were primates of the Anglican Communion, not GAFCON Primates nor anyone else."

When asked what they would do if Canada goes ahead to approve gay marriage, Welby replied, "We will cross that bridge when we come to it."

When asked if the majority reaffirmed traditional teaching of the Church on marriage, Welby replied, "That is private."

However, a source told VOL that the voting was 27 yes, 3 no with 6 abstaining. The three nos were The Episcopal Church, The Anglican Church of Canada and the Scottish Episcopal Church.

When questioned on the traditional doctrine of the church on marriage between a man and a woman, Welby replied, "A number of provinces are examining their futures. There was not a formal vote on that. We seldom take votes."

Panel Primate Paul Kwong, Archbishop of Hong Kong, said the Holy Spirit is not finished with us. "All God's people need to move.""People," he said, "misunderstand...dialogue is not to convince but to understand." He also said the atmosphere was much better than those of previous meetings he had attended (four so far). "The atmosphere could not be better."

Makgoba said, "We washed each other's feet at our closing service. There was a closeness after a hard working week." Welby said the healing impact of Jean Vanier's addresses were enormous. "It was a powerful moment."

When questioned whether it was all worth it, if it is so difficult to be together, Kwong said, "It is worth it to address this issue, but it is not the only issue. The communion is a responsible body. The communion has to be relevant."

Welby described the meeting as "painful," and Makgoba said the critical issue is not a church-dividing matter.

When asked if the communique would free up time for mission, Welby said, "Every ABC comes into the post thinking if I can deal with this, then we will be all right and then other things come. It is always an illusion that there is just one more thing to deal with. This issue concerns the dignity of the human being and the value we attach to them.

"We established this as a way to deal with church-dividing issues in any area. You are entitled to go off on your own -- if you ignore that there will be consequences. That is how it has always worked. There will still be consequences."

When asked why the Primate of Uganda left early, Welby said he didn't know. "He did not speak to me before he left." That is too disingenuous. Archbishop Stanley Ntagali left with a statement that VOL posted. He had even more to say when he returned to Africa. Here is the essence of what he said: "Sadly, after two long days of discussions, I was concerned that the process set up for this meeting would not permit us to address the unfinished business from the 2007 Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam. In accordance with the resolution of our Provincial Assembly, it was, therefore, necessary for me to withdraw from the meeting, which I did at the end of the second day. It seemed that I was being manipulated into participating in a long meeting with the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada without the necessary discipline being upheld. My conscience is at peace."

However, it should be noted that Ntagali had no option but to leave, unlike the other GAFCON primates who are in impaired communion. His province is in broken communion with TEC and he was not permitted by his province to stay. That the remaining GAFCON primates stayed was attributed to the fact that some 21 archbishops were new, and to bring them up to speed the GAFCON primates needed to stay or else see them sliced and diced by the ABC and his "reconciling" handlers. They feared the new archbishops would be swayed by Philip Groves of the "Listening Process" as well as other Western leftist archbishops who are pushing for full LGBTQI acceptance and inclusion. The decision of the other GAFCON primates to stay was clearly the right strategy.

When asked what his hopes and fears are for the Lambeth Conference 2020, Welby replied that he hoped (somehow) to get the money. "I hope it's a conference that affirms and that does not hurt people and that glorifies God. People to celebrate the love and joy and welcome of Jesus Christ with passion and renewed to serve God which is so dark at the moment."

This is going to be awkward because in times past The Episcopal Church has been the biggest funder of the Lambeth Conferences. If they are not invited because they refuse to repent after their 2018 General Convention and the Task Force set up to deal with the issue has not repented, what will become of TEC's status? (This question would also apply to the Canadian church if it changes its marriage canons.) If TEC gets an invite (and presumably comes up with a check to pay for the conference) this will show the Task Force was nothing but a ruse to keep TEC at the table.

Furthermore, if ACNA Archbishop Foley Bishop, who is de facto an archbishop because he is a GAFCON primate, is not invited will the GAFCON and Global South archbishops show up? Will we have a repeat of 2008?

THE COMMUNIQUE

Predictably Episcopal Church bishops began a long slow whine about how disenfranchised and hurt gays and lesbians would be by the Canterbury communique, and they promised not to heed anything the archbishops decided. Typical of their responses was that of the Rt. Rev. Douglas Fisher, Bishop of Western Massachusetts who wrote, "The Episcopal Church is not backing down on our support for same-sex marriage and for the dignity and equality of LGBTQ persons. But I also, as a Bishop in the Episcopal Church which is part of the Anglican Communion, apologize to LBGTQ persons. This decision by the Primates is hurtful for you -- you who are God's creation and beloved by God as you are. I wish they had never said what they did and I support you."

Such belligerence will be noted three years from now when the next General Convention meets and TEC has still not repented. What will the Task Force set up by the Primates report to the ABC? Who then will show up in 2020 for the next Lambeth Conference? Comment: Changes okay?

British writer Julian Mann put it well when he wrote, "GAFCON needs to make clear soon that it will not participate in Lambeth 2020 if the ACNA bishops are not invited. If it does not publicly lay down this condition, then that would allow the revisionist institutional narrative to gain momentum in the Anglican Communion. As is evident from the statement above, that narrative is that the formation of ACNA constitutes a breach of Anglican order on a par with TEC's running ahead of the Communion on same-sex 'marriage'."

One person, a canon lawyer, said clearly that Primates' ruling was not binding. Professor Norman Doe said the communique issued by the Primates in Canterbury last week does not bind anyone because the Primates' meeting has no jurisdiction. It represented "completely unacceptable interference" with the autonomy of the bodies to whom it had issued requirements.

"I find it utterly extraordinary," the director of the Centre for Law and Religion at Cardiff University, Professor Norman Doe, said on Tuesday. "No instrument exists conferring upon the Primates' meeting the jurisdiction to 'require' these things. . . Whatever they require is unenforceable."

Professor Doe confirmed, "The decision will not bind anyone -- not the Episcopal Church. There is no question of that." It was for the bodies referred to in the communique to determine what, if any, consequences the Episcopal Church should face, he said.

So the communique constituted "completely unacceptable interference with the autonomy of each of these bodies as they transact their own business."

The events of the past week highlighted the consequences of the Communion's failure to adopt the Anglican Covenant, Professor Doe suggested. He spoke as a member of the Lambeth Commission, which had proposed the Covenant and helped to draft it.

"What we have with the Primates' meeting is an assumption of authority which has no basis in law."

Not so fast, said the Rev. Peter Ould, an Anglican commentator. He called such talk "utter nonsense."

Here are two simple things to remember. First, the liberals are absolutely right (the ones who claim the Primates have no statutory power to demand such a sanction/consequence). Comment: Change okay? Secondly, this doesn't matter in the slightest. The sanction/consequence is still going to happen because the force behind them is not one of law but one of love.

This is Ould's response: "You see, what those criticizing this Communique don't understand is, we are now in a process of reconciliation between the Primates, and this is the path (the consequences) that the Primates have agreed is the way forward. TEC isn't instructed to do anything with any legal force, because grace doesn't operate like that. They are simply asked, requested, implored to do this. These requested actions are the one thing that will stop the Communion falling apart and they are requested in a spirit of love.

"It is now entirely in TEC's hands as to whether we stay together as one body. TEC can recognize in the spirit of love and grace that the Communique was written in that they have indeed broken the shared vision of Jesus' ministry that we all have together, that that requires reflection and potentially repentance and that the consequences in the Communique deliver us the path to such reflection, repentance and reconciliation. Or, TEC can operate out of a place of defiance, demand its legal rights and simply answer love and grace with obstinacy.

"But one thing is clear to me - for a liberal church that keeps on repeating the mantra 'Grace, not Law,' there's incredible ability to revert to law the moment that grace isn't working out for them. Funny that."Comment: Quotes correct here?

I have posted some of the best commentary on the Primates meeting from around the Anglican Communion in today's digest. These responses come from Andrew Symes, Chris Sugden, Vinay Samuel, Ephraim Radner, Gavin Ashenden, Julian Mann, Peter Ould, Bill Atwood, and your humble scribe. The British broadsheets are so pro-gay they cannot be trusted to be remotely objective, and some North American Episcopal bloggers did more guessing than anything as they were not present.

*****

I have written a piece about how Presiding Bishop Michael Curry used his being black to manipulate the archbishops. He said, "I stand before you as your brother. I stand before you as a descendant of African slaves, stolen from their native land, enslaved in a bitter bondage, and then even after emancipation, segregated and excluded in church and society. And this conjures that up again, and brings pain." It was a brilliant move by the black US Presiding Bishop to use his color in Canterbury following the vote to discipline the American Episcopal Church by 38 Primates of the Anglican Communion. He shrewdly linked his color and race with his church's adoption of pansexuality. What he said and inferred is that slavery and homosexuality are linked (in his mind) and that what whites did to blacks in the US, blacks (GAFCON primates) are now doing to homosexuals.

It is a huge lie of course, but it makes for a great emotional and personal headline and would probably get him on the Oprah Winfrey show if it was still running. Black leaders of the Global South never bought this argument--and they shouldn't. There is no connection. Slavery and slavery to sexual sin are quite different matters. You can read my take in today's digest or here: http://tinyurl.com/j88uuwm

*****

While Anglicans agreed to disagree in Canterbury over the question of same-sex marriage, John Cunningham and John Johnston were married in the City of London by the Rev. Joost Röselaers, The Guardian reported. Interestingly, the London ceremony wasn't a blessing or a carefully cobbled together service after a civil ceremony. It was a proper marriage, something the current CofE hierarchy has banned its priests from performing. However, the Rev Joost Röselaers, minister of the Dutch church in Austin Friars, is able to conduct the ceremony because of a little-known historical loophole. In 1550, Edward VI granted a charter to Protestant refugees living in London, giving them the same privileges as the CofE. He permitted the Dutch "freely and quietly to practise, enjoy, use and exercise their own rites and ceremonies, and their own ecclesiastical discipline, notwithstanding that they do not conform with the rites and ceremonies used in our Kingdom, without impeachment, disturbance or vexation."

*****

The irony should not be missed. While the Church of England agonizes over homosexuality, the latest figures have been released and showed the CofE in rapid decline. Britain is losing its religion, but nobody seems that bothered, writes Melanie McDonagh in The Spectator.

A new book Why No Religion is the New Religion is based on responses from 1500 respondents and suggests most white Brits have no religion. Among the under 40s of all racial groups, 56 percent are non-religious and 31 percent are Christian. Brits are no longer reflexively CofE but not-religious.

Sunday attendance has slumped by 22,000 to 765,000 as older worshippers die. The Archbishop of Canterbury warns of struggle in "anti-Christian culture." Only 1.4 percent of the population of England now attends Anglican services on a typical Sunday morning.

Even the Church's preferred "weekly" attendance figures, which include those at mid-week or extra services, have slipped below one million for the first time ever.

"Given the age profile of the CofE, the next few years will continue to have downward pressure as people die or become housebound and unable to attend church."

The falling away from faith is the kind of thing that should be keeping Anglican leaders awake at night because it is the biggest cultural shift of the age. The reasons for it are almost too obvious to talk about -- the failure to transmit faith between the generations being the most obvious. If people can't make the minimal effort to attend even an Anglican Evensong, the most perfect liturgy in English, and rub shoulders with the septuagenarians who really are keeping the faith, Anglican leaders don't deserve an Established Church. And when they're down to the last few thousand Christians in Britain, they can reflect that it's all their fault.

It might also have something to do with the fact that no clear certain gospel trumpet is heard in the land and people are dying without Christ.

*****

Forward in Faith North America issued a statement on the Primates meeting. Dr. Michael Howell wrote, "With all Christians who submit to Biblical authority within the historic Church, Forward in Faith North America rejoices in the recent statement by the Primates of the Anglican Communion in support of marriage defined as a covenant between one man and one woman. Our members within The Episcopal Church, often marginalized or treated as a tolerated minority, are encouraged to hear that our position is upheld by the vast majority of our international leaders. Our members within the Anglican Church in North America welcome both the statement itself, as well as the full inclusion at every level at the meeting of Archbishop Foley Beach. All of our members are heartened by the small step taken in Godly discipline towards those who have acted unilaterally in presuming to redefine Biblical marriage."

*****

Orthodox Anglican parishes now number nearly 1,200 in the US. The Fellowship of Concerned Churchman reports that its online directory of orthodox Anglican/Episcopal parishes (anglicanchurches.net) now numbers nearly 1,200.

Current information on the final collection of jurisdictions is available and the earlier sub-total of 969 parishes in the U.S. and Canada has added a further 224 parishes for a total of 1,193. By contrast, the FCC counted 1,141 in its parish database in 2011. This now includes 15 jurisdictions from the Charismatic Episcopal Church with some 66 parishes. Among other jurisdictions were 22 and 18 from the Anglican Orthodox Southern Episcopal Church (formerly the Southern Episcopal Church) and Holy Catholic Church-Anglican Rite, reports the FCC.

*****

I will play catch up with news from North America next week. I am in the process of sending out letters and emails in response to your donations. Please be patient. I am on the road again, this time in Charleston SC covering the annual Mere Anglican conference and attending a Global Anglican Leadership conference of which I am a member.

*****

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David

Consider the following. Over the last two decades the following churches, missions and organizations have emerged as signs of God's love for his faithful Anglican fold. First came the AMiA, then ACNA was formed, CANA came into existence, New Wineskins for global missions, Anglican Frontier Missions, (reaching the unreached for Christ), Mere Anglican, Anglican Relief and Development (ARDF), Anglicans for Life, VOL (the leader in Global Anglican news), and most recently Anglican Leadership Initiative (ALI) a global Anglican effort to educate bishops from the Global South brought to the US for an intensive one month training in the best of Anglican thought and practice.

God is clearly at work, he has not left his Anglican fold without faithful witnesses. We also have some serious Anglican intellectuals like Os Guinness, Ashley Null, Justin Terry, John Yates Jr., Robert Munday, Phil Ashey, Sam Ferguson, the staff of Trinity School for Ministry and Nashotah House to name just a handful who know the faith, can articulate and defend the faith against its cultured despizers.

God is raising up a new generation of Anglicans out of the ashes and dung heap of Episcopal pansexuality and apostasy and He will not be thwarted or stopped. The seeds have been sown and they have fallen on fertile ground. They are already bearing fruit.

On the person of Dr. Guinness you may not have spotted it but he was mentioned in the recent Republican debate. Here is what Rand Paul said; "On the topic of abortion, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul argued that government doesn't work without a "virtuous people," quoting English theologian Os Guinness."

Well he is not exactly a theologian he is a biblically informed social critic, no matter that he got mentioned at all shows his stature in America.

*****

At Mere Anglican conference this past week in Charleston, SC where I was ensconced, we heard multiple speakers address the issue of Islam and Christianity, under the banner The Cross and the Crescent: The Gospel and the challenge of Islam.

Dr. William Lane Craig, research professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology author of 40 books and one of America's pre-eminent Christian apologists who defeated Antony flew, John Dominic Croissant, Marcus Borg and others in debate and who has been interacting with the religion of Islam for over 30 years, said the concept of God in in Islam and Christianity is not one of comparative religion.

"Religious relativism is not true, it is logically incoherent and cannot be true. They have different doctrines and teachings. We believe in a tri-personal God, they do not. Both cannot be right. The Christian concept of God is rationally objectionable to Muslims." Craig said the major objection Muslims have to becoming Christian is the doctrine of the Trinity. "The God of the Koran is not the living God revealed by Jesus. The Koran says God does not love, the Bible says God sent his Son to die. Muslims say God's love is only for those who earn it. The Koran assures Muslims of God's love for the god fearers but He has no love for sinners. The Islamic conception of God is not all loving it is partial and has to be earned."

Craig said one way not to convince Muslims of God's love is to talk to them with a lot of schmoozy, interfaithery dialogue.

"The word Islam does not mean peace as many people now say. Islam is a word for submission, surrender everything to God. The 9th chapter of the Koran is clear that Islamists must kill whoever does not submit to Allah. Islam is not a church that is crucial, Islam is a total way of life, and everything is to be submitted to God. Islam is all consuming. The Western idea of the separation of church and state is meaningless to Muslims." Craig said that Egypt and Turkey have adopted a separation of mosque and state.

"Asking what Muslims teach is like asking an Episcopalian what Christianity teaches." Craig said the God of Islam is a defamation of Jesus. "The Muslim concept of God is rationally objectionable. Thank God for God."

Rev. Dr. Ken Boa, based in Atlanta, asked is Islam militant and is it peaceful? "Islam means peace says Obama, it is a peaceful religion. He is lost in contradiction. Islam is not a monolithic religion. Sunni and Shia and Sufi all demonstrate that. The Quran is open to abrogation. Mohammed can abolish, repeal and annul as well as change his mind.

"Is Islam a religion of peace? Most Muslims are peaceful but the majority are not consistent with their holy books, prophets and it is spread between two houses. Islam equals peace but it does not mean peace but surrender or submission. To be a Muslim means to submit to the will of Allah.

"Islam is going to grow and build, it is a power and it is not going to go away. Allah and Yahweh is not the same. Allah does not equal God. Islam is the second largest religion in the world, Christianity is still the first. Sixty percent are not Arabs at all."

Cairo-based Anglican Archbishop Mouneer Anis is in the forefront of the battle with Islam and expressed a profound, but sensitive approach to the Islamic world in which he lives. He says that both Islam and Christianity are missionary religions but many have converted to Christ reading the Sermon on the Mount and then come to the cross of Christ. "Many are finding Jesus in dreams and they come to us to find out what the dreams mean. This gives me the opportunity of telling them about Jesus. He said what attracts Muslims is the lifestyle of Christians. We share with them the Biblical teaching of the unconditional love of God for all people. We see healings and answers to prayer. Muslims believe in the healing power of prayer. They visit our churches to receive prayer for healing."

The archbishop condemned what he called unwise strategies to transform lives and convert people to Christ. "The Holy Spirit alone transforms human life. God uses visions and dreams and uses tirelessly. It is wrong to think we can witness to Christ using deceitful ways."

Dr. Anis praised the local church which has a vision to reach Muslims. "We need the local church to help in the conversion of Muslims to Jesus Christ. We should not attack their faith and traditions. The Holy Spirit is the great transformer. An Imam once asked me would I still love him if I did not convert. Is it genuine or is it not genuine love? Jesus said love is the best witness to all." The archbishop condemned the social gospel as an inadequate response to Islam.

I will write more about this in due time.

*****

We still have not heard anything from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry about the status of the three suspended executives at Episcopal Church headquarters in New York. Many are asking. Is it about bugging and blacked out salaries, or what? Inquiring minds want to know. We wait with bated breath. The question is who is running the Episcopal show meantime?

*****

The Diocese of Pennsylvania has yielded a slate of five candidates to be the next bishop of this declining diocese that was torn apart by the former Bishop Charles E. Bennison.

Two candidates stand out. One (that VOL predicted) is the Rev. Frank Allen, priest of the prestigious mainline parish of St. David's, Radnor, where he has been rector since 1997, is up for the job. He is moderately orthodox but recently hired a gay associate priest The Rev. Matthew Welch as Associate Rector who most recently served at Christ Church in Short Hills, NJ. A blurb on the website says he and his fiance Paul enjoy walking the St. David's grounds with their dog, Barnabas. Allen did speak up and called on Bennison to resign during the worst of Bennison's reign. He is the home boy favorite. But a ringer has stepped in to spoil his shoe in. He is Bishop Dean Wolfe of Kansas who must clearly be sick of the Midwest and wants a change. The Diocese of Kansas is going nowhere and he had hoped to rope in Western Kansas another flailing diocese, but that was not to be. By throwing his hat in the ring he will give Allen a run for his money. The other candidates are irrelevant.

Whoever gets the job might want to consider this. The diocese is rapidly losing membership. From 2003 to 2013 there was a 20% drop in baptisms from 55,445 to 44,384. ASA has declined by 26%. In 2003 ASA was 18,609 by 2013 it had dropped to 13,726. In 2014 the latest figures reveal that the baptized had dropped to 43,451 and ASA was now 13,188. The diocese has 157 priests of which 104 are male and 53 are female. The diocese is closing parishes faster than tides on the Delaware River. Here is the most recent list.

Parishes closed after Twelves' History (1969)

All Saints, Crescentville 2007
Atonement, Morton 2007
Atonement, West Philadelphia 1974?
Calvary St. Paul's (in 1973 St. Paul's, 15th and Porter linked with Calvary Presbyterian Church) 2003
Church without Walls
Christ Church, Eddington 2011
Emmanuel and Good Shepherd (Emmanuel and Good Shepherd merged in 1994) 2006
Epiphany, Germantown (after a fire in 1975 merged with Grace, Mt. Airy)
Epiphany, Sherwood 1974
Messiah, Oxford Circle 1978
St. Aidan's, Cheltenham 2006
Resurrection, Mayfair (merged with Emmanuel, Holmesburg) 2009
St. Alban's, Olney 2005
St. Augustine of the Covenant (merged with Calvary Northern Liberties) 2009
St. Barnabas, Kensington 2990
St. Bartholomew, Wissomissing 1986?
St. Elisabeth's 1994
St. Giles, Upper Darby 1996
St, James the Less closed 2006 but not secularized
St. John the Evangelist, Lansdowne 2009
St. Luke, Eddystone 1997
St. Luke, Kensington 1987
St. Martin's, Boothwyn 2006
St. Martin's Korean Congregation 2007
St. Martin's, Oaklane 1981
St. Matthew, Francisville 1974
St. Matthias, 19th and Wallace 1992
St. Nathanael, Kensington
St. Paul's, 15th and Porter (linked with Calvary Presbyterian Church) 1976
St., Paul's, Aramingo (after a fire in 1990 merged in 1993 with Holy Innocents, Tacony)
St. Paul's, Overbrook 1991
St. Philip's Memorial 2009
St. Peter's, Broomall 2004
St. Peter's, Germantown 2005
St. Simeon 1976
Trinity, Collingdale closed 2009, moved to site of St. Martin's, Boothwyn as Trinity, Boothwyn
Transfiguration, Westtown
Zion Church, Broad and Wyoming Streets, Logan 1980
Church of the Saviour became the Cathedral in 1992
St. Barnabas, Haddington, and St. George's, West End merged in 1993 to become St. George/St. Barnabas
This list is not complete. We do not as yet have the latest closures from 2012-2016.

*****

Diocese of Los Angeles bishop Jon Bruno faces presentment charges over his handling of St. James the Great, Newport Beach as the saga of this parish drags on and on. The legal bill is well over $8 million, according to Canon lawyer Allen Haley. Bishop Catherine Waynick who sits on the Disciplinary Committee promises timely action.

The complaint alleges that Bruno, in his dealings with the St. James the Great property and congregation, has violated various canons of the Episcopal Church, including those that prohibit the sale of consecrated property without appropriate approval, those that prohibit "dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation," and those that prohibit "conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy."

The Rev. Canon Cindy Evans Voorhees who was assigned to the re-established mission church of St. James the Great after The Rev. Richard Crocker who left with most of the congregation, was charged with rebuilding the congregation. Now she charges that Bruno wants the church to sell and tear down by developers. Some local officials criticized Bishop Bruno as "despicable" and his actions as "deplorable."

You can read the full story in today's digest.

*****

Scandal continues to haunt the Episcopal Church. Nary a week goes by and some sex or other scandal doesn't erupt in one diocese or another. In the Diocese of San Diego members of St. Paul's Episcopal and Anglican Cathedral on Fifth Avenue learned this week that the congregation's former dean has been removed from the Episcopal Church's clergy as discipline for at least one undisclosed offense.

Parishioners received a letter from San Diego Bishop James R. Mathes informing them of the disciplinary actions against Scott Richardson, 60, who left the cathedral in 2012 to serve as rector at St. Mary the Virgin in San Francisco. He resigned from his position late last month.

Richardson's wife, Mary Moreno Richardson, who is also a member of the Episcopal Church's clergy, remains a priest in good standing, according to the church.

Mathes' letter invited parishioners to attend a "community conversation" this coming Tuesday at the cathedral, but no one is saying who, what and why. All a closely held secret apparently.

In the Diocese of Rhode Island allegations of sexual abuse have broken out at St. George's Prep School in Middletown R.I. with charges going back to 2004. The Boston Globe reports that three boys came to administrators with disturbing allegations: their dorm master had touched them inappropriately. Timothy Richards, then dean of students at the Episcopal school in Middletown, said he and the headmaster, Eric Peterson, interviewed the students.

The accused staffer left the school abruptly, and students were told he had taken a personal leave of absence. But a former school official says the school never reported the allegations to child welfare officials, as is required for credible accusations of abuse.

This week, with St. George's embroiled in a growing sexual abuse scandal, Richards said he would have reported the 2004 incident. "If the decision was up to him, he would have reported it to the appropriate agency in Rhode Island," said Richards's spokesperson, Karen Schwartzman. "In the situation at St. George's School, he's relying on the judgment of his boss, who is head of school and also an attorney."

You can read the full story in today's digest.

*****

The former Bishop of Rochester, the Rt. Rev. Michael Nazi Ali told a group of global Anglican leaders that he supported the call for a common date for Easter for the Eastern and Western churches, but said that it should not be a fixed date, but tied to the celebration of Passover.

"A fixed date "further distance the celebration from the Jewish Passover, with which of course it is intrinsically linked because Jesus suffered at the time of the Passover, [and] he's understood as the Passover lamb sacrificed for us."

"If governments and local authorities want to have school holidays for a fixed period then that's up to them, but I would not want Christians to be further distanced from their Jewish roots and Easter's connection with Passover."

"For the Christian Church, to retain the link with the Jewish Passover overrides these considerations," Bishop Nazir Ali said.

*****

A new poll show that more members of the Church of England are in favor of homosexual marriage than are against it. Among Anglicans overall, more women and adults under 55 years of age support same-sex marriage, while the demographic from which most of the church's leadership is drawn, males 55 years old or older, is most opposed.

A poll conducted in the aftermath of the Canterbury meeting found 45% of people who define themselves as Church of England approve of same-sex marriage, compared with 37% who believe it is wrong. A similar survey three years ago found almost the reverse: 38% of Anglicans in favor and 47% opposed.

The lowest levels of support for same-sex marriage -- 24% -- were found among Anglican men over the age of 55, a group that dominates the church leadership. The survey found a clear generational difference among Church of England members, with almost three-quarters (72%) of under-35s in favor. There was a majority supporting same-sex marriage in all age groups under 55, but the figure dropped to fewer than one in three older Anglicans. More women than men believe same-sex marriage is right.

*****

Church of England clergy may be allowed to wear casual clothes during services so long as they are "seemly", in a move which would sweep away centuries of tradition. Members of the church's synod, or ruling body, are being consulted by bishops on a change to church law which requires clergy to wear certain robes at specific services, including Holy Communion, weddings and funerals.

Among the proposals being considered is making traditional vestments optional, as long as such a move "would benefit the mission of the church". For weddings and funerals, the agreement of the bride and

A consultation paper being circulated to synod members said: "Where the minister departed from the normal requirements as to vesture, the dress adopted by the minister should be seemly."

*****

A landmark Report which proposes that the Church of Scotland and the Church of England enter into an historic ecumenical partnership agreement has been published. The Columba Declaration, which lays the groundwork for future relationships and was prepared by a Joint Study Group, is presented within the Report: "Growth in Communion, Partnership in Mission" and is scheduled for debate at the Church of England's General Synod next month.

The proposed partnership agreement has led to a rare invitation to the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to address the General Synod in London on February 16 and speak to the Joint Report.

The 20-page document, which represents a "significant step" between the two denominations and will open up new future possibilities, will be debated at the Church of Scotland's General Assembly in May.

Under the terms of the proposed declaration, which is closely modelled on existing ecumenical agreements between other churches, both denominations would welcome one another's members into congregations and ordained ministers would be allowed to exercise ministry within the existing discipline of each church only within England and continental Europe.

Rev Alison McDonald, Convener of the Church of Scotland's Ecumenical Relations Committee, said: "The Joint Report sets out clearly the shared foundations of faith of the Church of England and the Church of Scotland, which enable us to recognize one another formally for the first time. "This provides a sound basis for our ongoing cooperation and for exploring future partnership."

*****

Religion in America: An Interview with Greg Smith of the Pew Research Center by Ed Stetzer. Question: What's going on with Americans and their religious belief and practice?

Greg Smith: I think there's a lot of really interesting changes that are underway in the American religious landscape. I think the number one thing to point out is that the United States remains a highly religious country. Nine in ten Americans say they believe in God. Most Americans say religion is very important in their lives. Most say that they pray every day.

The United States is certainly much more religious than much of the rest of the industrialized world. So I think that's the number one thing to note.

In terms of trends, however, the data suggests that the United States may be becoming gradually a little bit less religious. We see that in a few ways.

When we ask people about their religious identity--what religion they consider themselves to be a part--we see a rapid increase in the number of people who say they have no religion: those who describe themselves as atheists or as agnostics, or as just having no religion in particular. That group is growing quite rapidly and now makes up almost a quarter of all U.S. adults.

At the same time we're also seeing modest declines, not as dramatic as the growth of the religiously unaffiliated. But modest declines in the share of Americans who say they believe in God, who say they pray every day, who say religion is very important in their lives, and who say they attend religious services regularly.

All of those numbers have ticked down at a rate of about three percentage points over the last seven years or so.

The number of highly observant American adults really has not changed very much in recent years.

At the same time, the data also show very clearly that even though the religiously unaffiliated are growing, the vast majority of American adults continue to identify with a religion, primarily Christianity.

What has changed is that there's been very rapid growth in the number of adults who are not particularly religious. And it's their growth that's helping to change the proportions when you look at the country as a whole.

*****

Gambia has a new bishop. He is the Rev. James Yaw Odico, dean of the St Mary's Cathedral. He was consecrated and enthroned, the Bishop of the Diocese of Gambia, formerly the Diocese of Gambia and the Rio Pongas.

A solemn five-hour enthronement service was officiated by the Most Rev Dr. Daniel Yinka Sarfo, primate and metropolitan of the Church of the Province of West African (CPWA) on Sunday January 24, 2016, and witnessed by parishioners, family, friends and invited dignitaries from all walks of life, prominent among whom was His Lordship the Mayor of Banjul, Abdoulie Bah.

*****

The primates of the Orthodox Churches meeting in Chambesy, Switzerland have agreed to hold the church's first Orthodox Holy and Great Council in almost 1000 years this June in Crete.

According to a report printed by the Athens News Agency-Macedonian Press Agency the primates agreed to meet during Pentecost. The eleven primates present also agreed on a tentative agenda, setting down eight of ten topics for discussion that had been identified by preconcilar meetings.

Eight topics have been also been approved for discussion: The Orthodox Diaspora; The way in which autonomy is granted to semi-independent churches within autocephalous churches; The Church calendar; Canonical impediments to marriage; Fasting rules; Relationships with the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion; The ecumenical movement; and The contribution of Orthodoxy to affirming peace, fraternity, and freedom. The topics of the Diptychs -- the order of precedence of churches -- and autocephaly of churches in the Ukraine and Eastern Europe has yet to be approved for debate. In his opening address the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople told the primates "the great responsibility belongs to us now, without further delay, to convert this vision into a reality."

*****

Mindfulness is far from harmless. Despite claims that the practice of mindfulness, which involves being still and focusing on one's breathing and thoughts, can help to tackle stress and depression, critics have attested to its negative effects, suggesting that it is not a harmless way to unwind. Dr. Peter Jones of Truthxchange has spoken of the Buddhist roots of mindfulness, explaining that the process of meditation, which effectively silences the conscience, creates a mindset "very opposite to the Christian faith". You have been warned.

*****

Word has reached VOL that violence has broken out in Gambella, Ethiopia.Bishop Grant LeMarquand reports that several days ago a Nuer woman was beaten. "She has now died. This seems to have inflamed a tense situation. A bomb has gone off in a local college (not ours). We have heard gun shots. Everyone here on our compound is tense and near panic. Internet is intermittent. Please pray. Later the bishop wrote, “Things have become worse in the last few days. Troops are now restoring calm. Wendy and I will send a newsletter giving more details in a couple of days.More information will be sent when I can." LeMarquand is assistant bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Egypt, serving as bishop in the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, under Archbishop Mouneer Anis.

*****

I have posted some final stories on what took place in Canterbury, England with the Primates, including a response by Archbishop Mouneer Anis of the Middle East. You can find a full link of all the stories I and others wrote about this historic occasion here: http://www.virtueonline.org/content/2016-primates-meeting-canterbury-uk

*****

Thank you again for your kind support of VOL this past year. As we go into 2016 we do need your support to carry on our mission to bring you all the Anglican news that's fit to print. Please consider a tax deductible donation to help defray the costs.

You can send a check to:
VIRTUEONLINE
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P.O. Box 111
Shohola, PA 18458

Or you can make a contribution through VOL's PAYPAL link here: http://www.virtueonline.org/support-vol/

Thank you for your support.

David

It was an assumption made first by Canon John L. Peterson, then Canon Kenneth Kearon who succeeded him and now Dr. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, the former Anglican Archbishop of the Province of Kaduna the present Secretary General of the ACC.

One of the reasons then ACNA Archbishop Robert Duncan never applied for membership in the Anglican Communion is because he knew he would be turned down by Secretary General Kearon an Irish liberal, who would never have recognized two Anglican integrities on North American soil and because TEC gives some $400,000 a year to support the Anglican Communion office.

At the recent gathering of Primates in Canterbury the new Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Michael Curry made the following observation that the Primates are one body and not as important as the ACC which he said had the real power to say yes or no as to who was in or out.

The Presiding Bishop emphasized the autonomy of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), in the wake of the Primates' decision to censure his Church.

At their meeting in Canterbury, the Primates' said the US Episcopal Church could no longer represent them on ecumenical and interfaith bodies, nor serve on the Primates or ACC standing committees, and not vote on matters of polity and doctrine at the ACC for a period of three years, because of its support for same-sex marriage.

However, a close examination of the constitution of the Anglican Communion office reveals that the ACC has no such power, that it has been an assumed and derived power and that, in truth, it has no authority to enforce such exclusion.

First, the ACC Constitution does NOT give the ACC jurisdiction over the application process. It only gives them jurisdiction to add to the Schedule of Provinces. Up to this point, the application process has been through the Primates who bring recognition first to their churches and then by resolution of 2/3 of the Primates to the ACC for confirmation.

You can read the full story in today's digest or here: http://tinyurl.com/hl47ak6

*****

The Anglican Pittsburgh of Diocese is on the hunt for a new bishop to replace the retiring Robert Duncan who served first as its Episcopal bishop, then its first Anglican bishop, then the first ACNA Archbishop.

There are some excellent candidates. (VOL was sent a list of aspirants) and we believe that any of the following would make a good replacement for Bishop Duncan. Bishop Frank Lyons, Anglican Diocese of the South in the Diocese of Atlanta; Canon Phil Ashey, CEO American Anglican Council, Atlanta, GA; The Ven. Canon Jack, Lumanog, COO, Anglican Church in North America; The Rev Canon John Macdonald, Associate Professor, Trinity School for Ministry, Ambridge, PA; The Very Rev Charles "Chip" Edgar, Dean Church of the Apostles, Columbia, SC (PEARUSA); The Rev. Laurie Thompson, Dean of Advancement, Trinity School for Ministry, Ambridge, PA.

While not a full list of contenders, any one of these would carry forward the flag of orthodoxy in that diocese. Prayers are requested.

*****

The Archbishop of Nigeria, the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh has written a letter to his people saying that "for whatever it was worth" nothing has changed and that "some of our provinces are [still] in impaired relationship with The Episcopal Church (TEC) and The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) in particular and other churches that are following in their footsteps." He wrote that this week following the meeting of 36 Primates of the Anglican Communion who met in Canterbury

The evangelical Anglican archbishop of the largest province in the Anglican Communion said that it had been the collective resolution of the GAFCON Group for several years that it would not participate in any gathering in the Anglican Communion to which TEC and The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) were invited, until they repented of their erroneous doctrinal and theological postures and practices.

He and his fellow GAFCON primates and the Global South primates decided to accept the invitation anyway, following the almost unanimous resolution.

"The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) was not focused on because it claims they have not altered its Marriage Canon. However, we know that the Anglican Church of Canada. Scotland, Wales, Brazil and New Zealand are on the way to toeing the same line as The Episcopal Church. We are yet to be convinced that the restrictions imposed on TEC will be implemented. The bottom line, therefore, is that nothing has changed. You can read my full take on this in today's digest.

*****

Anglicans confronted the challenge of Islam in a series of addresses at this year's Mere Anglican conference in Charleston SC. While I have written about this, I believe that Jeff Walton of the Institute for Religion and Democracy captured the essence of the conference in a piece posted in today's digest.

Christianity and Islam together comprise the world's two largest faiths, each monotheistic and centered upon the importance of proselytization -- and in many parts of the world, they are on a collision course.

"The prospects for religious war in the next decade are extremely high unless groups like Boko Haram and ISIS are uprooted," warned Baylor University History Professor Philip Jenkins.

Dr. William Lane Craig of Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California, opened the conference speaking about the concept of God in Islam and Christianity. Noting that the question "do Muslims and Christians worship the same God?" had recently been in the news, Craig instead sought to examine what each faith understood about who God is. The God of Islam, Craig determined, was deficient in the Christian view because he lacked the ability to love those who did not love him in return. Effectively, a God who loves sinners and a God incapable of loving sinners -- indeed, even declared their enemy in verses of the Qur'an -- were at their core sharply different.

Speakers encouraged participants to be relational in their interactions with Muslims, seeing them not as adversaries in an argument, but as people who might consider Christ by witnessing genuine love in the church.

"We have our own opportunities but we stay in our own clubs," observed Lebanese-born pastor Fouad Masri about how few Muslims in the U.S. are invited into Christian homes. "Our job is to share -- God makes people Christians, not us."

*****

The AAC and GAFCON. Most people are not aware that the AAC has supported and worked with GAFCON's leaders since the movement began in 2008. Their Board of Trustees has reaffirmed its support for the GAFCON movement. "We see in its leaders the hope for a future Anglican Communion that finds its identity in Jesus Christ and Biblical faithfulness rather than institutional loyalty. Regretfully, we do not believe the next three years of sanctions on The Episcopal Church (TEC) (or "relational consequences," as the Archbishop of Canterbury defines it) will produce the results for which most of the Primates hoped and prayed. Will the flood of false teaching from North America (TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada) continue to sweep into other Churches and regions of the Anglican Communion? Whatever the future may hold, we believe we have three years to build an ark," writes CEO Phil Ashey of the AAC.

"Our vision supports that commitment. We reaffirmed the vision of the American Anglican Council:

Locally: to help Anglican Churches in North America become transformed by the Holy Spirit, with leaders and congregations who are Biblically inspired, united, confessing, and passionately committed to fulfilling Christ's Great Commission

"Globally: to help Anglican leaders and national churches return Anglicanism to its biblical and apostolic roots, to prevail over all false gospels, to unite with other biblical and apostolic Christians and, together, to fulfill Christ's Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20) in the world.

We do this by Developing Faithful leaders, Equipping the Church for Mission, and Renewing Biblically faithful Anglicanism worldwide. That's our mission."

*****

February 7, 2016 is WORLD MISSION SUNDAY. In Mark 16:15 Jesus told his disciples to "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."

Each year, the last Sunday after Epiphany is designated as World Mission Sunday across the Anglican Church in North America, writes Archbishop Foley Beach Primate of the ACNA.

"I invite you to make a special effort to highlight those mission projects that your congregation supports, and take up a special offering on their behalf. If you are currently looking for more ministry opportunities, you will find a variety of excellent projects being led by the Anglican Global Mission Partners (AGMP)."

AGMP is a network of 33 non-profit Anglican global mission-committed entities. Their vision is to see an Anglican Church in North America that is passionately committed to preach the Gospel and to make disciples of all nations in the name of Christ. A listing of those agencies can be found at agmp-na.org.

*****

The number of young evangelical leaders who start well and then fall from grace after a few years in the ministry seems to grow and grow. I think of names like Jim Bakker, Billy James Hargis, Robert Tilton, Kent Hovind, Peter Popoff...the list goes on and on. Then there are those like Frankie Schaeffer and more recently Bart Campolo, son of the famous evangelist Tony Campolo who fell right over the cliff edge into atheism.

The latest (in England) is The Rev. Mark Bailey, the national leader of New Wine, a thriving, charismatic evangelical network of churches with a dynamic and lively ministry around the country and a Team Rector of the hugely successful evangelical church, Trinity Cheltenham.

This week he resigned as leader of New Wine and CofE pastor resigns from all posts, but no reasons were cited. His resignation came after a meeting with the CofE Bishop of Gloucester Rachel Treweek.

The announcement by the trustees of New Wine that they had accepted his resignation, made with "the greatest sadness and regret", stunned the close-knit evangelical community in the UK and some prominent members of New Wine and the Church of England sought prayers for Bailey on social media networks such as Facebook.

The details of the case are not being disclosed but he is now subject to proceedings under the Clergy Discipline Measure. Neither the police nor any other statutory agencies are involved.

Bailey has been pastor at the church in Cheltenham for more than 20 years and involved in ministry for more than 27 years. He was previously a university chaplain and before that served his curacy. He has also worked in the secular world, in finance.

A British Anglican commentator wrote to VOL and said that if it is sex, (and we don't know) at least he has the decency to resign before it becomes public, unlike a number of vicars who openly live with their same sex partners, and in some cases have married them, and think they have done nothing wrong.

*****

The Archbishop of Canterbury is heading the biggest evangelism project in the UK so far this millennium. Every cathedral, church and clergyman and woman in the land is being urged to share their faith and win new converts to Christianity.

Cathedrals and churches are being urged to set aside the week before Pentecost as a week of prayer for evangelism.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Welby and Dr. John Sentamu, are calling cathedrals and other churches to use the week running up to Pentecost Sunday on May 15 to pray for new followers to Christ.

The entire Church is being urged to pray throughout the week for "all Christians to deepen their relationship with Jesus" in order to have "confidence" to share the faith. The aim is for "all to respond to the call of Jesus Christ to follow him."

The two Archbishops are currently writing to all 11,300 Church of England clergy inviting them to "engage" with the project. They are being asked to organize round-the-clock prayer marathons, one-off events and other meetings and gatherings to help towards the evangelization effort.

Project leader Emma Buchan said: "The hope is that in many places, Christians across denominations and streams can pray together, as the unity of the whole Body of Christ is a powerful reality and symbol to the world."

*****

Pope Francis will meet Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in Cuba next week in a historic first meeting between the heads of the two largest Christian churches, the Vatican announced Friday.

The gathering will be the first of its kind since a schism in the 11th Century split Christianity into Western and Eastern branches.

The two wings have been estranged ever since with each maintaining for centuries that they are the true heritors of the early Christian church established by the apostles of Jesus Christ.

Relations have warmed of late between Rome and other branches of the Orthodox tradition, but the Russian one, the most influential in the Eastern family, has maintained its distance, until now.

With Pope Francis having adopted an "any time, any place" approach since his 2013 election, the once-in-a-millennium sit-down has been set for Havana's Jose Marti International Airport on February 12.

Francis will stop over on his way to a scheduled visit to Mexico while Kirill is due on the communist island for the first leg of a February 11-22 trip to Latin America which will also take in Paraguay, Chile and Brazil.

A spokesman for the Russian church said the meeting would be principally focused on the persecution of Christians around the world and that a joint declaration would be issued after a private conversation between the two leaders.

*****

FACTOID. The worst case of Islamic persecution of Christians is not in the Middle East as is so often portrayed by the media. It is the slaughter of Christians by Boko Haran in Northern Nigeria. And who has suffered most from this kind of persecution and killing? They are Anglicans. An African bishop I met on Sullivan's Island, SC at an Anglican Leadership conference recently told me that the DIOCESE OF DAMATURU has bene virtually wiped out, its bishop, priests and parishioners either killed or forced to leave the area.

So next time you hear a whine from some Episcopal pansexualist telling you how hate filled and homophobic you are for not endorsing their behavior, tell them this and then tell them what the real face of hate looks like.

*****

The Upcoming Sony film RISEN promotes belief in the resurrection of Christ, say knowledgeable sources. Set to open on 2,700 screens across North America on February 19, Risen, starring Joseph Fiennes of Shakespeare in Love fame, begins where Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ concluded: the crucifixion. Seen through the eyes of Clavius, an ambitious Roman tribune (Fiennes) charged with guarding the body of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth, the story is told from the vantage point of an unbeliever on a desperate mission to crush the "rumor" of the Messiah's resurrection.

The Sony Pictures film is reminiscent of the 1985 film The Fourth Wise Man, starring Martin Sheen in that the ever so familiar events are retold from a fresh perspective, making the narrative all the more convincing. Rich Peluso, senior vice president of AFFIRM Films, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, spoke of it as the "intersection of Scripture and historical fiction," which allows for a "refreshing and exciting way to relive this story that I know and love so well with different eyes."

Peluso, who after working 15 years in Christian music joined Sony to "utilize corporate worldly resources to tell stories that point to Jesus," told LifeSiteNews in an interview last week that Clavius is a composite character of many who must have taken the news of the resurrection back to Rome.

How is it, said Peluso, that the "dominant empire in the world, focused on crushing Christianity, gets flipped in a number of generations into a Christian empire?" Obviously, the truth of Christ's resurrection witnessed by the Jews and Romans had a transformative effect.

Peluso said that Risen has had incredibly positive feedback from the Christian leaders who screened the film.

*****

There seems to be no end to the outrage of Episcopal sodomists to open its doors to promote pansexuality to whomever.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, a devout Catholic, went to St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral to marry his husband, Michael Shiosaki, in a deeply traditional ceremony.

Of course Mayor Murray is described as a "devout" Catholic; that adjective always comes into play when a reporter is applauding a public figure for dissenting from Church teaching. That dissent explains why a "devout" Catholic would want to be married in an episcopal church. But feast your eyes on the final phrase of that sentence: "a deeply traditional ceremony."

No doubt it was "deeply" traditional in the same sense in which Murray is a "devout" Catholic. (I wonder if he's "deeply" devout) But tell me: just how traditional can a wedding ceremony be, if the couple are of the same sex?

In a spectacularly lopsided article for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Joel Connelly is determined to show that it is unreasonable for a Catholic high school to refuse to publish a notice of a graduate's same-sex wedding. Connelly blames the refusal on the "chilly, hardline stand" taken by Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, who has been "raining down prohibitions on same-sex marriage."

Other Catholics are apparently more willing to accept the homosexual alliances, Connelly reports.

******

New divorce statistics reveal some terrifying trends. Women are more likely than men to utter the words, "I want a divorce". Michael Rosenfeld, an associate professor of sociology at Stanford University, examined data from Stanford's 2009-2015 How Couples Meet and Stay Together project, and looked at 2,262 adults, ages 19 to 94, who had opposite sex partners in 2009. By 2015, when it came to divorce, Rosenfeld found that wives initiated 69 percent of splits, compared to 31 percent of men! Another poll revealed that women are prepared to dump their husbands after 30 or more years of marriage even when they are 60 and older!

*****

AMERICA is "in trouble" and the solution is not in the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, said the Rev. Franklin Graham, who added that "the only hope for this nation is God," and if people "turn from their sins" and turn back to God, He "will help us fix the problems that we face."

Franklin Graham, son of world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham, made his remarks on CNN's New Day, where he was asked by host Chris Cuomo on Wednesday about the 2016 presidential race.

"Our country is in trouble and I can tell you right now, I have zero hope in the Democratic Party and I have zero hope in the Republican Party," said Rev. Graham. "The only hope for this nation is God."

"And if we'll turn our attention back to God, I believe God will help us fix the problems that we face," he said. "But Chris, we have no individual that can turn this thing around. Only God can do it."

As for the various political candidates, the Rev. Graham said, "There are some good guys out there that have some great ideas for this country, to move this country forward. But those good ideas aren't going to go anywhere without the hand of Almighty God."

"And yes, I do believe in the Divine Hand," said the reverend, who oversees the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. "I believe that God has blessed this nation that His hand has been on this nation."

"But we have taken God out of our country," he said. "We have taken him out of politics, we have taken him out of schools, out of the education system and we are a broken nation."

America's many problems are "not going to get fixed by politics," he said. "It's only going to be fixed if the American people turn from their sins and put their faith and trust in almighty God."

*****

"It is no longer easy to be a faithful Christian, a good Catholic, an authentic witness to the truths of the Gospel," said Princeton Professor Robert George to a large crowd at the Legatus Summit in Orlando, Florida last weekend. Professor George added that people can still safely identify as "Catholic" as long as they don't believe, or will at least be completely silent about, "what the Church teaches on issues such as marriage and sexual morality and the sanctity of human life."

He said "the guardians of those norms of cultural orthodoxy that we have come to call 'political correctness,'" will still grant a comfort to a Catholic ashamed of the Gospel, "or who is willing to act publicly as if he or she were ashamed."

The Princeton professor, who has been a leader in the fight for life and marriage, reminded his audience of Christ's words: "If anyone wants to be my disciple, let him take up his cross and follow me.""We American Catholics, having become comfortable, had forgotten, or ignored, that timeless Gospel truth. There will be no ignoring it now," he remarked.

*****

Please consider a tax deductible donation to keep these digests coming to you each week. We put a lot of time and research into the preparation of these digests. We write, collect and scour the world to bring you the most up-to-date news of the Anglican Communion in all its vast array and disarray.

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Thank you for your support.

David

If there are lessons for the Church to be learned from the current political malaise and polarization in American politics, it is that truth will not be subject to endless dialogue, interfaithery talk, inclusivity, diversity and pluralism. We are stuck, we cannot move forward.

Take Roe v Wade. The issues have not gone away. The 1973 landmark abortion decision of the Supreme Court is now on the front burner of American politics 43 years later. The wannabee presidential candidate Chris Christie said it was the No.1 issue for him when asked. He is not the only one. Why, because human life is important and Christians across the country are fighting to bring down Planned Parenthood. It will be the same with gay marriage now legalized by the Supreme Court. I suspect 43 years from now if it is still on the books, Christians will be fighting to have it overturned. If Euthanasia is ever formally legalized we will see the same fight.

When the hue and cry over homophobia and "hate" finally dies down, people will be forced to look at the hard medical facts about sodomy and realize that this sexual behavior has no future and people will wake up. The latest medical facts are undeniable about sexually transmitted diseases, more than 75% are MSM. You can't make this stuff up. Facts are facts.

Americans with strongly held convictions are not going gently into that dark night. We are a polarized nation. My wife and I sat at an airport restaurant last night on our way home from Mexico and a man sitting next to us heard us talking and leaned over and said, "I don't know who to vote for, I don't like any of the candidates. I want someone who is concerned for the poor and downtrodden, 'the least of these', willing to put the country first, not big business or big pharma, at the same time respect marriage between a man and a woman, call Islam for what it is, actually believe what the Bible says about sex, respect life in the womb...but who is out there?" Who indeed.

Is it any wonder that the Church too is polarized? Progressives (formerly liberals) and hard core revisionists have thrown the Bible out the window or deconstructed it to the point that they make texts mean the exact opposite of what they say. I know a lesbian Church of England woman who is desperately trying to rewrite Scripture to make her behavior palatable to the Church and do so with God's blessing. She can't of course and anybody with half a brain knows you cannot lift the Law of Non-Contraction. But she keeps trying. When a lesbian seminary dean in the US says abortion is a blessing then that is a polarizing statement and Christians of real faith will never accept it. So too with gay marriage. People of conviction will never buy it, never.

That is why, at the end of the day, you have TEC and the ACNA. All talk of dialogue, Indaba and professional reconcilers will simply hit a brick wall. Reconciliation is impossible. Somewhere down the line if one side does not win the theological and culture wars then the Anglican Communion must split. Two cannot walk together unless they be agreed and they cannot, it is as simple as that.

Archbishop Justin Welby can send his theologians and professional reconcilers around the world, and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry can pour millions of dollars into Africa to make friends and influence Anglicans, but if the faithful hold fast to the faith "once delivered" then their efforts will fail and he will learn that you cannot kick the ball down the road forever; one or both sides will say enough and walk away. That is the way it must be. Truth cannot be compromised. God will not permit it. He will raise up 'stones' to speak for him if need be, or another Balaam's ass. It is only a matter of time.

*****

I wrote a number of years ago that once the liberals and revisionists had gotten rid of orthodox Episcopalians in the Episcopal Church they would turn on themselves like hungry rats with nothing left to feed on but themselves.

A case in point is the developing saga in the Diocese of Los Angeles. The bishop there, one Jon Bruno faces ecclesiastical and legal charges, that if proven true, could get him tossed out of the Church.

The irony should not be missed. The people who want him gone are fellow progressives. Here's the back story. At one time St. James the Great in Newport Beach was an orthodox evangelical parish under the watchful theological eye of one Fr. Richard Crocker. When the diocese and TEC started going down the revisionist drain over gay marriage he demurred and wanted to leave the diocese but keep the parish. He failed in the courts and moved on. With only a handful of liberals left the bishop allowed them to have a woman priest (of course) and so she set up shop. But then the bishop realized he had a multi-million dollar piece of real estate and immediately, through sleazy legal maneuvers, tried to sell it. He desperately needs the money having spent some $8 million on fighting other parishes. Not so fast said the new liberal dwellers. A secular company, The Griffith Company, who owned the land also came to the defense of the generations-old wishes to maintain the church property. Bruno suddenly found himself in the middle of a dogfight with little hope he can now sell the property. On top of this the liberal priestess he installed filed ecclesiastical charges against him and now he faces a trial that could see him tossed out.

The big question is will the ultra-liberal Disciplinary Board of the HOB led by The Rt. Rev. Catherine Waynick, President of the Board pronounce him guilty. Think Charles Bennison the former Bishop of PA. He was found guilty of conduct unbecoming a clergy but then they said the statute of limitations had run out and Bennison the Venal took a walk. A later change in the canons allowed then PB Jefferts Schori to arm twist the revisionist bishop out of his see. Perhaps it takes an extreme case like Bishop Heather Cook, who actually killed someone for the Church to be declarative, but then the media was all over her and TEC had no option. Let's hope the secular press gives their full attention to Bruno the bully.

A jury trial is set to begin August 1st.

*****

The Diocese of Northern Indiana has a new bishop. He is the Rev. Dr. Douglas Sparks, rector, St. Luke's Church, Rochester, MN. He replaces the Rt. Rev. Ed Little II an evangelical and Communion Partner Bishop. During the debate on liturgical forms Little said, "As a matter of Christian conviction, I must vote no. I do not believe that we have the authority to alter the sacrament of holy matrimony. That sacrament is rooted in creation and redemption, and is a sign of God's good provision for humankind. But I am well aware that many in the Diocese of Northern Indiana will be distressed that I could support neither the canonical re-definition of marriage nor the liturgies for same-sex marriage." Sparks will have no difficulty going along long with the Episcopal Church's canonical changes on gay marriage which marks the end of this diocese as truly orthodox. My reading is that the only orthodox dioceses left in TEC are Dallas, Springfield, Albany and Central Florida. Communion Partners is all but dead.

*****

Although homosexuals, or men who have sex with men (MSM), make up about 2% of the U.S. population, they account for 67% of "all new HIV diagnoses," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In addition, there are about 1.2 million people in the United States with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and an estimated 647,700 (54%) of those people are homosexuals, or MSM.

The 67% of all new HIV cases is for 2013 and the 54% living with HIV is for 2011, the latest years, according to the CDC, for that particular data.

Among some of the other facts about HIV/AIDS, reported by the CDC, are:

-- About 50,000 people become newly infected each year in the United States.

-- "More than 14,000 people with AIDS in the United States die each year."

-- "More than 650,000 people with AIDS in the United States have died" since the epidemic started in the early 1980s.

-- "Men who have sex with men (MSM) remain the group most heavily affected by HIV in the United States."

-- "White MSM continue to represent the largest number of new HIV infections among MSM (11,200), followed closely by black MSM (10,600)and Hispanic MSM (6,700)."

-- "Transgender individuals are also heavily affected by HIV. A 2008 review of HIV studies among transgender women found that, on average, 28 percent tested positive for HIV."

As for reducing the risk of being infected with HIV, the CDC states: "Sexual risk behaviors account for most HIV infections in gay and bisexual men. Most gay and bisexual men acquire HIV through anal sex, which is the riskiest type of sex for getting or transmitting HIV.

And you wonder why orthodox Anglicans can never buy into this behavior. It is simple, death both literal and spiritual haunts the beds of gay men and no amount of spin can or will change that.

*****

The Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop Michael Curry is putting the best spin on what happened in Canterbury, and now says this that the Anglican Communion's recent censure of his denomination was a "very specific, almost surgical approach" to their disagreements over LGBT issues.

You will recall that the Anglican primates voted last month in Canterbury, England, to remove the Episcopal Church from votes on doctrine and to ban it from representing the communion in interfaith and ecumenical relationships for three years.

In an appearance at the National Press Club on Monday (Feb. 8), Curry said the decision was a "very specific, almost surgical approach" that allowed both sides to express their differences and yet find a way to remain together. FOR THE MOMENT.

"There was clarity on our part, both about who we are as a church and about our love and commitment to the communion and there was clarity on their part that they disagreed with us," he said. "But they didn't vote us off the island." He said he could understand why the majority of Anglican leaders voted for the censure.

"Because we differ on the core doctrine, it would not be seen as appropriate for us to represent the Anglican Communion in ecumenical, interfaith leadership," he said. "That's fair." The Episcopal position would not be reviewed to avoid a renewal of the three-year censure. "We're not changing."
I wonder if he he'll be saying that three years from now when, as the Archbishop of Nigeria, Nicholas Okoh said recently "nothing has changed". A minority of the largest provinces are impaired or broken communion with TEC. If the Episcopal Church continues down its present course then either the Global South will withdraw from the Communion and take the majority of Anglicans with them or TEC will feel it has no place in the Communion and she, along with Scotland, Wales, The Church of England, Southern Africa and a few other provinces will withdraw. Either way it is over, it is only a matter of time.

****

SEXUAL SCANDAL continues to break out in The Episcopal Church. St. George's School, an elite Episcopal prep school in Middletown, Rhode Island is under investigation for the alleged sexual abuse of dozens of former students.

Three boys came to administrators at the prestigious Rhode Island prep school St. George's in 2004 with disturbing allegations: their dorm master had touched them inappropriately. Timothy Richards, then dean of students at the Episcopal school in Middletown, said he and the headmaster, Eric Peterson, interviewed the students.

The accused staffer left the school abruptly, and students were told he had taken a personal leave of absence. But a former school official says the school never reported the allegations to child welfare officials, as is required for credible accusations of abuse.

This week, with St. George's embroiled in a growing sexual abuse scandal, Richards said he would have reported the 2004 incident. "If the decision was up to him, he would have reported it to the appropriate agency in Rhode Island," said Richards's spokesperson, Karen Schwartzman. "In the situation at St. George's School, he's relying on the judgment of his boss, who is head of school and also an attorney."

The incident intensifies the spotlight on Peterson, who is still St. George's headmaster and was already facing calls for his resignation for what victims say is his failure to respond appropriately to numerous allegations of unreported past abuse. On Dec. 23, the school released a report on its own investigation into sexual abuse there, mostly in the 1970s and '80s, describing six staff and three student perpetrators. But it did not include the 2004 incident, even though the father of one alleged victim says he described the case in detail to the investigator.

Then news came this week that the scandal was beginning to spread across the country. The Rev. Howard White, former rector of Grace Episcopal Church in the Mountains has been accused of sexual misconduct that allegedly occurred during his time in Waynesville, NC.

The allegation came to light following the news that White was involved in sexual misconduct at St. George's School in Rhode Island.

In the report, White is identified only as Employee Perpetrator #2, but was later named by the attorney for the victims, Eric MacLeish, by matching victim statements with the account published.

It'll be interesting to see how much further this scandal unfolds and what heads will roll and lawsuits filed.

*****

IN CANADA the Anglican Church there might well soon be on suicide watch. The Diocese of Toronto's St. John's holds a monthly Queer Eucharist where those still smarting from "the church's historic condemnation of homosexuality" can reassure themselves that what St. Paul and 2,000 years of church history have been saying about homosexual acts have been wrong all along.

Rev. Samantha Caravan points out that a lot of "people have left the church" over this. Now, because of the Queer Eucharist, it seems they have returned; all 12 of them.

On a January evening in Toronto, a dozen or so congregants filter in from the cold into the surprising mauve, green and yellow interior of a stately old church in a leafy west-end neighborhood.

They stand to sing Marty Haugen's "Here in this Place New Light is Streaming," and listen as the Rev. Samantha Caravan, clad in rainbow vestments, asks for inspiration "to speak a new word, to shout another praise." Caravan reads a passage from St. Peter's letter, in which he addresses the persecuted early church: "Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

A sermon is preached on the need for a faith of inclusion, after which the congregation affirms that it will not "patronize, exclude or ignore the gifts of any person."

The group stands in a circle around the altar and takes the bread and wine. Together, they offer themselves to be leaders of liberation and proclaimers of divine love. To the much-beloved Thaxted tune, they sing, "Let streams of living justice flow down upon the earth," before gathering for refreshments and chat.

So for a handful of queers, the Anglican province wants to change its canons on marriage to suit the unsuitable.

*****

The Aleppo Codex, the oldest surviving copy of the Hebrew Bible that some experts believe all versions of the Old Testament stem from, has been recognized by UNESCO as an important world treasure.

I24News reported that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization added the millennium-old Codex earlier this week to its International Memory of the World Register, which honors some of the most important discoveries relating to human history. You can read the full story in today's digest.

*****

Despite famine, religious wars, worldwide conflict and the spread of civilization, the heads of the Roman Catholic and the Russian Orthodox churches haven't spoken since the Great Schism of 1054 shattered Christendom, so they had a lot of catching up to do when they sat down for their historic meeting Friday afternoon in Cuba.

Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill embraced and kissed one another three times on the cheek as they met in the wood-paneled VIP room at Havana's Jose Martí International Airport.

After another round of handshakes for the cameras and greetings with members of their entourages, the two men sat and began talking. Clasping their hands in their laps, both occasionally gestured and nodded as they spoke. They held a two-hour "personal conversation" and then signed a joint declaration.

"We are brothers," Francis said as he embraced Kirill in the small, wood-paneled VIP room of Havana's airport, where the three-hour encounter took place.

"Now things are easier," Kirill agreed as he and the pope exchanged three kisses on the cheek. "This is the will of God," the pope said.

In the 30-point statement, the two leaders declared themselves ready to take all necessary measures to overcome their historical differences, saying "we are not competitors, but brothers."

Francis and Kirill also called for political leaders to act on the single most important issue of shared concern between the Catholic and Orthodox churches today: the plight of Christians in Iraq and Syria who are being killed and driven from their homes by the Islamic State group.

"In many countries of the Middle East and North Africa, entire families of our brothers and sisters in Christ are being exterminated, entire villages and cities," the declaration said.

The split between the two churches nearly 1,000 years ago has festered over issues such as the primacy of the pope and accusations by the Russian Orthodox Church that the Catholic Church tries to poach converts in Russia.

No pope has ever visited Russia. En route to the historic visit Friday, journalists asked Francis if a visit to the nation is on his papal bucket list. "China and Russia, I have them here," Francis said, pointing to his heart. "Pray."

Few people expect Friday's meeting -- which took two years of secret planning to pull off -- will wipe away centuries of distrust and suspicion in a few hours, but it will be a groundbreaking step toward Catholic-Orthodox relations.

*****

Practicing Christians are now a minority in Britain much like the persecuted Roman Catholic minority after the reformation, two senior clerics said this week.

The Anglican Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, and the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Cardinal Nichols, said their respective Churches must put aside their differences and recognize their "common agenda" as society becomes increasingly secularized.

The clerics were speaking after a historic meeting at Hampton Court Palace, home of Henry VIII, where the Chapel Royal celebrated Catholic Vespers for the first time in more than 450 years.

According to The Telegraph, Cardinal Nichols, who is de facto leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said that after being severely persecuted in previous centuries, Catholics now contribute to British life as a "significant minority", to which Bishop Chartres replied: "We are all minorities now."

Cardinal Nichols continued, adding that traditional Christian values that people "used to take for granted" are now widely questioned.

Last month, Breitbart London reported how attendance at Church of England services had dropped below one million per week for the first time ever, with only 1.4 per cent of the population now attending England's established church.

The figures mark a two-thirds decrease since the 1960s, with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby warning that Britain is becoming increasingly anti-Christian:

"The culture [is] becoming anti-Christian, whether it is on matters of sexual morality, or the care for people at the beginning or the end of life. It is easy to paint a very gloomy picture."

*****

The Anglican Church of Melanesia has a new Archbishop and Primate. He is the Rt. Rev. George Takeli, the current Bishop of Temotu. He will be enthroned on April 17 April at the Saint Barnabas Provincial Cathedral. He will also become Bishop of the Diocese of Central Melanesia. He succeeds Archbishop David Vunagi who retired September 2015.

Born in Suholo village on Ulawa Island in the province of Makira Ulawa, 56-year-old George Takeli was ordained to the priesthood in 1995 and has served as a priest in the Anglican Church for 16 years before being made the fourth Bishop of Temotu in August 2009.

Bishop Takeli said that his main priorities as Archbishop of Melanesia will be to establish an active missionary church alongside a strong and effective administration system and a strong investment division for the Anglican Church of Melanesia.

*****

Bishop David Zac Niringiye, a Langham Scholar who retired four years ago as the bishop of Uganda's Anglican church to promote peace and speak out against corruption in his nation, is asking for prayers for Uganda which, he writes, "is on the edge...there is widespread fear that violence could escalate in the run up to and after the February 18, 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections."

Bishop Zac, who is uniting with the youth across the country to advocate for peaceful elections through the "I Pledge Peace 2016" campaign, said in a recent interview with BBC Radio 4 that "it is important that we ensure that the elections are free. . . The amount of suffering that the misuse and abuse of power has created for my country, it is a right thing for a religious person to say enough is enough."

The bishop is calling for prayer for Uganda.

*****

CORRECTION. In my last VIEWPOINTS I inferred that the ACNA had a retirement age similar to that of The Episcopal Church. I was wrong. There is no retirement age limit in ACNA. My apologies for the error.

*****

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