In particular, sexual sin seems to be the largest single factor driving disbelief in our culture. Brant Hanson calls sex "The Big But" because he so often hears this from unbelievers: "'I like Jesus, BUT...' and the 'but' is usually followed, one way or the other, with an objection about the Bible and... sex. People think something's deeply messed-up with a belief system that says two consenting, unmarried adults should refrain from sex." In other words, people simply do not want to follow the Christian teaching that sexual intercourse should take place only between and man and woman who are married, so they throw the whole religion out. But I maintain that after 50 years of this "liberation," it is empirically provable that this is the way that leads to death. --- Donald Sensing

The true model. 'Ministry' means 'service' -- lowly, menial service; it is, therefore, peculiarly perverse to turn it into an occasion for boasting. Jesus specifically distinguished between 'rule' and 'service', 'authority' and 'ministry', and added that though the former was characteristic of pagans, the latter was to characterize his followers: 'You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many' (Mk. 10:42-45). Thus the Christian minister is to take as his model, not the Gentiles (or the Pharisees) who preferred to be lords, but the Christ who came to serve. This is not to deny that some authority attaches to the ministry, but rather to define and circumscribe it. It is the authority which inheres in sound teaching and consistent example. --- John R.W. Stott

There is no doubt that the best teachers in any field of knowledge are those who remain students all their lives. --- John R.W. Stott

By David W. Virtue in Budapest
www.virtueonline.org
October 24, 2014

All in all, it's hard to escape the conclusion that people like Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori know as much about how to run the Episcopal Church and God's plan for her as Alan Greenspan knew about what the market wanted -- that is, nothing. If Warren Buffet wore a miter, odds are he would set about balancing the books by bagging any more lawsuits, fire the law firm of David Booth Beers, merge dioceses that are no longer viable, sell the church's headquarters at 815 2nd Ave in New York, fire most of the employees who are little more than political functionaries, and move the headquarters to whoever is elected the next PB as they must retain their own diocese as a sitting bishop just like the Archbishop of Canterbury does. In addition, he would reduce the number of seminaries to three as most of them are failing. Finally, no more junkets and cease spending endless thousands of dollars on committees and commissions to "reimagine" the church. Instead, put the Great Commission at the center of the church's mission (you can do that without a committee), and demand that dioceses have three years to grow their dioceses or the bishop is fired without a golden parachute and his pension is frozen.

Of course this won't happen because there is too much vested interest in keeping the status quo alive and because sodomy is more important than salvation. The Episcopal Church is keener on accommodating the culture than speaking prophetically to it.

*****

This was one of those weeks when jumping to conclusions prematurely was not the wise thing to do. But most of the secular (and some) religious media did it anyway.

In his closing address to the Synod fathers gathered in the Vatican Saturday, Pope Francis offered a perplexing vision. In comments, widely interpreted as referring to Cardinal Raymond Burke and other Cardinals at the Synod who fought to maintain the teaching of the Church on homosexuality and Holy Communion, Pope Francis spoke of the temptation of "traditionalists" with their "hostile inflexibility," and their failure to allow themselves to be "surprised by God."

The Pope tried to paint for himself a middle ground between that which he perceived as "hostile inflexibility" and, on the other hand, the "temptation to a destructive tendency to goodness" which he called characteristic of "progressives and liberals." Their problem, he said, was "that in the name of a deceptive mercy binds the wounds without first curing them and treating them; that treats the symptoms and not the causes and the roots."

The press narrowed this down to "the Church's stance on gays", and "divorced and remarried Catholics" and communion. All the while, the working groups discussed many more problems people are struggling with globally, and issued summaries revealing the depth and breadth of those discussions. Keeping them off the record frustrated not a few of the participants.

Cardinal George Pell gave voice to those frustrations.

According to a report by Marco Tosatti in La Stampa (and translated on Fr. Z's Blog), Cardinal Baldisseri, General Secretary of the Synod, announced that the reports of the small working groups would not be made available to the public. Tosatti reported that this announcement was met with opposition from Cardinal Pell, and then "an avalanche from many others along the same line, underscored by thunderous applause." Robert Royal, editor-in-chief of The Catholic Thing, writes that Cardinal Pell "slammed his hand on the table and said, 'You must stop manipulating this Synod.'"

Thanks to this reaction in the General Synod, which has been reported as a "revolt," summaries of the small working groups' interventions were posted by the Vatican press office. The English summaries reveal a broad and deep dissatisfaction with the interim draft and a plan to add substantial new text affirming the constant teaching of the Church "on the truth of human life and sexuality as revealed by Christ," along with other "major amendments" and other small ones which, "nevertheless ... have significant meaning attached to them" (Circulus Anglicus "A").

A lot of the premature eruptions by the secular press about what was said and not said in the Synod hinged on a single word, it turned out.

An incorrect translation into English of the original midterm report of the Synod on the Family may have spurred controversial interpretations of the document itself.

The document's original version was written in Italian, which Pope Francis directed to be used as the official language of the synod. In prior synods the official language had been Latin, esteemed for its precision and lack of ambiguity.

The point of controversy occurs at paragraph 50 of the relatio. The Italian original, after praising the gifts and talents homosexuals may give to the Christian community, asked: "le nostre comunità sono in grado di esserlo accettando e valutando il loro orientamento sessuale, senza compromettere la dottrina cattolica su famiglia e matrimonio?"

In the English translation provided by the Vatican, was rendered as: "Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?"

The key word "valutando," which has sparked controversy within the Church, was translated by the Vatican as "valuing."

Italian's "valutando" in fact means "evaluating," and, in this context, would be better translated with "weighing" or "considering."

"Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and evaluating their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?"

The English translation, in contrast, suggests a valuing of the homosexual orientation, which could, at least, create confusion to those who are faithful to the teaching of the Church.

It must be said that the translation was not an "official" translation -- the Vatican website notes at the top it is an "unofficial translation" -- but it was the working translation delivered by the Holy See press office in order to help journalists who are not confident in Italian with their work.

The document raised the impression that the Church had changed her views concerning homosexuality.

Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stressed Oct. 13 that "pastoral care for homosexuals has always been part of the Church's teaching, and the Church has never gotten rid of or dismissed homosexual from her pastoral programs."

In fact, pastoral care for homosexuals is well described in a 1986 document, "On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons", issued by Cardinal Mueller's dicastery.

Bearing the signature of the then-prefect, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and approved by St. John Paul II, the letter was delivered to bishops worldwide, providing instructions on how the clergy should respond to the claims of the LGBT community.

Far from being a document of condemnation, the document provided a nuanced response to the issue of homosexuality.

The document stressed that "it is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church's pastors wherever it occurs.

"Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder."

Pastoral care for homosexuals was also addressed

"We encourage the Bishops to provide pastoral care in full accord with the teaching of the Church for homosexual persons of their dioceses," the document read

But -- the document added -- "no authentic pastoral programme will include organizations in which homosexual persons associate with each other without clearly stating that homosexual activity is immoral. A truly pastoral approach will appreciate the need for homosexual persons to avoid the near occasions of sin."

Likewise, "we wish to make it clear that departure from the Church's teaching, or silence about it, in an effort to provide pastoral care is neither caring nor pastoral. Only what is true can ultimately be pastoral. The neglect of the Church's position prevents homosexual men and women from receiving the care they need and deserve."

The approach of the document was that of reaffirming the truth of the teaching of the Church, while approaching homosexual persons with mercy.

*****

THE SECOND incident occurred when the openly lesbian Mayor of Houston Annise Parker initially backed down from the subpoenas the City of Houston issued to several area pastors. Breitbart Texas reported earlier about the controversy, stemming from litigation challenging the city's anti-discrimination ordinance and subpoenas asking the pastors for the content of their sermons, speeches and communications with church members.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz weighed in, firmly supporting the pastors in their efforts to fight the subpoenas, while Mayor Parker initially remained adamant that the city had the right to request those records.

Despite posting comments on Twitter just hours before that seemed to indicate she would continue to fight this issue, she told a Houston radio station that she had changed her mind.

As reported by KTRH, Mayor Parker admitted that the subpoenas were too broad, and that the pastors' sermons should not have been included. "It's not about what did you preach on last Sunday," she said. "It should have been clarified, it will be clarified."

City Attorney David Feldman had an odd admission of his own: that he had not reviewed the subpoenas before they were issued. "When I looked at it, I felt it was overly broad. I would not have worded it that way myself," said Feldman. "It's unfortunate that it has been construed as some effort to infringe upon religious liberty."

City officials told KTRH that they would narrow the scope of the subpoenas, but it is not clear how they will address the other concerns voiced by the pastors regarding their free speech and religious liberty issues with the rest of the items requested by the subpoena.

Both issues indicate that waiting rather than rushing to judgment can be the prudent course of action.

*****

Tom Shaw, the Bishop of Massachusetts died this past week of brain cancer. Late in life, he revealed he was gay though many of us had known this for years. He was among the worst of revisionist bishops. He supported all things gay, and allowed a transgendered priest to function in his diocese. He came down hard on the Rev. Dr. Jim Hiles with a phony trial of sexual harassment when the orthodox priest wanted to leave the Episcopal Church, taking church property, over the direction the diocese was headed.

Shaw belonged to the SSJE, a society of priests, mostly gay, and was forced to fire the abbot for sexual harassment at one point. He married the lesbian head of Episcopal Divinity School to her lover, was photographed bowing before a Buddhist shrine, stomped up and down outside the Israeli embassy in support of the Palestinian cause, and was a close personal friend of former PB Frank Griswold. He took over from the former bishop of the diocese who shot himself following revelations of sexual infidelity.

To give you an idea of how spiritually decadent the state of Massachusetts is, former Roman Catholic Church leader Bernard Cardinal Law fled the diocese to live in Rome when it was discovered that he had been concealing homosexual priests who were molesting young boys and moving them around parishes to avoid prosecution.

We are thrilled that ACNA Bishop Bill Murdock is carrying the flag for orthodoxy in that diocese and that an institution like Gordon Conwell Theological seminary has an Anglican Studies program that keeps the flag of Anglicanism alive in that area.

*****

The ongoing drama at General Theological Seminary has found a temporary respite with the faculty returning to work. However, there is no word on the future of Dean Kurt Dunkle whom they wanted removed before they would consent to return.

In a letter to Bishop Mark Sisk (NY retired), they wrote that they were appreciative of their being reinstated to their positions with full salaries and benefits and added that during the "cooling off period" all of the parties' respective legal arguments and positions would be reserved.

So what of their demand that Dean Dunkle be removed? We await the other shoe to drop. This is not over.

You can read several stories on this ongoing drama in today's digest.

*****

Is there a split in the wind coming between Forward in Faith UK and Forward in faith USA?

The Rev. Stephen Keeble, a FIF-UK Anglo- Catholic priest has written a "concerned" open letter to Bishop Jonathan Baker, Bishop of Fulham, who wrote that Canon Nicholas Turner does not believe same-sex marriage to be "real" marriage at all -- though he enthusiastically supports the civil marriage of same-sex couples. He does not consider fornication to be a sin, or rather, he doesn't care whether it is or it isn't. He thinks the opposition to homosexual relationships in the Catechism of the Catholic Church is merely "apparent". He also regards the Church of England's moral theology to be "based on the Anglo-Saxon empirical model".

This is a huge shift for FIF-UK Anglo Catholics, if true, and would be a departure from scripture and catholic teaching, as well as tradition and history.

Forward in Faith, North America, however, maintains an intelligible, biblical and Catholic position:
Under the authority of holy scripture and tradition of the church, we affirm that sexual activity can only properly take place within the context of holy matrimony between a man and woman. We affirm that any other type of sexual relationship is sinful regardless of context or degree of fidelity, and that the church cannot bless any type of sexual relationship outside of holy matrimony between a man and woman.

"We want a Catholic understanding of faith and morals, and the practice of Catholic sacramental discipline to flourish in our Church, for we are convinced that they are essential features in the presentation of the gospel to our nation. Remove these elements and our Church's witness will be greatly impoverished and weakened," wrote Keeble.

These elements, following the eclipse of classical Anglican theology which sustained them, are disappearing in the Church of England. However, it is the duty of orthodox Anglo-Catholics, and a constitutional duty of the leadership of Forward in Faith, to maintain their combined sanctifying grace. Without both, the substantive legacy of the Oxford Movement in the Church of England will be gone.

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

*****

A successful Christian school in England has been warned it is to be downgraded by inspectors and could even face closure after failing to invite a leader from another religion, such as an imam, to lead assemblies, it is claimed.

The small independent school in the Home Counties was told it is in breach of new rules intended to promote "British values" such as individual liberty and tolerance in the wake of the Trojan Horse scandal, involving infiltration by hardline Muslim groups in Birmingham.

Details of the case were disclosed in a letter to the Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan, from the Christian Institute, which is providing legal support to the school.

The group warned that the new rules, intended to combat extremism, are already having "disturbing consequences" for religious schools and forcing Ofsted inspectors to act in a way, which undermines their ethos.

It follows complaints from orthodox Jewish schools about recent inspections in which girls from strict traditional backgrounds were allegedly asked whether they were being taught enough about lesbianism, whether they had boyfriends, and if they knew where babies came from.

*****

ZIMBABWE: If you thought that homofascists in the Anglican Communion were exclusively based in the UK, USA and Canada, think again. It's happening in Zimbabwe. The church is growing anti-homosexual teams, says Bishop Morris Brown Gwedege. In Zimbabwe, those who are pro-homosexual are in possession of properties. Some followers are disturbed, since they thought they would be on the anti-homo side, but because they want to attend churches within buildings, they cannot continue with the anti-homosexual team.

"The anti-homosexual team is doing very well. It is growing from strength to strength under the leadership of bishops. The Province of Zimbabwe is growing. What we now ask you is to assist us to identify other teams that are anti-homosexual whom we can communicate with. Our position as an anti-homosexual team is that we will not interact with any who want to sympathize with homosexual practitioners."

It is amazing how effectively the USA and UK has exported its culture wars on sodomy to Africa. It is no wonder why GAFCON exists and why the Global South Primates won't cave into Archbishop Justin Welby. The next Lambeth looks more in doubt day by day.

*****

From Samizdat Canada comes this discerning word about Muslim rage that has resulted in two deaths so far. Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was shot at point-blank range as he stood guarding the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Wednesday. The young Hamilton father was a reservist who was only on a short-term posting at the memorial, relatives and other sources have confirmed.

Diocese of Niagara Bishop Michael Bird commented as he visited the armory to pass on the message that the soldiers and their fallen comrade's family were in his thoughts and prayers. "We are blessed to live in this country ... but maybe this is a reality check for us."

Canada is traditionally at the forefront in peacekeeping, he noted. "Obviously, we live in a different world, now. We live in a violent world, but ultimately violence does not have the final say."

Bird has it wrong: ultimately, there will be judgment and it will not be non-violent. Those who have not received the forgiveness afforded by Christ's atoning death on the cross will be judged; their fate will be unpleasant.

Even the less than ultimate, temporal, final say will be the exercise of force by state authorities who have the Biblically sanctioned authority to restrain evil by the sword -- using violence.

*****

You cannot transfer spiritual DNA from one familial generation to the next. Unfortunately, the culture of celebrity has so infected the church that many church leaders think they can. But it rarely, if ever, works.

It did not work with "Hour of Power" kingpin Robert Schuller, whose son was put up to inherit his glass cathedral but then defected. The ministry collapsed and the church was sold to the Roman Catholics. Ditto for Oral Roberts and his son. Billy Graham has laid his mantle on Franklin Graham, though many of us believe Leighton Ford would have been a better choice. Frankie Schaeffer defected from his father's views and took off for the Orthodox Church and has spent the last few years condemning everything his father stood for.

The most recent defection from the faith to unfaith is Bart Campolo the son of Dr. Tony Campolo, a left of center of evangelical social justice activist prominent in democratic circles and pastor to former President Bill Clinton. In an article published in Forbes magazine this week, the younger Campolo revealed that he had renounced his faith and is now the humanist chaplain at the University of Southern California, a job he has held for a little over a month. He may still be fighting for the welfare of the sick and the poor, but he is now agnostic, in stark contrast to his legendary father. In that sense, Bart Campolo may be helping to lead the planting of a new, humanistic church where the weeds can finally grow free, without apology. Some church.

All this is by way of saying that we should not presume to lay the mantle of succession on to the next generation without God's approval. We should not forget that it was God who took the mantle of Elijah and laid it on Elisha and not Elijah himself.

*****

A new poll says that Americans don't think criticism of gay marriage is a hate crime. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that voters overwhelmingly support religious leaders' battle against Houston's mayor over freedom of religion. Annise Parker, Houston's openly gay mayor, recently subpoenaed five local pastors and demanded that they produce all private communications, sermons, and speeches to be examined in light of a city ordinance in favor of gay rights. Parker has since backed off the subpoena request, exempting sermons, but still requiring all other forms of communication. The ordinance in question, which allows opposite-sex bathroom use, was challenged by these same five pastors.

*****

We are still well behind in much needed funds to keep VOL coming to you. We desperately need donations. This is a critical time for us and we need your help. VOL is a reader supported news service. We are, first and foremost, a ministry. We receive no large grants or big foundation money. Yes, we have some very generous donors and we run a few ads. Unless we receive regular contributions from a wide base of those that read VOL, we will be unable to keep VOL as the No. 1 source for news about the Anglican Communion.

ALEXA rankings rates VOL ahead of the Episcopal News Service (New York) and the Anglican Communion News Service (London) as the primary source for Anglican news. No one comes close.

We built this news service for you. In the more than 20 years VOL has been publishing the news, we have covered every area of the Anglican Communion. We have travelled the globe and brought you stories you have not read anywhere else. We have covered diocesan conventions, general conventions, lawsuits, missions' conferences, global gabfests, and much more.

The amount of money we need to raise may not be much, but we have to raise it. There is no alternative. Politicians raise millions of dollars for short term political gains. We are in the business of raising awareness of issues that have an ability to impact people for all eternity. That's enormous.

Thousands of you come daily to VOL's website, thousands more receive a free weekly digest of stories in your e-mail. Most of you take it for granted. So please chip in and send a few tax deductible dollars 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/

Thanks for your support,

In Christ,

David