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Irish Gay Marriage Vote a "Disaster" say Bishops*Washington Bishop Accepts Gay Priest with Bad Past*TEC Undermining USA from Within*CofE to debate Transgendered rebaptism*Carey sees ISIS and Islamic Fundamentalism Threat...ACNA wrong to Leave TEC

The Irish Government's poll has enabled simple majoritarianism to usher in a radically new model of marriage based on the lowest possible construct: love while it lasts. Denying that all marriage is thereby redefined, the government has eliminated the very foundation of marriage based on natural male-female complementarity, a complementarity self-evident in human anatomy, physiology (procreative capacity), and even psychology. --- Dr. Mike Davidson

Our first goal should be to lift up Jesus Christ in every aspect of who he is and what he has done for people. Jesus is not just a "world changer;" Jesus was God suffering for the sins of the world, making possible reconciliation between people and God. But repentance is called for on the basis of what Jesus Christ did. --- Roger E. Olson

"We'll be the first, probably, in North America -- and maybe even the world--where we'll be two points, three denominations, one minister, one God." --- Rev. Brian Krushel, Canadian Anglican priest

Only people. We are all human beings. That is to say, there is no such phenomenon as "a homosexual." There are only people, human persons, made in the image and likeness of God, yet fallen, with all the glory and the tragedy which that paradox implies, including sexual potential and sexual problems. However strongly we may disapprove of homosexual practices, we have no liberty to dehumanize those who engage in them. --- John R.W. Stott

Is there nobody of any intellectual stature left in our English church, or the Roman church, to frame the argument against Christianity's slide into just going with the flow of social and cultural change? ---Matthew Parrish

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
May 29, 2015

THE HEADLINES were deafening this week -- if current trends continue, the last Christian at Boston's historic Park Street Church will leave the faith in a few decades, join a Wiccan coven on Harvard Square, tell her live-in atheist boyfriend that Christianity is dead, and we'll all just move on from this failed Christian experiment.

A better reading of the Pew statistics is found when you move beyond the headlines and see a long, slow (but accelerating) decline of (mostly) nominal Christianity. However, the percentage of convictional Christians has remained relatively steady, with some decline. The decline of nominal Christianity is not the only thing happening, but it's a big part of the real story, writes missiologist Ed Stetzer.

What we are seeing is a reshaping of Christianity in America. Another way of looking at it, more biblically, is that God is winnowing His church, it is His church, after all, not ours. He leads, we follow. Cultural and congregational Christians --the pray, pay, and obey types -- are leaving or dying; they are not being replaced by Millennials. Playing the game of church is over for both Catholics and Protestants.

Merely giving assent to propositions about the Christian Faith won't cut it anymore. People, especially young people, want to know why Christianity is true and why Jesus is worth following. The new Pope is trying to be more evangelical in style and substance than his predecessor as he wants people to get in touch with Jesus out of which flows good works. Of course, we Anglicans have known this for centuries. I remember when the late John Stott gave a series of sermons at All Souls Langham Place in London titled, "Hostile to the church friendly to Jesus Christ." Hundreds came to Christ, many of whom later become church leaders. One could preach the same sermons today. People are even more hostile to the Church, but they are open to Jesus. We who are believers should press our case. We have nothing to lose.

*****

Stand by your man is apparently the ringing cry of the Bishop of Washington, Marianne Budde, over revelations that one of her wannabe priests has a bad sexual past. VOL's expose of the Rev. Richard David Wall's dalliance with a pin up porno star while a priest in the UK has left Budde unmoved. She wrote to one of her priests, "The accusations appeared twelve years ago in a British tabloid not exactly known for its high editorial standards. While the source of the allegations was suspect to say the least, nonetheless, it was incumbent upon me to thoroughly investigate, which I have done. Not surprisingly, I found that the accusations were false; that Father Wall's bishop and supervising priest in England supported him without reservation throughout the brief but unpleasant ordeal; and that everyone with whom I spoke on both sides of the Atlantic told me once again how highly they regarded Father Wall and his ministry."

The Senior Warden of the Parish wrote, in part, "The vestry has chosen in Fr. Wall, an exemplary and gifted priest to be our new rector, and the people of St. Paul's eagerly look forward to his ministry among us. We will welcome him enthusiastically as our spiritual leader and pastor when he visits us at our annual meeting in two weeks."

Anglo-Catholicism seems to attract homosexuals and they nearly always get a pass. No one seems to care as long as they put on a good show each Sunday. (I am told that at least one third of all Anglo-Catholic priests in the Diocese of London are gay.) I wrote about gay relationships of the former priest at St. Clement's in Philadelphia, one Fr. Gordon Reid. I ran a headline, "Homosexuality, Group Sex, Orgies, & Sadomasochistic Acts Haunt St. Clement's Rector. (It got over 15,000 hits just at the website.) "I've whored around like a bull in a field of cows," said Fr. Reid. Bishop Charles Bennison stood by Reid. Both went on to retirement, the parish unconcerned about his past even though Reid was deeply embroiled in a lawsuit over the hiring of a gay curate. Never mind, the show must go on, and he did put on a good show. None of it had much to do with Christianity or proclaiming the gospel of Christ. It was basically an off Broadway production one could see for free.

One wonders what the church and the Diocese of Washington will say and do if another Heather Cook type scandal erupts with this new priest somewhere down the line. I'm sure he'll be portrayed as the victim of someone's homophobia.

*****

A minor ecclesiastical skirmish between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Presiding Bishop of South America arose this week over language portraying Bishop Tito Zavala's use of the word "primatial" to describe his relationship with Bishop Mark Lawrence of the Diocese of South Carolina. A press release from the diocese after a visit by the Presiding Bishop upset Lambeth Palace resulted in the language being changed to "pastoral" rather than primatial. You can read Ladson F. Mills III take on this in today's digest.

*****

The Episcopal Church is undermining the USA from within, writes canon lawyer Allan Haley who revealed that TEC has fritted away some $40 million of "mission" money to fight orthodox Anglicans for church properties in the courts.

He has now detailed the sordid story of how the Episcopal Church (USA) has gotten into the debt collection business. Refugees designated to migrate to the United States are advanced travel money by an arm of the U.S. State Department. They land here and are placed in the hands of (among other agencies) Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM), which helps them relocate into specific communities, find jobs, and settle in. Then EMM sees that they repay their travel advances to the Government, and then pockets one-quarter of the debt collection proceeds for its trouble.

"It's a nifty racket, and ensures that annually over $300,000 comes into the Episcopal Church's coffers, to help with its bottom line. Meanwhile, the U.S. Government reimburses EMM for all of its other refugee relocation expenses, to the tune of some $14 million annually."

It turns out that a good portion of the refugees EMM is assisting are not just any refugees, but are Muslims from some of the countries to which America has sent troops, bombs, or both: Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and (soon) Syria.

Ann Corcoran, who runs a resettlement blog, reveals what she has discovered:

"EMM is one of nine major Government contractors engaged in making money to bring in refugees from these war-torn countries, in which the United States has militarily intervened. Five others, along with EMM, operate under the aegis of major American religious denominations: the Church World Service (an umbrella organization), the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the evangelically connected World Relief Corporation."

So let us draw the big picture: civil war breaks out in Muslim countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Syria; the United States intervenes militarily; havoc and destruction generate innumerable refugees, most of whom (but by no means all) are Sunni or Shiite Muslims; well-meaning Christians and liberals in the United States want to resettle them in our country; and so partner with the U.S. Government in bringing them here.

The only criterion for their migration to the United States appears to be that they cannot remain in their own war-torn country -- either because it does not want them, or because the situation is so unstable that no one can vouch for their safety or protection.

The one criterion of the State Department for refusing to include them in the refugee program is if they happen to be Christians:

Also inappropriate, it seems, is the resettling of the most vulnerable Assyrian Christians in the United States. Donors in the private sector have offered complete funding for the airfare and the resettlement in the United States of these Iraqi Christians that are sleeping in public buildings, on school floors, or worse. But the State Department -- while admitting 4,425 Somalis to the United States in just the first six months of FY2015, and possibly even accepting members of ISIS through the Syrian and Iraqi refugee program, all paid for by tax dollars, told CANA Bishop Julian Dobbs that they "would not support a special category to bring Assyrian Christians into the United States."

The United States government has made it clear that there is no way that Christians will be supported because of their religious affiliation, even though it is exactly that -- their religious affiliation -- that makes them candidates for asylum based on a credible fear of persecution from ISIS.

The State Department, the wider administration, some in Congress and much of the media and other liberal elites insist that Christians cannot be given preferential treatment. Even within the churches, some Christians are so afraid of appearing to give preferential treatment to their fellow Christians that they are reluctant to plead the case of their Iraqi and Syrian brothers and sisters.

So now we have evidence that the "inclusive" liberals at 815 Second Avenue will not extend their sympathy to brother Christians, but only to Muslims and terrorists -- because the Government will not fund the rescuing of Christians.

But those same well-meaning Christians and liberals, who elected a President to bring the troops home before the invaded countries were stable, also did so on their strongly held belief that the people of those countries could never become a democracy, even with our aid and support. One has to ask: what change in character justifies those now assisting the Muslim refugees in thinking that once brought here, they will fit in to our democracy? And would be preferable to, say, Assyrian Christians?

It is not that Christians do not owe others a duty to provide refuge, assistance and support -- they do. But who is monitoring the overall process, and its effects upon our country? The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees? The State Department? The various liberal Church groups who use Government funds to help balance their books, and who leave the refugees to their own devices after they have been handsomely paid to settle them here? Give me a break. (Again, if there is any ongoing support of the displaced persons, it comes from local churches in the community, and not from the big denominations -- they do only that for which the Government reimburses them.)

It is the little people, like Ann Corcoran, who have the most concern for the integrity of their towns and communities, that are impacted most severely by these unsupervised migration activities.

You can read more at Haley's website: http://accurmudgeon.blogspot.com/

*****

In keeping with the Episcopal Church's will to save the planet from itself while ignoring the souls who go to make up the planet, All Saints By-the-Sea Episcopal Church will hold a Prayer for Creation as a way for the community to respond to the May 19 oil spill near Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara, CA.

"The wider Santa Barbara community is invited to join this prayer as we give thanks for the bounty of God's resources, grieve the current disaster, and pray for the right use of this fragile Earth, our island home," said the Rev. Aimee Eyer-Delevett, All Saints' rector. The parish will then hold its "end-of-the-year" barbecue after the 10 a.m. service Sunday. They will not use oil to fire up the stoves.

*****

The Church of England is to debate plans to introduce a ceremony akin to a baptism to mark the new identities of Christians who undergo gender transition. I kid you not.

The Rev Chris Newlands, the vicar of Lancaster Priory, has proposed a motion to the General Synod to debate the issue, after he was approached by a young transgender person seeking to be "re-baptized" in his new identity.

The motion, which was passed by Blackburn Diocese last month, calls on the House of Bishops to consider whether it should introduce a new service to mark the milestone in the life of a trans person. A spokesperson for the Archbishops' Council confirmed that the motion had been received, but said it would not be debated imminently.

Newlands urged the church to take the lead on welcoming a group that suffered high levels of discrimination.

Andrew Symes, the executive secretary of the Anglican Mainstream, commented, "The Christian faith has always taught that people are created male and female. We speak for the conservative traditional point of view. We are aware there are a number of people who want to change from one gender to another and that's a new thing for the church to deal with. It would be something that would go against the teachings of the church up till now. It would be something that would cause controversy.

"To recognize all people is something the church should be doing but to have a service of blessing for someone to change their gender is a new idea. It's not been discussed before in the Church of England. It would need a lot of discussion and debate by theologians and I would need to know whether there are other agendas by the people bringing it. I would be very surprised if the diocese has passed the motion without a lot of discussion and debate."

Symes suggested the motion would present a "different order" of discussion from what has convulsed the church over the ordination of female priests.

*****

A statement from the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of Ireland following the result of the Marriage Referendum was lackluster at best. "The archbishops and bishops of the Church of Ireland wish to affirm that the people of the Republic of Ireland, in deciding by referendum to alter the State's legal definition of marriage, have of course acted fully within their rights.

"The Church of Ireland, however, defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and the result of this referendum does not alter this.

"The church has often existed, in history, with different views from those adopted by the state, and has sought to live with both conviction and good relationships with the civil authorities and communities in which it is set. Marriage services taking place in a Church of Ireland church, or conducted by a minister of the Church of Ireland may -- in compliance with church teaching, liturgy and canon law -- continue to celebrate only marriage between a man and a woman."

The bishops urged a spirit of public generosity, both from those for whom the result of the referendum represents triumph, and from those for whom it signifies disaster.

It should be noted that at least two Anglican bishops were in favor of a yes vote. Can a house divided against itself ultimately stand?

As one blogger noted, "The church has most always been out of step with the culture, a culture driven by mistaken joy and pleasure. But no matter, their vote doesn't change the truth that homosexuality is a disordered affection which warrants therapy, not the church's blessing."

*****

The former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey was in Detroit recently and weighed in on a number of topics including his loves and concerns. They included among his passions his wife, Eileen; the Barclays Premier League football club Arsenal; and "certain things such as a peaceful world," he told The Blade newspaper.

He did say he felt very worried about what is happening to Christians in the Middle East at the hands of the Islamic State saying, "We're all now living in a world more dangerous than ever."

He said that "our biggest enemy now is [ISIS] and Islamic fundamentalism, which now exists in America in all those Muslim families that you have graciously invited and said, following the Statue of Liberty, 'Come and make your home here.'

"In Britain, too, we've got so many Muslims, and out of these people who we've educated are going to be the people who are going to be blowing up our trains and planes in the days ahead."

More military action is near, Lord Carey predicted. "We'll be sending ground troops to fight [ISIS] within the next year. I won't bet on this, but I think it will become almost inevitable."

He did say of ACNA Archbishop Bob Duncan, whose term ended in 2014, that he "is a good friend of mine and I admire him immensely, but in his position I may not, probably would not, have made his choice to leave the Episcopal Church."

Carey did say, "I'm probably more traditional; I might have more in common with ACNA than the Episcopal Church today, but feel as strongly that we shouldn't break away."

A major challenge continuing in his church is how to acknowledge the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Anglicans.

Carey's position on marriage is that it does not include same-sex relationships. "[But] same-sex marriages are now legal and as a citizen of my country I have to respect that and I go along with that. Not happily, but I go along with that and I greet people, I treat them just the same."

As for the church, "Even though I recognize that the Episcopal Church is doing it out of compassion, out of its feeling of changes in theology, and I think those changes came out of liberalism rather than out of a careful reading of scripture, nevertheless, as a former archbishop I had to live with that. ... I don't see it as a prophetic act yet, but could it be? I just raise the question."

*****

Blasphemy "isn't necessarily a matter for panic, let alone violence", according to Rowan Williams. The former Archbishop of Canterbury has written in defense of blasphemy in the New Statesman magazine.

In an issue devoted to the subject of censorship, Williams says blasphemy is not always an attack on faith, but involves testing beliefs and is often a valuable exercise.

He writes: "For most of human history -- and for rather a lot of the world today -- blasphemy is the cardinal case of saying the unsayable. What could be more transgressive than mocking or abusing the all-powerful creator of the universe? But what is interesting in the history of religions is that this isn't always about attacking or rejecting faith itself."

He also says that "If God is real, then presumably God can cope with anything we choose to throw at Him," adding: "If, worst of all, God is incompetent, sadistic or indifferent, the language of protest at least allows us to die with some integrity and dignity; we have -- as Ajax and Job have obviously concluded -- nothing to lose."

He says that blasphemy can express "faith of a sort" and that unless doubts and anger can be expressed freely, "the God you started with is not worth believing in". According to Williams, "If you are forbidden to voice the hard questions, this might suggest that faith survives only by never being challenged."

*****

The Diocese of Central Pennsylvania has a new bishop.She is Bishop-Elect Audrey Scanlan. The Rev. Canon Audrey Scanlan was elected Bishop on March 14.
Her ordination and consecration service is slated for September 12; Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori will officiate.

She takes over from Bishop Nathan D. Baxter who retired over ill health issues. Scanlon has her work cut out for her. In 2003 the diocese had an ASA of nearly 6,000 members. In 2013 it was down to 4,500 and sinking. Plate and pledge is slightly up an indication no doubt of what financial folk call a case of Dead Cat Bounce.

*****

It's not just the US that has housing problems with Section 8 housing and other nostrums. In Enuga, Nigeria, a Housing Corporation Task Force manhandled four Anglican priests over land dispute. The four priests along with six other persons were beaten up when members of the task force from the State Housing Corporation (ESHC), led by its managing director, Vitalis Emeka Onah, clashed with angry youths of the church over a land dispute. The victims include Reverends Collins Odoabuchi, Mbaka Peter, Eugene, and Maxwell Onyia. Others are Ekpecha Okechukwu and Naomi Ibekwe.

The trouble began when members of the task force, accompanied by armed policemen, invaded a parcel of land said to belong to Christ Church (Anglican Church of Nigeria) -- an action that attracted the wrath of the clergymen and members of the church. The clerics were said to have tried to stop the task force from carrying out the demolition exercise, but they were overpowered.

Sunday Trust learnt that, if not for the timely intervention of the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State command, Muhammed Abubakar Adamu, who personally went to the scene, there would have been more casualties as the members of the task force threatened hell while the exercise lasted.

Whoever said the Global South was not actively engaged in social activism for the poor needs to rethink that, including former Bishop of Washington John Chane who regularly chastised the Global South for its single focus on saving souls. No wonder why when Nigerian Archbishop Nicholas Okoh comes to Washington DC, he doesn't bother looking up current bishop Mariann Budde --- why waste his time.

*****

Are we seeing the dawn of a new dictatorship in Canada? Our friends to the north continue to pioneer through a vast social experiment. The legalization of same-sex "marriage" represented the victory in their laws and public morals of a view of the human person and human sexuality that is seriously incompatible with the Gospel. This is turning out to be a zero-sum situation, wherein Christians are starting to be seen as public enemies.

Last May, at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., Princeton professor Robert George spoke precisely of these changes in our Western culture, and of the coming persecution of Catholics and other like-minded Christians. In Canada, his predictions are already coming to pass.

"The days of socially acceptable Christianity are over. The days of comfortable Catholicism are past.... Powerful forces and currents in our society press us to be ashamed of the Gospel ... ashamed of our faith's teachings on marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife. These forces insist that the Church's teachings are out of date, retrograde, insensitive, uncompassionate, illiberal, bigoted, even hateful ... these same forces say you are a homophobe, a bigot, someone who doesn't believe in equality. You even represent a threat to people's safety. You ought to be ashamed!

"...One may in consequence of one's public witness be discriminated against and denied educational opportunities and the prestigious credentials they may offer; one may lose valuable opportunities for employment and professional advancement; one may be excluded from worldly recognition and honors of various sorts; one's witness may even cost one treasured friendships.... Yes, there are costs of discipleship--heavy costs."

Trinity Western University is now fighting expensive court battles in three provinces, and will likely wind up at the Supreme Court. The Toronto Catholic school trustee is considering an appeal to a human rights tribunal. Thousands of parents have protested against the new sexual education curriculum in Ontario, pulling 15,000 kids out of school to demonstrate their outrage. And the beat goes on.

*****

Pope Francis is no "Game of Thrones" fan -- in fact, the pontiff hasn't watched the boob tube in over 25 years. "It's not for me," he told La Voz del Pueblo. The holy man's TV-watching days ended after he made a vow to the Virgin Mary in 1990, he said.

"I have not watched TV since 1990," he told the Argentinian newspaper. "It's a promise that I made the Virgin of Carmen on the night of 15 July 1990." An avid soccer fan, Pope Francis even skips out on the big games, getting the scores from a Swiss Guard instead of the small screen.

VOL believes the Pope might be onto something. Fully 98% of ALL television is rubbish. To get the Internet for our businesses, my wife and I are assaulted with over 800 channels...most of it is total, unmitigated garbage. Reality shows are among the worst, but the sex, violence, and now endless sports channels are a total distraction for the one or two really good programs...and our work.

*****

The ongoing support VOL receives is very gratifying to us. We are humbled by those who give to us so unstintingly.

While we are not overflowing with riches, we are able to pay our bills and work the hours to bring you the unvarnished news you won't read anywhere else.

Team VOL will head out the door to Salt Lake City and General Convention next month; I will have two other reporters and my trusty Texas-based researcher on hand to keep you informed. Later in July, I will be attending the International Catholic Conference of Anglicans in Ft. Worth, Texas.

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Thank you for your support.

In Christ,

David

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