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Latest TEC Attendance Figures Show More Decline * New Hampshire Attendance Figures Cooked * PB Curry Hospitalized * Britain no longer Christian Nation * Christians are world's most persecuted group * Bishop Bird's Greed *Uruguay Ordains first Woman Priest

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. Vice-President Antonio Tajani, Open Doors

One of the most popular beliefs of the day is that God loves everybody ...So widely has this dogma been proclaimed, and so comforting is it to the heart which is at enmity with God we have little hope of convincing many of their error. To tell the Christ-rejector that God loves him is to cauterize his conscience as well as to afford him a sense of security in his sins. The fact is, the love of God is a truth for the saints only, and to present it to the enemies of God is to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. --- Rev. Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952)

A sign of finality. There is no need to doubt the literal nature of Christ's ascension, so long as we realize its purpose. It was not necessary as a mode of departure, for 'going to the Father' did not involve a journey in space and presumably he could simply have vanished as on previous occasions. The reason he ascended before their eyes was rather to show them that this departure was final. He had now gone for good, or at least until his coming in glory. So they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and waited - not for Jesus to make another resurrection appearance, but for the Holy Spirit to come in power, as had been promised. --- John R.W. Stott

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

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