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San Joaquin Sinks Back to TEC*Former TEC Bishop Departs to ACNA*COEXIST Nixed

Daily living. Paul's epistles refer often to the Christian's private life in the home. He tells husbands to love their wives and wives to be submissive to their husbands; children to obey their parents and parents to discipline their children; slaves to serve their masters and masters to be fair to their slaves. He tells citizens to respect authority and to pay their taxes. He has some very practical and outspoken words to say about telling lies, losing one's temper, stealing, using bad language and being cantankerous; about impurity of deed and word; about wasting time and getting drunk; about being cheerful, appreciative and humble. He urges on his Philippian friends the Christian virtues of humility and unselfishness; of joy, prayer, peace and contentment. It is a Christian duty, he tells the Thessalonians, to work for your living and not to be idle. He is quite clear that the Christian life is a life of moral purity. Above all, Christians are not to seek revenge, but to love each other, and all men, for love is the fulfilling of the law. --- From "Men with a Message" John R.W. Stott

“Our salvation is a drama played out with the devil, a devil who is not simply generalized evil, but an evil intelligence determined on its own supremacy.” --- Flannery O’Connor, Mysteries and Manners, p.168

Overheard in Civil Rights Diocese of Atlanta: “It wasn’t too long ago we would hear ‘Jesus loves you’ in Episcopal churches. Now all we here is ‘check your white privilege.’ Would Jesus say that?” --- Anonymous

Today's Anglican bishops are little more than the custodians of dying museums, holding as they do the relics of a religion nobody wants anymore, and in time, a religion nobody will even accept for the price of free admission --- Brian McGregor-Foxcroft

A holy life. There is an urgent need for us, as pluralism and relativism spread worldwide, to follow Paul's example and give people plain, practical, ethical teaching. Christian parents must teach God's moral law to their children at home. Sunday school and day school teachers must ensure that their pupils know at least the Ten Commandments. Pastors must not be afraid to expound biblical standards of behaviour from the pulpit, so that the congregation grasps the relationship between the gospel and the law. And right from the beginning converts must be told that the new life in Christ is a holy life, a life bent on pleasing God by obeying his commandments. --- From "The Message of Thessalonians" John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
May 23, 2014

A tentative California court ruling this week in the Diocese of San Joaquin ruled in favor of the national Episcopal Church with the newly installed Bishop David Rice from New Zealand inheriting the spoils of war without firing a single shot, bearing no battle scars to call his own. A source from NZ told VOL that Rice is as theologically liberal as they come, but he does have style, good looks and charm which will win the day in TEC.

The theologically conservative Anglican diocese, which departed from the Episcopal Church under the now deceased John-David Schofield, has found itself in a sort of reverse David and Goliath with the giant destroying the shepherd boy because of the national church’s deep pockets and the omnipresent Dennis Canon.

Legal challenges remain. Bishop Eric Menees has told his flock that he understands the news with its potential implications and that it may produce feelings of concern or even fear for his people. “I urge each one of you to trust in the Lord. He will never leave us nor forsake us, and no matter the fate of our buildings, we will be victorious in him!

“We will have an opportunity to challenge the tentative decision and our attorneys are preparing to do so. I will be in communication with you as more details become available and after our attorneys have analyzed the decision.”

Menees says he will hold an informational meeting for “all clergy and lay leaders who would like to meet to talk about these things” at 4 p.m. May 25 at St. James Anglican Cathedral, 4147 E. Dakota Ave., Fresno.

If Rice wins the eight-year long war, he will inherit 29 parish properties, the diocesan headquarters in Fresno and frozen assets worth more than $7.25 million. Those properties include St. Luke’s in Merced, St. Matthias in Oakdale, St. Alban’s in Los Banos, and St. Mary the Virgin in Manteca.

That’s in addition to six of nine independently incorporated parish properties that already had reverted to the Episcopal diocese, including St. Francis in Turlock, the historic Red Church (St. James) in Sonora, and St. John the Evangelist in Stockton. Three parishes remain in litigation. It also is in addition to the multimillion-dollar complex at St. Paul’s on Oakdale Road in Modesto, which was voluntarily given up in 2009 by its Anglican congregation before lawsuits were filed.

Meanwhile, Rice said he will hold future meetings for his Episcopal parishioners in the various geographic areas of the diocese, which stretches from Stockton to Bakersfield, to “see what’s in people’s hearts and consult them as to what we will do from here, so when decisions are made, they are as inclusive as possible.”

Rice may win the properties but he won’t win the people. Therein lies his dilemma. Inheriting empty churches can be calamitous, because if they are no longer open as churches and then close, he will be forced to pay taxes on the buildings or sell them off quickly so as not to inherit a lot of debt. This raises the issue of whether he is prepared to sell them back to their rightful owners. A phone call to David Booth Beers or Jefferts Schori should seal the deal. He will be told that San Joaquin is definitely in need of more saloons or liquor stores selling South African Indaba wines.

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Catholic and Episcopal church leaders found themselves on opposite sides of the moral divide on Gay marriage this week in Pennsylvania.

Bishop Rowe The Rt. Rev. Sean W. Rowe, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania and bishop provisional of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem, butted heads with Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput when a federal judge in Pennsylvania John E. Jones III declared the state’s ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional.

“Today is a joyful day for Pennsylvanians who believe as I do that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry in our state. These couples work hard, raise children, volunteer for good causes and pay taxes. Pennsylvania would be poorer without them, and I am pleased that Judge John E. Jones III has moved them one significant step closer to equality under the law.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia called it “a mistake with long-term, negative consequences” and urged a quick appeal. Bishop Rowe called same-sex marriage ruling “a step toward justice.” You can read the full story in today's digest.

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Trinity School for Ministry (TSM) announced a new partnership with the Ridley Institute at St. Andrew’s Church in Mt. Pleasant, SC. this week.

With this new partnership, students can take classes towards a Master of Arts in Religion degree within a cohort located at the Ridley Institute. Courses will be taught by Trinity’s expert faculty both in person and online. The first class offered will be Introduction to Old Testament with Dr. Erika Moore. The class will begin with two days of teaching on August 28-30, 2014 and will continue throughout the fall. Registration is now open via Trinity’s website (www.tsm.edu/RidleyInstitute/register). The course is open to anyone who is interested, membership at St. Andrews is not required.

“We are thrilled by this opportunity to partner with the Ridley Institute” commented the Very. Rev. Dr. Justyn Terry, Trinity’s Dean and President. “Trinity has long desired to make theological education available to people where they are. This partnership will allow people in the Carolinas to have excellent, graduate-level teaching, combined with a community of learning, all without having to relocate.”

“Trinity has a proven track record of producing theologically sharp, mission minded, evangelical Anglicans” Remarked the Rev. Robert Sturdy, Director of the Ridley Institute. “We're honored by their willingness to bring their expertise in scholarship and ministerial formation to the Ridley Institute where we're seeking to form the next generation of church leaders for the work of planting and re-missioning Anglican churches in the Reformation tradition.”

The Ridley Institute is a school of theology at St. Andrew's Church, Mt. Pleasant, SC. The aim of the Ridley Institute is to honor Nicholas Ridley’s dying thought that through God’s grace, his labors and suffering might light a Gospel flame that would never be extinguished. The Institute seeks to spread the flame of the Gospel by recruiting, equipping, and deploying the very finest Christian leaders formed in the Gospel centrality of the Anglican Tradition.

Trinity School for Ministry is an evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition. Begun in 1976, the seminary has trained more than 1,000 graduates and many others who serve in ministries all over the world. As a global center for Christian formation, Trinity continues to produce outstanding leaders who can plant, renew, and grow churches that make disciples of Jesus Christ.

*****

Nashotah House, Wisconsin’s oldest school of higher education, held its 169th commencement this week with the Rt. Rev’d Edward L. Salmon, D.D., 19th Dean- President, and the Faculty conferring certificates and degrees on 40 students in six programs: Certificate in Anglican Studies – 4; Master of Arts in Ministry – 12; Master of Theological Studies – 3; Master of Divinity – 16; Master of Sacred Theology – 1; Doctor of Ministry – 4. A Licentiate in Theology was conferred posthumously on the Rev’d Deacon Terry Star, a native American student from North Dakota, who died unexpectedly in March. The commencement sermon was given by the Rt. Rev’d Anthony J. Burton, D.D., Rector of the Church of the Incarnation, Dallas Texas, and sometime Bishop of Saskatchewan. The commencement Eucharist was celebrated by the Rt. Rev’d Daniel Martins, D.D., Bishop of Springfield.

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During their Diocesan Synod, The Anglican Church in North America's Diocese of the Great Lakes announced that Bishop Peter Beckwith had signed the Jerusalem Declaration and will be serving as an assisting bishop in the Diocese. Bishop Beckwith was Bishop of the Episcopal Church Diocese of Springfield from 1992-2010.

During his time as Bishop of Springfield, Beckwith referred to himself as “a faithful Christian in the Episcopal Church.” However, his effort to be faithful to the biblical and apostolic Gospel meant that his vision for the Church differed markedly from that of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

In a June 30, 2006 pastoral letter, Bishop Beckwith described the Episcopal Church as having “adopted a Gnostic theology and a New Age spirituality.” At the same time, the Diocese of Springfield’s standing committee issued a statement declaring Jefferts Schori “to be outside the bounds of Christian orthodoxy and the clear parameters of the Christian faith, as understood from an Anglican perspective” and made an unsuccessful request for direct oversight from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In March 2013, Beckwith was one of nine Episcopal bishops forced by Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori to undergo a process of "conciliation" after they signed amicus curiae briefs in support of the Diocese of Fort Worth and the Diocese of Quincy in their legal efforts to separate from the Episcopal Church.

“I had the privilege of signing the original Jerusalem Declaration at GAFCON I in 2008,” Bishop Beckwith told VOL.

*****

The Diocese of Atlanta wants to dismantle racism. They want you to join with them on the Jonathan Myrick Daniels and Other Alabama Martyrs Pilgrimage on Saturday, August 9, to Hayneville, Alabama.

They cite as their hero Jonathan Daniels, a young student at the Episcopal Divinity Seminary when he responded in 1965 to the call of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to come to Alabama to help in the human rights struggle there. He was shot and killed there. This pilgrimage is a small way to connect to the spirit of the sacrifice that was made by this dear brother and so many others.

The only problem is the bishop fails to tell us who these more recent unnamed racists are. We are just dying to know. The racist who killed Daniels has been dead for years. Who are the racists now? Nobody will say. This was overheard: “Dismantling racism in the Diocese of Atlanta means putting privileged blacks into the high paying jobs earned by hard working whites.” Also overheard: “Racism” is what blacks see when a white has privilege, i.e. a job. Firing the white and hiring the black is “progress”.

*****

Things aren’t going too well for Virginia Bishop Shannon Johnson. You will recall that after taking back Falls Church in Falls Church VA, he ordained an avowed lesbian, one Marian Humphrey, as interim associate priest at the Falls Church Episcopal. Now she’s gone. Poof. Considering that she just started in January that was … fast. Even more interesting is that all references to her have been scrubbed from the parish web site, including the page that announced her starting at the church: You can see it here: http://www.thefallschurch-episcopal.org/news/2014/1/8/tfce-welcomes-the-reverend-marian-humphrey.html

Is there trouble in lesbian paradise after all? Michael Hinson, who serves full time as Chaplain and teacher at St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School, is now listed as Interim Priest Associate.

*****

On May 10, The Bishop of Northern Indiana, Edward S. Little II celebrated 175 years of Episcopal presence in Fort Wayne, Indiana the City of Churches. In 1839, the Right Rev. Jackson Kemper – the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church – passed through this area. As he traveled, he preached the Gospel, gathered Christian communities and pioneered the church’s mission to what was then called the West. “We commemorate the first worship service in Fort Wayne, and we give thanks for the opportunity that God has given to us – and to brothers and sisters from other Christian traditions – to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a city known for its warmth and its deep roots. Fort Wayne is a wonderful environment for us to seek to follow Jesus and to apply our Christian faith in all aspects of our lives.

“We celebrate, too, the privilege of being a part of the fabric of Fort Wayne, of participating in its political, social and economic life, and of raising generations of families here. Fort Wayne has served as a vital environment for us to encounter a glorious diversity of people, languages and faith communities. We pray for the grace to continue our contribution to Fort Wayne’s growth and development.”

Three Episcopal parishes in Fort Wayne – Trinity, Grace and St. Alban’s -- gathered at the Courthouse and moved down to Berry Street to Trinity Church. They gave thanks for their mission and ministry in the city, remembered the past, and committed afresh to their call to focus on Jesus, to think biblically, proclaim the good news, feed the hungry and mentor the young.

*****

Fifty Episcopal bishops and young adults, from 14 dioceses representing the Episcopal Church’s eight domestic provinces, gathered in the nation’s capital for a conference sponsored by the Episcopal Church and Bishops Working for a Just World, a caucus within the House of Bishops devoted to fulfilling the baptismal covenant to “strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every human being.”

A handful of bishops make annual visits to Washington, D.C., typically in the fall, to meet with elected officials on legislative issues ranging from immigration to gun control to environmental protection, advocating positions supported by General Convention resolutions.

A few years in the making, this three-day conference marked the first time bishops organized the training for young adults.

It would not have been possible without a Constable Fund grant, said Connecticut Bishop Suffragan James Curry, convener of Bishops Working for a Just World. The Constable Fund provides grants for mission initiatives that were not included in Episcopal Church’s triennial budget.

*****

Church of England House of Bishops makes a statement on human sexuality: “The House also discussed the next steps in the process for conversations around Human Sexuality. In its discussion the House noted that the process of shared conversations needed to demonstrate primarily how the Church of England could model living together with issues of tension, where members took opposing views whilst remaining committed to one another as disciples of Jesus Christ - members of one church in both unity and diversity. The House agreed to a proposed process and timescale for the conversations with regional discussions taking place over the next two years. The House also authorized its Standing Committee to sign off the final arrangements and materials.”

Canadian blogger Samizdat wrote, “Canadian Anglicans should have a feeling of déjà vu reading this; the mindless repeating of empty clichés while ‘living together with issues of tension’ doesn’t work. Conversations about same-sex blessings will lead to many dioceses performing them as a generous pastoral response. Then, after the initial strenuous assertions that this is all about blessings and not marriage have been largely forgotten, further conversations will begin about altering the marriage canon to include same-sex couples.

“The liberal juggernaut is in motion and conversations are not going to stop it.”

*****

The Archbishop of Canterbury praises ‘inspirational’ Great Lakes peace initiative. Justin Welby and Catholic Cardinal Vincent met last week with delegates from a church-led campaign at Lambeth Palace where they strove for peace in Africa’s troubled Great Lakes region.

The campaign brought together Roman Catholic and Anglican leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and Rwanda to encourage a grass-roots movement for peace in the Great Lakes region, which for decades has been affected by political instability and armed conflicts, porous borders and humanitarian crisis, along with tensions over natural resources.

The initiative, which was formally launched in December 2013, reaches out to those most affected by the conflict and longing for peace, including women and girls who have experienced trauma and sexual violence.

During the meeting, which began with Morning Prayer in Lambeth Palace chapel, the delegation emphasized the need to foster a climate of confidence and cooperation in the region, stressing the importance of governments respecting the international accords and conventions they had signed.

Disarming armed groups is essential, they said, adding that building peace in the region is closely connected with transparent and effective use of natural resources for the common good.

*****

Not enough women are participating in decisions made by churches at all levels, according to the Anglican Communion Office's Women's Desk Officer.

In an interview in the latest Anglican World magazine, the Rev. Terrie Robinson said that women's ministry, both lay and ordained, is still not lifted up and blessed by the church in the way it could be.

"What impresses me about women in all parts of the Communion is that they often go into places where others don't want to go," she said. "But sadly their work is often left at the fringes of Church life."

Mrs. Robinson gave examples of women leaders across the Anglican Communion who run programs for women who are destitute, in prison, or escaping domestic violence, as well as others who run successful businesses with women’s economic empowerment as a core purpose.

"However, there still aren't enough women participating in our decision-making processes in the Communion from parish level right through to our international Instruments of Communion."

*****

A new Christian university planned by Anglicans in Burundi aims to promote inter-tribal harmony across the nation through the teaching of the Gospel.

Burundi is one of the five poorest countries in the world with one of the lowest per capita GDPs of any nation in the world. The country has suffered from warfare, corruption and poor access to education.

The country’s Anglican Church is hoping to address some of that by building a new university that will teach students how to think for themselves and to see what God has to say about peace, justice and reconciliation.

In an interview with ACNS, the university’s vice chancellor, the Rev. Canon Donald Werner, said the plan was to provide students with a university-level education and encourage them to bring that learning back to their towns and villages.

“The church needs educated Christians who can communicate the ethical teaching of Jesus Christ,” he said. “We encourage children in education and in the practice of thinking for themselves rather than blindly following a strong personality in whatever they say.”

The Anglican Church is complementing the government’s effort to improve the education sector in a country still suffering from years of civil war. The conflict is the result of long-standing ethnic divisions between the Hutu and the Tutsi tribes in the country. [Anglican Communion News Service]

*****

Three in ten voters say British Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to introduce “gay marriage” means they will not vote Conservative in the local and European elections.

More than 2,000 people were polled by ComRes which found widespread skepticism about the Prime Minister’s motives for redefining marriage. Six in ten said they believed he pushed for same-sex marriage to make the Conservative Party look trendy.

The survey also shows that introducing same-sex marriage not only upset older voters but young people, too - nearly one in four 18-24-year-olds cited “gay marriage” as their reason for not voting Conservative in the upcoming European elections.

The ComRes poll:

• Predicts a UKIP win in the Euro elections, with a scrap between Labour and the Conservatives for second place.

• Unveils a widespread skepticism about the PM’s motives for introducing gay marriage. Six in ten people believe the Prime Minister introduced same-sex marriage to make the Conservative Party look trendy.

• Shows that over half of those surveyed don’t believe that Mr. Cameron has the determination and power to block any proposals from Europe that would undermine our freedoms.

• Demonstrates that introducing same-sex marriage not only irked older voters but young people too, with nearly one in four 18-24 year-olds citing it as reason for not voting Conservative in the upcoming European elections.

*****

NSW Police in Australia confirmed that a group of eight Christians including an Anglican priest were evicted after staging a sit-in prayer vigil in the office of Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Police say they were removed to prevent a breach of peace, but no charges have been laid.

The groups staging the prayer vigils are demanding the release of asylum seeker children from detention. The participants include Catholic priests, a nun, Baptist pastors, an Anglican priest, Uniting Church ministers and a number of lay church leaders.

They brought with them drawings made by children in asylum seeker detention centers.

"A time comes when people need to say enough is enough and we are tired of being ignored and we are not going to be ignored any longer,” the Anglican priest commented.

*****

I have posted an interesting story on the life of Evelyn Waugh by Albert Mohler in today’s digest. Mohler wrote about the young Waugh:

He became one of the best-known British writers of his age, and chronicled the decline and fall of the British aristocracy in works such as Brideshead Revisited (1945). A generation of Americans now fascinated by Downton Abbey is generally unaware that literary figures like Waugh captured the end of the aristocratic age long before television had been invented.

Waugh was raised within the traditional British educational system for the upper classes. He attended Lancing College, a preparatory school for boys, as a teenager. The school, located in the English countryside in West Sussex, stated as its mission to educate boys “based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith.”

But the Christian faith Waugh found at Lancing was tepid at best, more tradition than conviction. Waugh participated in the compulsory chapel services and served as a sacristan, or assistant in worship.

It was as a teenager at Lancing that Waugh declared himself to be an atheist. In his memoir, A Little Learning, published in 1964, Waugh recalled his loss of faith with reference to his diary entry of June 18, 1921: “In the last few weeks I have ceased to be a Christian. I have realized that for the last two terms at least I have been an atheist in all except the courage to admit it myself.” He was then 17 years old.

Looking back, Waugh recalled that his tutors assigned books that were generally subversive of faith and “we were left to suggest our solutions and encouraged to be unorthodox.” He remembered that half of his class of students “were avowed agnostics or atheists.”

This is a graphic and articulate description of what happens when youth are inculcated in a Christianity devoid of conviction and apologetic force.

Adult Christians who dismiss an adolescent atheist or agnostic as “very tedious” are guilty of a horrible theological and spiritual crime. As Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).

At some point Evelyn Waugh understood himself to be a believer in Christ (“if not genuinely devout, a particularly church-loving boy”), only to be fed doubts by those in authority. No one should be surprised that he soon declared himself to be an atheist.

Waugh would later convert to Roman Catholicism, finally finding a Christian philosophy of life after starving on a diet of liberal Anglicanism.

There are lessons to be learned here. Look at the state of the Church of England today. Would anybody with intelligence be seriously attracted to Christianity through the CofE? Is it any wonder that other literary figures like G.K. Chesterton, John Henry Newman, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day and Malcolm Muggeridge found Catholicism so inviting. I lived with Malcolm and Kitty in the 60s in London and know full well why he converted. His local parish was just another “broad church” parish with no discernible faith coming from the pulpit. As “St Mugg” once observed they were liberal men of all shades of opinion. The lesson is clear, a solid Anglicanism built on the faith of the apostles and prophets, with clear convictions on what we believe about God, Jesus, Man, Sin and Salvation right down to sexuality issues is fundamental. A break in the chain only causes doubt, despair and finally abandonment.

*****

The ubiquitous blue COEXIST bumper sticker incorporates symbols of Islam, pacifism, male and female, Judaism, Wicca, Taoism, and Christianity. At its core the image represents a belief that spiritual harmony can be wished into existence.

What is not to admire in this goal? Why would a Christian hesitate to display this sticker during a daily commute? We may begin with how philosophy — that supposedly esoteric pursuit — matters in our everyday lives. A fundamental rule of logic is the “law of non-contradiction”: a statement cannot be both true and untrue.

Consider how the Abrahamic faiths understand Jesus Christ. At John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me.” Judaism considers Jesus a prophet but not the Messiah. In Islam, Isa (Jesus) is a messenger of God. Islam makes the specific claim that revelation did not end with “the people of the book” (the Jews) or with the prophet Isa, but with Muhammad.

So it should come as no surprise that coffee mugs featuring COEXIST can be found for sale in Washington National Cathedral!

*****

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