Just as courage is persisting in the face of fear, so faith is persisting in the presence of doubt. Faith becomes then a commitment, a practice and a pact that is usually sustained by belief. But doubt is not just a roiling, or a vulnerability; it can also be a strength. Doubt acknowledges our own limitations and confirms -- or challenges -- fundamental beliefs, and is not a detractor of belief but a crucial part of it. --- Julia Baird in an OpEd piece in The New York Times.

On suffering. I think all innocent (undeserved) suffering in this world is a result of living in a broken world--broken due to humanity's rebellion against God. We are no longer "in the garden" and not yet "in the kingdom." On the other hand, I wouldn't say that God never visits suffering on people; that would be to clearly contradict the Bible. Suffering can have spiritual benefits. On the other hand, I do not believe God visits suffering on small children before the age of awakening of conscience and ability to sin willfully and with guilt. --- Prof. Roger Olson

At last meditating day and night, by the mercy of God, I gave heed to the context of the words, "In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live.'" Then I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift of God, namely by faith. . . . Here I felt as if I were entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through the gates that had been flung open. An entirely new side of the Scriptures opened itself to me . . . and I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the loathing with which before I had hated the term "the righteousness of God." --- Martin Luther

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
Sept. 26, 2014

There were 112 bishops and a number of spouses in attendance at the recent 7-day HOB meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, according to Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce of Los Angeles.

The cost to dioceses for this Asian trek/gabfest was in excess of $500,000 with some dioceses barely able to stay afloat financially. But junkets to the East don't come along very often and for some bishops who live in areas that don't sport a Chinatown it was undoubtedly an opportunity to try Egg Fu Yung and Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) or possibly even Cong You Bing (scallion pancakes), a dish you won't find at an all you can eat Chinese buffet in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. But who would begrudge them when bearing in mind the theme of this gabfest was titled Apocalypse Now...correction...Apostolic Imagination, though one is hard pressed to find exactly what was apostolic about it as virtually 98% of the HOB believe climate change is more important than the gospel of God's grace espoused by such weighty apostles as St. Paul and that the ill-defined God's mission of the PB is not exactly the same as the Great Commission.

Visiting all 678 Taiwanese Episcopalians by 112 Episcopal bishops must have had these Chinese in awe of so many purple shirts descending upon them all at the same time. (That's one TEC bishop for every six Taiwanese Episcopalians.)

The big news of course was the announcement by Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori that she would not run for a second term, even though age wise she is still eligible. She made the announcement that she would not run again, but didn't tell us much about her plans for the future. Perhaps scuba diving for squid might once again appear on her horizon or flying planes low over the Utah desert just for fun.

Members of the House of Bishops left the meeting with an expanded view of ministry of the Episcopal and Anglican churches in Asia, they said, but they are also hoping that their own church -- TEC - will come up with a formula that will jump start their own benighted congregations. Perhaps TREC, the plan to Re-imagine the Episcopal Church before it heads off the cliff, will do the trick. We wait in breathless anticipation.

The occasion did afford an opportunity for the fearless Presiding Bishop to rail against capital punishment. She blasted the US and Taiwan's use of capital punishment in a sermon to her House of Bishops at St. John's Cathedral in Taipei.

You can read the full story and several other stories on this expensive gabfest in today's digest.

The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church, offered the following statement on Jefferts Schori's departure, "Since 2006, when she became the first woman to hold her office, Bishop Katharine has traveled to every corner of the church to galvanize laypeople and clergy, testify to the power of generous Christianity, and advocate for exploring the wonders of God through scientific understanding. Both at home and abroad, she has inspired people to care for the poor, remember the outcast, and heal the world.

"During some difficult years in the Anglican Communion, Bishop Katharine helped navigate the politics that resulted from our faithful, if not always straightforward, path toward the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Christians. Her strong leadership and commitment to justice have allowed her to guide our church through anxious times and bring us closer to the reign of God."

The real issue now will be the jockeying for who will replace her. High on the list is Ian Douglas, Bishop of Connecticut, but he has a few black eyes with closing parishes, declining fortunes and lawsuits. VOL believes that now that TEC has had a slew of dead white males and a white woman PB, it is time for a black man to take the helm. (TEC is not ready for a gay or lesbian PB, but give it time.) One of the best candidates is the Bishop of Maryland, the Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, who is a god deal smarter than the Bishop of Atlanta, Rob Wright who is a theological shingle short of a full roof.

*****

Even as the bishops gathered in Taipei, TREC -- The Episcopal Church's Taskforce for Reimagining itself - has been on a search for how to make itself grow (or stop from hemorrhaging) in an era of declining church attendance and post-modern rejection of church. It has come up with some preliminary ideas that even a number of liberals have found distasteful, among them increased powers for the Presiding Bishop.

In setting out its vision of an Episcopal Church led by this Presiding Bishop (and certainly the next), there were few checks on his or her executive powers. Note: the Presiding Bishop has no diocese of her own and her only real authority is managing General Convention.

It recommended the following: diminishing the size of the Executive Council and limiting its role in the management and governance of the church; reducing the size of General Convention, shortening its duration and limiting its agenda; and replacing much of the full time staff of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society with contractors appointed by the Presiding Bishop.

The recommendations also call for the elimination of all Standing Commissions, replacing them with task forces appointed by the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies.

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

*****

Is doubt a sign of faith? The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby seems to think so. Welby said recently that at times he questions if God is really there.

The International Business Times called it "the doubt of the century." Archbishop Welby's admission had not just "raised a few eyebrows," it declared, but "sparked concerns if the leader of the Church of England would one day renounce Christianity or spirituality as a whole." Another journalist wrote excitedly, "Atheism is on the rise and it appears as though even those at the top of the church are beginning to have doubts."

Despite the alarm, the archbishop's remarks were rather tame. He told an audience at Bristol Cathedral that there are moments when he wonders, "Is there a God? Where is God?" Then, asked specifically if he harbored doubts, he responded, "It is a really good question. ... The other day I was praying over something as I was running, and I ended up saying to God, 'Look, this is all very well, but isn't it about time you did something, if you're there?' Which is probably not what the Archbishop of Canterbury should say."

The London-based Muslim scholar Mufti Abdur-Rahman went straight to Twitter: "I cannot believe this." The Australian atheist columnist Peter FitzSimons tweeted, "VICTORY!" The "Daily Show" account joked, "Archbishop of Canterbury admits doubts about existence of God. Adds: 'But atheism doesn't pay them bills, sooo ..."'

But an OpEd piece in the New York Times by Julia Baird said Archbishop Welby's candor only makes him human. He may lead 80 million Anglicans worldwide, but he is also a man who knows anguish, rage, incomprehension, and the cold bareness of grief. He lost his firstborn child, Johanna, a 7-month-old baby girl, in a car accident in 1983, a period he has described as "utter agony." As a teenager, he cared for an alcoholic father. When explaining his thoughts on doubt, he referred to the mournful Psalm 88, which describes the despair of a man who has lost all of his friends and cries out, "Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?" The psalm reads bleakly: "Darkness is my closest friend."

VOL felt this was a critical moment for a satirical essay on the subject that you can read in today's digest.

*****

In England this week, leaders of the Renew movement attempted to rally Anglican evangelicals with a new commitment and doctrinal statement.

The Renew 2014 Commitment at a two-day conference in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, organized by Reform, the Church Society, and the Anglican Mission in England, pledged Anglican evangelicals "to investigate the opportunities to revitalize' local Church of England churches and/or plants 'with or without diocesan approval".

Regionally, the Commitment urged Anglican evangelicals to work together "to pioneer, establish and secure healthy Anglican churches. To this end we will work to recruit, train and deploy men and women for Anglican ministry in local churches," the Commitment declares.

They were helped along by a statement from Kenyan Archbishop Eliud Wabukala who announced at a "Divine Conference" at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi that the AMIE was authorized by GAFCON Primates to work outside the Church of England because missionary nations of the West are now mission fields themselves.

"As long as the Great Commission is at risk through the promotion and toleration of false teaching and immorality in the Anglican Communion, we must have 'Continuing GAFCON', he said.

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

*****
The Church of England's media statement following the College of Bishops' "shared conversations" on sexuality this week is biblically unfaithful because, whilst the New Testament teaches assurance, it does not teach presumption, writes UK blogger Julian Mann. Indeed, the Apostle John's First Epistle clearly teaches that true assurance depends on professing Christians' abiding in the truth of the apostolic message: That which we (the eye-witness Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ) have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1v3 - RSV).

The meeting included diocesan and suffragan bishops and the eight senior women clergy elected last year. Emitting a toxic fume of spiritual and moral relativism, the statement declares:

"As part of the conversations the college shared the different responses being expressed in the life of the church and the deeply held convictions and experiences that inform them. In this the college reflected the diversity of experience and view held by the country as a whole. The college also acknowledged that at this stage it was not seeking to achieve consensus nor to make any decisions but rather the purpose was being open to see Jesus Christ in those who took an opposing view to their own position."

For all the Bishops' attempts to reassure orthodox Anglicans that the introduction of authorized services of same-sex blessing is not a foregone conclusion, this statement is highly proscriptive and indeed dogmatic in its view of revisionist church leaders. It strongly implies that it would be sinful to treat a convinced revisionist as an opponent because he or she must be a real Christian on the basis of their self-perception.

But this approach flagrantly disregards the biblical fact that departing from the New Testament's teaching that sex is exclusively for heterosexual marriage involves the pre-suppositional rejection of apostolic authority.

You can read more in today's digest.

*****

The suffering of Iraqi Christian refugees fleeing the depredations of the Islamic State (ISIS) are beyond description, the vicar-general of the Diocese of Zanzibar reports, following a visit to Kurdistan last week.

In a note to VOL, The Rev Jerry Kramer writes: "Right now we're processing all that we saw and experienced firsthand. Honestly, we don't have the words at the moment. The suffering is so immense. The magnitude of the disaster is beyond comprehension." Fr Kramer, who served as the rector of an Episcopal congregation in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and was one of the leaders in the grassroots campaign to rebuild the city, and currently is a missionary in Tanzania with Love for the Least ministries stated: "Christians were given 48 hours to leave their homes. "Some paid to stay or converted to Islam.

They were all crucified, beheaded or shot. "Those who left were stripped of all their possessions, allowed to leave with only the clothes on their backs. Now they have absolutely nothing and cannot return home. Isis has destroyed their villages and placed landmines all around." In Kurdistan "Christians are not in camps. They have scattered to villages and family all across the region. The average village is overflowing with refugees. They need food. They have no clothes. They need heaters and cookers. It will soon be bitter cold. Relief is not getting to them." They are also in "total shock. They have lost everything. They want to go home and can't. Some were betrayed by their Muslim neighbours with whom they lived for generations. "Their neighbours called in ISIS, giving their location away, to come and exterminate them. The hurt runs very deep. If you hug a refugee for more than three seconds, they break down and cry," he said.

Fr Kramer observed that the crisis in Iraq is "so massive that one organization is not going to get it done. No chance. It's going to take a network of small frontline relief operations. We've learned from our Katrina experience that small, grassroots is always better. Also, it's ideal to support the local Church in its ministry. Help them help themselves and their communities. In this way we are pouring into the local Church for the long term."

Fr. Kramer stated that he will be returning to Kurdistan and is planning on setting up a base of operations approximately six miles from the Mosul Dam to assist local Christian leaders in feeding and housing the refugees. He urged Christians round the world to support the relief efforts underway asking people to "pray for the broken Body of Christ, our brothers and sisters in their time of need.

"We have three weeks to get them warm clothes before winter starts. $50 will feed a refugee family for a month. You can send a donation to help at: www.lovefortheleast.org"

*****

The Anglican Church of Canada, having spent many decades trying to persuade its people that man's yearning for transcendence can be satisfied by installing a solar panel and buying a Prius, is continuing to transform itself into a social services agency by converting its buildings into apartments. The latest effort hails from Winnipeg where St, Matthew's is, so we are told, excited by the fact that it worships in a small corner of the former church building. This must be what revival means in the ACoC.

Fittingly, Fred Hiltz was installed as Primate at St. Matthew's; clearly he has taken St. Matthew's decline to 80 parishioners as inspiration for the direction of the entire denomination.

A press release stated, "The congregation at St. Matthew's Anglican Church is excited to worship in what is only a small corner of the grand brick edifice that once was the largest Anglican church building in Winnipeg."

That's because the remainder of St. Matthew's Anglican Church has been converted into 25 low-income apartments, a $7.3-million project under construction for nearly three years.

For recalcitrant Anglicans who remain unmoved by these stirring tales of the Soviet style conversion of churches into apartments, there is this magnificent Hiltzian denunciation of all things not green. An unnamed source told Samizdat, on the condition of remaining anonymous, that the Chinese are so moved by this panegyric to renewing the face of the earth (heaven and hell having long ago been extirpated from the ACoC) that they immediately plan to stop building coal fired power plants - currently expanding at the rate of two per week. [Source Samizdat]

*****

A WARNING. "I have lost my Diocese to Islam -- You in the West will also become the victims of Muslims" says Archbishop Amel Nona, Chaldean Catholic Archeparch of Mosul, now exiled in Erbil.

A prophetic statement. Further: "Your liberal and democratic principles are worth nothing here. You must consider again our reality in the Middle East, because you are welcoming in your countries an ever growing number of Muslims. Also you are in danger....Your values are not their values. If you do not understand this soon enough, you will become the victims of the enemy you have welcomed in your home."

Quotes above are from an article in "Corriere della Sera" as quoted at the Rorate blog site and can be read below. . . and it should be read by all those living in the West:
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/08/archbishop-of-mosul-i-have-lost-my.html

*****

A new Danish law may force pastors in the nominally Lutheran state church (Folkekirken) to perform same-sex weddings in some instances. Folkekirken is ruled directly by the Danish parliament. By law, Folkekirken members have a legal right to have their pastor conduct their wedding. Folkekirken pastors may not refuse, but the 2012 law authorizing same-sex marriage contains a "conscience clause" allowing pastors who consider same-sex marriage unbiblical to decline. A newly enacted Danish law apparently creates an exception to this exception.

The new law permits any person to change his legal gender by simply filing a form stating that he now considers himself of the opposite sex. This person is thereafter considered by the government to have changed gender. No surgical alterations or hormone treatments are required, only the filing of the form. The Danish newspaper "Kristeligt Dagblad" reports that in the first five days the law was in effect, 123 persons filed for a change of legal gender identity.

The government's Minister for Church Affairs, Marianne Jelved, has stated that if a person in a homosexual partnership files as being of the opposite gender and then wishes to marry the partner, this is now legally a heterosexual wedding. "The right to decline to perform homosexual weddings does not apply," she stated. "Pastors must respect the civil authority's determination." Thus, in the opinion of the Minister, a Folkekirken pastor must perform the wedding in this situation.

"If [following the new law] goes against their consciences," Jelved told "Kristeligt Dagblad", her view is "they can resign." Shades of TEC.

*****

Laws banning incest between brothers and sisters in Germany could be scrapped after a government ethics committee said they were an unacceptable intrusion into the right to sexual self-determination.

"Criminal law is not the appropriate means to preserve a social taboo," the German Ethics Council said in a statement. "The fundamental right of adult siblings to sexual self-determination is to be weighed more heavily than the abstract idea of protection of the family."

The problem for the Anglican Church could well be this: if the church redefines marriage to include same sex couples, what possible reason could it have to exclude opposite sex siblings in monogamous, committed, faithful relationships?

The answer of course is none.

*****

The respected Pew Research organization recently published studies of how Americans feel about religion in our country. It's clear from the Pew surveys that millions of our fellow citizens are both ambivalent and deeply concerned about the status and role of faith in their personal lives and in the public life of the nation.

Michael Lipka, editor at the Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, notes that there are five key "takeaways" from the information Pew has gleaned:

• "A growing percentage of U.S. adults (now 72%) think that religion is losing influence in American life. Moreover, most people who feel this way think this is a bad thing. Overall, a majority (56%) of the total U.S. population perceives religion as losing influence in American life and says that's a bad thing."

• "About half of U.S. adults (49%) say churches and other houses of worship should express their views on social and political questions -- up from 43% four years ago."

• "Only about half of Americans (47%) see the Republican Party as friendly toward religion, but even fewer (29%) feel that way about the Democratic Party. With regard to the White House in particular, our surveys have found a steady rise in the percentage of people who view the Obama administration as unfriendly toward religion -- rising to 29% today compared with 23% in 2012 and 17% in 2009."

• "Forty-seven percent (say) that businesses should be allowed to refuse services related to same-sex weddings and 49% saying they should be required to provide services as they would to all other customers."

• "Many white evangelical Republicans say the GOP is too liberal on a host of issues. For example, 34% of white evangelical Republicans say that the GOP has not done a good job representing their views on abortion because the party is too liberal (i.e., not willing enough to put restrictions on abortion)."

*****

UECNA news. The 11th General Convention of the United Episcopal Church of North America was held recently in Prescott, AZ. UECNA's archbishop, Peter D. Robinson highlighted the steady progress made over the past three years; the UECNA grew from 17 to 21 congregations and the number of communicants grew by 25%. Ordinations proceeded at slightly better than replacement, but the archbishop expressed disappointment that due to "poaching" from other jurisdictions, the UECNA's mission planting program has not proceeded as well as expected. The archbishop believes the UECNA is moving into a solid position.

With regards to inter-jurisdictional relationships, there was no significant progress with either the ACC or the APCK. He said there was progress with the renewing of the UECNA's relationship with the Diocese of the Great Lakes and also with the Federation of Anglican Church in America, where the UECNA has observer status. Reporting on the Mission Diocese of the West, Archbishop Robinson stated the number of congregations has doubled since the last GC, and the number of Communicants has increased by 30%. It was also decided that Latimer Seminary should be revived and reoriented as a mainly non-residential course.

*****

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