The call to singleness. Acceptance or tolerance of a same-sex partnership rests on the assumption that sexual intercourse is 'psychologically necessary'. That is certainly what our sex-obsessed contemporary culture says. But is it true? Christians must surely reply that it is a lie. There is such a thing as the call to singleness, in which authentic human fulfillment is possible without sexual experience. Our Christian witness is that Jesus himself, though unmarried, was perfect in his humanness. Same-sex friendship should of course be encouraged, which may be close, deep and affectionate. But sexual union, the 'one flesh' mystery, belongs to heterosexual marriage alone. --- From "Essentials", by David L. Edwards and John Stott

With the vast majority of Christendom, in history and worldwide today, I do not believe that a credible biblical case can be made for the ordination of women to the teaching and ruling office of the church. The kind of exegesis required to sustain such a view so distorts the plain teaching of the Bible as to make it a wax nose capable of any shape. If you can get "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man" (1 Timothy 2:12) to mean "I do permit a woman to teach and exercise authority over a man" then you can get the Bible to say anything. --- Ligon Duncan, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, MS

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
February 26, 2010

North American Anglicanism experienced a kairos moment this week in Texas when 325 Anglican Church planters descended on Christ Church, Plano, to announce to all the world that a new day had dawned in North America. They are going out to plant 1,000 new churches over the next five years.

The idea is the brainchild of ACNA Archbishop Robert Duncan, the fulfillment of a dream to do and be what the Episcopal Church is not capable of doing -- to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to its cultured despisers.

Archbishop Duncan noted that when he first spoke at Plano last year there were 73 congregations. "Now there are more than 800 churches or 200 a week since June. If there is fruitfulness it is because what our Father (in heaven) is doing and his work in us and his Son. We are sent by his Son and the world desperately needs to hear what his Son says. We are transformed by his Son and that is our call."

Duncan said the conference was an opportunity "to get our [ACNA's] vision together in a way that movements like this can change the world. It is our understanding of the vision that there is no need for control like the age of Wesley. If we are accountable to the Word, tradition and the Holy Spirit and if we are accountable for the transformation of society we will have 1000 churches in five years."

The Rev. Dr. Ed Stetzer, church planting president of Lifeway Research, missiologist and seminary professor, told listeners that church planting is like having a baby...bloody, messy painful, but great when it is all done.

Recognizing that most of the conferees have come from The Episcopal Church, Stetzer said, "What is going on in your windshield or filling your windshield with the troubles you came through must now be in your rear view mirror. You need a clear windshield."

Is church planting doable? Stetzer said for a church to multiply and grow from 800 to 1200, 50% must be converts for the next generation. He predicted ACNA would become a multiplication movement in North America.

I have written five stories about this conference and I urge you to read them. VOL believes this is the turning point for Anglicanism on this continent.

*****

Even as ACNA grows, The Episcopal Church continues to unravel. This week the largest parish in West Texas, Christ Church in San Antonio announced that it is weighing its options about staying in TEC. The Rev. Chuck Collins wrote a letter to his vestry saying that it was time to consider their future in the revisionist denomination. The Diocese of West Texas is run by Communion Partner Bishop Gary Lillibridge so it will be interesting to see what he does, if and when the 2,700 member parish makes a move out of TEC. You can be sure that Mrs. Jefferts Schori will be showing a marked interest in the property and will be applying the appropriate thumb screws to Lillibridge should he decide to waver on the issue. But we should not be surprised as the Presiding Bishop herself has told us that there is a new sheriff in town.

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The Diocese of Virginia decided this past week to delay recognizing same-sex unions, mindful no doubt of the 20 or so parishes that have fled their ecclesiastical grip precisely over this and other issues. The diocese, upon recognizing these unions, instead voted to form a committee to set standards for church-sanctioned blessings of such unions, once they are approved by the entire 2-million-member Episcopal Church. About 346 delegates to the dioceses annual council meeting at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria narrowly voted -- by a show of hands - to form the committee.

It was a less radical choice for the 80,000-member Virginia diocese, the largest in the Episcopal Church. A substitute amendment suggesting the diocese allow openly gay clergy and same-sex blessings failed after a lengthy debate.

The vote was in response to last summer's decision by the Episcopal General Convention, which met in Anaheim, CA, to pass resolution C056, which empowered the denomination to begin "collecting and developing theological resources and liturgies" for same-sex blessings. The denomination is expected to endorse some kind of rite at its 2012 meeting in Indianapolis.

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The Bishop of Springfield, the Rt. Rev. Peter Beckwith has retired. Now the diocese will be under national scrutiny as it seeks his successor.

Beckwith is staunchly conservative and does not tolerate the moral innovations of the Episcopal Church. The timing of his retirement, which took effect Feb. 1, caught many in the church off guard. Diocesan officials believe they can adhere to a timeline that will result in the consecration of a new bishop by March 2011.

But knotty problems may lie ahead, particularly because whomever local Episcopalians choose as their new bishop, they must also be approved by a majority of U.S. bishops and standing committees - delegates from Episcopal dioceses around the country. It's a hugely messy situation; a search for his replacement will be ugly in the extreme.

It will take a small miracle to get a new bishop approved by the laity and the clergy and then, if such a person is orthodox in faith and morals, that person will have to get consents from the House of Bishops and Standing Committee. The last time that happened, it was Mark Lawrence, Bishop of South Carolina. It took two votes to get consents for him. If, on the other they choose a liberal, then that could spell the end of the diocese with many parishes deciding to leave...another ecclesiastical debacle for Jefferts Schori.

In a farewell blast, Bishop Beckwith stated, "The real problem is this: the Episcopal Church is now on record as declaring moral what the Church, from the beginning, has taught is immoral. ... A Church that claims to follow Christ as Savior and Lord cannot succeed if it endorses and adopts secular values because it will then have turned its back on the fundamental mission of calling people to holiness through repentance and forgiveness. No one needs a Church that aligns itself with worldly values at the expense of eternal biblical principles."

*****

As VOL goes to press, the Diocese of Los Angeles is within five votes of obtaining consents for the election of avowed lesbian Mary Glasspool to be a suffragan bishop in the diocese. At this point her election is virtually assured. She has 51 of the 56 needed. The real crisis will be when it does happen. Then the whole thing will be dumped in the lap of Dr. Rowan Williams and the Anglican Consultative Council. Where will the talk be of "gracious restraint" and please don't keep doing this, it makes life very awkward for the ABC. And oh yes, we have a Covenant that we would definitely like you to sign on to without crossing your fingers behind your back.

*****

The Diocese of Texas passed a council resolution according legitimacy to same-sex relationships, recently. A local blogger said a number of Houston clergy, identified as conservatives, joined with original supporters.

A modified resolution committed to honoring same-sex relationships and stating that God is made known in and through such relationships was approved by vote of the Council on February 13. Somewhat surprisingly, it passed with the support of several clergy generally identified as having a conservative view, who signed on as named proponents of the resolution alongside the five proponents (three clergy and two lay) of the original resolutions submitted to the committee.

All five of these new proponents are clergy from Houston, two of them being rectors of the Diocese's largest two parishes. Four of the five are listed on the Communion Partners web site as Communion Partner Rectors and one of these four is listed as a member of the Communion Partner Clergy Steering Committee. These new named proponents of the resolution do not include any laypersons, and accounts of the Council meeting published on the diocese's web site do not indicate that any laypersons identified with the conservative side spoke from the Council floor in support of the resolution. The text of the resolution, the names and parish identifications of the proponents and a summary of statements made from the floor appear at http://161council.blogspot.com/2010/02/final-council-actions-and-elections_16.html (scroll down to Resolutions).

*****

The Diocese of Northern California is in crisis. Churches are closing and loans to the diocese from indigent parishes are going unpaid. Bishop Barry Beisner says there are no closures imminent, but Average Sunday Attendance is down 19% since 2003 and getting worse by the month. The net effect is that the diocese is on the brink of a financial crisis.

In a letter to the diocese, the Canon for Administration and Finance, Bobbi Yeo, writes, "It should not come as a surprise to hear that some churches in the Diocese are struggling to maintain a full-time or even three-quarter time clergy or that some churches are having difficulty paying their basic obligations. In many cases it is loans from the Diocesan Endowment and Memorial Trust, group insurance premiums paid with Diocesan funds on behalf of churches, or Mission Apportionment that is left unpaid.

"Clergy and congregations are making heroic efforts to increase their membership and stewardship. In some instances these efforts have not resulted in the degree of success necessary to maintain sustainability. There are those who feel we are on the brink of a crisis which requires a response from the Office of the Bishop. This is because this is a crisis - not only for the congregation, but for all churches in the Diocese. We are strong when everyone is strong."

*****

At an Internet press conference of Executive Council this week, VOL correspondent Mary Ann Mueller asked the Presiding Bishop: Now that they have gone after traditionalists with a vengeance and are now zeroing in on South Carolina, if her retaining of an attorney meant legal action was imminent and what are those local matters and how are you going to deal with them? Jefferts Schori replied, "My understanding is that Episcopalians in South Carolina have expressed concern about some who have departed The Episcopal Church and attempted to maintain control of Episcopal Church assets They have asked for some assistance because the Church as whole has some responsibility."

That's choice. To date, one parish has expressed an interest in leaving. To my knowledge, no deals have been cut regarding the property, but it is interesting to note that if a deal is cut, there is no difference between what Bishop Mark Lawrence might do and what Bishops Jim Stanton (Dallas) and John W. Howe (Central Florida) have already done.

Both those bishops cut deals on properties without so much as whimper from 815. So why is Lawrence getting special attention? One of the reasons, and there are many, is that he won't play ball and enter into the governances of the church and Jefferts Schori would clearly like to depose him. She might just overstep herself.

If she is out for a property grab she should know that The Dennis Canon has been undermined in that state with the loss of All Saints' Pawleys Island. If it is appealed (and it is) and she loses, she has really closed the door on winning properties away from the diocese. Lawrence has postponed a diocesan conference to see which way the wind blows. Read Mary Ann Mueller's story here or in today's digest http://tinyurl.com/y88owpb She has covered the story well.

*****

The Executive Council got some very bad news from Kirk Hadaway, the church's program officer for congregational research. He made some rather caustic comments and observations. He said that church membership and Sunday attendance continued to decline in 2008, adding that congregations decline when their membership is older and predominantly female; are in conflict, particularly over leadership; and where worship is "rote, predictable and uninspiring." Ouch.

Hadaway suggested that "if we're going to turn this around -- or at least turn around the decline -- more attention needs to be paid to the things that result in growth, rather than to the broader cultural factors that are affecting our current patterns. Those cultural factors include such things as an aging population with declining birthrates and an increase in the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation." Then he dropped this bomb, "The base problem is the fact that so many of our churches don't know why they're there. It's a caretaker sort of ministry, which is good and helpful, but it's a prescription for continuing decline."

Well now, I thought we were all here to promote the Presiding Bishop's Millennium Development Goals and to save the world for God. Clearly the message is not getting through. What a contrast between TEC that has lost its way and ACNA which knows exactly where it is going and how it is going to get there.

*****

In the State of Iowa 167 faith leaders including fifteen Episcopal priests and the Bishop of Iowa, Alan Scarfe, backed a same-gender 'marriage' law this week. They sent a letter to the Supreme Court of Iowa saying, "We as clergy from different faith traditions adhere to this principle and stand firmly with gay and lesbian couples to underscore the importance of marriage equality. Our traditions and practices as religious entities should never be used to exclude equal protection from anyone."

*****

A story floated by the Jordanian state media agency, but not picked up by ACNS is that when the Archbishop of Canterbury visited the Middle East, recently, he made the statement that Christian Zionism was not a part of Christian tradition. He said that the theology of Christian Zionism has no historical base and is a recent Protestant addition.

Williams, on a four-day visit to Jordan, Israel and Palestine from Feb. 19-23, was reported by Petra as saying that the belief by some Protestants that the establishment of the Jewish state is a prerequisite for the return of Christ doesn't have a historical basis and only appeared as a result of "some biblical studies in the nineteenth century."

Christian Zionism is a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, is in accordance with Biblical prophecy. Some Christian Zionists believe that the gathering of Jews in Israel is a prerequisite for the Second Coming of Jesus. This belief is primarily associated with Christian Dispensationalism and the idea that Christians should actively support Israel.

*****

Give up your iPod for Lent, British bishops urge. British church leaders are encouraging people to give up their iPods for Lent, instead of more traditional vices such as chocolate, to help save the planet.

The Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, and the Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, are among those calling for a carbon fast for Lent -- a period ahead of Easter which Christians traditionally consider a time of penance and reflection -- which began on Wednesday.

As well as spending a day without using technology such as mobile phones or iPods, the 46 daily suggestions also include eating by candlelight, cutting meat and vegetables thinner so they cook faster and flushing the toilet less often. "Instead of giving up chocolate for Lent, why not fast for justice ... to help those suffering from the effects of climate change," said Jones.

*****

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