Church attendance in the US: seldom/never; monthly/yearly; and weekly or more.
Nearly 2/3 of Latter-day Saints report attending services weekly or more.
About half of all Southern Baptists attend weekly or more. For most mainline denominations (PCUSA, TEC, ELCA), weekly attendance is about a third. Only 28% of Catholics go to mass weekly. 1% of atheists attend some sort of service weekly! --- Ryan Burge

When our enemies oppose us with great force, apparent superiority and celebrated success, we, the alarmed servants of the Lord, may take heed to Elisha's strengthening words, "Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them". The invisible armies of the Lord surround his chosen ones. The hosts of heaven are infinitely more powerful and capable than the opposition of this world, and the powers of darkness. Victory is the Lord's and we shall share in the day of triumph. --- Roger Salter

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
January 28, 2022

Around the world, more than 360 million Christians live in places where they experience high levels of persecution, just for following Jesus. That's 1 in 7 believers, worldwide.

The numbers are astonishing. But behind each number and statistic, there is a human story. Open Doors 2022 World Watch List is about these stories behind the numbers.

Each year, the World Watch List provides an unparalleled glimpse into the 50 places around the world where it costs the most to be a Christian.

As you read through it, consider the words of 1 Corinthians 12:26: "If one part [of the Body of Christ] suffers, every part suffers with it." Pray through this year's report and let it move your heart. Learn how the Body of Christ is hurting, and how they are finding joy in Him even in the midst of pain. And learn how, in Jesus, we really are one Church, one Family. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/persecution-against-christians-rise-worldwide

One country that always makes the top 10 is Nigeria. This is the country with the most Christians and the most Anglicans. They regularly see their children captured by Boko Haram and Fulani Tribesman, their people killed, dioceses decimated. They do not complain, but do they get the public support from the Archbishop of Canterbury? No. However, Justin Welby is quick to call the Archbishop of Nigeria and the Archbishop of Ghana and complain when they don't toe the line over perceived homophobia, just because they condemn a behavior proscribed by Scripture. And you wonder why GAFCON exists; you wonder why GAFCON bishops won't be going to Lambeth in July. They know that Welby will not uphold Lambeth Resolution 1:10. They know he will focus on climate change to dodge the issue. Welby may dodge a bullet, but he won't change the long-term outcome of the communion which does not reside with him or the West.

To make the point how LGBTQ dogma has infiltrated and infected the Church of England, three London priests resigned their honorary roles at Ghanaian cathedralover the Ghanaian archbishops' support for anti-LGBT laws and apparent support for criminalization of LGBTQ + people.

Vicar of St John the Divine with St James the Apostle, Kennington Rev. Mark Williams, Rev Angus Aagaard, the team rector of North Lambeth and Rev Jonathan Sedgwick, the rector of St George the Martyr with St Aphege and St Jude, Southwark have all given up their roles.

This is ironic, because Archbishop Justice Welby apologized (he's good at that) for first interfering in the life of the Ghanian church and then for interfering in the affairs of the province, which is staunchly orthodox in faith and morals.

***

This week a South Sudan archbishop survived an assassination attempt. The Rt. Rev. Moses Anur Ayom, a provincial archbishop of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan (ECSS) and two other bishops survived what African news outlets described as an assassination attempt at a church on January 22. The incident was followed the next day by a nearby armed attack that left more than 30 people dead. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/south-sudan-archbishop-survives-assassination-attempt

***

As if to make the point in the changing dynamics of Anglican communion leadership, a consultation will consider giving the Anglican Communion a say in nominating the next Archbishop of Canterbury. The proposal would give the worldwide Anglican Communion a greater voice on the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) for the See of Canterbury.

At present, the entire Communion outside of England is represented by just one of the current 16 voting members, compared to six from the Diocese of Canterbury alone. The proposal would increase the Anglican Communion representatives to five while reducing the number of members from the Diocese to three.

The consultation document is not a neutral document. It is a piece of advocacy for the new proposal. It argues that many of the issues that the Archbishop of Canterbury addresses are global concerns, calling for a Communion-wide response, said The Church Times.

As soon as the proposal was announced, revisionists and progressives started screaming like hyenas.

The Rev. Andrew Foreshew-Cain, chaplain of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, a homosexual in a partnered relationship with another man, described the changes as "an attempt to create an Anglican pope" and said of the current archbishop; "How on earth can he justify having a bunch of bishops from all around the world interfering in the life of an English diocesan bishop?" and added, "The changes would make life for the LGBT community in this country more difficult and progress towards change more tortuous." Really.

Episcopal lesbian priestess Susan Russell screamed; "This sounds to me like another paragraph in the sad chapter of the ongoing effort to impose some kind of Curial authority on the Anglican Communion -- the kind of authority which is contrary to the DNA of Anglican comprehensiveness which is one of its hallmarks. And it is totally on brand with the global surge of patriarchal oligarchy working to diminish diversity and dismantle democracy. Something to pay attention to for sure."

Simon Sarmiento, editor of Thinking Anglicans commented: "This proposal is beyond madness. Another move towards the see of Canterbury becoming a Poundland papacy. Lambeth already has notions of its own worth that are well above its demographic station, and this will just encourage it."

All of this is nonsense. It would do none of these things. There is no chance it would ever create a papacy or magisterium. What it would do is put an orthodox Anglican primate in charge of the Church of England and communion who might enforce Lambeth Resolution 1:10, thus giving headaches to Western pansexualists who love that western Anglicanism has rolled over and is fast self-destructing over homosex. They would sooner see it die than compromise.

***

The Church of England's diversity mission has gone too far, writes Andrew Tettenborn in The Spectator. Is the Church of England on a mission? It should be, of course. But it appears to have confused its purpose of preaching the gospel with seeking to make itself more representative. From now on, at least ten members of the House of Bishops, part of the General Synod, must be from an ethnic minority. This will help create a 'church that truly embraces people of global majority heritage at every level of its life,' says the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell.

But it's hard to reconcile Cottrell's words with those of Paul to the Galatians, writes Tettenborm. You can read more here: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-church-of-england-s-diversity-mission-has-gone-too-far

***

Some interesting background on outgoing Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. He had studied at Oxford University and married a British woman, Joanna Hare, who was a member of the British aristocracy. Her father was Lord Blakenham, Viscount Blakenham, John Hugh Hare, who, by the way, had at one point been chairman of the British Conservative Party. That family was, of course, a part of the Church of England. Justice Breyer or future Justice Breyer is Jewish. The family eventually included three children, including a daughter who has serves as an Episcopal priest. His TEC priestess-daughter is the Rev. Chloe Breyer who directs The Interfaith Center of New York. She got her seminary training at General Theological Seminary and her doctorate at Union Theological Seminary. She's incarnated in the Diocese of New York. Her liberal credentials parrot her father's liberal propensities.

A source told VOL that the connection between Jews (non-Orthodox) and Episcopalians/Anglicans ought to be better understood. "In NYC I came to know a number of "Jewish believers" who were professing Christians worshiping at Episcopal parishes (the family which owned the N Y Times, the Sulzbergers, intricately intertwined with the Weis family of reform Judaism-name was changed to Wise; Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger was Wise's granddaughter, became Episcopalian). In 1964 the joke among Jews was "isn't it our luck that the first Jewish presidential nominee would be an Episcopalian" (Goldwater). In NYC there was a sympatico relationship between the "Our Crowd" German Jewish grandees at Temple Emmanu-El (5th Ave & 65th St) and the "social register" Episcopalians of the Upper East Side.

***

In the department of never underestimating the stupidity of intelligent people, especially bishops, we got this gem this week. The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, says climate change is the Gospel. The Affirming Catholic archbishop told the Bishop of Niagara in Canada, one Susan Bell, that climate change, "is the Gospel...how we inhabit the world in the way of Christ...this is the Gospel. So, I'd want to preach and teach about it much more." The second highest ranking cleric in the Church of England went on to press home the point saying, "this needs to be not a kind of add-on to the Gospel."

The language of Cottrell is reminiscent of what the apostle Paul said in Galatians 1:8-9, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." Apparently, the archbishop's updated resume now includes being a renowned climatologist in addition to being a sophisticated leader and theologian. God help us all.

This tripe got eviscerated by yours truly here: https://virtueonline.org/archbishop-york-says-climate-change-gospel

***

The share of regular churchgoers is down by 6 percent, from 34 percent in 2019 to 28 percent in 2021. (It's worth noting that the terms "church", "religious services" and "house of worship" are used interchangeably.) Meanwhile, the share of secular Americans who have never or seldom attended religious services increased by 7 percent. See more here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/january-web-only/attendance-decline-covid-pandemic-church.html?utm_source=CT+Weekly+Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=15333&utm_content=8242&utm_campaign=email

***

A leading evangelical ministry attacked Catholic and Orthodox Churches stand on worship, arguing that icon worship is the language of pagan philosophy, not biblical commandment.

The Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC-USA) a ministry that fosters fellowship among evangelicals in the Anglican and Episcopal churches, recognizes the ultimate authority of Scripture in matters of faith and practice and says worship can never replace reality. "It can foreshadow or represent it, but it is not itself the reality it represents."

The EFAC commentary argues that because Roman and Eastern churches blur this approach to worship, it may result in a too sharp a divide between the spiritual and the material. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/evangelical-ministry-attacks-catholic-and-orthodox-churches-stand-worship

***

The Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh is searching for a new bishop. Three finalists have emerged. In alphabetical order, they are:

The Rev. Alex Cameron (President and CEO of the Isaiah Forty Foundation; Diocese of the Upper Midwest)
The Rev. Peter Frank (Rector, Church of the Epiphany, Chantilly, VA; Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic)
The Rev. Dr. Joel Scandrett (Assistant Professor of Theology, Trinity School for Ministry; Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh).

My money is on Scandrett, the best of the bunch.

***

Christ, Schleiermacher, Pansexuality, Evangelicalism and the Episcopal Church. It should be apparent by now, to even the most unenlightened, that the entire pansexual enterprise being foisted on the Anglican communion is built on a shaky foundation. While most of the West has rolled over, that has not been the case in the Global South, even though money is being used by The Episcopal Church in a divide and conquer campaign with individual dioceses in strongly orthodox African provinces. The campaign is not proving very successful. Anglican provinces like Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Ghana, to name but a few, remain staunchly orthodox in faith and morals.

The origin of the modern movement for sexual pluriformity began not in the 60s but far earlier with German theologian and philosopher Friedrich Schleiermacher. I trace this in my article here: https://virtueonline.org/christ-schleiermacher-pansexuality-evangelicalism-and-episcopal-church

Carl R. Trueman, in an article on The Failure of the Evangelical Elites in First Things, writes that within Christian circles, particularly those of the leadership class and its associated institutions, the desire to appease religion's cultured despisers has become a powerful force. Like Schleiermacher, those who hold to this vision think that a winning strategy involves standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the despisers. It means echoing woke outrage. We see this being played out with Justin Welby, the evangelical Archbishop of Canterbury in his desire to accommodate homosexuality. He is fearful that any criticism of homosexual behavior will see him accused of homophobia. Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, having accommodated himself to the zeitgeist has no such fear.

The moral preoccupations of secular progressive America now focus on two basic issues: race and LGBTQ+ rights. Christian leaders professing orthodoxy cannot support gay rights in the form of, say, the Equality Act. It is therefore unsurprising that we find so much vocal outrage among members of the Christian establishment on matters surrounding race. And given America's legacy of slavery and segregation, the race issue offers ample opportunity for public displays of self-loathing and expressions of shame, the acts of atonement that progressive American encourages and enjoys, says Trueman. Hence the call for reparations to redress racial inequality not only by secularists, but establishment religious leaders like Bishop Curry and Bishop Eugene Sutton, the black Episcopal bishop of Maryland. You can read it all here: https://virtueonline.org/christ-schleiermacher-pansexuality-evangelicalism-and-episcopal-church

***

The ongoing sexual saga in the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others (C4SO) which had received reports of "actions not appropriate for clergy" involving Midwest Dean Rev. Jay Greener at Church of the Redeemer in Highwood, Illinois continues apace.

On January 24, Bishop Todd Hunter provided an update to the Church of the Redeemer mailing list announcing that Wade Mullen had been hired to investigate the reports concerning Rev. Jay Greener. The letter is available at this link and the PDF has been embedded below for reference. https://www.acnatoo.org/acnatoo-news/c4so-hires-mullen

While ACNA, too said it is encouraged to see an established and respected authority like Wade Mullen brought in to handle the investigation, they had some preliminary concerns based on the contents of the update. "We hope that C4SO will follow best practices for independent investigations and set a model for dioceses to follow in future investigations."

On January 14th, the ACNA announced the engagement of Husch Blackwell LLP to complete the impartial, trauma-informed, and independent investigation of allegations of sexual misconduct and of the mishandling of such allegations in the Diocese of the Upper Midwest. "We look forward to Husch Blackwell's investigation beginning soon."

Following the announcement of the third-party investigative firm, three members of the Provincial Response Team (PRT) resigned. "While we are deeply saddened and surprised by their resignation and public comments, we appreciated their involvement as members of the PRT, which led to achieving our mandate of hiring a firm to undertake this investigation. All three joined the rest of the members of the PRT in voting unanimously for Husch Blackwell, along with the majority of the alleged survivors who voted."

***

In the Global South; the news is much better, going and growing in strength even as the Global North and West withers.

The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches promises a New Year with a fresh vision. When a new year begins, many people, me included, make new resolutions and pledges. However, a few days or weeks later we forget about these resolutions and return to the way we used to live. The question I want to know an answer to is, how can I follow through with the resolutions I have made? I cannot find an answer to this question. But when we study the Scriptures, we find examples of God's people who were able to fulfil their promises to God to the end of their lives, writes Egyptian Archbishop Mouneer Anis. You can read more here: https://www.thegsfa.org/copy-of-trinity-3-20-june-2021-1

The Anglican Province of Congo recently installed Dr. Titre Ande as the next Primate and Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Congo. The DRC has been a part of GAFCON and is a strong partner with the Church of Uganda in mission and evangelism. Dr. Titre succeeds Archbishop Zacharie Masimango Katanda.

Pakistani Anglicans celebrated the return of their college to church control. Church of Pakistan Bishop Humphrey Sarfaraz Peters of Peshawar described the decision, which gives the church 75 per cent control over the college, as a "New Year gift for the whole community".

Pakistan's Supreme Court had announced on 3 June 2021 that the church must hand over management of Edwardes College to the local government.

Bishop Peters, who led the protests against that decision, hailed the changing of hearts and minds in government as "a work of the Holy Spirit". He celebrated "regaining the Christian character of the college", expressing gratitude for the prayerful support of the global Church. Among the terms of the settlement was the guarantee that the college's Principal will be a Christian. The appointment of Dr. Sharoon Hanook was confirmed the same day. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/pakistani-christians-celebrate-return-college-church-control

The Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Kenya, Jackson Ole Sapit has asked Kenyans not to take bribes from politicians in exchange for votes. Kenya is set to hold presidential and general elections on August 9, 2022.

Archbishop Ole Sapit described politicians as people who specialized in bribing their way into elective seats but failed to live up to the expectations of the people. The Standard newspapers quoted him saying ''The truth of the matter is that handouts will not prosper Kenya. We must get leaders of integrity who can mobilize people to work and create opportunities to prosper."

***

If you want to know just how bad things are in the Church in Wales, then read this story about the impotency of the new archbishop Andy John. Rejecting calls that he should launch an inquiry into the running of the Llandaff diocese following allegations of bullying against bishop June Osborne, the newly elected Archbishop of Wales, Andy John said, "As Archbishop, I do not have authority over any diocese other than my own unless the see is vacant."

Nevertheless, the bishop of Bangor has felt the need for someone to share the leadership of the diocese while he serves as Archbishop of Wales. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/wales-impotent-archbishop-needs-assistant

***

There have been a growing number of impressive books on the state of Anglicanism and its place in the worldwide communion of churches. I recently reviewed, The Future of Orthodox Anglicanism, edited by Gerald R. McDermott.

If you are a true Anglican believer, this volume of 11 essays will convince you that you made the right choice. If you are an evangelical sitting on the fence, then this book will help you jump off it, hungry for connection with the Early Church and its attention to mystery, sacraments and liturgy framed in a clear understanding where the gospel of Jesus Christ is front and center. A case in point is the recent absconding of Beth Moore, a Southern Baptist preacher with nearly a million followers into the arms of a Texas parish in the Anglican Church in North America. She is not the only one. Other spiritual lights have also joined dioceses in the ACNA. There are thousands of ex-Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists and independent Baptists who have joined the Canterbury Trail at intervals along the way.

Anglicanism is the third-largest Christian communion in the world. At 85-million worshippers it is growing as fast or faster than the two largest communions, Roman Catholicism and eastern Orthodoxy.

But let us be clear, it does not include most of Western Anglicanism, which is fast slipping away from the 'faith once for all delivered to the saints.' The new center of gravity is in the Global South which is predominantly orthodox in faith and morals, unlike its liberal parents in Canterbury and New York. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/future-orthodox-anglicanism-edited-gerald-r-mcdermott

***

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