Preachers: Don't Flatter, Speak Truth. Well would it be for the Church of Christ, if it possessed more plain-speaking ministers, like John the Baptist, in these latter days. A morbid dislike to strong language - an excessive fear of giving offence, a constant flinching from directness and plain speaking - are, unhappily, too much the characteristics of the modern Christian pulpit. Uncharitable language is no doubt always to be deprecated. But there is no charity in flattering unconverted people, by abstaining from any mention of their vices, or in applying smooth epithets to damnable sins. There are two texts which are too much forgotten by Christian preachers. In one it is written, "Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you."(Luke 6:26)) In the other it is written, "Obviously, I'm not trying to be a people pleaser. No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ's servant." (Gal. 1:10) --- Bishop J.C. Ryle

The only exit. Death is the only exit to the prison house of sin. 'He who has died has been justified from his sin' (Rom. 6:7, literally). This death Christ died for us. He died our death. If, then, we are united to Christ, it is as true to say, 'I died in Christ' as it is to say, 'He died for me.' Since Christ died my death and I am in him, God sees me as if I had died myself. Having died and risen with Christ, the law's demands are met, and I am set free. --- From "Men with a Message" by John R.W. Stott

Self-centeredness. By 'sin' the Bible means self-centeredness. God's order is that we love him first, our neighbor next and ourselves last. Sin is precisely the reversal of this order. It is to put ourselves first, our neighbour next (when it suits our convenience) and God somewhere in the distant background. ----From "Your Confirmation" -- Excerpted from "Authentic Christianity", John R. W. Stott

"I believe the [Church of England] Synod is trying to make the church conform to culture rather than being faithful to new life found in Jesus Christ." --- Fr. David Lashbrooke, CofE vicar

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
March 11, 2011

It was a week of moving forward in North American Anglicanism with some 350 church planters meeting in Plano, Texas, vowing to plant hundreds of new churches. The Rev. Daniel Adkinson told VOL in an exclusive interview that the Anglican Church of North America has 673 congregations plus 293 ministry partner congregations in the works. "On the Anglican 1000 website, we have about 120 new works featured. These are new works of various sizes that have begun since 2009. We are also hearing about lots of works presently in the pipeline. So, we are steadily moving towards the goal. Most importantly, we are seeing that people are catching the vision for church planting in a way that will result in the multiplication of new leaders and new congregations being embedded in our DNA for the foreseeable future."

Asked, if when they reach 1,000 new churches, will there be a plan to plant 2,000 churches, Adkinson replied, "Well, we won't stop at 1000, that's for sure. We have strong leadership from the Anglican Mission, CANA, REC, and others in the ACNA. If everyone gets the vision for church planting...and clearly many, many have...I don't see why we can't keep planting."

To make the point that growth is in the air, the newly elected bishop from Northern Virginia, Julian Dobbs told VOL that the Anglican District of Virginia currently has 33 member congregations and 9 mission fellowships in Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC and North Carolina. "Churches are being planted, clergy are being raised up and many lay people in our parishes are excited and enthused about the mission to declare the gospel once for all entrusted to the saints."

*****

In the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Anglican leaders are hoping for negotiations that will end the years of legal wrangling over properties. They have written An Open Letter to the Clergy and People of The Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh and to The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church, USA, seeking good-faith negotiations that will enable the mission of both churches to thrive. So far several parishes have negotiated reasonably honorable ends in property disputes with some twists and turns. One parish was asked not to align itself with ACNA in exchange for money and its property. "We hope and pray that in the coming days the leaders and people in both our dioceses will find a way to seek blessing on one another."

*****

By contrast, The Episcopal Church slowly withers with Episcopalians showing more mutinous tendencies as they deal with incompetent and inept priests and bishops who have no idea how to run a diocese.

Consider what happened in the Diocese of Western Michigan this past week. A priest, The Rev. Jay R. Lawlor of St. Luke's Episcopal Church lost control and shoved an elderly 76-year old parishioner. He has been forced to resign and now faces an assault and battery charge. St. Luke's, which is located in downtown Kalamazoo, is one of the oldest, largest and most prominent churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan. Sunday's altercation at the church came four days after Episcopal Bishop Robert Gepert announced he was taking over the parish and disbanding its lay board, and after Lawlor terminated the employment of the parish secretary, music director and facilities manager.

Following the incident in the church, Gephert announced that Lawlor would be going on a four-month leave, but not before he first ordered Lawlor to downsize the church staff. On March 3, Lawlor terminated the employment of the parish secretary, music director and facilities manager. This was the cause behind the fracas that later ensued. Now Lawlor has resigned.

Till a few years ago, St. Luke's was the largest parish in the diocese. Not anymore.

Bishop Gepert has a quite a track record of screw-ups. In August of last year he dissolved the Vestry of Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids because it reduced giving to the Diocese. The parish reduced its pledge to the strapped diocese for the second year in a row. Gephert's intervention did not help matters.

Gephert also has a history of doing nothing first. A number of parishes in the diocese have been left dangling for a long time, waiting for him to make a decision only the bishop can make by canon law.

He also over-reacts. One incident concerning poor judgment among young adult counselors led him to shut down the church's summer camp, fire the staff, and move it to another location after a year interim.

The number of churches he's assumed control over and the number of vacant rectorships during his reign are stubborn facts that can't be denied. Matters will go astray in a few churches from time to time, but the track record of parish instability on his watch would give anyone pause, wrote one blogger familiar with the diocese.

In April 2007, Gephert sent a "pastoral letter" to the diocese saying he was forced to sell the Kalamazoo-based Cathedral of Christ the King, built by his predecessor Charles E. Bennison.

A VOL reader who specializes in diocesan statistics painted this picture of the state of affairs in the diocese. From 2002 through 2009 (Gephert was consecrated in 2002) the diocese lost 20.7 percent of its members, lost 18.1 percent of ASA, and lost 15.8 percent of Plate & Pledge (inflation adjusted). The diocese ranks at 67 of 95 considered. They also sold the cathedral. In 2009, they were in fair shape by TEC standards with 34 of its 57 churches having an ASA of 66 or less and 40 churches with Plate & Pledge of less than $150K. The long-term stats for 2002 through 2009 truly look dismal with marriages down 39.9 percent and Infant Baptisms down 44.0 percent. These are shocking figures. It is one thing to say that Members and Infant Baptisms have dropped, but this took place in just SEVEN YEARS.

That's why the Diocese of Western Michigan is in the state it's in. One can be both an apostolic successor to St. Peter and a textbook example of the Peter Principle at the same time.

*****

The rump Diocese of Ft. Worth wants to inspect specific properties, namely parishes they believe they still own but in fact don't. Operating under Texas law, the diocese has presented to lawyers of the Diocese of Ft. Worth and Bishop Jack Iker with a Request for Entry Upon Land in order they say "to recover property from the Southern Cone."

Here is an excerpt from the statement put out by bishops Ted Gulick, Wallis Ohl and members of the Corporation, "As you may be aware, after achieving the critical ruling on identity, our lawsuit to recover the property of the Episcopal Church is progressing into a new phase. As a part of that effort on Wednesday, March 2, 2011, the Local Episcopal Parties served on attorneys for the Southern Cone Defendants and congregations a Request for Entry Upon Land.

"This routine discovery request, authorized under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, is needed for us to assess insurance needs and to determine the condition of our real and personal property that has been out of our possession for more than two years. The request proposes a schedule for selected individuals, trained by Bishop Ohl and in coordination with each reorganized congregation, to visit specific church properties."

The request itemizes real property for the use of the diocese, for use of parishes and missions, and miscellaneous properties. It includes an 8-week schedule for the inspections. A group of some 20 Episcopalians, primarily from parishes who remain in their buildings, have volunteered to divide into teams to visit and report back on the condition of the properties.

VOL could not obtain a response from Bishop Iker and the Diocese of Ft. Worth before going to press with this edition of the digest. When we do, we will post it immediately to the website.

*****

Bishop Charles E. Bennison continues his nightmare reign in the Diocese of Pennsylvania with Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori neither able nor willing to dump him despite endless pleas to do so, and despite her new found canonical powers which kick in July 1. (You can read my piece on him in today's digest.)

Things will heat up again shortly when the diocese goes back to court on March 22 to recover the property and assets of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, PA. The diocese wants the lot and wants Fr. (now Bishop) David L. Moyer out. You will recall that Bennison summarily deposed Moyer who then fled to the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) and became a bishop under Australian Archbishop John Hepworth.

The Diocese believes there are no issues of material fact in dispute and is seeking a summary judgment in its favor. The parish has filed a response disputing the validity of the diocese's claim, asserting that the diocese is not entitled to judgment as a matter of law. If the Diocese wins, the Dennis Canon has prevailed almost everywhere in the country, the diocese will be entitled to assume direct authority over the Church's property, assets, and continued existence. VOL will cover this for its readers and file a report on that day.

*****

A new book has come out on the Developing Schism within the Episcopal Church (1960-2010) written by a woman priest in the Diocese of Washington, Dr. Nancy Carol James. She documents, with timelines, the decline and fall of TEC and does it with an amazing objectivity bearing in mind that her bias is towards liberalism. I found it hard to fault her research. It is an unfolding drama that has resulted in more than 100,000 fleeing The Episcopal Church for a variety of Anglican jurisdictions, many with off shore connections to Africa, Asia and Latin America. This has resulted in the birth of a new North American Anglican province that is competing for souls and going head to head with the Episcopal Church in major cities and local communities across both Canada and the US. You can read my review of this book in today's digest.

*****

The Archbishop of Canterbury got an earful from Bill Donohue president of the US Catholic League this week, who said the ABC is in the wrong about Muslims and the murder of Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's Minister for Minorities.

Dr. Williams wrote that Bhatti was killed for protesting the nation's blasphemy laws, "not simply for his Christian faith, but for a vision shared between Pakistani Christians and Muslims."

Indeed, he says that Bhatti's "courage and steadfastness of purpose was nourished in the political culture of Pakistan," and that only a "faction in Pakistan" supports injustice. What is needed, he adds, is "a rational debate in Pakistan" about the blasphemy laws.

Not true, roared back Donohue. "Bhatti was murdered for the same reason another Pakistani government official was, Salman Taseer: they protested the invocation of the blasphemy law that sentenced Aasiya Bibi to death. Bhatti's fight for justice had nothing to do with the "political culture of Pakistan"- it was a reflection of his devout Catholicism. It is precisely the political culture of Islamism that is the problem, not some faction."

It is passing strange that Williams seems to twist the truth just enough to make it seem like something is the case when it is not. He did the same thing over the murder of prominent Nairobi Anglican homosexual activist David Kato whom Williams said was murdered over that country's homophobic laws and a negative newspaper report. It was not true. David Kato was killed because he refused to pay a male prostitute for sexual services. The man hit him over the head with a hammer and killed him.

Paul Marshall, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, confirmed Donohue's perspective noting that there are more blasphemy deaths in Pakistan. "On the same day, accusations of blasphemy claimed eleven new victims, including one child. One was Muhammad Imran, who in April 2009 was charged with blasphemy for allegedly making insulting remarks about the Prophet during a discussion in a village café. On Friday, he was in a shop in Danada, near Rawalpindi, when two attackers came in and shot him dead. According to Imram's brother, one of the killers was the same man who had made the original blasphemy accusation.

"Also on Friday, ten people, including a child, were killed and 30 others injured, eight seriously, when a bomb blast blew up a mosque inside a Sufi shrine, the Akhun Punjo Baba mazar, in the Akbarpura area of Nowshera, near Peshawar. The bomb went off just after prayers had ended and was heard several kilometers away. So far nobody has claimed responsibility, but the attack bears the hallmarks of the Taliban, who have been attacking Sufi shrines throughout Pakistan, claiming that shrines honoring saints are blasphemous."

Marshall said there are reports of blasphemy-related violence and killing in Asendabo, Ethiopia. International Christian Concern reports that after accusations that a Christian had torn up a Koran, mobs of several thousand Muslims began attacking local Christians and burning churches. The government sent the federal police force to protect Christians after the destruction of the first three churches, but the mobs overwhelmed the police force and burned down two more churches. The violence reportedly spread to Chiltie, Gilgel Gibe, Gibe, Nada, Dimtu, Uragay, Busa, and Koticha, and, as of yesterday, had not stopped. Compass Direct reports that in the last five days as many as 59 churches have been destroyed, one Christian has been killed and several thousand have been displaced.

*****

Some good news out of Christchurch, New Zealand. The dean of earthquake-shattered Christchurch Cathedral said he wept at the "unbelievable" news there were no bodies in the rubble of the city's Anglican cathedral.

Since the 6.3 magnitude quake on February 22, it was feared there were as many as 22 bodies buried in the rubble of the 130-year-old cathedral, the centerpiece of New Zealand's second city. The confirmed death toll from the destructive earthquake stands at 165. Police had previously said they expected it to rise to more than 240, although this figure may now be reduced.

*****

The Rt. Rev. Geralyn Wolf announced she plans to retire as the 12th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island by the end of 2012. Wolf, who has served as bishop of the New England diocese for 15 years, made the announcement during the annual meeting of Diocesan Convention on March 5 when she also called for the election of a successor.

By the time of her planned retirement, Wolf noted that she'll be approaching her 66th birthday and the 36th year of her ordained ministry. Wolf, a convert from Judaism, stepped into the history books 15 years ago by becoming only the second woman in U.S. Episcopal Church history to be ordained a diocesan bishop.

*****

Income trends for female clergy mirror U.S. averages. According to two recently released studies, the pay disparity between male and female clergy in the Episcopal Church mirrors the rest of the United States.

Data in "Women in America," a statistical portrait released March 1 by the White House, show that women earned about 75 percent of what their male counterparts earned in 2009.

"Called to Serve", a Church Pension Fund study of clergy women and their families released in late January, found that women earned $45,656 on average compared with an average for male clergy of $60,773, or 75 percent.

There are 5,542 ordained women in the Episcopal Church, including 12 bishops. There are 12,464 male clergy.

"Despite the presence of women clergy in the church for over thirty years, there are still significant gaps when comparing compensation and years of service between male and female clergy, pointing to the significant obstacles that women clergy face," Matthew Price, Church Pension Group vice president and director of analytical research, wrote in the report's introduction.

*****

The faux Diocese of San Joaquin has a new bishop following the departure of Jerry Lamb. The Rt. Rev. Chester Lovelle Talton was formally seated March 5 as provisional bishop of the Modesto-based Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin at Holy Family Church in Fresno, California. The diocese claims to have 19 congregations. Some 200 people attended the installation.

*****

The year 2011 marks 10 years of full communion between Anglicans and Lutherans in both Canada and the United States. In 2001, the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) signed the Waterloo Declaration. In that same year, The Episcopal Church, USA, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America signed a similar agreement, Called to Common Mission.

*****

EPISCOPALIANS FOR TRADITIONAL FAITH supporters of the The 1928 Book of Common Prayer (www.etf1928.org) said research they conducted among Episcopalians in 2010 produced surprising results. They asked: Do you believe that Christ is the Son of God? The results were:

Yes (96%, 315 Votes)
No (2%, 6 Votes)
Not sure (2%, 5 Votes) Total Voters: 328

For several months, visitors to the ETF website answered this question in an informal poll. Most of the respondents, their number varying slightly between 97 and 99 percent, believe what they say when they repeat the Nicene or Apostles' Creed as written in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (BCP), or invoke the name of Christ as "Son of the Father" in The Gloria.

We proclaim that Christ is "of one substance with the Father" who is emphatically "the Father almighty." Faith in one is faith in the other. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost form the Holy Trinity, the eternal source and strength of our faith.

If this is your belief, hang onto it, because today's Episcopal Church seems to be trying to wrest it from us. What if God really isn't the Father? What if He has a feminine side, as some recent references inching their way into our worship services insist?

What if He is a shapeshifter, changing form to suit his moods or the spirit of the moment, as Zeus came down from Mt. Olympus as a swan, an eagle, or a bull? In recent desecrations of the Episcopal liturgy, God sometimes is called Wisdom, a name for the Gnostic goddess Sophia. He is called upon as this and that: the god of healing, the god of peace, the god of hope. Of course He's all those things, as he is all things, but He is not one separate attribute at a time flitting here and there, following a trend or fad. In splitting The Father into segments, the revisionists render Him less than the sum of His infinite parts. Their notion of God as a shapeshifter smacks of cartoon pantheism. We can't have it all ways. Either God is the eternal Father, or He isn't. And if he isn't, what can Christ be other than simply mortal?

According to polls conducted in 1979 and since, approximately 87 percent of Episcopalian laity prefer the 1928 Book of Common Prayer to the 1979 revision and subsequent versions. "We preferred the 1928 in 1979, and we prefer it today."

Give Up Something, Gain Everything. The period of Lent began this week on Ash Wednesday. This season of reflection and contemplation culminates in the great celebration of Christ's purpose in this world -- to take upon himself the iniquity of us all and then miraculously to rise from the dead. If both Father and Son did not make this great sacrifice for our sins, what's the point of Christianity? Why bother at all? Get dressed up and go to church for the Easter Egg Hunt; never mind the rest of it.

Have you decided what to give up for Lent this year? Here's a suggestion: Give up a half-hour or hour each day and give something to yourself by reading the traditional 1928 Book of Common Prayer. If you don't have a copy of your own, click on the red 1928 BCP on the Episcopalians for Traditional Faith (ETF) website Home Page, or ask your rector if you can borrow one.

When you get to the passage that says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life," think about it. In a few simple, well-wrought words, this brief passage tells us more than all the self-conscious prose of the neo-Gnostic revisionists. It says it all. Belief in the Father implies belief in the Son, not as "a gentle person," "a great teacher," or "godlike," but as the Son of God, having one substance with the Father.

*****

If you watched the tearful Muslim congressman at a hearing on Muslim extremists being "educated" in US mosques then you might want to reflect on Christian persecution .

Below are stories involving the persecution of Christians around the world. The most recent stories are listed first:

March 10, 2011: AINA.com, "9 Christians Killed, 150 Injured in Attack by 15,000 Muslims and Egyptian Army"

March 10, 2011: Compass Direct News, "Islamic Mob Burns Down Church in Egypt"

March 9, 2011: Associated Press, "Christian-Muslim Clashes in Egypt Kill 13"

March 8, 2011: The Washington Post, "A Blow to Religious Freedom in Pakistan"

March 7, 2011: ZENIT.com, "Opposing Anti-Blasphemy Laws is Dangerous, Says Aide"

March 7, 2011: CatholicExchange.com, "Eyes Wide Open: A New Martyr for the Faith"

March 2, 2011: The Washington Times, "Pakistan Minister Murdered for Criticism of Islam Blasphemy Law"

March 2, 2011: New York Times, "Vatican Condemns Killing of Christian Official in Pakistan"

March 2, 2011: Yahoo.News, "Gunmen Kill Christian Pakistan Government Minister"

March 1, 2011: Catholic Online, "Catholic Flee Libya, Church Responds with Prayer, Charitable Works"

February 25, 2011: CNSNEWS.com, "Plight of Christian Converts Highlights Absence of Religious Freedom in Afghanistan"

February 25, 2011: breitbart.com, "Italy Arrest 6 for Stirring Hate vs. Pope"

February 25, 2011: Yahoo.News, "Al-Qaida No. 2 Alleges Incitement by Egypt's Copts"

February 24, 2011: Catholic News Agency, "Muslims Set Fire to Christian Town in Bangladesh"

*****

A Vatican aide affirmed this week that the Anglican Ordinariate is very important to the Pope.

Father Hermann Geissler, head of the dicastery's doctrinal office, gave an interview saying, "The goal of the ecumenical movement is complete visible union with one Christ and with Peter in one Church. We must cooperate and grow together." He affirmed that the Pope is called to promote unity in the Church and world. "He is the chief shepherd, he cannot do otherwise."

Members of the ordinariate, established for former Anglicans wishing to enter full communion with the Catholic Church, recently visited Rome and met with staff at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, including the prefect, Cardinal William Levada. Fr. Geissler said unity is built on two pillars, love and truth. He reported that 50-60 clergy and some 1,000 laity are already planning to join the ordinariate.

The priest added that there are also groups interested in following a similar model in the United States, Canada and Australia. He noted his dicastery is "watching events carefully" in Africa as well.

There are other reports that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has begun to receive requests from Lutherans to establish a similar canonical structure that would allow them to enter the Catholic Church while retaining aspects of the Lutheran heritage. "The Holy Father will do all he can to bring other Christians into unity," Fr. Geissler commented.

A report out of Melbourne, Australia, has Melbourne Auxiliary Bishop Peter Elliott urging Anglicans at festival in Perth to take up the Pope's offer of "peace." Traditionalist Anglicans who remain in the Anglican Church, against Pope Benedict XVI's offer of an Anglican ordinariate, are wasting "time and spiritual energy" clinging to a "dangerous illusion", said the Vatican's delegate for the Australian ordinariate, reports the Catholic News Service.

"I would caution people who still claim to be Anglo-Catholics and yet are holding back," he told The Record, Catholic newspaper of the Archdiocese of Perth this week. "I'd say 'When are you going to face realities?' because there's no place for a classical Anglo-Catholic in the Anglican Communion anymore."

Those coming into the ordinariates are the "last fruits" of the Anglicans' Oxford Movement started in 1833 by Blessed John Henry Newman to restore Catholic identity in the Anglican Church, Bishop Elliott opined. But he warned that times have changed and events have taken a "new and confronting turn."

*****

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All blessings,

David