Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
October 22, 2010

CAPE TOWN "And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation." (Rev. 5:9)

In Cape Town more than 5,000 men, women and youth have come from 198 nations - literally from every tribe and language and people group. They have one single objective - to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to every person on earth. We are now living in the age of the global church.

There are more languages being spoken here than at Pentecost. This is a gathering of people who are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ or to tell the truth about Jesus, preaching Good News to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, unreached people's and unengaged (no known missionaries) groups, both old and young. There are 469 out of 639 people groups representing 550 million people who have only recently been reached by mobilizing Christian agencies. India is one of the least evangelized with 310 people groups in India who have never heard the gospel in their own language.

Preaching, making converts, and church planting are the top priorities of these zealous evangelicals. In an increasingly pluralistic world where diversity and inclusivity rule, the Global South rules here with more than 70% of the participants coming from other than Western nations. Only 30% are from the west. Thoughtful and often colorful presentations of the gospel are made in various dresses with hymns and songs being sung in multiple languages much to the delight of their listeners. The Bible has been and is being translated into hundreds of languages hitherto unreached.

The world is indeed changing. It has become a globalized world linked instantly by the Internet and multiple IT connections. Nearly all speakers mention the power of the Internet helping to get their message across.

There is a dark side that is making disciples. Converts yes, but getting people disciplined, deepened and strengthened in their faith is another matter altogether.

Many African Christians fall back into witchcraft and tribalism if not sufficiently and adequately discipled. It is easy to consult a witch doctor if a woman cannot get pregnant. Evangelical leaders acknowledge the need for greater Bible study and in depth teaching to take people through the hard times.

From an Anglican perspective, this congress is being held in THE most liberal Anglican province on the African continent.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of the Anglican Province of Southern Africa made a token appearance on the first day and then disappeared, never to return. None of his bishops are in attendance except for Bishop Bethlehem Nopece of Port Elizabeth. This province has no interest in evangelism. It is a virtual clone of The American Episcopal Church from which it has obtained millions of dollars over the years. They would welcome Katharine Jefferts Schori before they would welcome Archbishop Henry Orombi from Uganda. They look down their noses at their brothers and sisters from the African north viewing them as unsophisticated in spiritual and cultural matters. Women bishops and gay priests are on their agenda.

Last night at a meeting of Evangelical Anglicans from around the world, a priest stood up from his ultra liberal Anglican diocese in South Africa to say that his bishop told him to his face not to preach salvation to his people. Ironically, he has one of the few growing and thriving churches in South Africa with more than 250 young people. He despairs of his future in his diocese. He believes that in time the bishop will oust him for someone more in line with the inclusive teaching of the diocese and province. All this, of course, is a replay of what is going on in TEC.

The Anglican Communion is seeing two religions at work, each diametrically opposed to the other in theology.

While he is in India shoring up his base by espousing social justice and concerns for the poor, it should not be lost on the Archbishop of Canterbury that African evangelical bishops and archbishops (who are just as concerned for the poor) are presenting the claims of Jesus Christ to a yearning and lost world dying to hear Good News.

The bigger question is whether the Global South Primates will come to Dublin in January 2011 where the ABC has called for a meeting of the Communion's archbishops. VOL can categorically state that they will not. Furthermore, I can state with some dogmatism that the Covenant is dead on arrival. The Global South bishops know that even if TEC and the ACoC do sign on to it, their signatures will be as worthless as a signature on a bad check with no money in the bank. Disciplinary Section 4 is toothless and they know it. Canon Kenneth Kearon's "discipline" is all smoke and mirrors. No one is remotely fooled by the ultra liberal ecclesiastical antics of the Anglican Consultative Council.

You can see videos, film clips, and speeches along with a number of stories I have written from this vital Congress here in Cape Town. Here are some additional websites that are worth visiting:

http://www.lausanne.org/cape-town-2010

http://vimeo.com/lausanne

http://conversation.lausanne.org/en

It is thrilling to be here. There is a vibrancy of faith and life here that one rarely experiences in the general course of things. One senses the presence of the Holy Spirit.

One small vignette. I had breakfast yesterday with Onesimus and Os Guinness. Onesimus is Archbishop Henry Orombi's right hand man. He told us over breakfast that he came to faith from a life of debauchery and sin. When God cleaned him up and he came to faith, God gave him the gift of healing. While he is cautious in how he uses it, he told of an infertile Christian couple who came to him. They were ready to see a witch doctor. He prayed with them and over them. She later conceived. Nine months later they had a beautiful daughter. And so it goes. I will continue to post stories from this august congress. They can all be viewed at www.virtueonline.org. Among the stories is ACNA Archbishop Robert Duncan's Address to the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization.

One interesting ecumenical footnote came from the head of the World Council of Churches who reached out to this Global Evangelical Congress saying Christians of different traditions need to learn from each other to participate together in God's mission. "We are called to be one, to be reconciled, so that the world may believe that God reconciles the world to himself in Christ," the WCC general secretary, the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, said in an address on the opening day of the 3rd Lausanne Congress for World Evangelization. It is the first time a WCC general secretary has addressed a congress of the Lausanne Movement, which takes its name from the Swiss city where the first such gathering was held in 1974. "This historic invitation is a sign that God has called all of us to the ministry of reconciliation and to evangelism," he concluded.

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Archbishop Gregory Venables of Argentina says he is "flummoxed" over one of his bishops being banned by the Anglican Consultative Council. Chile's invitation to serve on the Inter Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order was withdrawn over the violation of the moratorium on crossing provincial boundaries.

In an interview taped on October 18 with Anglican TV, the Primate of the Southern Cone said he was nonplussed by the assertions made by the Secretary General as the press release was "untrue" and "unjust" to say he had not responded to the ACC.

The real question might be WHO CARES? The ACC is irrelevant to Global South primates. They will no longer allow their delegates to attend their meetings, as they achieve nothing. Archbishop Orombi (Uganda) says the orthodox primates will no longer waste money attending meetings that achieve nothing.

Come January, Rowan Williams may find himself talking to a handful of liberal and revisionist archbishops like Jefferts Schori, Fred Hiltz, Philip Aspinall, etal. Whatever they decide won't matter to 85% of the Anglican communion.

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In the ongoing mini drama of Anglicans fleeing to Rome, it was announced this week that John Broadhurst Bishop of Fulham the most significant Anglican so far, has converted to Roman Catholicism. He is the fourth Anglican bishop to make the announcement. He is doing so because of his opposition to the way the Church of England plans to introduce women bishops. The Pope created a special enclave in the Roman Catholic Church for Anglicans unhappy with their church's decision to let women become bishops. Under his controversial offer, Anglicans could retain some of their practices and traditions.

Meanwhile, a Kent Anglican congregation has become the first to take up the Pope's offer to convert to Catholicism. A VOL reader in the UK said this parish, St Peter's in Folkestone, will take the grand number of 20 to Rome...hardly worth the effort, he noted. They are more interested in Roman millinery than the gospel, he added. Late yesterday, it was learned that not everyone in this parish is keen on the idea of a trip across the Tiber.

The Catholic Group on the CofE's General Synod said it deeply regrets the decision by Bishop Broadhurst. The Catholic Group said it was determined to stay in the Church of England and fight for a better deal for Anglicans who do not want to serve under women bishops.

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The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina took steps Friday at its reconvened convention to further distance itself from the "national" Episcopal Church by passing resolutions asserting its sovereignty.

The meeting, held at St. Paul's Church in Summerville, was a continuation of the March convention. Last year, delegates voted "to begin withdrawing from all bodies of the Episcopal Church that have assented to actions contrary to Holy Scripture, the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this Church has received them."

Friday's vote was the latest development in a drawn-out disagreement between the diocese and church leadership, which many local Episcopalians consider too accommodating to social trends and not substantially faithful to the authority of Scripture.

The diocese has made efforts to distance itself from the parent church since the 2003 consecration in New Hampshire of Gene Robinson, who is openly gay.

The real question is how long will the diocese linger in making the move out of TEC. Despite all the fine talk about staying in, with the new national canons kicking in July 1, the diocese has a window of opportunity to act. The Dennis Canon is off the table in this state, but if national canons trump diocesan canons then Jefferts Schori can use the minority of disgruntled Episcopalians in the diocese to go after Lawrence. Her attorney David Booth Beers has already hired a local attorney in Charleston, so it is not if, but when, she acts against him. One hopes Lawrence has Duncan's e-mail or cell phone number.

There is an upside on Jefferts Schori's move to grab and centralize power. She will be able to go after PA Bishop Charles Bennison and bounce his sorry backside out of the Diocese of Pennsylvania if a resolution to oust him at the PA Diocesan Convention in November fails. Here's hoping.

*****

Fifty Trained for Church Planting. In the ongoing realignment, a diverse group of aspiring church planters gathered at Church of the Ascension on October 16 to learn from experienced church planters in the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. The training event, Church Planting 101, was billed as an intensive course focused on the basics of church planting. Presenters included the Rev. Sam Jampetro (Charis247), the Rev. John Paul Chaney (Seeds of Hope), the Rev. Dennett Buettner (Church of the Savior), and Heather Strong (Grace, Slippery Rock).

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In the ongoing world of TEC political correctness, VOL has learned the following. For future reference, please know that the Presiding Bishop has made it clear that she does not care for the title "Mrs." as she, like many women, does not consider herself an appendage of her husband. If a similar form of address is needed, she commends the use of "Ms."

*****

The faux Diocese of Quincy ordained its first woman priest in the 133-year history of the Peoria, Illinois-based diocese. The Rev. Margaret Lee was made her vows on Oct. 16.

Lee has served for 14 years as a deacon in the Quad Cities, where she currently serves the congregation at All Saints Church in Moline. Almost 200 people attended her ordination during an 11:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Peoria. Quincy Provisional Bishop John Clark Buchanan presided and preached during the service, held in the context of the diocese's 133rd synod.

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The Provisional Bishop of the faux Diocese of Pittsburgh Kenneth L. Price noted in his convention address that its twenty-nine congregations have been returning to a sense of normalcy after turmoil created by the split of two years ago. He noted in meetings with other dioceses that Pittsburgh is, in many ways, better off than their counterparts in California, Texas and Illinois.

This is due to many factors. Certainly the lawsuit initiated by Calvary Parish and its rector, the Rev. Harold Lewis, is a huge reason. We need to be eternally grateful to that wonderful parish and its rector. Really.

He said the diocese has more parishes, clergy and laity who choose to remain loyal to the Episcopal Church than do other dioceses. These people represent a wide diversity of thought and action. This has given them a stronger base of support.

He did acknowledge that Archbishop Robert Duncan of the Anglican Province of North America is now receiving greater visibility and clout on the global scene. He's got that right. Duncan is a major player here in Cape Town alongside Archbishop Henry Orombi. Price said he continues to interact with him regularly in ecumenical circles. Their shared use of Trinity Cathedral also throws them together from time to time. He described the interaction as having a "surrealistic dimension to it."

Price acknowledged that all is not well in the diocese. Electing a new bishop will not be a cake walk. It still involves the distrust, fear and suspicion that surrounded life in the diocese leading up to the 2008 split. He said. "It still rears its ugly head from time." He noted that it would take at least 18 months for a new bishop to be elected. *****

To no one's surprise really, Fr. Dan Martins, Bishop-elect of Springfield, is coming under fire from Episcopal pansexualists and Integrity sodomite emeritus of Integrity Louie Crew. They, of course, do not want him to be a bishop. They are moving hell trying to get the HOB and those with voting power on the Diocesan Standing Committees not to give him the required consents.

Martins is fighting back, however, and is not taking it laying down. He said this to one idiot savant from the Diocese of Pennsylvania:

"As I was not a member of the Standing Committee in San Joaquin at the time it made its request for Alternative Primatial Oversight, I was not in a position to either support the request or oppose it. That being the case--No, I did not support it. While I can appreciate the feelings that underlie such a notion, on balance, I tend to think it is a rather silly concept.

"It is my understanding that gender has not been a barrier to either ordination or deployment in the Diocese of Springfield under the episcopate of the previous bishop. Under a Martins episcopate, that policy would continue, in accordance with canon law, which forbids discrimination on such a basis. The same canon also forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Consequently, sexual orientation will not be a basis of discrimination in the processes of ordination or deployment while I am bishop.

"It is my theological conviction--supported, I believe, by Holy Scripture and the historic consensus of Christian teaching--that sexual activity outside the context of a lifetime commitment between one man and woman falls short of God's intention. I would expect all potential ordinands to refrain from such activity. For this reason, lesbians and gay men who are in partnered relationships (as well as heterosexuals who are cohabiting) will not be considered appropriate candidates for ordination. Similarly, I would not grant consent for diocesan clergy to preside at the blessing of same-sex relationships."

*****

All is not well at Sewanee: University of the South. Two students were apprehended for aggravated vandalism, by the Sewanee Police Department Charges after doing an estimated $20,000 in damages to 22 cars and one motorcycle. Damages ranged from broken windows to dented and crushed hoods and roofs. The Sewanee Police Department, with the help of a Franklin County investigator, opened up an investigation. Within 24 hours, the SPD arrested two Sewanee students who, according to an email sent to the entire student body, were charged with multiple counts of vandalism under $500 and vandalism between $500 and $1,000. The students were each held under $50,000 bond in the Franklin County Jail.

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Presiding Bishop Leonard Riches of the Reformed Episcopal Churchthis week welcomed the Christ of the Ozarks Anglican Friary as an official ministry of the REC. His letter appears on the REC website www.rechurch.org. The Friary is going through the final stages of being received into the ACNA as the first official religious order of the province.

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The Anglican Church of Canada is restructuring its national office. That's code for "we are slowing sinking into the sunset because the money is running out". It goes along with no gospel, no people and, would you believe it, no money.

Their new strategic plan, Vision 2019, adopted at General Synod 2010, involves laying off fourteen positions and eliminating ten more positions. Six individuals have received layoff notices, while others have been offered different or new jobs. The Management Team cut close to $1 million from costs, including positions and program expenses. The budget must now be approved by the Financial Management Committee and the Council of General Synod.

One wonders why, with all the hype about the acceptability of homosexual behavior in the church, gays are not streaming forth with checkbooks in hand ready to bail out the church.

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Episcopalians in the Diocese of Los Angeles would like to see Proposition 8 defeated. The California voter-approved ban on gay marriage is more than a legal issue; it's also a matter of faith, Bishop Diocesan J. Jon Bruno of the Diocese of Los Angeles told an Oct. 20 gathering of interfaith leaders at the Cathedral Center of St. Paul.

Bruno, along with Los Angeles Bishops Suffragan Diane Jardine Bruce and Mary D. Glasspool, urged congregations to support a California Faith for Equality (CFE) amicus brief to be filed Oct. 25, affirming an earlier appellate court ruling that invalidated Proposition 8.

"It's important that we sign this brief and that people understand that the church supports all humanity and their right to marry," Bruno said. "This is a fundamental right of all human beings, it's a religious right, a right of sacredness.

"I see this as a landmark; it will bring to an end discrimination that has taken place for so long," he added.

Odd thing about this is that the majority of those who favored the belief that marriage should stay between a man and a woman were a coalition of folk that included Roman Catholics, Evangelicals and Mormons.

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The Anglican Relief and Development Fund has been accredited by The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) according to an announcement by ARDF. ECFA accreditation is based on the ECFA Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship™, including financial accountability, transparency, sound board governance and ethical fund-raising.

Anglican Relief and Development Fund joins a growing number of Christ-centered churches and ministries across America, supported by over 35 million donors that have earned the right to display the ECFA seal. When an organization is accredited by ECFA, it demonstrates its willingness to follow the model of biblical accountability.

Founded in 2007, Anglican Relief and Development Fund (www.anglicanaid.net) works directly with the spiritually vibrant, but resource-poor Anglican Churches of the Global South changing the lives of over 500,000 people in 31 different countries.

To learn more about Anglican Relief and Development Fund and their stewardship opportunities, visit ServantMatch®, ECFA's program that matches God's servants with the stewardship options of ECFA members based on ministry sectors and categories. It is ECFA's newest online feature that allows you to quickly and easily find giving opportunities.

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Some good news for Mobile browsers that connect to VOL. You should now be redirected to a page that only contains a list of stories. Those links show only the body of the article without all the website frames that make the site hard to read on small devices. VOL's Webmaster, Mr. Robert Turner begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting, has tested it with his Android phone where it worked successfully. Those with Blackberrys can drop him a line at webmaster@virtueonline.org and let him know if that works for you and if it is working on other devices.

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I am in Cape Town covering a world class gathering of Evangelicals that includes several hundred Anglicans from the Global South. The chair of this event is Anglican Archbishop Henry Orombi. The one man who has brought depth to this congress is Dr. Os Guinness, an Anglican from Falls Church, Virginia, whose lectures on truth and globalization have given gravitas and cement to what might easily have fallen into testimonies and simplistic calls to evangelize. Dr. David Wells, church historian, has added his weight to this Congress giving it the essential underpinnings in history moving this congress forward to greater endeavor.

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All blessings,

David in Cape Town, South Africa