Christian Assurance. The promise of victory. Romans 8 contains five convictions about God's providence (verse 28), five affirmations about his purpose (29, 30) and five questions about his love (31-39), which together bring us fifteen assurances about him. We urgently need them today, since nothing seems stable in our world any longer. Insecurity is written across all human experience. Christian people are not guaranteed immunity to temptation, tribulation or tragedy, but we are promised victory over them. God's pledge is not that suffering will never afflict us, but that it will never separate us from his love. --- From "Men Made New" by John R.W. Stott

Love and law. Love is not the finish of the law (in the sense that it dispenses with it); love is the fulfillment of the law (in the sense that it obeys it). What the New Testament says about the law and love is not 'if you love you can break the law', but 'if you love you will keep it'. --- From "Christ the Controversialist" by John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
12/29/2008

The current economic crisis, the failure of theological nerve in the face of increasing secularization, and the loss of gospel proclamation in favor of social amelioration are slowly destroying Episcopal churches across the U.S.

Many Episcopal parishes are at a turning point. Almost weekly, headlines can be found that read "Another Church on the Brink" as liberal and traditional parishes fight for survival with ever dwindling numbers and declining parish budgets. The single-minded ideological obsession of TEC's Lesbigay community has been brutally oppressive towards orthodox Episcopalians whom they regularly blame for being homophobic and fundamentalist on the issue. This has only compounded the problem.

Making the situation even worse are lawsuits that are emptying parish and diocesan coffers at an alarming rate. Will this encourage church members to restore the endowment and save their church? Or will it prove the final nail in the coffin of these churches? Time will tell, but it isn't looking good.

I have written what will be the first of a series of stories about the impact of the worsening economic crisis on Episcopal parish budgets. You can read the first one here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/7t2lpc One group that is not feeling the pinch is the Convocation of Anglican Churches in North America (CANA). Bishop David Bena wrote VOL to say "As far as I can determine, we have so far seen no effects of the recession. Tithes and offerings continue in parishes. Gifts continue to come into the CANA office, and we are going ahead with our 2009 budget as planned."

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The BISHOP OF GIBRALTAR, Geoffrey Rowell believes the collapse of major banks and financial institutions may have as great an impact on the world as the fall of the Berlin Wall. Speaking in an address on the economic downturn during the installation the Rev. Dr. John Paddock as the new dean of Gibraltar's Holy Trinity Cathedral, the bishop said "Jeremiah was assured that the Lord had put his words into his mouth - there was a gift of speaking to the collapsing world of the Jewish people in Jeremiah's own day. "Our world today is a world of collapsing confidence, where a recession has come with the suddenness of a tsunami caused by the shaking of foundations beneath the sea." He predicted that the impact of the financial crisis would be far-reaching.

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The two sides in the battle for a dozen Virginia Episcopal churches cannot be reconciled or so it would seem. A CANA bishop, The Rt. Rev. David Bena called for a return to the table for new talks, wherein "all three sides lay down their 'legal weapons of mass destruction' and save millions of dollars in legal costs - money that can be used for Christian mission." Nope, says the Diocese of Virginia. It is on to the Virginia State Supreme Court for round 66. "Can't we all just let the judge's ruling be the judge's ruling and now spend some time together talking about reconciliation and mission?" cried Bena. Nope. Mrs. Jefferts Schori, her attorney David Booth Beers and Bishop Peter James Lee want their pound of flesh or many pounds of flesh, so it is full steam ahead and damn the torpedoes.

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It is not all plain sailing, even when a liberal/revisionist bishop wins back the property. In Mandarin, Florida, All Souls Episcopal campus is on the chopping block for a cool $2.8 million. DIOCESE OF FLORIDA Bishop Samuel Johnson Howard said he hopes the 5.3-acre campus will become the eventual home of a ministry or school instead of being sold for the asking price. The departed congregation now worships at Mandarin Middle School as All Souls Anglican and is searching for a permanent home. Parish leadership isn't interested in returning to the property it left in 2007, said The Rev. Gene Strickland, rector. The sale price is too high and "it's time to move on," he said. Strickland's congregation is one of several that left the diocese after an openly-gay priest was elected bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.

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In relation to a particularly nasty story about an Episcopal priest from the DIOCESE OF BETHLEHEM who spent thousands of dollars on high priced booze in New York nightclubs, I am grateful for the openness and candor of the Bishop of Bethlehem, the Rt. Rev. Paul Marshall. When this story rocketed into cyber space courtesy of the "New York Daily News", I got in touch with him immediately to ask what he was going to do about it. He got back to me almost immediately with solid answers telling me that he was going to inhibit the priest, but was having difficulty locating him. So was I. Although we disagree on some substantial issues, Bishop Marshall was at all times fair and open with me. You can read the story in today's digest.

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Atheist Outwits, and out theologizes Episcopal Presiding Bishop. It took an ATHEIST to finally outwit and tell the truth about which development work works best in Africa. It isn't the Millennium Development Goals, (MDGs) that are so much heralded and ballyhooed by Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. The "gospel" of The Episcopal Church these days is MDGs. It is no longer the Great Commission. MDG's are mentioned in nearly every address given by Mrs. Jefferts Schori, whether it is to lowly and slowly dying Episcopal diocesan conventions, upbeat and hopeful parishes or to press clubs and reporters with twitchy iPods and laptops. Now she has been exposed, not by an orthodox Episcopal/Anglican blogger (like VOL), but by one of Britain's leading atheists, one Matthew Parris. After a recent trip through Africa, Parris wrote the unthinkable in an article in the "London Times". He said that missionaries, not aid money, are what Africa needs. "Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa, Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good." You can read my story about this in today's digest and the atheist's original story in the London Times.

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A leading Black Bishop ripped Episcopal Lesbian Leader (Rev.) Susan Russell for her views of Rick Warren and intolerance this week. Bishop Harry R. Jackson butted heads with the Rev. Susan Russell on FOX News Channel. The senior pastor of the 3,000-member Hope Christian Church in Washington, D.C., said the lesbian leader's condemnation of Dr. Rick Warren as "intolerant" was typical of the Left's "mischaracterization" of the views of the Saddleback pastor.

In a Sunday segment subtitled "President-elect Obama under fire for inviting Rick Warren to speak at Inauguration," Jackson said that Russell slandered Warren's name in order "to advance their cause and their PR and wanting to sound tolerant about being so aggressive." You can read the full story in today's digest.

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CANADIAN evangelical Anglicans are on the march. A New Common Cause Church plant is in the works for Victoria, BC. Anglican Church in Canada ministers, The Revs. Josh Wilton and Andy Withrow along with their families, are gearing up for a move from Vancouver, BC to Victoria in order to plant a new church. Both clergy have been serving pastorally at different ACiC Anglican churches in North Vancouver; Josh under the Rev. Ed Hird at St. Simon's and Andy under Rev. Ken Bell at St. Timothy's. This will undoubtedly cause some angst with the established Anglican church authorities but there is not a thing they can do about. Now if they had a gospel to preach it wouldn't be necessary to invade their turf...

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Three area Episcopal churches - two in Wilkes-Barre and one in Scranton - in the DIOCESE OF BETHLEHEM are among six in Northeastern Pennsylvania that will receive social outreach grants totaling nearly $100,000 from the National Church. This distribution by the Diocese marks the first of five years of grant awards for local social ministry projects that will be made from $1.1 million in New Hope campaign funds. The largest award - $40,000 - will go to Good Shepherd Church on Washington Avenue in Scranton toward the establishment of a men's shelter. The multi-year plan, for which $200,000 will be awarded over five years, includes preparing for use of the undercroft of the church as an emergency shelter on winter nights and on occasions when families in the community are displaced from their homes. On a visit to Good Shepherd recently, Bishop Paul V. Marshall told the parishioners it was their vision for the creative use of their facilities that was the cornerstone of his many talks to raise money for the Northeastern Pennsylvania aspect of the New Hope campaign.

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IN AUSTRALIA, gay activists and some Anglican priests criticized Pope Benedict over his statement that mankind needs to be saved from homosexuality. Pope Benedict said that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behavior is as important as protecting the environment. His words angered gay groups and activists who labeled his comments as irresponsible and unacceptable. Pope Benedict was delivering his end-of-year speech to senior Vatican staff. He said that defending God's creation is not limited to saving the environment, but is also about protecting man from himself. It is not "out-of-date metaphysics" to "speak of human nature as 'man' or 'woman'", he said. It came from the "language of creation, despising which would mean self-destruction for humans".

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An article VOL ran about the Pope's "Nyet." to the Traditional Anglican Communion's desire to come into the embrace of Rome was apparently inaccurate, in at least one detail. Archbishop Anthony (Orthodox) of New York wrote to say that while the Vatican has carved out an exception to its clerical celibacy rule for former Anglican now Roman Catholic priests, it has yet to permit married ex-Anglican Roman Catholic bishops. Married ex-Anglican bishops functioning as Roman Catholic bishops would not be unprecedented, however. In December 1959, Pope John XXIII received a married ex-Anglican priest, who had been consecrated as a bishop of the schismatic Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira, into the Roman Catholic Church.

Married with seven children, Bishop Salomão Barbosa Ferraz was not re-ordained upon his reception in the Catholic Church. Upon being named Titular Bishop of Eleutherna on May 10, 1963, he was not re-consecrated. Active at the Second Vatican Council, Bishop Ferraz appears to have been the only modern day married Roman Catholic bishop. Ferraz was ordained a priest and then a bishop by Bp. Duarte Costa who was validly ordained by Rome. "Rome simply does not accept the validity of Anglican orders so why would they accept Anglican Bishops, should they go over...married or not? Therefore the situation you cited would not be a precedent," Anthony said.

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The CHURCH IN WALES will elect a new Bishop of St. Asaph on January 5, 2009. A "college" of 47 people, including the five other Welsh diocesan bishops, will nominate and vote on candidates for the new Bishop of St Asaph for up to three days. Once a decision is made, the Archbishop of Wales, Dr. Barry Morgan, will unlock and open the west door of the Cathedral and announce the name of the Bishop-Elect from the doorstep. The election follows the retirement of The Rt. Rev. John Davies in December, who has served as Bishop of the diocese from 1999. The new bishop will be the 76th Bishop of St Asaph, an area covering the north-east corner of Wales - the counties of Conwy and Flintshire, Wrexham county borough, the eastern part of Merioneth in Gwynedd and part of northern Powys

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK. The notion of the "inclusive teachings of Jesus" is flatly wrong. Many utterances of Christ indicate the need to turn from sin or face severe judgment and spiritual death. The divorce conundrum, however, is apt. If the church can negate the marriage sacrament (and consecrate a twice-divorced bishop in the process), it can certainly invoke the "Holy Spirit" in order to turn Natural Law on its ear, all in the name of an "inclusive" Christ. From the Beaufort Gazette.

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IN KENYA, spiraling food and fuel prices along with Members of Parliament's opposition to paying taxes have brought out impatience with the governing class. Kenyans were polled and said the Government has been too slow to act on challenges such as the high cost of living. Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of the Anglican Church of Kenya, while crediting President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga with holding the country together when it plunged into political chaos, is critical of the Grand Coalition Government's partiality to impunity and indifference to the plight of the internally displaced persons. The Archbishop is unhappy that sectarian and ethnic interests are still at play, derailing the reforms that Parliament was supposed to undertake to heal the country following post election violence. *****

The Pentagon says religious literature can be dispersed at military recruitment sites across the United States, but no religion can get preferential treatment. In addition to the rule against religious favoritism under the new Pentagon initiative, the U.S. military also ordered that all religious representatives be prevented from evangelizing at recruitment sites, The (Norfolk) "Virginian-Pilot" reported Sunday. Publications that "create the reasonable impression that the government is sponsoring, endorsing or inhibiting religion generally" will also not be permitted at the locations, the Pentagon said in its new regulation. The enhanced rules for the 65 recruit processing centers nationwide are an apparent reaction to multiple complaints from civil liberties groups. The "Virginian-Pilot" said the groups had complained that certain ministries have been targeting the recruitment sites for their evangelizing efforts and attempting to draw in followers by tying themselves to the military.

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THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH wants peace in the Middle East. They sent an urgent message to President-elect Obama from the Holy Land. Maureen Shea, Director of Government Relations for TEC, says she has listened to Palestinians - Christians and Muslims - and Israelis, all of whom told her that a two-state solution with Jerusalem as the shared capital is their only hope for a safe and secure future. Thanks to Churches for Middle East Peace, a broad spectrum of U.S. church leaders signed a letter to President-elect Obama urging him to make achievement of Israeli-Palestinian peace an immediate priority during his first year in office.

Following a recent upsurge in violence in the Palestinian Territory of Gaza, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and other religious leaders have called for an end to the repeated rocket attacks from Palestinian militants and the continuing Israeli air strikes that are contributing to a severe humanitarian crisis in the world's most densely populated region.

"I urge a comprehensive response to these attacks," said Jefferts Schori, who visited Gaza in March to meet with religious and community leaders and tour the Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, one of 37 institutions throughout the Middle East run by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. "Since that visit, the situation, which was already devastating, has only worsened, with supplies of food, fuel, power, and medical supplies either cut off or indefinitely delayed. Our hospital must now try to treat the wounded under the most impossible circumstances."

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VIRTUEONLINE wants to pay tribute to the many contributors and sources who provided so much information in 2008 to make the more than 2,000 plus stories available to you. My special thanks go to Doug, Mary Ann, Owen, Stephen, Richard, and Paul.

I also want to publicly thank my attorney John, my webmaster Robert, my copy editor Sherry and to Mary Ann, VOL's newest online reporter.

My special thanks to all those who contributed columns throughout the year and I hope you will continue writing throughout the coming year. A special thanks to Canon Gary L'Hommedieu and theologian Dr. Robert Sanders for their insightful observations about the state of our church.

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If you have not made a tax- deductible contribution to VOL, I hope you will consider doing so. We urgently need funds to cover vital conferences in 2009 that no one else will cover, if VOL does not. Please consider a donation today.

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David

VIRTUEONLINE WISHES ALL ITS READERS IN 212 COUNTRIES A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.