Resisting false teaching. "The apostolic traditions are the foundation of Christian faith and life, while subsequent ecclesiastical traditions are the superstructure which the church has erected on it. The primary traditions, to which we should hold fast, are those which the apostles received from Christ (either the historic Christ or the living Spirit of Christ), which they taught the early church by word or letter, and which are now preserved in the New Testament. To 'stand firm and hold to the teachings' means in our case to be biblical or evangelical Christians, to be uncompromisingly loyal to the teaching of Christ and his apostles. This is the road to stability. The only way to resist false teaching is to cling to the true teaching". --- The Message of Thessalonians by John R. W. Stott

"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved. To be steady on all fronts besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point." --– Martin Luther

"If you don't fight the battle where the battle is being fought, you will only beat the air with your words." --- Francis Schaeffer.

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
4/11/2008

The news came in a single letter over the letterhead of the DIOCESE OF FLORIDA. Twenty- two priests, the largest single group of clerics in the history of The Episcopal Church, had been formally deposed. Already inhibited, now all that remained was the final execution. It came swiftly, but as no real surprise. All the priests had long ago made peace with the fact that the Episcopal Church was now irreconcilably lost and they had no future in it. This is the largest single group ever to be deposed at one time in the church's history. By week's end, the tally of those forcibly removed from the Diocese of Florida since John Howard became bishop totalled 47 - all godly, evangelical and faithful priests whose sole desire is the advancement of Christ's kingdom. The Episcopal Church of the future will not grow with its inclusive doctrines that do not address the sin question and do not call for amendment of life. You can read the full story here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/6xknxf

One of the priests sacked by Howard was Harald "Whitey" Haugan, a priest with more than half a century in the church. He didn't even know he had been deposed until he read the story in question. He finally took off the gloves and let Howard have it. His horror story of abandonment, rejection and neglect should be read alongside the sacking of the 22 priests. Of his nearly 50 years, he spent nearly 20 of those as the founding rector of All Souls' in Jacksonville, Florida, a church he served with distinction and honor, making it one of the most successful Evangelical Episcopal churches in the Diocese of Florida. You can read his story here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/4bw4xd

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The major international Anglican story of the week emerged when two Anglican homosexual leaders from a group called Changing Attitude say they were threatened with murder and one was assaulted in Nigeria. They blame the assaults on the Anglican Church of Nigeria and a group called GAFCON - (Global Anglican Future Conference), - an event planned for June of this year in the Middle East, a month prior to Lambeth. Thus began a smear campaign against both the Province of Nigeria and other orthodox Anglicans that will certainly only widen the growing divide between orthodox and liberal Anglican bishops. You can read the full story here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/5n53tv

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Then came word from a parish in the DIOCESE OF UPPER SOUTH CAROLINA that Bishop Dorsey Henderson wanted a decision from St. Christopher's in Spartanburg to say where they stood with regard to their future in the diocese. He gave them until Pentecost Sunday to decide whether they will stay or go. The DEPO he offered them was, of course, unacceptable and so yet another godly parish will walk away from its $3 million property because the gospel is too precious to compromise with a pro-homosexual bishop. You can read the full story here or in today's digest http://tinyurl.com/5hdu7o

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In an act that ranks right up there with that of a school yard bully, Mrs. Jefferts Schori announced that she would put the Rt. Rev. Edward MacBurney, 80, the retired BISHOP OF QUINCY, on trial for crossing diocesan lines. She did it knowing that MacBurney's son was dying. He, in fact, did die two days after MacBurney got word from the Bishop of Quincy, the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman, that he faced presentment charges. Last month, Ackerman contacted 815 Second Avenue to inform them that Bishop MacBurney's son, Page, was dying. They proceeded with these actions in spite of that information. The bishop said MacBurney was unaware of the inhibition. Ackerman had to read the inhibition to him over the phone. You can read that story in today's digest.

This cold-blooded sacking brought to mind another sacking. Bishop Orris Walker of Long Island sacked Dean Cardone right after Cardone's son committed suicide. So much for touchy-feely liberalism. Here is what I wrote then. "Walker has a history of firing people with little or no probable cause. He fired the Dean of the cathedral on Long Island, The Rev. James L. Cardone, on allegations of racism. Here is what Dean Cardone had to say about Walker at that time: "In my opinion, he is a disgusting, despicable excuse for a human being, and he should have been removed from the church years ago." What doubled Dean Cardone's agony is that his son had just committed suicide. He called his firing so close to his son's death "a callous dismissal that even the worst of business executives would have enough depth of human understanding and sensitivity not to do." So much for the rich diversity in TEC.

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But God is not mocked. We reap what we sow and the CHURCH OF ENGLAND is shrinking, which probably comes as no surprise. There are 60 million Britishers; 26 million claim to be Anglican. About two million people attend their parish churches on an irregular basis with about one million having a faith they can articulate. There are more practicing Muslims than Anglicans. The Synod spends hours arguing over whether women priests should become bishops, entitlement programs, closing parishes and a culture that is light years away from what it once was along with the Christian base that inspired it. The Archbishop of Canterbury blasts homophobes, wants a place for Muslims at the table while the CofE slips quietly away into oblivion. As a result, Anglican Mainstream says we should seriously talk about the Anglican Communion having only 55 million members not 75 or 80 million as it is often touted. You can read that story in today's digest.

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If you want to know where The Episcopal Church might be heading, consider this line from Mrs. Jefferts Schori regarding Easter, "I think Easter is most profoundly about meaning, not mechanism." Of course, Mrs. Jefferts Schori wouldn't come right out and state that she rejects the physical resurrection of Christ. So she nuances it. In her mind it is "spiritual" not physical. Heavens, we can't have a former oceanographer actually denying the resurrection. She is just putting it down to "mechanism".

Dr. Rowan Williams's Easter musings offered us his nuancing of Christianity's "tall tales," only to then be subjected to Presiding Bishop Schori's "Jesus died to take away your sins; not your mind." Who said we should leave our minds at the parish door? Most of us, who were theologically trained in the old school, got a dose of apologetics which was a sound defense of the gospel. We have never lost it and we don't have to sacrifice our minds to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus - not for a moment. So the question must be asked, how could any authentic Christian, clergy or laity, willingly submit to the authority of this theological cretin? We can't of course, and within a few years there will be no orthodox left to advance the faith once delivered for all to the saints.

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IT'S OFFICIAL. Charles E. Bennison, the inhibited Bishop of Pennsylvania, is on the June trial list that begins may 27 in Norristown, PA, for fraud and numerous other charges brought by Fr. David L. Moyer. VOL will cover this trial in depth and bring you a day- by- day account of what happens.

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The DIOCESE OF OHIO sent out word that it has filed a declaratory judgment with the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas in Cleveland, asking that it, the diocesan trustees, and a minority of members at five dissident congregations be declared the rightful owners of church properties where the congregations voted overwhelmingly to leave in 2005.

Now this story is interesting from a perspective no one has picked up on. Originally, when these five parishes wanted to leave the diocese, Bishop Mark Hollingsworth, Jr., was prepared to cut a deal without litigation to let them go and keep their properties. He also did not depose the clergy when they requested transfer of their canonical licenses to the Anglican Church of Nigeria. Suddenly, everything changed. Why? This week a source told VOL that David Booth Beers, Mrs. Schori's attorney, got in on the act and allegedly told Hollingsworth he had to go after them or he would go after Hollingsworth. Naturally, the parishes that joined CANA are upset by this. Martha Wright, communications officer for the Diocese of Ohio, said the diocese was looking for a faithful resolution to the property issue. She said she was not aware in February of any plans to file legal papers back in 2005. All that has now changed. Hollingsworth has declined to elaborate on the statement provided by Ms. Wright.

Bishop Roger Ames, a missionary bishop with CANA, said it was the impression of their legal team and the rectors that a peaceful way to coexist locally had been worked out. Not anymore.

CANA leader, Bishop David Bena, wrote VOL to say the bishop (Hollingsworth) had been trying to work out a dignified negotiation with the parishes that voted to leave, but then the Presiding Bishop told him he could not negotiate with the parishes, and that litigation was the only option. Thereafter, he pursued litigation with them. "I think that is the strategy all over The Episcopal Church - 815 tells bishops not to negotiate with parishes that wish to leave, and if they leave, they are sued for the property. I have heard that the overall strategy is for 815 to push the diocese into suing the parishes, hoping to either win early or to run the parish out of money for legal fees."

Bena continued, "One problem I have with this strategy is that I know that the Presiding Bishop has no canonical authority to tell a diocesan bishop that he cannot negotiate. This is proving a terrible thing for the Diocese of Virginia. 815 may be pumping some money into the operation, but the Diocese of Virginia has had to borrow several million dollars to press their lawsuit, plus sell off properties. A lot of wonderful things could have been done with the money that is going to lawyers. I wonder if the Bishop of Virginia wishes he had stayed with dignified negotiation. This new litigation in Ohio, combined with 815 sponsored litigation all over the country is what the Primates asked 815 NOT to do. It's a bad strategy which is weakening the whole Anglican Communion. I think that the Anglican Communion would be much better served if diocesan bishops chose to negotiate in good faith with parishes that are leaving."

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The DIOCESE OF THE RIO GRANDE announced this week that the Rev. Fred Griffin and the congregation of the Church of the Ascension in Cloudcroft have left the Episcopal Church and joined the Anglican Province of Uganda. The former bishop of the diocese, the Rt. Rev. Terence Kelshaw said he had not resigned from The Episcopal Church. He is currently serving as "Bishop in Resident" at St. James' Anglican Church in Newport Beach, Calif., while the congregation searches for a new rector. Both St. James' and Bishop Kelshaw have been received into the Anglican Church of Uganda.

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The immediate former Bishop of the DIOCESE OF THE RIO GRANDE, Jeffrey N. Steenson, a recent convert to the Catholic Church, will be one of the main speakers in San Antonio, Texas, Thursday, July 10th through Saturday, July 12th, 2008, hosted by Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church, and organized by the Anglican Use Society. Representatives of all the Catholic parishes of the Pastoral Provision will gather, together with interested Anglican clergy and lay people.

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V G. Robinson, the homoerotic BISHOP OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, is ramping it up for Lambeth. Canterbury Press is cordially inviting its friends and supporters to "An Evening with Bishop Gene Robinson to celebrate publication of: 'IN THE EYE OF THE STORM' Gene's story." The book is being published just in time for the Lambeth Conference where Robinson will make a cameo appearance with actor Ian McKellen to ham things up a bit and steal the show. You can see a story/photo at the website http://tinyurl.com/4e9c9g

*****

The former Dean and President of Trinity School for Ministry, the Rev. Dr. Paul Zahl has written a book, his latest on "healing for alienated relationships". "Readers should be left with a sense of "hope, absolution and potential reunion," said the new rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase, Maryland, in reference to his latest literary work "Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life." Zahl, the author of "2000 Years of Amazing Grace: The Story and Meaning of the Christian Faith" and "Understanding the Windsor Report: Two leaders in the American Church Speak Across the Divide" written with the Rev. Ian T. Douglas, spoke about his books at an April 4 book signing at the Catalyst Café and Books in New York City. He described his latest work as an attempt to understand how the "grace of God or judgment or law of God" relates to various types of relationships and social issues such as "war and peace, and classism." He said the inspiration came from his devoting more than 30 years in the ministry on God's unconditional love for human beings or the "everyday person who is both sad and often very aggressive."

*****

Well, who is "in" the Network? The Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton has the answer. "By our latest figures, the ANGLICAN COMMUNION NETWORK has 828 affiliated parishes. To arrive at that number, we are counting the parishes of the nine affiliated Network dioceses of Albany, Central Florida, Dallas, Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Quincy, San Joaquin, Springfield, and South Carolina. (Rio Grande took a number of steps towards affiliation, but had not finalized its status when its bishop resigned to join the Roman Catholic Church.) We do not count the parishes in each of those dioceses who have asked to be removed from the Network's database. For instance, that means that we don't include the five parishes in the diocese of San Joaquin that have clearly thrown their lot in with The Episcopal Church. To speak very frankly, we don't expect all of these dioceses to maintain their Network affiliation indefinitely. However, we are not in the business of kicking people out. Affiliated parishes and dioceses can change their status as they wish, and we honor their decisions. We are also counting the 105 parishes under the pastoral care of the Anglican provinces of Kenya, Uganda and the Southern Cone. These parishes, and the bishops that oversee them, look to the Network to provide their connection to Common Cause, as well as to other orthodox Anglicans, whatever their jurisdiction. With them, the Network's system of convocations continues to operate. There are currently 136 parishes primarily connected to Network convocations. The vast majority of these remain within The Episcopal Church."

Fenton noted that a smaller group of Network parishes have also decided to come under the jurisdictional authority of Common Cause Partners. These include the Convocation of Anglicans in North America or the Reformed Episcopal Church.

IN OTHER NEWS the Anglican Communion News Service declared the see of San Joaquin vacant this week.

*****

How diverse is the Episcopal Church? Consider this. General Theological Seminary (GTS) in New York City is offering diverse learning opportunities for its students. One course being offered is called "The Islamic Jesus and His Blessed Mother" with Dr. Lucinda Mosher. You may avoid this class if you wish.

*****

In the DIOCESE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA this past week an ecclesiastical storm erupted when the bishop of the diocese, the Rt. Rev. James Cowan, changed the locks on the exterior doors of St. Mary of the Incarnation in Metchosin. He was then rapped on the knuckles by the judge who ordered him to unlock the church so parishioners could worship again. Cowan complied with the court order. A petition by Vancouver lawyer, Mr. Geoffrey Cowper, representing the Canadian Network asked the court to reverse the bishop's decision. When it was reversed, Bishop Cowan became huffy and called out the judge saying Mr. Justice Sigurdson had been misdirected by the Counsel for the Network and given information which was not available to him or the Synod of the Diocese of British Columbia. Now when you call out a judge you had better know what you are talking about. This could backfire on the revisionist bishop. Watch for more here.

*****

Just when you think things couldn't get any weirder, "Episcopal Life" newspaper, the official house organ of the Episcopal Church, allows an advertisement to run inviting congregations to leave for Rome. The advertisement appeared in the April 2008 edition of "Episcopal Life" on the bottom right-hand side of page 8. It says, "THE ANGLICAN USE SOCIETY in America in communion with the Holy See of Rome offers to Clergy, Religious and Laity of the Anglican Tradition an information booklet explaining THE PASTORAL PROVISION, the canonical instrument that has made possible their reconciliation with the Holy See as units of common identity which preserve their Anglican heritage of liturgy, hymnody and spirituality."

In other words, an official publication of the Episcopal Church includes an advertisement from an official Roman Catholic organization that invites Episcopal congregations to leave the Episcopal Church and become Roman Catholic. As part of the package, the Episcopal priests of those congregations will be ordained as Roman Catholic priests, even if they are married. Those congregations and clergy will also be allowed to "retain certain liturgical elements proper to the Anglican tradition"! Ironically, "Episcopal Life" is running this ad while the Presiding Bishop is deposing Episcopal bishops for their schismatic actions. My friends, you just can't make this stuff up!

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For an alternative to the gay and liberal agit-prop of the Anglican Communion order a copy of "God, Gays & the Church: Human Sexuality in Christian Thinking" It is an excellent compilation of contemporary discussions about human sexuality where great prominence is given to personal stories from homosexuals. This book redresses the balance of one-sided testimonies that one so often hears in the church. In addition to personal stories from a different perspective, this book contains academic contributions from experts in the fields of psychology, psychotherapy, genetics, biblical and pastoral theology, social ethics and cultural analysis. Some articles have been published elsewhere; some are the result of fresh research, offering new insights. This compilation provides a resource for those concerned more broadly with issues of human sexuality, as well as being a response to those who struggle with same-sex (and less directly, other) sexual issues, whether from a pastoral or a personal point of view.

'With Christians in every century including our own, and in every part of the world, I should want to continue to say that every Christian is called to have her or his "experience" conformed to the teachings of Scripture, and then to those of the "great tradition" of the Church down the centuries' from the Foreword by The Rt. Rev. Michael Scott-Joynt, Bishop of Winchester. Dr Lisa Severine Nolland recently published A Victorian Feminist Christian: Josephine Butler, the Prostitutes and God (Paternoster) and is website consultant for Anglican Mainstream (www.anglican-mainstream.net), of which Canon Dr. Chris Sugden is the Executive Secretary. God, Gays and the Church weighs more than our other publications. If you are ordering from outside the UK, please use the additional "Overseas Postage" button here once for each copy, which adds £2.50 for the first copy, £1.90 for subsequent copies.

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A U2CHARIST will be held at All Saints' Chapel in Athens, Alabama. Offerings collected during the service will benefit Action Against Hunger ( www.actionagainsthunger.org ), a non-profit international organization that delivers programs to more than 40 countries, and specializing in emergency situations of war, conflict, and natural disasters and longer-term assistance to people in distress. U2CHARIST organizers are asking folks who attend the service to bring a canned good to benefit the Community Action Committee, a Sewanee outreach program that offers groceries, assistance with utility bills, and financial counseling to those in need. The Rev. Jeremy Lucas, rector of St. Timothy's Church in Athens, Ala., will preach at the U2CHARIST. Fr. Lucas has been instrumental in organizing peaceful counter-demonstrations to the Klan, establishing a Jubilee Day-Care Center at St. Timothy's, and teaching workshops on reconciliation. He and his wife, Penny, have been called to be missionaries in Namibia for three years, beginning this summer.

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Listen to God's voice for careers advice, Church tells young people. A five-session course, published by the Church of England, is encouraging groups of 13 to 18-year-olds to listen to God's voice for career advice, before deciding what to do with their lives. Many churches and youth organizations will start running the course on or around Vocations Sunday 2008 this weekend. Within its five 90-minute sessions, the course recommends tuning in to Christ's call, warning that these days so many voices interfere with the initial soundings of a vocational call, from peers, the media and the Internet particularly.

*****

UK loses interest in marriage. A leading Christian marriage support group has blamed economic pressures for the declining interest in marriage revealed in official figures last week. Financial worries are a particular concern, with fewer and fewer young couples even able to afford a wedding after battling rising house prices and student loans. Their comments come after the figures released by the Office of National Statistics revealed marriage rates in England and Wales for 2006 are the lowest since records began in 1862. Speaking to The Church of England Newspaper, Carol Davies of the Anglican marriage support group Family Life and Marriage Education Network (FLAME) said she was very concerned about the financial pressures. "People have said that couples don't get married because they can't afford the increasing wedding costs, but now they also have the situation of rising house prices," she said. "Getting your foot on the housing market is now nigh on impossible."

Wrote a VOL reader. "This thesis is bunk! Did marriage rates decline during the Great Depression? We are reaping the seeds of not only the Church's ambivalence (if not outright hostility by way of 'same-sex unions' and other morally-untoward notions) vis-a-vis holy matrimony in its STRICT sense (a sacrament of the Church, after all!), but of declining birth rates. Thirty plus percent of births in Western Europe are to Muslim parents and they don't seem to be worried about the cost at all." http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=1866

*****

In an effort to re-evangelize England, a Dominican priest theologian and the author of "The Realm: An Unfashionable Essay on the Conversion of England" (Family Publications), makes the case that in England, that principle is the Catholic Church. Fr. Aidan Nichols tells why the realm is ripe for conversion. A great civilization can only be built on a religious or metaphysical principle, begins the "unfashionable" argument Nichols says in his new book on the re-evangelization of England. Nichols is the first John Paul II Memorial Visiting Lecturer at Oxford University, a lecturer in the Cambridge University Divinity Faculty, and Visiting Professor of Systematic Theology in the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne.

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A controversial "Blasphemous" Christ film depicting Christ being caressed on the cross, which has been banned for two decades, could be released later this year. "Visions of Ecstasy" was refused a license by the British Board of Film Classification in 1989 and remains the only film to be banned on grounds of blasphemy. The board's decision transformed the low-budget film from an obscure arthouse movie into a cause célèbre for anti-censorship campaigners. Much of the 19-minute film is taken up with a vision of a sexual encounter between Christ and St Teresa of Avila, a Spanish Carmelite nun and mystic who lived in the 16th Century and had visions of Christ, one of which lasted uninterrupted for two years. Full story here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/07/nfilm107.xml

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In an ecumenical act, Jordan's King Abdullah II of Jordan has given a plot of land to the Episcopal DIOCESE OF JERUSALEM for construction of a church and retreat center at the Jordan River location traditionally believed to be the baptismal place of Jesus. "It's a privilege for us to have this gift from His Majesty King Abdullah and at the same time we look at this as a project to build a medium-sized Gothic Church with a retreat center," said Anglican Bishop Suheil Dawani, who officially dedicated the land on March 28. The land is important "from a religious point of view because of its location and because it represents an opportunity to strengthen our Christian presence there," Dawani added. "It will be a center for the entire Anglican Communion all over the world to visit and to connect with what's going on here."

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