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Fracture Widens in Communion...Zahl Resigns from TSM...Evangelicals thrive in UK

"Is it any wonder more and more Episcopalians are escaping to join up with others who have long escaped the mad house, called the Episcopal Church? Others, comfortable in their familiar pews, soaking up the sunshine shining through their stain glass windows, like frogs in a kettle are slowly, but surely and gradually being boiled to death."---Garrison Keillor on Episcopalians

'Cheap peace' [Other] examples of peacemaking are the work of reunion and the work of evangelism, that is, seeking on the one hand to unite churches and on the other to bring sinners to Christ. In both these, true reconciliation can be degraded into cheap peace. The visible unity of the church is a proper Christian quest, but only if unity is not sought at the expense of doctrine. Jesus prayed for the oneness of his people. He also prayed that they might be kept from evil and in truth. We have no mandate from Christ to seek unity without purity, purity of both doctrine and conduct. If there is such a thing as 'cheap reunion', there is 'cheap evangelism' also, namely the proclamation of the gospel without the cost of discipleship, the demand for faith without repentance. These are forbidden shortcuts. They turn the evangelist into a fraud. They cheapen the gospel and damage the cause of Christ. -- From "The Message of the Sermon on the Mount" John R. W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
5/10/2007

There are two types of heretics. The first is the honest type -- the one who has not done his homework properly and is muddle-headed in his view of God, and is easily led astray by false teaching. The second type is much more insidious and is malicious. They deliberately bend and distort the truth in order to accommodate their own sinful nature. The first type is like the foolish virgins, but the second type is truly a disciple of Satan. Today the Anglican Communion is being run by the second type of heretic who is leading the first type down the road to certain perdition. Satan uses the lips and reassuring smile of god-seeming men and women to achieve his deceptions in the hearts of the unsuspecting. "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood..."

IT WAS A WEEK that saw even more fracture in The Episcopal Church with the Archbishop of Nigeria telling the Archbishop of Canterbury that he wanted "to give people a freedom of choice to remain Anglican but not under the Episcopal Church as it is currently led".

Fighting words indeed. The orthodox Nigerian archbishop defied Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, TEC's Presiding Bishop, when he installed a bishop of his own as leader of a diocese that allows congregations in the US to leave the Episcopal Church.

It was a week of missives. First, Mrs. Schori fired off a missive stating that if the service proceeds, it "would display to the world division and disunity that are not part of the mind of Christ."

Akinola, in a response to Mrs. Schori, described the diocese the new bishop will oversee as providing "a safe place for those who wish to remain faithful Anglicans but can no longer do so within The Episcopal Church." He criticized Mrs. Schori for appealing to the ancient church "when it is your own Province's deliberate rejection of the biblical and historic teaching of the Church that has prompted our current crisis."

Never mind that she, along with her predecessor, has been disobedient for years to Lambeth Resolution 1.10. Akinola fired back that he was coming. Then the Archbishop of Canterbury sent a letter to Akinola, just as the African Primate's plane was landing on U.S. soil, asking him to cancel his plans to visit the United States and install Bishop Martyn Minns as head of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), a conservative missionary effort in the U.S. sponsored by the Anglican Church of Nigeria. This prompted a hard-hitting response from Akinola: "We are a deeply divided Communion. As leaders of the Communion we have all spent enormous amounts of time, traveled huge distances - sometimes at great risk, and expended much needed financial resources in endless meetings, communiques and reports - Lambeth Palace 2003, Dromantine 2005, Nottingham 2006 and Dar es Salaam 2007. We have developed numerous proposals, established various task forces and yet the division has only deepened. The decisions, actions, defiance and continuing intransigence of The Episcopal Church are at the heart of our crisis. He concluded saying that he had no other choice "if we are to remain faithful to the gospel mandate." You can read his full letter here or in today's digest:. http://tinyurl.com/ypvgpq

Even the Bishop of Virginia, Peter James Lee, stuck his oar in and wrote to his Diocese a rather sad and pathetic letter saying that the Episcopal Church was in the midst of a challenging time. He then took a whack at orthodox Episcopalians by saying "there are impatient forces seeking to provoke conflict when humility, respect and patience are in order." This begs the question: who has been provoking the conflict in TEC all along, pray tell? Certainly not the orthodox who have been reacting to the apostasies of Lee, Spong and others. Don't blame the messenger. That's a failed strategy.

Morals watcher William Bennett once observed that America is fast becoming "the kind of nation civilized nations send missionaries to." In truth, that is what America has now become, with the installation of Martyn Minns as "missionary bishop" of CANA.

The schism in the Anglican Communion was visible for all to see when the Nigerian primate, Archbishop Peter Akinola, installed Bishop Minns in a ceremony held in northern Virginia last Saturday. Nearly 2,000 turned out, a large number of who were ethnically Nigerian.

An interesting side bar to this story comes from the Synod of the Church of England where some thirty members signed a message of support for Bishop Minns, the new head of the breakaway Anglican denomination. The Church of England newspaper reported that the Synod group, which is made up of members from over twenty different dioceses, includes lay member Gerry O'Brien from the Diocese of Rochester, who attended the installation service in Virginia,

James Rosenthal, Communications Director for the Anglican Consultative Council in London was more skeptical saying, "Many people have noted that such an action would exacerbate a situation that is already tense, especially as we look forward to the 30 September deadline outlined by the Primates at their meeting in Tanzania and the Archbishop of Canterbury's planned visit to the House of Bishops."

The Primates requested in February that the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops "make an unequivocal common covenant" that they will not authorize same-gender blessings and that a candidate for bishop, who is living in a same-gender relationship, "shall not receive the necessary consent unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion."

An answer from the House of Bishops is to be conveyed to the Primates by 30 September 2007. Dr Williams has accepted an invitation to meet with the House of Bishops that month.

Archbishop Akinola is one of the Anglican Communion's leading critics of the Episcopal Church and its inclusive theology. He maintains that homosexuality is incompatible with Scripture and repeatedly calls for the Episcopal Church to repent its recent actions, specifically the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, a divorced gay man living in same-gender relationship, as well as some dioceses' provisions for blessing same-gender unions.

"The reality is that there is a broken relationship between the Episcopal Church and the rest of the communion," he said. "We want to give people a freedom of choice to remain Anglican but not under the Episcopal Church as it is currently led."

One person who attended the installation service noted that the reason for setting up CANA was not because of homosexual ordinations. "If you listened to Bishop Minns message, he clearly stated it was because of a departure from Scripture and an embracing of sin. Would we split and start a new church over priest who cheat on their taxes, on their wives, beat their kids? Sin is sin, and the new dawn of CANA represents those who seek to share the light of the Gospel, not a new place for those that are homophobes and bigots. The story that the world needs to hear is the truth. By focusing stories on 'sin' we belittle the message that the church is called to proclaim. Get the focus back on Christ!"

The Rev. Don Armstrong, a former TEC priest in the Diocese of Colorado and now a priest with CANA, is one for whom this installation was a turning point in his clerical career. He gave his own personal observation of the event, which I have written about here or you can read in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/yte3xd

About Saturday's installation of a U.S. Bishop, The Nigerian Village Square, a flagship of Nigerian Websites observed: "Literally returning the torch of Christianity to the White World, which the conservative members of the religion now see as fast embracing darkness, Nigeria's Bishop Peter Akinola at the weekend installed a bishop for a United States parish network that is opposed to gay relationships. In carrying out the missionary work, the Nigerian leader brushed aside a contrary counsel from the liberal head of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Rowan Williams. It was a classic reversal of roles for Europe and the United States, which have always claimed to have brought light to Africa, the '"Black continent.'" You can read that report here in today's digest:. http://tinyurl.com/2v3p7o

"This is a very historic event, and we want to support that," said Bishop Leonard Riches of the Blue Bell, Pa.-based Reformed Episcopal Church. "We are very supportive of Martyn Minns and how he's working courageously for the Gospel."

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH faces a deadline of Sept. 30. If it rejects the ultimatum put forth in Tanzania, the church risks a reduced role in the world's third-largest Christian denomination. Some believe this leaves the door open for another group to take on the Anglican mantle in the United States.

HATE CRIME. An unidentified man interrupted the 9:00 am service at Grace Church & St. Stevens in Colorado Springs last Sunday. As the Rev. Don Armstrong was preaching, the man entered through the side door closest to the pulpit and threw a pie at him. Fr. Armstrong ducked. The pie fell ineffectively in the middle of the floor of the transept. Fr. Armstrong continued his sermon while a few parishioners chased the fleeing villain. Fr. Eric Zolner led the effort to clean the floor. Instead of his normal practice of preaching in his own words, Fr. Armstrong had chosen to read a sermon from a book published by the Church of England in 1562. Its title, most ironically, is "Of Christian Love and Charity." I doubt Pie Man is familiar with that sermon -- or with the appointed lessons that were read before the sermon. The perpetrator was apprehended by parishioners outside the building and handed over to police. Immediately after the service, Fr. Armstrong called the police to request the man's release. "I needed to be congruent with my sermon," he said. The police refused, but Fr. Armstrong said he would appear in court to follow through on the process. He also expressed hope that the man could be talked to in lieu of a criminal penalty. You can read the full story here: http://tinyurl.com/3bq3po

ZAHL RESIGNS. The Very Rev. Paul F.M. Zahl has resigned as Dean of Trinity School for Ministry. The decision to leave at the end July came after bitter faculty disputes, many of which hung over from a previous administration, a source told VOL.

Zahl notified the board of trustees of his intention to resign as dean and will end his tenure at the end of July.

TSM was established in 1976. While it is the youngest of The Episcopal Church's eleven accredited seminaries, it is the second largest in numbers and graduates. It is only one of two Episcopal seminaries that have remained orthodox on theology and morals.

Dean Zahl is a highly respected theologian and author with impressive academic credentials. He is a graduate of Harvard, University of Nottingham (England) and University of Tübingen (Germany). He recently authored Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life.

Prior to Trinity he was dean of the Cathedral of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama.

EVANGELICALS THRIVING IN UK. Recent estimates indicate that, although 72% of residents of England consider themselves Christian, very few of them actually go to church. Of those who attend church regularly, about 40% are evangelical. The Rev. Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, comments. "There are evangelicals right across the Protestant spectrum as well as evangelicals within some pockets of Catholicism itself." Thanks to the broad appeal of the gospel message to diverse groups of people, Edwards says evangelical churches in the U.K. are thriving. "Anywhere where one sees that kind of combination of people who have confidence in the cross, confidence in the Bible, and confidence in our mission to the world, the church remembers why it's here," he says, "and very often that leads to an explosion of life in our liturgy and worship, our evangelism, our personal witness, and our commitment to the poor and the marginalized." According to Edwards that kind of confidence seems to be flagging in the Church of England and faltering badly in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, he writes.

POPE BENEDICT XVI is visiting Brazil right now. In a nutshell the Catholic Church is losing people each day to various evangelical and charismatic churches throughout the region. There is also a growing Islamic crisis. The bishop of Sao Paulo is working on having twenty priests and/or lay families to witness to Muslims. The evangelical/charismatic community is stating, "Yes, we accept the challenge, we will raise up twenty pastors and/or families to witness to the Muslims." The first fruits of the Brazilian church are already showing.

GENERAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY in New York will accept former NJ Governor Jim McGreevey, an openly homosexual man, to study for ordination. GTS has sent out a fundraising letter to alumni entitled "Leaders for the Church." This is, of course, to enable the school to train the future leaders of the church. They don't say what church. The pledge form has a place to put your "spouse/partner" name. McGreevey would undoubtedly be pleased. I have written about this and you can read this story,. "McGreevey's Masquerade" here or in today's digest: http://tinyurl.com/27m8lx

DEATH CONFIRMED. Dr. Robert E. Webber 1933-2007 died Friday, April 27 at age 73 at his home in Sawyer, Michigan. Dr. Webber's work and witness have impacted the evangelical world by bringing worship and ministry back to their historical Christian roots as established by the early church. Because of his influence through the publication of significant works like The Complete Library of Christian Worship, his Ancient-Future Series (The Divine Embrace, Ancient-Future Time, Ancient-Future Evangelism and Ancient-Future Faith), the "Chicago Call" in 1977 and more recently "The Call to an Ancient-Evangelical Future" in 2006, which is intended "to restore the priority of the divinely inspired biblical story of God's acts in history," the church and a generation of pastors have been encouraged to challenge old assumptions about what constitutes an effective Christian witness in today's postmodern culture. "Robert Webber influenced many thousands of Christian leaders through his speaking and writing," said Dr. Charles Hambrick-Stowe, Dean of Northwest Seminary and Professor of Christian History.

PANEL OF REFERENCE REVIEW OF WORK. The Archbishop of Canterbury's Panel of Reference met in the offices of the Anglican Communion Secretariat during the week beginning 30 April 2007. In its meeting, it reviewed its work and discussed how best to follow up the work that has already been undertaken. It has currently completed outstanding work on all the references made to it by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Panel also reviewed the Report which the Chairman, the Most Rev.d Dr. Peter Carnley AO, had made to the Primates' Meeting in Dar es Salaam in February. He was authorized to release an updated version. The Panel also set dates for future meetings in late 2007 and in 2008. Review of the Work of The Archbishop of Canterbury's Panel of Reference can be found at: www.aco.org/commission/reference/docs/POR_review_of_work.pdf

THE DIOCESE OF NEWARK is having a problem with inclusivity. The Rt. Rev. Carol Gallagher, who got dumped as bishop suffragan of Southern Virginia, just got the heave ho as Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Newark. The newly minted Bishop Mark Beckwith (no relation to Peter Beckwith, Bishop of Springfield) put the best face on it saying she had been "a vital and compassionate presence and leader in our diocese, especially during a time of transition," but with the diocese running out of money (they have not paid their assessment to the National Church) she had to go. Beckwith says the "diocese is still in transition. I am fully engaged in the process of discerning and developing a new vision for the diocese. Any new vision involves change." INTERPRETATION. Spong's gospel has closed parishes not opened to them. More parishes will close and money is drying up. Ms. Gallagher is out the door at the end of June.

TAC HONORS one of its own. From Lincolnshire, UK. comes this word. "We, bishops from the United States, Canada, and Australia, together with the Vicar General of Great Britain, gathered in England to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the episcopacy of Robert Mercer, CR, by unanimous resolution express our gratitude for and total confidence in the leadership of John Hepworth as Archbishop of the TAC, and look forward to his continued primatial ministry among us."

+George Langberg
+Robert Mercer, CR
+Peter Wilkinson, OSG
+David Chislett, SSC
+David Moyer, SSC
+Craig Botterill
+Carl Reid Brian Gill+

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All blessings,

David W. Virtue DD

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