"Persecution is coming. Let us not deceive ourselves but prepare for it now in order to thrive. In Christ, we will be victorious. Rather than fearing persecution, let us fear sin and the loss of grace." -- Fr. Paul John Kalchik

THE LAST DAYS. When Paul refers to 'the last days' it may seem natural to apply this term to a future epoch, to the days immediately preceding the end when Christ returns. But biblical usage will not allow us to do this. For it is the conviction of the New Testament authors that the new age (promised in the Old Testament) arrived with Jesus Christ, and that therefore with his coming the old age had begun to pass away and the last days had dawned. Thus Peter on the day of Pentecost quoted Joel's prophecy that 'in the last days' God would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh, and declared that this prophecy has now been fulfilled. 'This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel,' he said. In other words, 'the last days' to which the prophecy referred had come (Acts 2:14-17). Similarly, the letter to the Hebrews begins with an assertion that the God who had spoken of old to the fathers through the prophets had 'in these last days' spoken to us through his Son (1:1-2). This being so, we are living in the last days. They were ushered in by Jesus Christ, God's Son --- John R. W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
May 26, 2023

THE FUTURE OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION grows clearer by the month. The murkiness in the Anglican pool is beginning to clear. Sides are being drawn up as the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby faces pressure from both the left and the right' Calls for Welby's resignation continue even as the CofE moves further away from biblical standards on sexuality. At the same time, both GAFCON and the GSFA continue to build their own coalition, putting Welby on notice that his reign is over. The ABC no longer owns the communion: In fact, only 15% swear allegiance to him, the other 85% practicing Anglican are firmly in the GAFCON camp.

One high up cleric in the CofE, who asked not be named, wrote this:

"The way to cut the Gordian Knot is to establish a new See to replace Canterbury. Alexandria, the See of Saint Mark, has been mooted in the past. Other locations could be considered, but the principle is the same: the Anglican Communion came into being at the invitation of an Archbishop of Canterbury. Reform of the Anglican Communion must begin with a replacement for his role. Establish a new See, elect the first Archbishop, and let him invite to a new fellowship those who remain steadfastly orthodox above the ruins of the old order.

"Every attempt and more has been made over the past 25 years to engage with Lambeth and to ensure that Lambeth 1:10 might prevail. These attempts have been discarded, and dialogue with Lambeth has achieved nothing other than to enable successive Archbishops to buy time to corrupt as much as possible of the Anglican Communion. It is perfectly clear that the Bishops of the Church of England have no intention of any compromise on their plan to introduce the blessing of ungodly relationships across the Church. Nothing will change their minds, or the outcome, now postponed to November to give them time to plan more effectively for its introduction.

"For faithful Anglicans around the world, the Church of England has ceased to teach and uphold the scriptures The CofE can no longer be a partner in the fellowship of the mystery.

"For faithful Anglicans remaining in the Church of England, the only recourse must now be to seek alternative oversight and to prepare for separation from their dioceses, like St John Shaughnessy in Vancouver. It will be immensely costly in personal terms, especially for the clergy. But the lifeboat is always preferable to sinking with the ship, and we need lifeboats. And bishops. The Church of England itself is sinking fast under the management of its current leadership, which is in the process of disposing of its assets in order to sustain the illusion of mission. Many churches are already without clergy, attendance is falling dramatically, dioceses are betting the farm on replacing churches and clergy with teams of advisers.

"In 1994, many Anglo-Catholics hoped that Rome would provide them with a lifeboat following the decision to ordain women. Had it done so, it could have achieved a second spring, with large scale defections from the Church of England forming a new Reformation in reverse. Rome could have established an Anglican Rite Church comparable to the national rites which exist elsewhere in Europe. Rome blinked, the moment was lost, and some 1,500 clergy simply converted with most becoming Catholic priests.

"In 2023, the Bishops and General Synod of the Church of England have made another momentous break with the authority of Scripture and Tradition, one which runs directly counter to the teaching of the scriptures in both OT and NT. Romans 1 could not be clearer in its meaning or implications for the Church.

"Rome will gain a few more clergy and laity, but the opportunity this time is for a new Anglican Church of England. The offer needs to be worked out and carefully designed, and made very soon, to enable faithful people in England to continue as Anglicans in communion with a new Anglican Communion as described above. Such a movement needs to gather momentum and energy, and to win the support of a broad movement of those opposed to LLF, so that when the General Synod finally commits the Church of England formally to the blessing of sin, those who are prepared to choose a new denomination will have structures in place which they can inhabit and develop as a safe haven and as a faithful Anglican Church for the people of England, and indeed of Scotland and Wales as well."

There you have it. Total clarity from one who knows.

***

OTHER VOICES in the CofE still believe that the CofE is reformable if new leadership can be found. The Archbishop of Canterbury needs GAFCON/GSFA help to call a 'Global Anglican Council' to fix 'Anglican Communion Crisis' say three concerned conservatives. Chris Sugden, Vinay Samuel and Paul Eddy believe that invitations by the Archbishop of Canterbury to a Primates' Meeting in Rome in April 2024 will be "boycotted" by most primates. Only an invitation by the leaders of GAFCON and the GSFA (endorsed by Archbishop Justin Welby), to a 'Global Anglican Council' can now deal with the 'crisis in Anglican identity' and start urgent work on shared theology -- particularly in relation to homosexuality and marriage. The three men have sent a paper, 'Kigali trumpet's uncertain sound' to Lambeth Palace, outlining how the historic and biblical 'Councils of the Church' offer a precedent for the way global and national churches can deal with the conflicts between culture and the Bible today.

Sugden, Samuel and Eddy argue that following the April 2023 GAFCON Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, their paper seeks to explain why the current micro cultural issues facing the Church of England in relation to same sex Blessings cannot be solved in isolation to the macro issues of Anglican Identity & Ecclesiology. Their paper poses some key questions, and suggests the solution starts with the calling of a 'Global Anglican Council' of the Church's Mothers and Fathers, by the Chairmen of GAFCON/GSFA, and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

But will this work? Is the ABC prepared to meet the demands of these men. It is highly doubtful that Welby will recognize the chairman of GAFCON, ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach, or that he would be willing to step down. He has been increasingly acting like a pope garnering more power to himself, at the same time the Global South has down-graded him. They no longer recognize Welby as primus inter pares.
You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/archbishop-canterbury-needs-gafcongsfa-help-call-global-anglican-council-fix-anglican-communion

A former Archbishop of Sydney, Glenn Davies, now Bishop of the Diocese of the Southern Cross and a heavyweight in both the GAFCON and the GSFA told VOL in an exclusive interview, that "we are the Anglican Communion; we represent 85% of all church going Anglicans". He went on to say that "Archbishop Justin Welby has lost his role as primus inter pares. He can run the Canterbury Communion but we are the Anglican Communion."

We will see how all this unfolds in the coming months.

***

The Church of England reels from crisis to crisis over safeguarding issues. The CoE's safeguarding process is teetering on the brink of implosion. An inability of the church to conduct meaningful investigations of its behavior and an unwillingness to change are among the issues. The lack of accountability includes bishops Lord Sentamu and Stephen Croft, who are complaining about their precious reputations, despite being two of the worst regarding addressing abuse.
Lord Sentamu, former Archbishop of York was suspended from the ministry for failing to act on disclosure of child sexual abuse. He was found to have failed to act on a disclosure of child sexual abuse. He claimed 'safeguarding is very important, but it does not trump Church Law'. Strangely, Bishop Croft did not get his license pulled as he is up to his neck in denial. What about Archbishop Welby in the case of John Smyth, the bottom smacking leader in the Iwana camps?

You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/former-church-england-no-2-lord-sentamu-suspended-ministry-failing-act-disclosure-child-sexual-abuse and here: https://www.anglicanwatch.com/

***

A UK Anglican evangelist Mike Pilavachi of Soul Survivor, has been accused of massaging and straddling interns. Pilavachi "stepped back from ministry" when the accusations first arose in late April. He was formally suspended by Soul Survivor pending further investigation on May 20.

For most of the years since his ordination as a priest in 2012, the Rev. Canon Mike Pilavachi was known for his exotic shirts, advocacy of charismatic worship, and attracting up to 30,000 participants to the youth rallies of his Soul Survivor ministry.

In his preaching, the 65-year-old bachelor encouraged his young audiences to resist the lure of premarital sex, which he sometimes compared to fighting the persistent impulse to eat a chocolate cake.

But away from the speaking platform, according to multiple people who have spoken with the Church of England's National Safeguarding Team and with The Telegraph, Pilavachi found overly hands-on ways of interacting with young male interns. They have mentioned involuntary wrestling sessions lasting about 20 minutes, followed by full-body massages with oils and dim lighting, and of being straddled by Pilavachi during these rituals.

You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/uk-evangelist-accused-massaging-straddling-interns

***

WIPPEL & CO TO CLOSE. A firm that has manufactured clerical clothing for more than 200 years is closing down. Wippell's was founded in Exeter, Devon in 1789 and went on to open sites in London and in New Jersey, US. It will cease operations by the end of 2023.

The company also supplied graduation gowns and mortarboards and said it had lost hundreds of thousands of pounds as university graduation ceremonies were stopped in the pandemic. The firm said 44 employees would be affected.

***

ON THE GLOBAL ANGLICAN FRONT, the Anglican Church of Kenya bishops said they were "appalled" by the Church of England Synod vote on gay marriage. Their Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit wrote, "We in the Anglican Church of Kenya call upon these western liberal Provinces to repent and return to the one and only faith in Jesus Christ as revealed and taught in the canonical scriptures of the church. Rhetoric of political and secular correctness will only serve to undermine the one and only pure gospel, and unless these churches preach the gospel as we inherited it, they will soon be irrelevant, lose their identity as a church, and they will only be as good as that salt which has lost its saltiness -- to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by the world (Matthew 5:13). We make a humble call to these churches: "Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. Your actions do not meet the requirements of God" (Revelation 3:2)

You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/kenyan-bishops-appalled-coe-synod-vote-gay-marriage

***

At its General Synod this year, the Anglican Church of Canada will consider a Constitutional change that would diminish the role of its House of Bishops in ordering the life and affairs of the church. In the light of history, were the Anglican Church of Canada to reduce the bishops' unique role in leadership, decision-making, and pastoral guidance, the church would face structural and ecclesiological problems one can only begin to imagine. However, it might be a reflection on the state of the ACoC and its continuing decline and what the church thinks it can do about it. We shall see.

In what can only be describe as a remarkable turnaround, Bishop Cyrus Pitman, who was bishop of the diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador from 2004 to 2013, has come out of retirement to work for an ANiC member church in Newfoundland, the Anglican Journal has learned. ANiC is in turn part of the Anglican Church in North America, which formed a parallel and independent network of parishes in the late 2000s due to disagreement on issues of sexuality, among other doctrinal divisions.

"I have been worshipping for some time at the Church of the Good Samaritan where I am working with young men in our homeless shelter. This ministry to the homeless is what the gospel is all about. I am happy to continue to serve the Lord in this way," he wrote. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/canada-bishop-cyrus-pitman-joins-anic

***

ON THE DOMESTIC FRONT, the search is on for a new Episcopal Presiding Bishop. What has emerged so far in the profile for the next PB is that the lead qualification is, (hold your breath), evangelism, along with catechesis, or teaching and nurturing the faith.

If Jack Spong or Frank Griswold were alive, they would roll over in their graves. This is like going backwards in a time machine, even though the standard woke issues quickly follow in succession, including the standard phobias that must be denounced at every opportunity.

But it does reveal the deep desperation to have evangelism as your first call, especially as it is doubtful that TEC has an evangelical bishop ready to leap into the line-up of hopeful wannabees, or, if nominated, would have a prayer of winning. It also reveals a denomination in free fall that evangelism, not anti-racism training, climate change or whole range of woke issues is its top priority. There is little hope that the hemorrhaging will stop and the slide reversed, no matter who is elected. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/profile-next-presiding-bishop-contradicts-past-history

THE DIOCESE OF FLORIDA is again in the news. The diocese is appealing to standing committees and bishops to give consent for Bishop-elect Charlie Holt. But the odds are increasingly stacked against him. The ENS reports that the diocese has just crossed the halfway mark of the canonical 120-day period for its campaign to secure churchwide consents for the Rev. Charlie Holt to become its next bishop. In other bishop elections, The Episcopal Church's consent process nearly always ends in the ordination of the bishop, but Florida faces unusually strong opposition from haters of Holt, false charges of racism and unfounded charges that he is homophobic.

So far, "there's definitely more 'nos' than 'yeses,'" the Rev. Joe Gibbes, Florida Standing Committee president, said in an interview with Episcopal News Service. He declined to provide specific numbers. The Rev. Charlie Holt was declared the winner in two elections, but the pansexualists and pro-sodomite forces have continually challenged the election on procedural and pseudo spiritual grounds, even taking a swing at the current bishop, Samuel Howard Johnson who has been there since 2004!

TEC's fabled "doctrine" of inclusion is in shambles. In the parable of the Ten Minas told by Jesus in Luke 19, the cry went up "'We don't want this man to be our king.' (NIV). The revisionists in Florida have taken up the same cry apparently.

***

A resident in Connecticut leaked to VOL this week that all is not well in the Diocese of Connecticut which now has a homosexual bishop running it after Ian Douglas retired.

Here is what he had to say: "The diocese has 14 open parishes with very few paying full time or half time. Most are 1/4 time. Most priests cannot afford to move to a parish for 1/4 pay. And those that do are ill-equipped to foster growth. The wave of women clergy all burnt out after a couple years and gave up and many just disappeared. Not one woman has generated growth in her parish."

***

But there is some good news. In the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, by unanimous order, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled on the pending petitions and motions regarding the remaining three parish properties still in dispute.

The court's order denied all such actions, returning to its earlier decision from August 17, 2022. As a result, two properties will remain with the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina and one will be returned to the Episcopal Church in South Carolina.

In response to the August ruling, the Church of the Good Shepherd (Charleston) had filed a petition for rehearing, asking the Court to reconsider facts in the case that had resulted in the Court ruling that the Episcopal Church (TEC) maintained a trust interest in their property. That determination has now been affirmed by the Court and the parish will enter into settlement discussions with TEC to resolve the transfer of property and all other remaining issues. The court on similar grounds denied the motion for relief of judgment as well.

You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/south-carolina-supreme-court-final-order

***

A brouhaha erupted this week over an article in The Living Church describing the way that students and ordinands from TEC and ACNA, at Duke and Nashotah House, are "bridging theological differences." Some of the conversations reported in the article raise questions about whether this "communion across differences" represents a surrender by ACNA ordinands and graduates of both institutions to the idea that TEC's doctrine on fundamental issues of human identity, marriage, and human flourishing are equally valid to those in the ACNA.

The American Anglican Council took this head-on and said it would represent a retreat from the very doctrinal differences that caused so many bishops, clergy, and laity to leave TEC and form the Anglican Church in North America at great cost. In fact, it would be nothing less than a betrayal of the very doctrinal foundations we find in The Preamble and Article I of the Constitution of the ACNA and in the Canons of the ACNA on Standards of Sexual Morality and Ethics.

Nashotah House did not give its "imprimatur" to the article in The Living Church and does not share the author's characterization of conversations between students as "communion across differences," much less "good disagreement."
All of the interviewees who spoke of sexual ethics as though adiaphoron were Duke students (Hannah Howland, Sam Bush, Hope Anderson).

Unlike Duke, Nashotah House offers a theological curriculum firmly rooted and grounded in "the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3), which includes this very encouraging paragraph in their Statement of Theological Identity:

"Believing that all human life is a sacred gift from God to be protected and defended from conception to natural death, we shall endeavor to bring the grace and compassion of Christ to any who are confronted with ethical decisions regarding abortion, reproductive technology, or terminal illness."

You can read the full he said/she said piece here: communications@americananglican.org and here:
https://nashotah.edu/theological-identity/

***

ANTI-SEMITISM IS ON THE RISE IN THE WEST. Antisemitic incidents rose across the U.S. and show little sign of abating worldwide as political radicals have gained mainstream popularity. This information comes from researchers at Tel Aviv University's Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League.

Both The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada have taken pro-Palestinian positions, but recently Canadian Anglicans embraced Jew-hatred in an appeal to their government. They want the Canadian government to hold Israeli military authorities accountable under international human rights and humanitarian laws.

But what about holding Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority accountable for their behavior? No mention is ever made of militant Arab slaughter and mayhem against Israel.

It is profoundly ironic that two days after I wrote this piece, Hamas fired 600 rockets into Israel, most were met by the Iron Dome. In total, 1,160 rockets have been fired at Israel, leaving seven dead, including one five-year-old from Sderot. Not a peep out of TEC or the ACoC on this attack against the sovereign state of Israel.

***

Well, what does it mean to be Anglican? Two Anglican leaders duked out the question about what it means on VOL this week.

Fr. Calvin Robinson is an up-and-coming conservative British commentator, writer, and broadcaster on political and Anglican issues. He is a deacon in the Free Church of England. Calvin describes himself as an Anglican in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.

Canon Chuck Collins is the Director for the Center for Reformation Anglicanism. He has served as rector of Episcopal and Anglican churches in Texas and Florida. He is a notable clergyman who has argued against the conciliar nature of the ACNA in favor of a confessional, Reformation Church. He has written extensively for Christian journals and magazines and has been a canon theologian and retreat and conference speaker.

You can read their exchange here: https://virtueonline.org/two-anglican-leaders-duke-it-out-over-what-it-means-be-anglican

***

AUTHOR AND PASTOR TIM KELLER, who planted a church in New York City that grew to 5,000 attendees and who pioneered work in urban ministry, died Friday after a three-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 72. Keller and his wife Kathy launched Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan in 1989 and watched as it grew to a weekly attendance of thousands. Keller was known for his staunch yet winsome defense of orthodoxy in the liberal bastion of New York City. He defended the exclusivity of the gospel and the biblical definition of marriage and even engaged with critics on social media who disagreed. Two of the best eulogies came from David Brooks of the New York Times, What Tim Keller taught me about joy which you can read here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/22/opinion/tim-keller-death.html
The other is by an English theologian, J John: "A tribute to Tim Keller," which you can read here: https://canonjjohn.com/?mc_cid=6380dc661f&mc_eid=6ae8d8eac7

However, Keller did have his critics. William Schweitzer and others wrote in his book on Keller, Keller soft-pedaled or ignored abortion and homosexuality in his attempts to reach the lost in places like NYC. This is the problem with being "winsome." It tends to yield to try so hard to make the faith plausible that it risks proposing a kind of cheap grace without the cost of discipleship.

***

SHOULD WOMEN BE ORDAINED? In a new study by Jeff Williams, an attorney and priest, Williams argues that the acceptance of women's ordination parallels the rise and spread of the suffragette movement and then the feminist movement. Evangelical egalitarianism did not have an independent Biblical origin, but developed from, and was a result of, the rising tide of feminism.

Williams ranges across both testaments in his mammoth study. He does not shy away from Old and New Testament "prophetesses" who he claims did not rule over men authoritatively. Whatever their prophesying consisted of, it was not in any way analogous to New Testament pastoral authority. "The prophetic must be subordinated to the Apostolic." Williams is firm in his resolve that women cannot nor should they be ordained and that complementarianism triumphs over egalitarianism. This book is important because the ACNA is still divided over the issue with some dioceses allowing it, and some not.

You can read more and buy his book here: https://virtueonline.org/should-women-be-ordained

***

Most children who grow up with a Christian mom remain Christian as adults, according to new research from the American Bible Society that also shows faith has more "staying" power among kids than atheism.

The research, part of the society's "State of the Bible" report, found that 73 percent of children who grew up Protestant remained either Protestant or "other Christian" as adults. Four percent are now Catholic, while 19 percent say they identify as an atheist/agnostic or "none."

Among children who grew up Catholic, 57 percent remained Catholic as an adult, while 6 percent are now Protestant and 14 percent are "other Christian." One-fifth (21 percent) now identify as atheist/agnostic or "none."

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