Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
8/29/2008

THE GAFCON Primates spoke with clarity and conviction this week tightening the noose around the neck of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Communion. They issued a Communiqué establishing a Primates Council and Fellowship and had their first meeting in London.

In addition to this meeting, a letter was sent by bishops who serve in North America, under the canonical authority of the Primates of the Anglican Church of Kenya, the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Anglican Church of Rwanda, the Province of the Southern Cone and the Anglican Church of Uganda. They represent approximately 300 congregations, with more than 450 clergy with an Average Sunday Attendance of 50,000. The Primates letter was clear and unambiguous.

They presented three new facts of the Anglican Communion that they said must be faced making it clear that there is no going back for the Anglican Communion. In short, they put Dr. Williams on notice that either he moves the Communion forward in an orthodox manner or else.

They noted that they are past the time when things can be reversed. Here is what they said: First, some Anglicans have sanctified sinful practices and will continue to do so whatever others may think. Second, churches and even dioceses affected by this disobedience have rightly withdrawn fellowship while wishing to remain authentic Anglicans. So-called 'border-crossing' is another way of describing the provision of recognition and care for those who have been faithful to the teachings of Holy Scripture. Third, there is widespread impaired and broken sacramental communion amongst Anglicans with far-reaching global implications. Any hope that Anglicans can somehow return to the state of affairs before 2003 is an illusion. GAFCON remains a gospel movement, they said.

The movement recognises the acute spiritual dangers of a compromised theology and aims to be a resource and inspiration for those who wish to defend and promote the biblical gospel. The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans will function as a means of sharing in this great task. GAFCON invites individuals, churches, dioceses, provinces and parachurch organisations who assent to the Jerusalem Declaration to signify their desire to become members of the Fellowship via the GAFCON web -site or written communication with the Secretariat. The Fellowship will develop networks, commissions and publications intended to defend and promote the biblical gospel in ways which support one another.

They noted Williams' desire to build bridges with GAFCON and noted his call for a moratorium on the consecration of bishops who are homosexually partnered and the blessing of same-sex unions as well as so-called 'border-crossing'. They also said that Lambeth 1.10 of 1998 remains an authentic expression of the mind of the Communion. They noted the Communion was fractured in 2003, when its fellowship was 'torn at its deepest level' over the Robinson consecration and said that some North American Bishops appear to have already indicated that they will ordain more homosexuals to the priesthood.

"It appears that people living in homosexual unions continue to be ordained in some dioceses in contravention to Lambeth 1.10. In principle, this is no different from consecrating a bishop who adopts the same pattern of life, or indeed, of blessing same-sex unions. The idea of the Pastoral Forum has only now emerged but has never been discussed with those actually affected by the innovations which have created the problems with which we are trying to deal (see appended letter). If the Panel of Reference did not work, it is unclear how the Pastoral Forum will succeed." The five bishops from North America under African oversight echoed much the same thing and said any sound strategy must accommodate itself to these facts. The ball is now squarely in Rowan Williams' court. You can read the full document here or in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/5ua94k

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ARCHBISHOP Rowan Williams put his own spin on the Lambeth conference this week issuing an 'all is well' in the Anglican Communion statement of his own. He hailed what he called "convergence" at Lambeth Conference and pinned his hopes on "Indaba" as the format for Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) to engage in future conversation. Some bishops strongly disagreed with his assessment, but not Williams. He has basically bought into the mantra that if we have enough "conversation" in small intensive groups and "listen" to one another we can all find agreement. That is not going to happen. The GAFCON Primates scotched that one. Williams is going to have to make up his mind which side of the ecclesiastical and theological fence he is on or face losing the communion forever...or at least for the foreseeable future.

The ACC will be of no help to Williams as the GAFCON bishops no longer recognize the legitimacy of the ACC, as it is basically the mouthpiece for The Episcopal Church and other assorted Anglican liberals. They are finished. Their voice is no longer wanted or sought by orthodox Anglicans. When Canon Geoffrey Cameron of the ACC admitted at Lambeth that it might take till 2012 for a Covenant to be signed on by all, media eyes rolled everywhere. Who does he think he is kidding? By 2012 there will not be an Anglican Communion as we know it. The GAFCON Primates who represent more than 75% of the Anglican Communion just delivered a body blow to Williams and the punch could be felt right across London to the Anglican Communion Office! You can read my analysis of Williams' latest salvo here: http://tinyurl.com/5h4uxm His full speech can also be read in today's digest.

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If you think that the Episcopal Church's liberal seminaries have abandoned the gospel in favor of inter-faith (inter-religious studies) talk, you are right. VIRGINIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY welcomed its first Muslim exchange student as part of its continuing effort to encourage deeper cross-cultural conversations within the VTS community and equip students to envision new and creative ways to undertake ministry in the world according to a press release from the seminary. TRANSLATION: We are not out to convert Muslims to Jesus Christ. We want to hear their story. One day, Allah permitting, when we have succeeded in making the US more Muslim friendly, and more populated with Muslims, you WILL believe in our religion and yours will be history. In the meantime let's all drink coffee and chat about how we can cooperate....for now.

Ironically, across states in Ambridge, PA, TRINITY SCHOOL FOR MINISTRY has taken an opposite tack. They are training the next generation of Global South leaders, like Peter Akinola's son, to take the gospel back to Nigeria and convert Muslims to Christ. That's quite a different story. It is also quite a different understanding of what it means to be a Christian and to proclaim the Good News of God's salvation...even to Muslims.

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SAN JOAQUIN: A priest attorney in the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin has taken to task the fly-in Episcopal Bishop of San Joaquin, Jerry Lamb, telling him that his letter demanding obedience to himself lacked ecclesiastical and theological legitimacy.

The Rev. Dennis Kelly who heads the Community of Christian Family Ministry based in Vista, California, wrote to Lamb after receiving a letter from the bishop demanding that all priests in the diocese declare their allegiance to him as the rightful ecclesiastical authority of the diocese.

Kelly declined the offer. A vast majority of priests in the diocese have sworn loyalty to Bishop John-David Schofield who parted company with the Episcopal Church and accepted the spiritual and ecclesiastical authority of the Primate of the Southern Cone, Archbishop Gregory Venables. Schofield accused The Episcopal Church of departing from the faith once delivered to the saints and said the consecration of an openly non-celibate homosexual to the episcopacy was a communion breaking act.

"Your letter contains the following quotation/reminder of the recipient's ordination vow: "'I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine, discipline and worship of the [Protestant] Episcopal Church [in the United States of America].' We note that your quotation omits the words, '"as this Church has received them.' Love constrains us to interpret this omission as inadvertent. Love further constrains us to exhort you to consider whether you are faithfully adhering to this portion of your own ordination vows; this, given your current role in the service of TEC and given its considerable departure-you will surely concede-from the doctrine it once received. Indeed our complicity in your current mission, Bishop Lamb, would fly in the very face of our vow to uphold the doctrine to which we engaged to conform at ordination." Now that's telling him.

IN OTHER news from the Episcopal "Diocese" of San Joaquin (which is not yet an official diocese of the Episcopal Church,) has put out a press release concerning a recent Stipulation approved in an Order issued by the Fresno County Superior Court in the pending litigation between TEC, Bishop Lamb, and Bishop Schofield. But attorney A.S. Haley says the press release, tries to put a positive spin on what was actually a refreshingly pragmatic solution arrived at between the parties, but only after a good deal of initial resistance from the TEC side.

The Episcopal "Diocese", Bishop Lamb, and TEC joined in a lawsuit filed in April 2008 against Bishop Schofield (whom the plaintiffs refused to title as a "bishop" in their pleadings) and various diocesan trust fund entities, who, they alleged, had absconded with buildings, properties and bank accounts which belonged to them, the plaintiffs. In a tactic designed solely to turn up the heat on the defendants, the plaintiffs amended their lawsuit in May to name as an additional defendant the brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch, with whom Bishop Schofield and the trust entities had invested their funds. In response to being sued, Merrill Lynch placed a hold, or "freeze", on some 33 different investment accounts maintained with it by the defendants (and others who were not defendants).

In describing the assets they were claiming title to in their amended complaint, Bishop Lamb and his co-plaintiffs named four accounts maintained with Merrill Lynch by individual congregations and organizations whom they had not named as defendants: St. John's in Tulare, St. John's in Porterville, St. James's Cathedral in Fresno, and the Episcopal Conference Center in Oakhurst ("ECCO"). Normal legal procedure would have required the plaintiffs first to name these parties in the action, then to give them prior notice that they would be applying to the Court for an order attaching their Merrill Lynch accounts, and thus to give them an opportunity to be heard as to why such an attachment order should not issue.

The details are shrouded for the time being, but the facts are that TEC had but to name Merrill Lynch in its complaint, and Merrill Lynch immediately cooperated by freezing its clients' accounts---even the accounts of those whom TEC had not named as defendants. More on this in time.

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CHRIST CHURCH in Plano, Texas presented the Diocese of Peru http://www.peru.anglican.org) with a gift of $500,000, enabling the expansion and development of a Leadership Center and Seminary in Lima, Peru. The Rev. Canon David H. Roseberry, rector of Christ Church Plano, said, "We have been sending mission teams to Peru for over eight years and we have been blessed through our relationship with Bishop Bill Godfrey and the people there. Our church family decided it was time to send significant financial resources to make a lasting improvement in the life of that Anglican diocese." The money, a gift from Christ Church Plano parishioners, goes toward the August 28, 2008 purchase of an existing 18,000 square foot building, formerly designed and used as a school. It will be remodeled and reconfigured to house an expanded seminary, diocese administration offices including the Bishop's office, and a worship space for the Mission Ascension. Future plans might include a dormitory for mission teams, or classroom and office space, or both. Christ Church Plano has been a long-time strategic partner of the Diocese of Peru, supplying funds, short and long-term missionaries and prayer partnership steadily throughout the year.

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INDIAN CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reports that Christians in Orissa in India are being attacked and murdered. I am reliably informed of the following. Hindus have been attacking Christians for quite a while. They have been emboldened by the inability of the central government of India to deal with this because of the 'autonomy' of the states, and the state government of Orissa is weak as it is a coalition. Most Christians in the area are tribals. They have been Christians for the last 100 years. They endure endemic poverty. A large number of indigenous mission groups are working among them, including Friends Mission Prayer Band, the Evangelical Fellowship of India Commission on Relief, as well as World Vision India. The Catholics are the most prominent. They have set up childrens' homes, schools and medical services. These Christian ministries have been subject to attacks from militant Hindus who are allegedly rescuing people from other faiths.Into the mix we must also include the Maoist groups, well armed with AK 47s and grenades, who operate in an area from Assam to Karnataka, 100 miles wide by 120 miles long. in Bihar and Orissa they have been raiding police stations, killing their inmates and removing the arms. These Maoist groups have not touched the Christians because they look after the poor. Indeed they have been protecting the Christians against the Hindu militancy. It appears that the Swami who was killed was seen as a militant leader with blood on his hands from killing Christians and asking that Christians be removed from the area. It appears that one of these Maoist groups decided to kill him. The Hindus have blamed the Christians for killing him and so have begun a pogrom against the Christians. It is worse than the factual reports suggest. One person Edward Sequira from Bangalore ran a children's home. The children were sent away. He and his secretary locked in a room and the room set on fire. He escaped through a window and is still critically ill, but his secretary was charred to death. VOL calls on all its readers to pray for our brothers and sisters in India.

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THE EXODUS from the Church of England continues to grow. According to latest reports, churches in England have lost about 50,000 women every year from their congregations since 1989, according to a Derby-based sociologist. Dr. Kristin Aune, from the University of Derby, said many young women are put off by the traditional values. She said television programs promoting female empowerment also discourage women from going to church. Dr. Aune based the figures in her book on information gathered from the English Church Census. "Young women tend to express egalitarian values and dislike the traditionalism and hierarchies they imagine are integral to the church." She said many women find it difficult to make time for church while juggling work and family. "With the pressures women face, churches must adapt to make themselves more accessible." She added that while the issue of the ordination of women is being discussed, "we have taken our eyes off the pews, where a shift with more consequences for the church's survival is under way".

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DISOBEDIENCE to the Windsor Report and pleas by the Archbishop of Canterbury not to do IT, just continue to go unheeded. Kenneth Lyle Shepard and Jack Lawrence Kouloheris were "married" this week in a civil ceremony at San Francisco City Hall by Mary Ortega, a deputy marriage commissioner. Canon Mary E. Haddad, an Episcopal priest, led a blessing of the union on Saturday at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Will Ms. Haddad get a letter from Bishop Marc Andrus disciplining her for doing this? Not a chance. Now if a parish priest in the DIOCESE OF CALIFORNIA were caught using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, he would be put on notice that his license will be hauled if he does it again. Ah, the smell of inclusivity.

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SUDAN. The Episcopal Church of the Sudan installed its first woman priest as dean of a cathedral in all of Sudan, this week. The Very Rev. Martha Deng Nhial, became the first woman to be installed as head of an Episcopal Cathedral in Africa's largest nation. The historic ceremony took place at Renk Cathedral. She is one of the first women priests to be dean of a cathedral in all of Africa. More than 500 people crowded into the cathedral amid great celebration and applause. The women in the congregation ululated and danced in the aisles, while the choir sang, drums were played and leis were placed around the new dean's neck.

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For a glimpse of what GENERAL CONVENTION 2009 will look like,review Louie Crew's figures. Please bring along your own bottle of Geritol and sniffing salts in case one of the geriatric deputies passes out when they pass rites for same sex unions...we dare not call them marriages.

GC Deputies:
-under 40 years of age: 8.8%
-under 50 years of age: 24.9%
-over 50 years of age: 75.1%
11.4% are over 70!

Dr. Crew cautions that he has no birth date info for 15.9% of elected deputies.

BREAKDOWN:

2.6% under thirty
6.2% thirties
16.1% forties
30.3% fifties
33.4% sixties
11.4% seventies

Conclusion, The Church is being run by Dead White Males, a large proportion of whom are pansexual and will not breed in a new generation of Episcopalians.

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Let there be light - but not every night, parishes are urged. The CHURCH OF ENGLAND is asking members to cut back on illuminating churches, eight years after embracing a multimillion-pound scheme to install floodlights at 400 places of worship. A guide endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, states that vicars should try to curb their use of floodlights in an attempt to reduce their carbon footprint. The guide, "Don't Stop at the Lights," suggests that nightly lighting is an extravagance and that illumination should be reserved for special occasions such as sponsored evenings in memory of a loved one or to celebrate an anniversary. The advice represents a sudden drop in enthusiasm for exterior lighting, which peaked in 2000 when the Millennium Commission awarded £2.3million of lottery money to the Church Floodlighting Trust.

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RIP: The religion beat? The religious beat in secular newspapers is going the way of typewriters. One by one, mid- size and large newspapers are down-sizing their staff and laying off some very fine reporters. One such reporter to get the ax was veteran Godbeat and popular culture scribe, Mark Pinsky of the Orlando Sentinel. As Terry Mattingly reports, even as religion reporters are being laid off there is more religion news out there than ever, not less, and the beat is getting more complex, not less. He writes: "On one level, we have to see this religion-beat crisis as a reflection of what is happening in the news industry. There is no painless way to cut a shrinking pie. Yet, of course, the news pie is not shrinking. It's changing into forms that do not include solid, workable forms of advertising. A key element of American public life and discourse is hanging, twisting slowly in the wind, waiting for someone to create an ad form more winsome than those pop-up mini-monsters that we all hate so much." Of course, what is happening is that the Internet is picking up the slack with the World Wide Web offering a buffet of niche news topics, teaming with readers who are very interested in specific, detail-rich subjects that, for them, may as well be matters of life and death and eternal life, says Mattingly. "Religion is the kind of topic that should thrive on the Net and it does. I believe we are moving into an era in which wire services and national newspapers will play major roles, backed, I hope, by high-quality websites for smaller, niche audiences." VOL is glad to be filling the niche in the Anglican Communion as the most widely read news source for Anglicans worldwide.

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Where is Michael Ingham, the Bishop of New Westminster? It would appear that The Very Reverend Peter Elliott, Dean and Commissary, is the real bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster these days. This week he sent two letters to parishioners of St. Matthias and St. Luke Vancouver, and St. Matthew's Abbotsford explaining Canon 15 and saying that their parishes would now be under the direct management by the diocese. They were signed by Elliott.

A diocese must "hold together parishes in a common mission even though there are differing theological convictions between parishes and within parishes," he wrote, adding, "Naturally, we regret that these steps have been forced on us." Naturally.

Elliott wrote that the diocese has again asked to meet with former diocesan clergy to discuss "an orderly transition." The letter has been translated into Chinese for the convenience of Chinese-speaking Anglicans at St. Matthias and St. Luke. Very thoughtful.

St. John's Leadership and Staff wrote back saying they were saddened by the actions of the Diocese. "We stand with St. Matthew's and St. Matthias‑St. Luke as they will be required to defend themselves; we will ask the DNW to consider alternative dispute resolution mechanisms; we will ensure appropriate measures continue in place to best protect our parish, clergy and staff. We are an imperfect community seeking to grow in faith and joyful repentance, welcoming all people and supporting Christian outreach. We believe Jesus Christ is the saviour of the world and we endeavor to live and proclaim the gospel truth, following our Lord Jesus Christ, consistent with global Anglican teaching and theology."

TO ADD raisins to the diocesan fruitcake, Christ Church Cathedral welcomed its third gay partnered deacon to serve out a diaconate in the diocese. That makes two gays and one lesbian who have served their internship at CCC, a reader told VOL. "Ingham is stacking the deck by loading in gay and lesbian clergy from the bottom in order to see to it that the gay/ lesbian mafia will control the diocese within the next decade. In time there won't be a parish in the diocese that not's controlled by a gay or lesbian minister."

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What does the Rt. Rev. George Langberg of the ANGLICAN CHURCH IN AMERICA (ACA) really think about Anglicanism?

Here's the full unabridged text of his words: "The ongoing collapse of the Anglican Communion and the concurrent inability of conservative Anglicans outside that body to get their act together suggest that these groups may share a fatal flaw. Anglicanism may arguably be seen as a 450-year experiment to determine whether a separated part of the church can remain fully catholic, keeping its apostolic ministry and grounding its teaching and practice in Holy Scripture and the Sacraments, but replacing the authority structures of the main body of the church with a sort of democracy in which no single leader has complete authority, and in which clergy and laity gathered together in Synods and Conventions take the place of Church Councils. A strong case can be made for the premise that the experiment is concluded, and it has failed."

Blessings,
+George

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If you are still wondering what to believe about homosexual behavior, you ought to purchase these outstanding lectures series by Dr. Robert Gagnon (Love, The Bible & Homosexual Practice), available on DVD or CD at: http://www.purepassion.us/OnlineStore.asp?pageID=10 The Rev. Dr. David Kyle Foster of Mastering Life Ministries based in Franklin, TN gives them high marks.

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