My question is what HAS to happen for the majority of the sleepy snoozing Christians in America to wake up and not only care about Christian persecution worldwide, but also the coming soon real brutal persecution of Christians here in America? Will your pastor have to be beheaded before you at a Sunday morning church service? Will your ladies potluck and bible study have to be invaded and women held captive and raped brutally before being massacred before you speak out? ---- Stacy Lynn Harp

Don't blame Obama or the Supreme Court for gay "marriage." Look in the mirror. --- Dan Goodwin

"I will not render unto Caesar that which belongs to God." --- The Rev. Patrick Henry Reardon who is getting out of the civil marriage business.

Most people are not scholars, or activists, or lawyers. The individuals most affected by Justice Kennedy's frankly embarrassing decision to redefine marriage are everyday people. They're teachers, plumbers, and business people. They're moms and dads who would rather spend time with their children than familiarize themselves with the fallout of a bad Supreme Court decision. Most people avoid contentious debate, much of the time for good reason--they simply want to live their lives in peace. They don't spend their days digging into philosophical arguments about marriage. --- Andrew Walker of First Things

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
July 10, 2015

It's over. The more than 5,000 Episcopalians who attended General Convention in Salt Lake City for 12 days have returned home. The fall-out from what took place there has only just begun. Across America Episcopalians are waking up to the fact that the definition of marriage has changed and they are asking if they can live with that.

What will faithful, orthodox Episcopalians do, now that the Episcopal Church has made it official that homogenital marriages are officially sanctioned by the Church complete with Rites and more?

Liberal and revisionist Episcopal bishops have said that no priest will be forced to perform such ceremonies if called on to do so...for the moment. But we've heard that one before when it was the issue of the ordination of women. First, it was voluntary; then it became mandatory. Who's to say that in time this won't happen with sodomite marriage? What and who will stop an aggrieved couple who is turned down by an orthodox priest (presuming of course that there are still any left in TEC) from filing a lawsuit against a particular priest (think bakers) and a bishop either forces the priest to perform said act or face being inhibited and deposed. It's only a matter of time.

This last General Convention was a turning point for the denomination. TEC can never go back. It is beyond redemption, even though they elected what appears to be a fairly conservative Presiding Bishop in the person of Michael Curry Bishop of North Carolina.

But does he really share the faith of conservatives? When asked at a press conference if he was an evangelical, the newly elected, 62-year old Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, said "I am a follower of Jesus."

His track record speaks for itself and it is not good. He voted against core doctrine and the authority of Scripture at GC2003 (resolution B001). He later voted to affirm consent of Gene Robinson in 2003 to be the Bishop of New Hampshire. In 2009 he voted to authorize the development of Same-Sex Blessings.

What is truly troubling is his relationship with the Global South. He worked to undermine the Anglican Primates along with the Windsor Report and the Moratoria and gave a resounding NO to the Anglican Communion calling for restraint. There's more.

So the question is why did the evangelical/charismatic Bishop of Central Florida, Greg Brewer fawn all over Curry, even to the point of having his photo taken with him and saying all kinds of wonderful things about him and the Eucharist he attended, glorifying Curry's preaching? Inquiring minds want to know.

Presiding Bishop-elect Curry comes across like an Evangelical with a lot of words that sound right. He talks about the "Jesus movement," of the church being a place where you come as you are, but leave a changed person, certainly a far cry from the less than loved Katharine Jefferts Schori whose adherence to Christian doctrine might leave a Sunday school teacher in awe of her ignorance. Curry reminds me of politicians who invoke Christianity by using certain evangelical buzzwords they know will resonate with voters to get their votes. Curry is doing the same.

The new presiding bishop speaks well and with passion. He sounds good and he will do his best, because he knows the language of conservatives to draw them in. But no one should be fooled. His voting record says it all. He is a liberal dressed up in differing sets of robes that he will use with whatever audience he faces.

Bishop Frank Griswold did much the same thing with his faux Anglo-Catholicism that in time morphed into Affirming Catholicism. He was so pro-gay that the Global South won't even be seen in the same room with him. However that did not stop him getting an invitation to the evangelical parish of the Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli where, like a chameleon he told them wanted they wanted to hear.

You knew where you stood with Jefferts Schori, her adherence to orthodoxy would fill a thimble; Michael Curry will play a different set of hands for the audience before him.

As one blogger observed, "But the Jesus Bishop Curry knows and follows, however, affirms and supports sexual relationships between two men or two women and urges the Church to purport to bless those relationships. In order to come to this conclusion, this Yale Divinity School educated leader of a diocese, and eventual leader of a church has had to travel a long road through Scripture, tradition, reason, and the concepts of the Fall, sin, repentance, the nature of man, salvation, sanctification, transformation, the sacraments in general and marriage in particular, the Church, the Gospel, the Holy Spirit, and finally Jesus, and come to the opposite conclusion of the Church and the Gospel on all of these things, thoroughly and completely dismantling each Christian reality and substituting in his own conception in order to arrive at his pre-determined conclusion of support for two men or two women who wish to engage in sexual relationships and have the approval of society and the Church."

One hopes that Brewer and anyone else like him, say the bishops of Springfield and Albany, don't fall for Curry. If they do, they are deceiving themselves and taking their dioceses down a very rocky road.

At the Eucharist, he commented, "This [Eucharist] is the sacrament of unity that can overcome even the deepest estrangements between human beings." If that's the case, why was no Roman Catholic, Orthodox or primate from the Global South present to join him in "overcoming" their differences?

The great leveler is the cross, and Curry, it seems, is not prepared to bow before it and no amount of sharing the Eucharist will change that. The "deepest estrangements" will not be repaired with the Global South any time soon. The fabric of the Communion is torn, and there is no one out there ready to repair it with Michael Curry certainly not the GAFCON bishops.

To say that "all" should come to the Eucharist (I was present and refused to take communion, because I am not in communion with TEC), is to frankly admit that unrepentant sinners living scandalous lives should be accepted along (now) with the unbaptized while Scripture says they will be judged if they do.

If he has fully seduced Bishop Brewer, and it would seem that he has done that, what hope is there for someone of real faith? Curry failed to grow his diocese (it lost over 12% in the years he was their bishop), so how can he think he can suddenly grow the wider Church?

He has gone along and will continue to go along with the lawsuits for properties. When I asked him about this, he turned to Jefferts Schori and said, in so many words, he would continue her policies.

In the end, Curry may well be a greater danger to uninformed pew sitters, because he "sounds" good and people don't have enough theology to know the difference.

Thoughtful, orthodox Episcopalians, those who can still think past the pews, the altar guild, and the columbarium, may well reassess their future in TEC.

VOL puts him in the camp of the revisionists with a silver tongue. You have been warned.

I have posted final stories from General Convention, including a round-up of minor resolutions for your consideration. My Pièce De Resistance on General convention can be found here: I have titled it The Unsurprising Arrogance of the Episcopal Church http://www.virtueonline.org/unsurprising-arrogance-episcopal-church-consequences-be-damned

*****

Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno is learning a bitter lesson...you reap what you sow. Now he is catching it from both sides in the dispute over who owns the multi-million dollar St. James parish in Newport Beach.

Last week, dwindling members from a once thriving congregation held service outside the closed church building. The group, led by the Rev. Canon Cindy Evans Voorhees, held its usual Sunday service on the sidewalk outside the 70-year-old church at 3209 Via Lido in Newport Beach.

On Thursday morning, about 50 parishioners stood in front of the locked white gates barring them from entering the building. They were there to show support for their congregation and to voice opposition to Bishop J. Jon Bruno's plan to sell the property to a developer.

"By abruptly attempting to sell the St. James the Great building and grounds, the Bishop, in a time of sharply declining church attendance, is apparently blithely scattering more than 200 Episcopal souls to the wind," Voorhees said.

Bruno announced in May that the church building and two nearby parking lots were being sold for about $15 million to Legacy Partners Residential, which plans to build 22 high-end townhomes on the site. This came a year after he had thrown Fr. Richard Crocker and his parishioners out of the church because they would not toe the revisionist theological and moral line of the bishop. Now Bruno is catching it from the remnant that want to keep the building. It is a financial albatross around the neck of the diocese and Bruno needs the money to keep the diocese afloat.

The sale, which was expected to be finalized last week, did not close. The Bishop filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court against the Griffith Co., the former property owner, on June 26, asking a judge to affirm his right to sell the property for residential use. Ownership rights were transferred from the Griffith Co. to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in 1945 with the restriction that the site must remain a church.

Bruno is reaping the whirlwind of bad theology and equally bad morals and is paying the price. Truly God is not mocked.

*****

DAUGHTERS OF THE KING met at Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah, June 20-23 for their 46th Triennial of the Order of the DoK. At an outdoor Eucharist on June 21, the Rev. Canon Andrew White challenged the Daughters to love their enemies and take risks for Jesus. Daughters from 16 countries attended the gathering, along with three national chaplains. Honduras was honored as the fifth country to form a national assembly and elect national officers. Several other countries have formed their first chapters during the past three years and reported other chapters in formation.

Three chaplains ministered to the assembly: the Rt. Rev. Sylvestre Romero, national chaplain; the Rt. Rev. Bill Skilton, international chaplain; and the Rev. Deborah Jackson, Junior Daughters chaplain.

The Rt. Rev. Scott Hayashi, Bishop of Utah welcomed the Daughters, and retired Bishop Daniel Herzog of Albany spoke at a Sunday evening healing service.

In business meetings, the group approved a new bylaw providing Triennial representation to Daughters at Large. Fifteen of 19 nominees were elected to National Council, six of them for the first time. Only one of eight province presidents will serve a second time in that role.

Daughters elected a new National Council on June 22. New president Susan O'Brien of Chicago succeeds Pamela Runyon of North Carolina. Lindy Kirk of South Carolina takes over from first vice president Jennifer Mariano of Maryland, and Chesley Vohden of Virginia follows second vice president and Triennial chair Melinda Denney of Texas. Annemarie Delgado of Wyoming continues as treasurer, and Susan Keith of North Carolina is the new secretary. Daughters elected 10 other members to the National Council.

*****

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of the Rt. Rev. Terence Kelshaw(1936-2015). He was the retired Bishop of the Diocese of the Rio Grande and the retired Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Southwest. He passed away at dawn, Sunday, July 5, 2015. He was 78.

Bishop Kelshaw was born in 1936 in Manchester, England. He studied in London and was ordained in 1967. After parish ministries in London and time in Africa, he moved to the faculty of Trinity College in Ambridge, PA in 1980. Bishop Terence served as the seventh bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande from March 1989 to 2004. In the House of Bishops, he was a strong evangelical and theological conservative who opposed the liberal direction of the Episcopal Church.

After his retirement, he was received by the Anglican Church of Uganda and served at St. James Newport Beach, CA as "Interim Bishop" in 2008. After returning to Albuquerque, he was a guiding participant in the formation of the Anglican Diocese of the Southwest. Please pray for Hazel and the family and for all who grieve the loss of Bishop Terence. A Celebration of Life service will be held Monday, July 13 at 11 am at the Heights Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico

*****

The British are watching what is happening in the US. REFORM, the largest orthodox Anglican group in the Church of England, responded to the US Episcopal Church Resolution on Marriage this week writing, "Last week The Episcopal Church in the USA redefined the definition of marriage and approved liturgy for the blessing of same-sex marriages.

"Reform shares the Archbishop of Canterbury's deep concern about the stress this action will cause the Anglican Communion. We echo his call to respond to the Lord Jesus' prayer for his followers, that 'they may be one so that the world may believe' (John 17.21). Jesus' prayer for unity was 'for those who will believe in me through [the apostles'] message.' (John 17.20).

"The unity for which Jesus prays is built on the foundation of the teaching he revealed and entrusted to his apostles, recorded for us in the Scriptures. Jesus is not silent on the definition of marriage. 'Haven't you read,' he said to the religious leaders who sought to redefine marriage in his own day, 'that at the beginning the Creator "made them male and female," and said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?" (Matthew 19.4-5)'

"In rejecting this definition of marriage, the bishops of the US Episcopal Church have rejected Jesus' own teaching. As such, they have denied the faith they profess to teach, forfeiting any right to be regarded as true bishops of the church of Jesus Christ. Jesus warned us to 'watch out for false prophets' who come in his name (Matthew 7.15, 22)

"Their actions will entrench still further the division in the Anglican Communion. We are grieved at their dishonoring of Jesus' name. We are distressed by their discouragement of faithful believers, especially those who struggle with same-sex attraction and those who live in cultures where pronouncements from liberal Western church leaders endanger their lives and discredit their witness to Jesus Christ."

*****

Nigeria publicly chastised the UN human rights office for trampling on universally-agreed rights as it seeks to impose same sex marriage and outlaw commonly-held views on homosexuality. The sharp rebuke accused the UN officials of infringing on the right to democracy, religious freedom, and cultural standards that strengthen families.

The statement, delivered last week in Geneva, came in response to a report released last month by the UN human rights office. The report on discrimination and violence against individuals, based on sexual orientation and gender identity, criticizes laws protecting children from LGBT propaganda and condemns therapy to help people with unwanted sexual attractions. Expressing negative views on homosexuality contributes to violence, the report claims.

The UN report, which governments are free to ignore but which will be used to pressure them, also tells countries to legalize same sex marriage or unions, and provide benefits.

The majority of countries define marriage as the union of a man and woman. Nigeria strengthened its law in 2014.

Nigeria rebuked the UN officials for disrespecting the democratic process and endangering universally-agreed upon human rights. Religious freedom and cultural rights are "fundamental parts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Nigeria stated. Countries have a "duty to ensure the family values, the religious values and the cultural values of its citizens are protected," which are "the bedrock of the moral values of the individual."

Nigeria's marriage law "is intended to uphold and strengthen these values." Nigeria has the largest population in Africa. The majority of its 170 million citizens are Christian or Muslim. Some 23 million are evangelical Anglicans.

The law "synchronizes" Nigeria's culture, traditions, and two main religions, all of which reject "unreservedly, same sex marriage, homosexuality, lesbianism, gay, and transgender attitudes."

*****

US citizens, please act! Faith2Action is asking Attorney General Mike DeWine to save marriage by filing a motion to rehear the Obergefell v. Hodges case. Pray for the team of attorneys meeting today to put together a legal strategy to present to the Attorney General this week.

Here are four reasons why Attorney General DeWine should file a motion to rehear the marriage case:

1. The ruling is invalid because Justices Ginsburg and Kagan violated Federal law by not disqualifying themselves: "Any justice...shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned." -- 28 U.S. Code § 455

2. The court just opened the door to polygamy. A man in Montana now wants to marry two women and will sue if his "marriage licenses" are not granted. This issue was raised by Justice Alito during oral arguments, but now we know his concern is valid.

3. The marriage ruling just abolished the First Amendment. After the ruling, Aaron and Melissa Klein, who refused to be forced to bake a cake for a lesbian "wedding," not only lost their business, they were fined $135,000 and ORDERED never to speak or write about their biblical convictions concerning marriage nor practice them in the workplace.

4. Homosexual "marriages" cannot be consummated. While same-sex people can have sexual activity, they lack the complementary physical components necessary to fulfill the definition of consummation. According to Ohio law, this issue invalidates an "otherwise valid" marriage. "A marriage may be annulled...[IF] the marriage between the parties was never consummated although otherwise valid." -- Ohio Revised Code 3105.31 (F)

Marriage, our freedom, and Western Civilization hang in the balance...Think that's worth a call?

Please call Attorney General Mike DeWine: 800-282-0515

*****

The Pope apologized to "First Evangelicals" for Persecution. The Waldensians suffered years of massacre, rape, and pillaging during the Catholic Church's attempt to stomp it out. In late June, Pope Francis apologized to "the oldest evangelical Church" for the Catholic Church's persecution during the Middle Ages.

"On the part of the Catholic Church, I ask your forgiveness, I ask it for the non-Christian and even inhuman attitudes and behavior that we have showed you," Francis said during the first-ever visit by a pope to a Waldensian church. "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, forgive us!"

The Waldensian church was founded by Peter Waldo in the 12th century after he gave up his possessions and took up a life of poverty and preaching.

Waldo's monastic lifestyle and ideas were similar to those of the Pope's namesake, Francis of Assisi, but his insistence on preaching as a lay person, and on speaking out against the excesses of the church, got him excommunicated.

*****

On the subject of Pope Francis, I can report that I have been given press credentials for the Pope's visit to Philadelphia, Sept. 22 - 27. Most of the press corps will be Roman Catholic or secular, so I will be seen as something of an odd fish -- an evangelical Anglican -- but then the Pope is a close personal friend of Bishop Gregory Venables of the Argentine, another evangelical Anglican.

*****

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In Christ,

David