A leap in the dark? There is much misunderstanding about faith. It is commonly supposed to be a leap in the dark, totally incompatible with reason. This is not so. True faith is never unreasonable, because its object is always trustworthy. When we human beings trust one another, the reasonableness of our trust depends on the relative trustworthiness of the people concerned. But the Bible bears witness of Jesus Christ as absolutely trustworthy. It tells us who he is and what he has done, and the evidence it supplies for his unique person and work is extremely compelling. As we expose ourselves to the biblical witness to this Christ, and as we feel its impact -- profound yet simple, varied yet unanimous -- God creates faith within us. We receive the testimony. We believe. --- From "Understanding the Bible" John R.W. Stott

Belief on testimony. As the book of Genesis is introduced by 'In the beginning God', affirming the Father's existence, so St John's gospel is introduced by 'In the beginning was the Word', affirming the Son's pre-existence. These eternal truths are a fit subject for dogma, not for demonstration, because they are the product of divine revelation, not of human speculation. They are to be accepted or rejected on testimony, for faith is not belief in spite of evidence but belief on testimony. --- From "Men with a Message" By John R. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
May 13, 2011

The bombshells about the state of The Episcopal Churchare exploding almost weekly. The truth about the state of the church is coming more into view and the rot at the core of the institution is becoming more visible.

CANA Bishop David Anderson got word that graduating seminarians at Virginia Theological Seminary can't find jobs. Since most of the students end seminary with huge student loans, having jobs is critical, not only to support their families, but to repay the loans that will be coming due. According to canon law, the students need to have a ministry assignment (a job) in order to be ordained a Deacon. The closing down and financial collapse of so many local parish churches and the fiscal famine in most TEC dioceses means the jobs just aren't there. "TEC's largest diocese, Virginia, (in truth the Diocese of Haiti is larger) has only four clergy positions open in total with 40-50 applicants for each job. That certainly doesn't bode well for the new graduates who have the lightest job experience in the queue. The same source revealed that Bishop J. Jon Bruno of Los Angeles had to release all of his postulants because he has no positions for them. The problem is that the leaders of TEC, including former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, have monumentally miscalculated the future of neo-pagan Anglicanism and the willingness of the average pew sitter to blindly follow the other spiritual lemmings over the cliff," wrote Anderson.

He is right. VOL released a story this week on the parlous state of the Diocese of Vermont. A Feasibility Study, ordered up by Bishop Thomas Ely, revealed that the diocese is in serious trouble with significant financial struggles, division over pansexuality, a lack of inspiring leadership and much more.

As a result, Episcopalians in the diocese have rejected an $11 million dollar fund-raising campaign to prop up the diocese, citing that the goals were too ambitious. Following a two year capital campaign feasibility study, an outside consulting team concluded that Vermont Episcopalians feel disconnected enough to the Diocese to not want to invest significant amounts of their time, money and effort in a campaign for the Diocese.

Vermonters are concerned about a range of challenges that make them reluctant to endorse the campaign. In their congregations, members are seeing budget stress, rapidly declining and aging membership, deteriorating buildings, and an uncertain world that brings into question the outreach and spirituality that would otherwise be their touchstones. Along with these concerns, many members feel disconnected from the Diocese. You can read the full story in today's digest.

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The Diocese of Western New York has a new bishop. He, too, faces an uphill battle to keep his diocese from disappearing into oblivion or juncturing, as it is now called. Bishop R. William Franklin has assumed the mantle and faces the herculean task of rescuing the diocese from an inevitable decline into oblivion.

According to statistics provided by the National Church, this diocese has declined faster, and in greater numbers, than any other diocese in The Episcopal Church with the exception of Pittsburgh, and Ft. Worth, both of whom have left TEC.

Between 2008 and 2009, the DWNY lost 13% of its Average Sunday Attendance (ASA), dropping from 4452 to 3849, the highest drop of any diocese in TEC. Membership also dropped 1,289, some 10% from 12,809 to 11,530 between 2008 and 2009. The Diocese of Ft. Worth lost 18.7% of its membership while the Diocese of Pittsburgh lost 65.5% ASA.

The single biggest cause in dropping attendance occurred when the largest Episcopal Church in Western New York with 1,000 members, St. Bartholomew's in Tonawanda, voted to leave the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Western New York in order to affiliate with the Province of the Southern Cone, citing that the National Church has strayed from the authority of Scripture and the Lordship of Christ as the besetting issues. You can read more about this in today's digest.

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On the plus side of the Anglican ledger, the number of orthodox Anglicans is growing throughout the world. There is solid growth in the United States, with a constant upsurge of church plants becoming congregations, and clusters of congregations applying for and becoming new dioceses, according to Bishop David Anderson. At the installation of Bishop Roger Ames as the Diocesan Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes (ADGL) by Archbishop Robert Duncan, people were informed that the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is expecting additional dioceses on both the West and East coasts shortly, as well as expanding work with Native Americans in the Dakotas. Although many churches have unfairly lost their property to the American Episcopal Church (TEC), the desire to move past TEC and expand missionary outreach and growth is keeping those congregations positive and focused.

The Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes is one of many stories of growth within the Anglican Church in North America, resulting, in part, from the Spirit-led call by Archbishop Duncan to plant 1000 new churches in five years. The Great Lakes Diocese was formed in 2010 and includes 21 congregations in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. Ames has played a pivotal role in planting churches across the region.

As TEC slowly withers and dies, ACNA grows. No surprise there. One church has a clear fix on a life-changing gospel message. The other has a clear fix on pansexuality, inclusivity, diversity, Interfaith Dialogue, lawsuits and Millennium Development Goals, none of which are a recipe for growth.

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To prove the point, George Clifford, a priest in the Diocese of North Carolina, drew attention to a recent report on Episcopal Congregations with findings from the 2010 Faith Communities Today Survey. The survey revealed that:

*The median age for Episcopalians is 57, and that of active clergy is 58

*30% of Episcopalians are age 65+, as compared to 13% of U.S. population

*Unless the median age falls or we live longer, half of us will have died by 2030

*While 52% of our churches are in communities of 50,000 or less and 8% are in rural areas, U.S. urbanization proceeds apace

*86.2% of our churches are mostly white, 5.6% multi-racial, 4.9% mostly Black

*The median congregation had 160 active members in 2009, down from 182 in 2003

*Median attendance in our some 7000 congregations is dropping at the rate of five attendees every three years and was 66 in 2009. At this rate, median attendance will be 31 in 15 years, and 6 in 30 years

*As median attendance drops, the percentage of a church's budget spent on property and personnel, in contrast to program and mission, rises, as do conflicts over money

*28% of parishes and missions reported that their finances were "excellent" or "good" in 2010, compared to 56% in 2000.

Clifford writes of The Episcopal Church, "Unless TEC reverses the decline; TEC will soon become a remnant numbering in the tens of thousands. When that happens, the media will not care, and few non-Episcopalians will even notice, what the Episcopal Church says or does. TEC will no longer be a vital incarnation of God's love in Christ. Instead, TEC will have gone from being the established church in several eighteen century American colonies and states to being a twenty-first century anachronism."

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One bishop who seems hell bent on destroying his diocese is the sociopathic Bishop of Pennsylvania, Charles E. Bennison. Bennison recently used a Mother's Day address to the diocese to make a pitch for keeping Camp Wapiti, located in Maryland. The camp is a $10 million financial albatross hanging around the neck of the diocese that wants to sell it for $6.6 million just to get it off the books to avoid bankruptcy that could be incurred by making payments and maintaining it.

The camp has already cost the diocese $6.7 million with another $3 million needed to pay off the loan. "We need nearly $10 million," said Diocesan Treasurer Kylius Jones. The cost to maintain it is approximately $300,000 a year. With more and more parishes closing and money being tight, delegates voted to sell the camp.

Bennison tugged at the heartstrings of Pennsylvania Episcopalians, some of whom may have finally woken up to the fact that a sociopath is running the show. Diocesan leaders, conservative and liberal priests, the HOB, the bishop next door and two PBs have done everything possible to get rid of Bennison.

In order to overrule Bennison's bullying and clear manipulations, Diocesan leaders are seeking an amendment to the Canons that will grant authority to the committees to follow the direction of Diocesan Convention and sell the Wapiti property without consent of the Bishop. You can read the full story in today's digest.

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On May 5, The California Supreme Court returned to a lower court the lawsuit involving a seven-year property dispute between the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and a breakaway Newport Beach church.

The court, in a 6-1 decision, said that St. James Anglican Church, which disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church in 2003, can present arguments to show that the church and the property are owned by the congregation and not by the Los Angeles diocese and Episcopal Church.

Eric Sohlgren, the attorney representing St. James, said the Newport Beach group "has been vindicated" in a statement posted on the church website.

"The Court made clear that its 2009 decision had to be interpreted based on what had happened in the trial court before then. Specifically, St. James had won in the trial court in 2005 by attacking the Episcopal allegations before St. James could even answer the Episcopal complaints or present its defense case.

"Second, the court said it rejected an Episcopal argument that the Court's 2009 decision had ruled upon a 1991 letter in which (retired Los Angeles) Bishop Borsch, through his attorney-in-fact, promised St. James that it could hold its property free of any trust interest. The Court said last week, 'We express no opinion regarding the legal significance, if any, of the 1991 letter. We merely hold that a court must decide the question.'"

Shiner called the circumstances "highly unique in that we went to the Supreme Court at a very early point in the proceedings. It's complicated because of the nature of the motions the other side brought which we appealed. We wound up in front of the California Supreme Court and the court wanted to set the standard, the test for these kinds of cases going forward and it decided to so at a very early point in these proceedings."

The diocese and the Episcopal Church have sued for return of property and assets after the congregation, citing differences over the ordination of women and gays, disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church.

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TAC PRIMATE BETRAYED In a stunning display of ecclesiastical one-upmanship and seemingly bad behavior, Traditional Anglican Church Primate John Hepworth wrote a blistering letter to a Roman Catholic bishop in Melbourne Australia complaining about the behavior of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto, Thomas Collins, accusing the archbishop of derailing Ordinariate discussions and saying they are now "on hold" indefinitely.

In a letter VOL obtained, Hepworth described the situation in Canada as "deteriorating" and said the precipitating issue is the impending visit by Catholic priests appointed by Archbishop Collins to Traditional Anglican Communion parishes in Canada in the next two weeks.

Wrote Hepworth, "These priests are to announce, on behalf of Archbishop Collins, that the parishes will close forthwith, that the laity and clergy will attend a Catholic parish for from four to six months, that they will not receive the sacraments during this time, that they will be catechized adequately during this time since any catechesis from the Catechism of the Catholic Church done by the Traditional Anglican Communion is inadequate because only Catholics understand the Catechism, that the dossiers submitted by Traditional Anglican Communion clergy show an inadequate training since they have not attended Anglican Communion Theological Colleges, and therefore those selected by the Ordinary and approved by the CDF will have to attend a Catholic Seminary for an as yet unspecified time, at the end of this process, new parishes for Anglicans along the lines of the Anglican Use in the United States may be established, but not necessarily in the former Traditional Anglican Communion churches, and that during this process the Traditional Anglican Communion must cede its property to the Ordinariate."

Hepworth ordered that the visit of Catholic clergy could not proceed. He called the acts of Collins "brutish" in stark contrast to the clear language and intent of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus".

Hepworth went on to describe his behavior as "crass cultural insensitivity" saying that the sudden rediscovery of the term "Roman Catholic" by Catholic bishops is in contrast to the culturally sensitive wording of the Apostolic Constitution itself.

Hepworth concluded with this blast, "I warned you last July that the English Ordinariate may well be the first and the last. That outcome is now more certain."

What this means for bishops like David Moyer, Louis Falk and Louis Campese who were depending on the Pope's offer to give them legitimacy remains to be seen. This is a huge slap in the face at Hepworth and may well finish off the TAC. If it doesn't, TAC will just be another Anglican vagante everyone will ignore. Ironically Bishop David Chislett, who was ordained a TAC bishop with Moyer in Rosemont in 2005, has fled back to the Anglican Church of Australia.

After a public feud with Bishop Charles Bennison, Moyer was deposed by the revisionist bishop and charged with abandoning the communion of the Episcopal Church. The diocese is suing Moyer arguing that he is no longer an Episcopal priest and must leave the Episcopal parish and a new vestry be put in place. Moyer recently took his case to PB Jefferts Schori in an effort to keep the parish once it departed for Rome. He got thumbs down. A large number of Moyer's parishioners at Good Shepherd in Rosemont have become disillusioned with Moyer's ecclesiastical antics. More left after he sued his attorney, John H. Lewis Jr., for malpractice. He had to withdraw that lawsuit. Moyer has never apologized to his former friend and attorney

One thing is for sure, the love-affair between the TAC and Rome is off. As one wag observed, "I wonder when they'll draw up official divorce documents. I wonder who'll get custody of the lace and linen vestments?"

*****

Property lawsuits in Canada are copycats of what is going on here in the US with the Episcopal Church and orthodox parishes. The Diocese of Huron wants to evict former parishioners at St. Aidan's Church in Windsor, Ontario, who have joined the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) saying the property is held in trust for the diocese and the Anglican Church of Canada. What is interesting is that when the native North Americans were suing the Anglican Church of Canada for abuse in the residential schools in Northern Ontario, the Diocese of Huron wrote a letter to the court saying that the parishioners owned the church properties, and, therefore, the individual churches could not be touched to obtain money to pay off the native North Americans.

An interesting side note. A VOL reader wrote to say that there was not one word there in the print media about Jefferts Schori's trip to London, Ontario. The source told VOL that literally dozens of Anglican, United Church of Canada and Roman Catholic parishes are closing in Western Ontario; meanwhile there are now about 10 "super churches" in London, Ontario, one has 4000 attending on a Sunday. These are non-denominational or Baptist in their affiliation. West Park Baptist Church is like an airport terminal. Others include North Park Community Church, London Gospel Temple, Impact Church, Forest City Community Church, Oakridge Presbyterian Church. "Gays and lesbians are not blessed or married in these monster churches, and there are not pro-abortion, anti-life policies, either."

"There is a new church, here, the Harvest Bible Chapel, from the US, they get over 800 on a Sunday morning, and they go downtown on a Friday and Saturday night and preach salvation to the downtown people."

He said the United Church of Canada went liberal in 1988. In 1990 it was said that the church would be finished in 20 years. Now this is happening, as the church is closing one United Church on average per week across the Dominion of Canada.

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Does the Diocese of Virginia need a new suffragan bishop? The question is this, is the candidate ratio comparable to that of parish priests; i.e., 10 to 1 supply versus demand in the country's largest diocese? Technically Virginia is not the largest diocese, Haiti is, but as it is offshore, it doesn't really count. The Diocese of Virginia is forging ahead in an effort to choose a new Bishop Suffragan. But why? They have lost some 30 parishes to CANA and may well lose more. All of TEC's dioceses are slowly withering on the proverbial ecclesiastical vine. This might be an example of having more money than brains as some of the diocese's new money is coming from deals it is cutting from parishes that have fled its liberal grip.

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The Rev. David Wilkerson-founder of the Times Square Church in New York City and a highly successful drug rehabilitation program called Teen Challenge-died in a car accident in Texas on April 27, 2011. He was 79. Wilkerson was also the author of the classic "The Cross and the Switchblade", arguably the seed of what we call urban ministry in America today. It chronicled his ministry among youth gangs in Brooklyn. One gang member in the book, Nicky Cruz, came to faith under Wilkerson's ministry and followed in his mentor's footsteps, forging an evangelistic ministry of his own among the "down and out". A public memorial service at Times Square Church will be held on Saturday, May 14.

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After 33 years of debate, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has voted to change its constitution and allow openly gay people in same-sex relationships to be ordained as ministers, elders and deacons.

The outcome is a reversal from only two years ago, when a majority of the church's regions, known as presbyteries, voted against ordaining openly gay candidates.

This time, 19 of the church's 173 presbyteries switched their votes from no to yes. The Twin Cities presbytery, which covers Minneapolis and St. Paul, cast the deciding vote at its meeting on Tuesday. The vote was 205 to 56, with 3 abstentions.

What poor fools they are. Do they not know, have they not seen what damage this has done The Episcopal Church since the Robinson consecration? Have these Presbyterians become blind mutants, theological retards and cultural fools? If the Methodists roll over as the Lutherans (ELCA) already have, mainline Protestant Christianity in the US is finished. From Schleiermacher to sodomy it has been a tortured 200-year old journey. The "Father of Modern Liberal Theology" who tried to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional Protestant orthodoxy and who became influential in the evolution of Higher Criticism is now seeing his life's work fulfilled in buggery. What a legacy.

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Gay Episcopal activist Susan Russell, the lesbian priestess at All Saints, Pasadena in the Diocese of Los Angeles, couldn't help herself. She took a swing at fellow liberal Jim Wallis of Sojourners magazine, after Sojourners rejected a Christian group's ad with a gay-rights message that was intended for Sojourners' website and newsletter.

Progressive Christian groups are asking whether Obama spiritual adviser Jim Wallis should still be the face of their movement after his organization rejected an ad from a gay church group.

Some liberal Christians were baffled by the group's decision to reject the fairly innocuous one-minute ad, which features a young boy walking into a church with his lesbian parents and encountering cold stares before being welcomed by the minister. "We can imagine they partner with certain evangelical churches who wouldn't want to see something like that, but it's just really strange that they're so reluctant," said Daniel Schultz, a United Church of Christ minister in Wisconsin, who blogs about progressive religious issues. "Are they just that timid?"

Sojourners has not articulated a position on gay marriage, but has regularly spoken against the current of American evangelicalism, advocating the end of Don't Ask Don't Tell and addressing the issue of anti-gay bullying.

This is what happens when Wallis, a leftist evangelical, is finally confronted on a hard moral issue like sodomy. He knows he cannot endorse it, it is unbiblical. He is free to expatiate on greed, poverty, the poor, injustice etc. but when it comes to moral behavior he KNOWS in his heart he cannot endorse it; so, he gets clobbered for not being liberal enough by revisionists like Russell. In time, the left will eat their own having had the orthodox for their main course.

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For truly positive news, GAFCON primates meeting in Nairobi have announced plans for a second international conference. They have also opened offices in London and Nairobi. The conference will be held in 2013, preceded by a leadership conference in New York in 2012. (Mrs. Jefferts Schori has not been invited). The council of Anglican leaders was established by the Global Anglican Future Conference in 2008 and represent more than 35 million Anglicans worldwide.

They also produced a 13-point statement, issued after their Nairobi meeting, which said among other things, "We are still divided as a Communion. The fabric of our common life has been torn at its deepest level and until the presenting issues are addressed we will remain weakened at a time when the needs before us are so great. We were disappointed that those who organized the Primates meeting in Dublin not only failed to address these core concerns but decided instead to unilaterally reduce the status of the Primates' Meeting. This action was taken with complete disregard for the resolutions of both Lambeth 1978 and 1998 that called for an enhanced role in 'doctrinal, moral and pastoral matters'. We believe that they were seriously misled and their actions unacceptable." You can read the full story in today's digest.

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I hope you'll take a moment to visit our website www.virtueonline.org for more stories. VOL's website is updated hourly and read by more than 4,000 people daily from 160 countries. New stories are posted immediately after we receive them. We believe they will be of interest to our global Anglican family. If you can support VOL financially with a tax deductible donation, you can hit the PAYPAL link at the website or send a snail mail check to:

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All Blessings

David