The Call to Evangelize (continued). Keeping our distance. Close contact with people involves an uncomfortable exposure of ourselves to them. It is much easier, in both fellowship and witness, to keep our distance. We are more likely to win the admiration of other people if we do. It is only at close quarters that idols are seen to have feet of clay. Are we willing to let people come close enough to us to find out what we are really like and to know us as we really are? True witness, born of friendship, requires a great degree of holiness in us as well as love. The nearer we get to people the harder it is to speak for Christ. Is not this the reason why the hardest people of all to whom to witness are members of our own family? They know us too well. --- From "Motives and Methods in Evangelism" by John R.W. Stott

'No-one can ...' It is grievously mistaken to suggest that the purpose of evangelism is to cajole sinners into doing what they can perfectly well do if only they put their minds to it and pull themselves together. This the Bible emphatically denies. Consider these two statements: 'No one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit' (1 Cor. 12:3). 'No one can come to me unless the Father ... draws him' (Jn. 6:44). We need to hear much more in the church of this 'no-one can', this natural inability of men to believe in Christ or to come to Christ. Only the Spirit can reveal Christ to men; only the Father can draw men to Christ. And without this double work of the Father and the Spirit no-one can reach the Son. It is quite true that Jesus also said 'you are not willing to come to me that you may have life' (Jn. 5:40, lit.), and that the human mind finds it impossible neatly to resolve the tension between this 'cannot' and this 'will not'. But both are true, and man's refusal to come does not cancel out his inability without grace to do so. --- From "Our Guilty Silence" by John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
October 9, 2009

It has not been a good week for those parishes and dioceses seeking to take their leave of The Episcopal Church with their properties intact.

The worst hit legal decision was the DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH. After assuring the attorneys for the Diocese that his judgment would be based upon an assumption that the Diocese had validly withdrawn from TEC, the Judge, after the hearing was over and with no opportunity for the attorneys for the Diocese to offer evidence, found that the TEC diocese continued to exist even after the convention voted to withdraw- in other words, the Judge disregarded the agreement to assume valid withdrawal. Moreover, after stating that canon law would not be a part of his decision and after stating that the issue of the authority of the Presiding Bishop were not part of the proceedings, his opinion cited canon law and decided that the Presiding Bishop had the authority to recognize the TEC diocese.

In a decision issued October 6, Judge Joseph James of the Court of Common Pleas in Allegheny County ruled that an existing court-approved settlement signed years ago was "clear and unambiguous" in requiring that diocesan property must remain with a diocese that is part of the Episcopal Church of the United States.

Writing in response to the Calvary lawsuit ruling, Archbishop Robert Duncan responded in a pastoral letter to the clergy and people of the Diocese saying, "We lost. In human terms we lost. Bishop and Standing Committee, together with Board of Trustees, thought we understood the document that was signed on our behalf in 2005 that ended the first phase of the Calvary lawsuit. But yesterday, the judge found against us on the basis of that document.

"The team that has provided extraordinary legal counsel to us, and to others in similar cases across the country, has issued the following statement: 'We believe the opinion and order is contrary to applicable law, disregards the agreed assumption of valid withdrawal by the Diocese from TEC, violates the assurances given us that the issue of the 'true diocese' was not part of this proceeding and denies us due process of law.' Accordingly we reserve all of our rights to appeal."

In allied news, the Potemkin Diocese of Pittsburgh offered to release, instead of deposing, clergy. They are willing to release diocesan priests from their ministerial ties to the Episcopal Church so that they can become licensed in any entity they choose.

A news release from the diocese said the decision affects approximately 100 priests and deacons who have not been active in the Episcopal Church since October 2008 when a majority of members of the diocese and its leadership voted to leave the Episcopal Church and align with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

Not so fast, says Robert Devlin, Chancellor for the original Diocese of Pittsburgh, now the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. He urged clergy to put the brakes on the idea and to consider not signing up to this till both Standing Committees have come together to find a joint solution.

He wrote, "While we are very much in favor of avoiding further discord among our respective organizations, we cannot recommend that you accept this option. Canon III.9.8, entitled 'Renunciation of Ordained Ministry', has the effect of removing you from ministerial office and depriving you of 'the right to exercise the gifts and spiritual authority as a Minister of God's Word and Sacraments conferred in Ordination.' The letter indicates that this action is only effective with respect to TEC. The plain language of the Canon is not so clearly limited."

The clergy are being given two weeks to respond. You can read a full report in today's digest.

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The Episcopal Church has compiled its membership and average Sunday attendance (ASA) figures for 2008, but is declining to release them.

Membership and attendance figures have dropped every year since the consecration of the church's first openly-gay bishop, the Rev. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire, in 2003.

Church spokesmen originally said the 2008 figures would be released in September. But that date came and went.

In a conference call with the media this week from Memphis, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori confirmed that she has the information, but wouldn't say whether the numbers look good or bad for the 2.1 million-member denomination. You can read the full story in today's digest.

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In the DIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES, the battle between the diocese and St. James Anglican Church remains before a California appellate court judge.

The diocese will ask that a trial court be required to force the St. James congregation from a Newport Beach property.

St. James has also broken from the diocese, but their attorneys petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the grounds for the California ruling granting religious groups the rights to parish property are unconstitutional.

St. James officials took the High Court's refusal to hear the case in stride, hoping to win their ongoing fight in California courts.

"Our battle is far from over," the Rev. Richard Crocker, St. James' senior pastor, said in a statement. "We look forward to having the trial court rule on a written promise from the Episcopal Church in 1991 that they would never lay claim on our property."

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In La Crescenta, California, a judge ordered the orthodox folk at ST. LUKE'S to leave their Episcopal-owned site by Monday. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a property dispute between a sister congregation and the Episcopal Diocese in Newport Beach. St. Luke's has been in a legal tussle with the diocese since it realigned with the Anglican Province of Uganda due to a theological disagreement over homosexuality.

Last month, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that the Anglican congregation at St. Luke's on Foothill Boulevard must vacate by Oct. 12 so the property's legal owner, the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, could move in the next day.

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In Montrose, Colorado, the congregation and pastor left ST. PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH and became All Saints Anglican Church joining with the Anglican Diocese of Quincy. They walked away from the property and held their first service last Sunday. They will meet at 9 a.m. Sundays at 1702 E. Main (the Arrowhead Conference Center). "It really goes back to all these issues the Episcopal Church has been wrestling with the past 20 to 30 years," said Fr. Larry Day. "Most recently, it was just a strong drift away from biblical orthodoxy, and morality issues the (Episcopal) Church seems to be relaxing on."

Day said the Episcopal Church is no longer placing much emphasis on premarital chastity and no longer seems to care about multiple divorces and remarriages. "There's a very strong push to approve same-sex marriage. That's an issue of difficulty for us," Day said. "It doesn't have anything to do with people's inclinations, it has more to do with behavior."

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In upstate New York in the town of Plattsburgh, liberal Via Media Episcopalians accused the evangelical catholic BISHOP OF ALBANY, William Love, of trying to lead the Diocese of Albany out of the Episcopal Church altogether. "He says he is not going to leave, but actions speak louder than words," said the president of of Albany Via Media, Claire "Toby" Touby, who lives in Saranac Lake. "We have sincere questions about what (Love) means by 'not leaving the church,'" Touby said. The truth is, Bishop Love is a Communion Partner bishop who, along with 13 other orthodox bishops has made it very clear they are not leaving TEC. The Via Media are looking for ways to get a presentment tossed at Love and will use almost any accusation to get rid of him. They are a dying breed, VOL was told and they have don't have the clout or leverage in the diocese that they once did. Love is one of the gentlest, godliest bishops in the HOB, but he has shown an iron fist in a velvet glove approach to heterodoxy - he won't tolerate it. Bonnie Anderson, President of the House of Deputies came into the diocese and tried her best and failed. Love showed up and took over. Exit Anderson.

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CHRIST THE REDEEMER ANGLICAN CHURCH, Danvers, MA, held its first services on October 4, 2009, with the Anglican Diocese of New England's Bishop Bill Murdoch presiding. Over 250 parishioners parted amicably from Christ Church Episcopal in Hamilton, including its Rector, Jurgen Liias, Music Director Dan McKinley, and most all past Senior Wardens and lay leaders. http://www.ctr-anglican.org/ The first services drew a total of 485 people. The first service at 8am drew 60. A second at 10am drew 425. A little history. Well over a year ago, a small group of laity from Christ Church of Hamilton and Wenham, MA, formed a steering committee to pray and plan to establish an Anglican church on Boston's North Shore since, out of faithfulness to the one Savior Jesus Christ they could not any longer remain under the authority of The Episcopal Church. Now 250 parishioners have parted amicably, with much grace and sadness, from Christ Church. They include its Rector Jurgen Liias, Music Minister Dan McKinley, all living past senior wardens except one, and most lay leaders. They formed a new church, Christ the Redeemer Anglican. That Sunday was the transferred Feast day of St. Francis, who heard God tell him to "repair my church". Fr. Liias mentioned in his sermon that the Anglican Church in North America is answering the same call. http://www.ctr-anglican.org/ The parish is now affiliated with the ACNA.

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A VOL reader wrote to say, with respect to my article on Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno and his apology to Hindus for evangelizing them, that in the LA environment, the main "Hindus" he could muster for his sideshow were a bunch of Hare Krishnas. Hare Krishna is definitely not mainstream Hinduism; in fact it is part of their own lunatic fringe. But then this is LA, where orthodoxy is a stranger. It was really a case of one lunatic fringe cozying up to another lunatic fringe, both oblivious to their own unorthodoxies. It is ironic that the Hare Krishnas have been mainly known in the west for aggressive proselytizing. Perish the thought that Bruno is encouraging them to change into his own image. By the way, did he get a reciprocal apology and commitment from the Hare Krishnas? Or church-burning Hindus in India? It all looked sadly unilateral. Meanwhile, the real Christians and real Hindus in this world get a laugh out of both parties and pass them both by as utterly irrelevant, and carry on with their lives and programs in light of their own histories.

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In Memphis, TN, the Episcopal Church's EXECUTIVE COUNCIL met this week and responded to the latest draft of a proposed Anglican Covenant. The majority of the General Convention deputations and individual deputies pressed an opinion saying they did not support the disciplinary process outlined in the latest draft of a proposed Anglican covenant.

The comment came in the council's official response to the Ridley Cambridge Draft, which the members said addresses "some of the most difficult matters and substance relating to such a covenant."

Central Florida Bishop John W. Howe said the Archbishop of Canterbury's response to TEC's Anglican Communion partner bishops' response to their endorsement of the first three sections of the Covenant "encouraging". He made a distinction between Provinces "adopting" the Covenant and other entities "endorsing" it.

Anglican Communion Institute (ACI) theologians applauded Dr. Rowan Williams' response to the letter. "ACI welcomes the encouragement given by the Archbishop of Canterbury to the decision by the Diocesan Board and Standing Committee of the Diocese of Central Florida to affirm the first three sections of the Anglican Covenant. As we have previously stated, these sections entail substantial commitments to mutual responsibility and interdependence in the life of the Communion. While it is not ACI's prerogative to release the full text of the letter, we are grateful for the Archbishop's recognition that acceptance of the Covenant, in whatever form, is the means by which we declare our "intent to live within the agreed terms of the Communion's life."

One wonders why Bishop Howe and the ACI are the only ones permitted to see this letter and hint at its content. The fact remains, TEC will never, never sign onto a Covenant that demands it can be disciplined for its bad behavior. Bishop Gene Robinson has said as much and so has Mrs. Jefferts Schori. Furthermore, there will be no decision about its passage until at least the next General Convention in 2012. By then of course, there could be a permanent, definable schism that makes the covenant irrelevant. The third Ridley-Cambridge draft will morph into the fourth Schori-Anderson draft and on and on it will go till the church dies of boredom....or until another bishop is elected who is openly homosexual. That could be any time soon in LA or Minneapolis, in which case the whole thing is moot.

*****

The beaten down DIOCESE OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN can't seem to find a bishop to suit their unique ecclesiastical tastes, so it is back to square one...again. The diocese's standing committee has asked the Rt. Rev. Thomas K. Ray, bishop of the diocese from 1982 to 1999, to serve as an assisting bishop. The diocese announced this decision in the October issue of its newspaper, The Church in Hiawathaland. The diocese has been without a bishop since the Rt. Rev. James A. Kelsey died in a traffic collision in June 2007. He had served as the tenth bishop of the diocese since 1999. The diocese then elected the Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester, rector of St. Paul's Church, Marquette, in 2008. He went down in flames unable to receive sufficient consents among bishops and standing committees to be consecrated. Bishop Ray is a longtime advocate of mutual ministry, which places greater emphasis on the involvement of lay Christians. The diocese's practice of mutual ministry has attracted Anglican observers from across the world. The article added that Northern Michigan's diocesan convention, which meets on Oct. 30 and 31 in Escanaba, will hear a recommendation from the standing committee regarding a next step in electing a bishop.

*****

My article on how grateful we should be to Bishop Gene Robinson for galvanizing the orthodox to make their moves got a response from a VOL reader.

"You wrote that the time is fast approaching when Anglicans may well thank Robinson for accelerating the realignment. Amen. In the small town of Enterprise, Alabama, there is a huge statue of a boll weevil in the town square. This statue was erected by Alabama farmers out of gratitude to the boll weevil for devastating their cotton crop - and forcing them to cultivate other crops which were ultimately more profitable than cotton. In the tradition of the boll weevil, a statue to Gene Robinson by grateful Anglicans (former Episcopalians) would be most appropriate." The statue was constructed in 1919.

*****

Things are not going well for the ANGLICAN CHURCH IN CANADA. This week the Bishop of the Diocese of Niagara, Michael Bird wrote a desperate letter saying he is looking for $750,000 the diocese has lost in legal costs fighting for empty church properties. Orthodox Anglican parishes have fled his diocese along with dues paying Anglicans and now he needs a huge injection of money to keep him and his diocese afloat. Things are even worse in the Diocese of British Columbia where Bishop James Cowan said his diocese is in "crisis" and plans "drastic action," to make up for dwindling revenues, declining attendance and increased deficit within its parishes totaling about $1 million. He blames the economy and declining attendance. While there are more than 9,000 members on the islands, on average, less than half that now attend weekly worship, down from about 5,000 regular attendees last year. The Rt. Rev. John E. Privett, Bishop of Kootenay, was elected to be the next Metropolitan of British Columbia and Yukon. He was elected on the fourth ballot at the Provincial Synod held at the Sorrento Centre in British Columbia's interior on Shuswap Lake, dashing Michael Ingham, Bishop of New Westminster's hopes for the job.

A conversation between two parishioners about how St. John's Shaughnessy, Vancouver, the parish under siege by Bishop Ingham, on how the court ruling might go, brought a response from one who said, "Well, what is Ingham going to do with an empty St John's, if the court rules in his favor?" He replied, "That's easy. Ingham will just shut down about four other parishes to save on the expense of keeping St John's open. He'll parachute a sort of conservative leaning pastor in there and then fill the pews with people whose parishes were shut down to keep St John's open." He said, "That Ingham will be more interested in winning a moral victory, if the court finds in his favor. It won't matter to him that the place is half empty every Sunday."

On top of this, VOL got word that the gay agenda is not doing well in the Diocese of New Westminster. The wife of a friend of mine ran into one of her old professors from the faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She hadn't seen him for a few years. He's a gay man in a relationship, and until recently attended St. Paul's Anglican Church in Vancouver (Diocese of New Westminster). He asked her if they were still worshipping in the Anglican Church. She said no. He told her he wasn't either. He told her that a number of gay men have left the Anglican Church in the Vancouver area because the same-sex blessing thing has gotten too political and is disrupting everyone. He's angry with (Bishop Michael) Ingham. She added that he said that since the gay and lesbian thing became politicized in the Diocese of New Westminster, church for many gays has become far less meaningful. He told her that many gays in the diocese are just happy to be living together without all the same-sex blessing hoopla, and that those gays and lesbians who do not beat the "gay-driven-agenda-drum" are ostracized and shunned.

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The DIOCESE OF ATLANTA is pulling out all the stops to celebrate Atlanta's 2009 Pride Festival planned for October 31. For the sixth year in a row, Episcopalians from throughout the Diocese of Atlanta will take part. Members of Episcopal churches will staff a booth in Piedmont Park, march in a Midtown parade and distribute water at St. Luke's Episcopal Church on Peachtree Street. "Everyone is invited to participate, at whatever level you can, and help to spread the message that the Episcopal Church welcomes everyone." said the Rev. Mac Thigpen, rector of St. Bartholomew's, Atlanta. They will march behind the "Episcopal Church Welcomes You" banner. All are welcome: gay and straight, single people, families, laity and clergy. The annual Gay Pride Eucharist will be held the previous week. The guest preacher will be lesbian activist The Rev. Dr. Elizabeth M. Kaeton, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chatham, N.J., and currently president of The Episcopal Women's Caucus. The Rt. Rev. Keith B. Whitmore, assistant bishop for the Diocese of Atlanta, will preside. And you wonder why whole provinces in the Global South are in broken relationship with TEC. One sees little hope of a Covenant making any difference to their relationships.

*****

A Sudanese priest will share his story of transformation in Southern Sudan courtesy of FIVE TALENTS on Saturday, Nov. 7. The ministry will commemorate a decade of fighting poverty, creating jobs and transforming lives with a Uniting Communities: 10th Anniversary Celebration Dinner at the Westin Arlington Gateway in Arlington, Va. A keynote presentation will be made by the Rev. Thomas Anei, who currently works as a project officer for Five Talents in Lietnhom, Sudan. There are now more than 460 members with a savings of $12,000 in the village bank. Rev. Anei is witnessing how this village bank is bringing hope and opportunity to Lietnhom, a village now rising from the ashes of regional conflicts that occurred just 18 months ago.

Tickets are $125 per person. Table sponsorships start at $1,500. To purchase tickets, call (703) 242-6016, email FiveTalentsEvents@FiveTalents.org or visit www.FiveTalents.org. The Westin Arlington Gateway is located at 801 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington, Va.

*****

The Most Reverend Leonard W. Riches, Presiding Bishop of the REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH and one of the founding bishops of the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA), will be the 13th Annual Philip Edgcumbe Hughes Lecture Series speaker October 17 and 18 at The Chapel of the Cross, located at 4333 Cole Avenue in Uptown Dallas. Bishop Riches' lectures, titled "Jerusalem, My Happy Home: Foundational Issues for 21st Century Anglicanism" will discuss issues faced by the Anglican Communion during the 2008 Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCon), which paved the way for the formation of ACNA.

"It is actually the historic Christian Faith which provides the relevant, modern and secure home that Americans seek," said the Rev. John Peter Boonzaaijer, rector at The Chapel of the Cross. "Bishop Riches is persuaded that the modern Church can indeed enjoy the mission, majesty and security of the ancient Faith - but only through humble submission to permanent foundations." The Philip Edgcumbe Hughes Memorial Lecture Series brings Bible scholars to the Dallas area.

*****

I was in England and Wales recently with my wife and wrote two stories while there. One is on the sad and sorry state of the Church of England. The other is on a church closing in Wales symbolic of any number of churches closing because of poor attendance and lack of a clear message. You can read both in today's digest.

Among today's stories is an interview with Nashotah House President Dr. Robert Munday and several analysis pieces by attorney Allan S. Haley on the legal state of various lawsuits.

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VIRTUEONLINE'S website www.virtueonline.org is now viewable in 34 languages. Go to www.virtueonline.org and click on GOOGLE TRANSLATE on the right hand side of the website and pick the language of your choice. We are delighted that a number of Spanish and Japanese readers have found this new addition helpful. Among the languages offered are: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Afrikaans, Chinese in both simplified and traditional forms, Croatian, Estonian, German, Filipino, Swahili, Slovak Vietnamese and many more.

VOL's Global Anglican Theological Institute (GATI) has a growing readership. We invite our global brothers and sisters from around the world in 40 countries to read and print these fine articles. You will find the language of your choice at the link.

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