What is happening is this: The recent birth of the Council of Anglican Provinces of the Americas and Caribbean (CAPAC), inspired by the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA), lead to the creation of a body that will "enable coordination, cooperation, collaboration, and communication, and to encourage mission as well as resource theological education and ministry of the Gospel in the Caribbean and the Americas." Lofty ideals, but certainly attainable. Together, they are a force now to be reckoned with.

Furthermore, the formation of the Convocation of Anglican Nigerian Churches in America (CONA), the increasingly-high profile Anglican Mission in America, (AMIA), the emerging revived Reformed Episcopal Church (REC), the strengthening Anglo-Catholic movement under the umbrella leadership of the TAC, all now pose a serious threat to the liberal-run hegemony of the Episcopal Church.

As large chunks of the ECUSA iceberg break off and priests are forced out of the church, a meltdown of the ECUSA seems almost inevitable. Its rapidly aging constituency, with less than one percent of the youth market and an average-size congregation of 77, the future does not bode well for an aging, theologically liberal, morally bankrupt church.

The Episcopal Church is being surrounded by a cloud of witnesses screaming that the emperors (read bishops) have no clothes, and what little they have is covering unrepentant sin. A church that follows the zeitgeist and does not stand against it is doomed to oblivion. Tolerating sin in the name of inclusion will inevitably bring down upon it the judgment of God.

A case in point is the DIOCESE OF NORTHWEST TEXAS, which, despite misinformation about monies left in one parish, reveals an overall financial picture of the diocese that can only be described as grim. Some 12 of 39 parishes are not paying their way, and those that are are not giving enough to keep the diocese afloa,t according to the diocesan newspaper. When the money does finally run out at St. Nicholas, the bishop will again be begging for money to keep going. Within two to three years the diocese will either go out of business entirely or merge with a neighbor diocese to keep its parishes open. Glenn Polhemus, a layman, wrote to Bishop Ohl in response to his recent appeal, "It is my opinion that our diocese and the national church will only respond to economic stimulus. 'One-time askings' only delay the process and keep them from dealing with the real problem, which is: 'How do you lead 80 percent of the church where they don't want to go and still get them to pay for the trip?'"

The answer of course is that you can't.

An unscientific survey of the diocese conducted shortly after the 2003 General Convention suggested that as many as 80 percent of the laity in Northwest Texas did not approve of the New Hampshire consecration of V. Gene Robinson. Bishop Ohl himself did not vote for Vickie Gene.

A VirtueOnline reader wrote to say that the church is not the only thing that is being separated. "Families are also being split. I am very much in favor of Christ Church Midland and attend there when not going with my wife to Holy Trinity, Midland." Another person wrote, "I am the XXXXXXX at St Barnabas in Odessa and Chapel XXXXXXX for the daily chapel at St John's Church, Odessa. Both of these churches pretend that nothing is going on in the church."

Another source said that in Bishop Ohl's letter to the diocese he talked of the demise of St Cyprian's International Church because its left the ECUSA. "Ohl deposed Fr. John Githiga," the source said. "However, St Cyprian's is going as strong as any orthodox Episcopal Church in the U.S."

Ironically the new church, Christ Church, Midland, which saw the bulk of St. Nicholas fleeing to it, has already accumulated a war chest of $250,000 to build a new plant, a source told VirtueOnline.

In the DIOCESE OF KANSAS the bishop was forced to cut a deal with the largest parish, Christ Episcopal Church, for $1 million payable over ten years to sustain his diocese. Revisionism comes with a heavy price tag. But how long can you live like a whore off of the earnings of citizens? Sooner or later the whore must retire or go out of business with her looks faded and gone, and these bishops are little more than pimps living off of the earnings of fleeing citizens (read parishioners). Sooner or later the well will run dry.

The DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA is another diocese in a financial mess. Bishop Charles E. Bennison wants a bigger share of monies from wealthier (read large) orthodox parishes like the Church of the Good Samaritan and Church of the Redeemer to keep smaller, dying liberal parishes in business. He wants to up the mandatory giving percentages to make that happen, with threats that if the wealthier don't pay he will invoke Canon XIII and depose the priests and/or seize the properties. He wants the whole diocese on mandatory giving rather than voluntary with a sliding scale of nothing to 12 percent for the wealthiest churches. So the orthodox parishes are being asked to pay to keep small, dying liberal churches open! At a recent diocesan-wide meeting to discuss the diocese's finances Bennison admitted that 70 of the 160 parishes were below the financial waterline and that legal bills with three parishes in various stages of litigation were in excess of $500,000 and climbing! The only thing that is truly sustaining the diocese is the $81 million in trust funds, but a lot of this money is restricted.

And litigation costs are mounting across the country. The DIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES recently lost its bid to take back the parish of St. James in Newport Beach and wants more money from parishes to take court action to the next level.

In the DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT Bishop Andrew Smith will shortly face civil litigation in his attempt to keep the parish of St. John's in Bristol, Ct. away from its rector, the Rev. Mark Hansen.

These situations are just the tip of the iceberg, and sooner or later there will be innumerable ecclesiastical financial hurricanes that will sweep in and knock these dioceses sideways. Survivors will be few.

The bishop of the DIOCESE OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, John B. Lipscomb, who repeatedly says he is orthodox on faith and morals, will celebrate Eucharist with the new Naples chapter of Integrity, the national organization of gay and lesbian Episcopalians, on Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. at St. Monica's Episcopal Church.

"I'll be breaking bread with them," the bishop said. "They're my brothers and sisters in Christ. I may have a disagreement about a theological stance. We may have a disagreement about a moral issue. But we are still, in baptism, one body and one people."

This is nonsense. Either their behavior, which is condemned by the Apostle Paul, is Kingdom excluding or it is not. It is this kind of double think/speak that drives the African bishops crazy.

FOUR ORTHODOX PRIMATES met in New York City last week to receive awards for spiritual leadership and repeated what they have all said for some time, that the Anglican Communion is broken and fragmented, and unless there is full repentance by both the American Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, then what we have is no longer a communion of like-minded biblically faithful Anglicans, but a mere shell of an organizational structure loosely held together in name only.

The fondly recalled "bonds of affection" are now history. They do not exist. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and Archbishop Andrew Hutchison have walked apart from the Anglican Communion, and all that is required now is for that to be officially ratified.

Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola put it bluntly when he said in New York, "I choose my own friends; no one chooses them for me." The truth is he has become the de facto leader of the Anglican Communion, ready and prepared to blast anyone, including the archbishop of Canterbury when he believes the archbishop has strayed. The African archbishop's recent blunt statement about the endorsement of civil partnerships in England got him all riled up, and he urged "suspension" if the Church of England did not repent. You can read what the four primates had to say at a news conference and what Os Guinness, author and social critic, had to say at a Kairos Journal Awards dinner. Powerful stuff. "Kissing Judases" will come back to haunt many of the bishops in the HOB "in that day."

Akinola later went on the offensive and said the PRIMATE OF BRAZIL, Archbishop Santos de Olivera, will not be welcome when the Global South Archbishops meet next month in Cairo. He pointedly mentioned that the archbishop's renegade actions against the orthodox bishop of Recife disqualified him from attending. You can read full reports about that in today's digest. Akinola also took a swipe at what he termed inaccurate press reports about is expected to happen there. You can read his statement on that subject.

What we are seeing here is the emergence of a fiery Two-Thirds-World leader who is prepared to blast not only Anglican leaders but also the president of his country. He recently told President Olusegun Obasanjo to his face that he was "harsh and inhuman" because of the policies of his administration.

It is hard not to see the Nigerian leader as a bull in a China shop, with most of the cut glass and delicate China lying all over the shop floor. On the other hand, it might well be that he is a titan willing to challenge both civil and ecclesiastical authorities in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. At the end of the day he may well challenge the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury. Prophets are never popular when they speak the truth with his kind of clarity.

It is hard not to imagine that this is all not going to coalesce in one almighty ecclesiastical and theological tsunami that will sweep right over Dr. Rowan Williams and Western liberalism generally, destroying as it goes, leaving behind a purified church.

DOMESTICALLY, heat is being generated in the DIOCESE OF FLORIDA. You can read a statement by the Rev. Sam Pascoe, Rector of Grace Church, Jacksonville, at this link. http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2969

Father Pascoe rips Bishop John Howard over his statement that Grace Church has not supported the Diocese of Florida. He provides some statistics.

"Since 1986, when I became rector, Grace Church has voluntarily contributed $1,214,275 to the diocese of Florida for the support of diocesan ministry," Father Pascoe writes. "ADDITIONALLY, the people of Grace Church have paid out $755,000 to purchase additional property which the diocese says belongs to them. ADDITIONALLY, the people of Grace Church have paid $297,708 to insure the buildings the diocese says belong to them. ADDITIONALLY, the people of Grace Church have paid out $998,313 to maintain and improve those same buildings. Thus, since 1986, Grace Church alone has added value to the diocese to the tune of $3,265,296. AND, these figures do not even include money spent by Grace Day School over that same period to build and maintain six other buildings. Therefore, during the period I have been rector of Grace Church, the actual total money raised for the support of various diocesan ministries by the people of Grace Church approaches $4,000,000." In a final blast, Father Pascoe says he has not received one penny from the diocese that has ever been used to purchase, maintain, insure, or renovate any of Grace Church's property. Will this stop Howard? One doubts it.

IN another act of total control Bishop Howard fired Richard Kaufmann the head of the Summer Camp program at Camp Weed and replaced him with the bishop's new administrator and shadow, Paul Van Brunt, who will only be part-time at the camp. They have done to Kaufmann what they did to Becky Peeples, the former treasurer, a source wrote VirtueOnline.

IN CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE, this past Sunday, Bishop V. Gene Robinson turned up at All Saints Anglican Church, an ACA/TAC parish not quite two years old, many of whose founding members broke away from the Episcopal Church over his consecration in 2003. A source who asked not be named wrote VirtueOnline to say that Bishop Robinson showed up unannounced at about a minute before 1 p.m. (mass is at 1 p.m.) in a purple shirt/collar and pectoral cross. He came in the entrance at the front of the church next to the pulpit (everyone could see him enter), and he sat in a pew in the middle of the church. He stayed for the entire service. He went forward to the rail for communion but instead received a blessing. He was not disrespected by anyone during the service. "I'm sure it was obvious to most everyone present who he was," the source said. "He stayed to the end of mass, introduced himself to a few people on a one-on-one basis, had a few words with the rector (he was heard to say that he was 'disappointed' that he couldn't receive) and left. He did not stay for coffee fellowship, for any type of ecumenical 'speech,' or to explain or comment on his unexpected and unannounced visit."

Ironically' the first service of All Saints was on the feast of All Saints (Nov. 1, 2003). which incidentally was the eve of Robinson's consecration in Durham, N.H. One wonders how this will go down with the revisionist parishes and their priests in New Hampshire when they get this news!

IN ATLANTA recently on a three-day speaking tour I ran into a couple formerly from St. Luke's, the former parish of one Charles E. Bennison, now the bishop of Pennsylvania. The couple talked openly about Bennison's time there, as they are not under the gag order not to reveal why he left. They said he was FIRED. He was given a severance package/payout to get lost, and this was a liberal parish to begin with. He was totally incompetent, the couple said. They were at this church for 50 years before leaving. "He screwed up the wedding plans for our daughter, among other things," they told me. The bishop of Atlanta did not intervene when the church dumped Bennison. "His last sermon was an angry outburst at the congregation, and then he stormed out," the couple said.

THE KATRINA HURRICANE news continues. I have posted a few stories, including more news from the frontline and the Rev. Jerry Kramer in New Orleans and some links to dioceses in the area. You can see a video report with St. Mark's in Mississippi, whose people are determined to rebuild Gulf Coast congregations, at this link. http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_64854_ENG_HTM.htm.

In the Diocese of Louisiana you can learn what Hurricane Katrina has done and its impact on the diocese: ConnectEDOLA.org

IN THE DIOCESE OF CENTRAL NEW YORK, Bishop Gladstone B. (Skip) Adams has extended the inhibition against the Rev. David Bollinger. You can read what the vestry of his church, St. Paul's, Owego has to say about that. It's a hard-hitting attack on the bishop that he won't soon forget. Interestingly, the Standing Committee was not permitted to read the vestry's letter because "it might taint their view of the situation," said a source. Of course it would. Heaven forbid they should learn the truth. Keep them ignorant, keep them blind, then the bishop can manipulate them.

A READER wrote to say that the BISHOP OF OHIO, Mark Hollingsworth, slipped into the DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH and celebrated the Eucharist at a retreat center without informing Bishop Robert Duncan of his presence. "Did you in fact celebrate the Eucharist and did you inform Bishop Duncan?" I asked Hollingsworth in an e-mail. He did not respond. Duncan's office said it didn't know anything about such a visitation.

Bishop Duncan of the DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH has sent out a pre-convention report to all his clergy for their 140th annual convention. He wrote: "The ten months since our last convention have been filled with both triumphs and defeats, with both advances and setbacks, as is true in any year. Nevertheless, our local story has far more to do with developments beyond our borders than has been true in most years of our long history, far more to do with a context that is certainly no ordinary season in the life of the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Communion or global Christianity."

Duncan bewailed "the Calvary Lawsuit" brought against the diocese by its revisionist rector, the Rev. Harold Lewis, and said "the divisions of the Episcopal Church occasioned by innovations in Faith and Order have had the most wide-ranging consequences, not least in anxieties over the long-term ownership and stewardship of property. At its very heart, that is what the ad litem lawsuit brought by the Rector and Vestry of Calvary Church (and subsequently joined by the Rector and Vestry of St. Stephen's, Wilkinsburg) is about: Who can be counted on to be the faithful trustees of diocesan assets?"

Duncan said that at the 139th Annual Convention he invoked Canon 15 (Section 6) of his local canons in order that all might understand the Scriptural and ecclesiological issues (not property issues) involved in such a suit. "In doing so I also stated that I was doing what I did in order that efforts at settlement might be advanced," he wrote. "I am happy to report that the last ten months have been focused on efforts toward settlement. As I write this report we appear very close to a settlement."

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH has come out with a statement saying that men with "strong homosexual inclinations" should not be enrolled in seminaries, even if they have remained celibate for years. The argument is that homosexuality is, by definition, "intrinsically disordered" and may pose a sexual threat to people as well as alienating heterosexual seminarians. Interesting when you think about it. We have orthodox bishops in ECUSA who allow allegedly celibate homosexuals to function in the ECUSA, and we have a sodomite bishop permitted to ordain other sodomite priests! Perhaps all the ECUSA bishops should be made to sit down with their RC counterparts and check them out for homophobia.

AN INTERESTING observation on the Culture Wars: an Absolutely Fabulous generation of ageing hipsters with straitlaced children is emerging across Australia, as flower-power parents grow old dis-gracefully and are viewed with amazement by their offspring.

New research has found that 50-somethings have clung to baby boomer ideals of the 1960s and '70s, with a relaxed attitude towards such matters as prostitution, premarital sex, and divorce. However, like Eddy's bespectacled daughter Saffy in the sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous," typical 20-somethings are more conservative than their parents and are happy to settle down with partners, mortgages, and steady jobs.

Clemenger BBDO, a marketing and communications agency, came up with this picture through a study of 600 people, which it compared to a similar snapshot taken in 1978.

Attitudes prevalent among the middle-aged include an impatience with fussy food, an appetite for the good life, and a positive outlook. Their children, however, are more into spirituality than they are into the Sex Pistols. They worry about healthy food, feel that religion plays a strong part in their lives, and are believers in marriage and the family. "It's a very strange phenomenon," said Clemenger BBDO's managing director, Jim Moser. "Relative to what their parents were, this generation coming through is very conservative." One suspects that is equally true in the U.S. Certainly a recent article by David Brooks in the New York Times would confirm that.

This writer can confirm that. My stepdaughter grew up in a single-parent home for many years. She went through high school and university and did graduate work without getting involved in sex, drugs or rock 'n roll. She became a master teacher in the public school system, met a Christian man, got married, adopted two children from Vietnam, lives happily in Roanoke, Va., attends an Episcopal Church, and is raising her family as solid believing Christians. This may well be more the norm now. If the Episcopal Church ever figures it out, it will discover that "inclusion" is a dead-end street and that what is called for is transformation ... and this generation might just be proving that.

A recent poll by Ipsos covering 10 countries shows that the United States is by far one of the most religious cultures on our planet. While the new pope, Benedict XVI, laments how Europe has lost her way and is becoming a secular community, religious vibrancy among the masses is so high in the United States that one can hardly cover politics and not run into it. France was on the other end of the spectrum with the highest percentage of nonbelievers in God, while South Korea was second in unbelief. Only Mexico of the 10 countries surveyed comes close to the United States in religious fervency.

VIRTUEONLINE, since it was Googled, has roared ahead with thousands more going daily to the Web site. We are fast approaching 8 million hits! To keep it going we need your financial support. Without it, we would be forced to close down.

Please take a moment to sit down and write out a tax deductible check to:

VIRTUEONLINE
1236 Waterford Rd
West Chester, PA 19380

If you want to make a donation electronically, you can do so by going to the Web site: http://www.virtueonline.org and hitting the PAYPAL link. Thank you for your support.

All blessings,

David W. Virtue, DD