The Episcopal Church seems determined to commit ecclesiastical suicide, electing homosexual bishops, looking the other way when same-sex unions are blessed, and generally allowing just about any heresy to find a voice and a constituency - often among its bishops. --- Albert Mohler, Columnist and SBC President

Christianity is called and actually is the Church, that is, the real Body of Christ, whose Body Christ Himself is the head. The Church is the unity of all worlds, earthly and heavenly, of angels and men, of dead and alive. We obtain communion with God, we participate in God's uncreated energy. God is not isolated in heaven, governing history from there, but He rules the world with His uncreated energies, that is, with His uncreated governing energy. We do not aim at appeasing God, but at healing ourselves, so that the vision of God becomes light for us and not fire. Furthermore, in the Church we experience eternal life from now. We do not simply expect the life to come, but we enjoy it from now. The Kingdom of God, according to the Fathers, is not life beyond death, but it is communion with God -- the vision of the uncreated Light. ---Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

Most Americans sit and watch with total oblivion of the march of Islam into America. In 1990, only 100,000 Muslims inhabited the United States. Today, over eight million spread across the country with over 1,000 mosques and growing. We import over 1,500 Muslim refugees every thirty days into America. They stand in diametrical opposition to a republican form of government and equal rights for women.

Remember the Blood of Christ. I charge you never to give up the old doctrine of the blood of Christ, the complete satisfaction which that atoning blood made for sin, and the impossibility of being saved except by that blood. Let nothing tempt you to believe that it is enough to look only at the example of Christ, or only to receive the sacrament which Christ commanded to be received, for which many nowadays worship like an idol. When you come to your deathbed, you will want something more than an example and a sacrament. Take heed that you are found resting all your weight on Christ's substitution for you on the cross, and His atoning blood, or it will be better if you had never been born. --- Bishop J.C. Ryle

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
March 5, 2010

The Bishop of South Carolina, the Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence is rapidly becoming the poster boy for Episcopal victimhood. With four dioceses under legal siege, it would appear that a fifth is in the making. The orthodox bishop is also taking it in the neck from liberals in his own diocese about suggestions he might be taking the diocese out of TEC.

To date, he has done nothing of the sort. He has studiously avoided any talk of secession despite the fact that the Presiding Bishop has hired an attorney along with demands that Lawrence turn up various documents about the condition of the diocese. Is this preparation for a legal war? Is the PB herself building a legal case against him? It certainly looks like it. Lawrence has postponed his upcoming diocesan convention.

This is looking more and more like the Battle of the Bulge, with the good guys telling the PB in no uncertain terms that she and her strategy are "nuts". Of course there are underlying theological issues, but as Lawrence has mentioned on more than one occasion, The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and many of its parishes have an established history predating that of The Episcopal Church.

This Diocese is one of the founding members of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. I have written about this and posted Bishop Lawrence's letter to his diocese.

A group calling themselves "Enthusiastically Episcopalian" took out a one page ad in the Post and Courier newspapers this past week to announce that a liberal Episcopal leader, Dr. Frank Wade would be speaking Saturday at a one-day Episcopal Forum to preach his "inclusive" gospel to low country types.

If Mrs. Jefferts Schori is stirring up the pot, she has found a brilliant method for doing so. Watch and learn how the liberals try to undermine this godly bishop. Read VOL next week for a response from a theologian who is watching all this from within the walls.

*****

The Diocese of Missouri announced today that it has given consents to lesbian bishop-elect Mary Glasspool to be the next suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles. As the diocese only needed one more vote to go over the top, this might well be it. Watch for bells to ring and the Hallelujah Chorus to be sung while lesbian Integrity leader Susan Russell shouts ecstatic cries of justice and sexual freedom for all, if and when it happens.

*****

Recent reports and statistics on the decline of the Diocese of Northern California now have an added factor: Thrice married Bishop Barry Beisner announced at a recent clergy conference that same-sex blessings are now allowed, using the "proposed" rites that have come down from on high. Giving a "gracious pastoral response" (as urged by the last General Convention) towards gays apparently means blessing behavior which Scripture and 4000 years of Judea-Christian moral codes condemn. It has not occurred to the liberals that the most gracious pastoral response to gays would be to call them to repentance and a change of life style. Not a prayer.

*****

In La Crescenta, California, St. Luke's Anglican Church lost their final appeal to the Supreme Court when it denied them their property. The court did not give reasons for the denials. "This is well and truly the end of the legal road for us and I know some of you are disappointed that we will never recover our property and that this kind of injustice will continue in other legal battles across the country. We especially think of our sister churches, St. David's, All Saints and St. James and the road before them. Do keep them and other sister churches further afield in your prayers," wrote the Rev. Rob Holman.

"I know others of you are relieved that the legal wrangling is over and we can be about the work of the Gospel unhindered. Or you may be feeling a mixture of both disappointment and relief, as am I. Where ever you are, know that we will continue to walk forward together and that our Lord is with us."

*****

In the Diocese of Washington, one day after same-sex marriage became legal in the District of Columbia, Bishop John Chane announced that all his priests in the nation's capital may preside at those marriages. "Through the grace of Holy Baptism, there are no second class members of the Body of Christ," Chane said in a news release. "We are of equal value in the eyes of God, and any one of us may be called by the Holy Spirit into holy relationships as well as Holy Orders."

Under guidelines set by Chane and released March 4, no priest is required to preside at such ceremonies. Like some other Episcopal Church bishops, Chane already permitted the clergy in his diocese to bless same-gender relationships.

The Episcopal Church's General Convention last July passed Resolution C056, saying that bishops, "particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this church."

The arrival of same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia this week was celebrated by left-leaning clergy including Chane. Groups such as Clergy United for Marriage Equality have promoted same-sex marriage, which they have framed as a justice and equality issue. They have not supported efforts to gain an exemption for religious organizations or individuals.

As a result, organizations or individuals that "discriminate" between traditional marriage and homosexual relationships must either violate their consciences or face possible hostile action by the Federal government. The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington repeatedly warned that its foster care and public adoption program would not be able to continue under the new law because the archdiocese prefers to place children with man-woman married couples.

According to the archdiocese, "although Catholic Charities has an 80- year legacy of high quality service to the vulnerable in our nation's capital, the D.C. Government informed Catholic Charities that the agency would be ineligible to serve as a foster care provider due to the impending D.C. same sex marriage law."

*****

In the Diocese of the Rio Grande a judge changed his mind over a church property dispute and has ordered a trial in the case. The Diocese of Rio Grande and the Episcopal Church thought they'd received a favorable court ruling in a property dispute involving St. Francis on-the-Hill Episcopal Church in El Paso which disaffiliated from the local diocese and from the Episcopal Church.

Apparently not. The judge changed his mind and ordered both parties to appear in 210th District Court in El Paso County, Texas. He basically said he wants to make a decision based on findings of fact, that he wants this to go to trial, either a bench trial or a jury trial. No trial date has been set. You can read the full story in today's digest.

*****

In England this past week, the British finally leapt off the cliff when parliament voted to lift a ban on religious ceremonies being conducted for civil partnerships. Because of other legislation in recent years, purporting to be about equality, this latest change will create an even more difficult environment for Christians. Clergy of the established Church will be under particular pressure to conduct services which they in conscience believe to be wrong.

They may face the threat of legal action if they insist on following their conscience. Parliament has increasingly sought to interfere in religious affairs. Church Society, a group of evangelical Anglicans wrote, "We remain convinced that the recognition of Civil Partnerships by the state was a grave mistake and one which our nation will come to regret.

It is one of a number of policies that have undermined families. Families are the fundamental building block of society. The collapse of families and family life is having terrible consequences for individuals, particularly children, and will erode society further.

In this, as in other areas, we are witnessing political leaders who are abandoning the wisdom of God in preference for the folly of man. "The mainstream parties have all abandoned the Christian moral tradition and the Biblical foundations of our legal and education systems. Christians will not want to vote for political parties who are antagonistic to their beliefs and who are acting to prevent Christians living in accordance with their faith."

A VOL reader wrote, "The HoB here has, in effect, instructed us to give Communion to anyone in any irregular lifestyle. And we can be sued for defamation if we refuse." This is the next step in TEC if an orthodox priest dares to deny a sodomite communion.

*****

If you want to see exactly what it will look like in TEC in the not too distant future, see what this Roman Catholic priest faced in the Netherlands when gay Catholics protested his refusal to give them the sacrament because he would not subscribe to their behavior. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8542285.stm

*****

It was no surprise really but in Orlando, Florida, this week The Anglican Church in America(ACA), the U.S. branch of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), announced that they will seek communion with the Roman Catholic Church under new Vatican guidelines released in the fall. The TAC and Forward in Faith US are part of a movement of Anglicans seeking union with Rome. They believe GAFCON is not the way forward for them that a number of bishops will ordain women as priests which they oppose.

They are also opposed to the practice of ordaining practicing homosexuals and the blessing of homosexual unions. The ACA's House of Bishops met with their Primate of the TAC, Archbishop John Hepworth. Representatives from Forward in Faith UK and from "Anglican Use" Catholic parishes also joined them. The latter have already united with Rome under previous pastoral provisions. "At this meeting, the decision was made formally to request the implementation of the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus in the United States of America by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith," a press release reads.

There are four ACA dioceses across the US, with approximately 100 parishes.

In England, a group, called Friends of the Ordinariate (FOTO) has been set up by Anglicans in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Their website displays the logos of their respective Churches. Membership in the Friends does not imply a firm intention to convert, but obviously the bulk of members are interested in Pope Benedict's offer to Anglo-Catholics who feel compelled to make this spiritual journey.

Most Anglicans, to their credit, have shown sympathy and generosity towards those of their brethren considering this move. Most, not all. The other day, Friends of the Ordinariate received a charming communication from the Anglican Church in Wales, threatening legal action if they remove their logo from under the Church of Wales. An attorney told them not to remove the church's logo from the website or face the courts. They complied. Does anyone know the Welsh for "mean-spirited"?

*****

Does Mrs. Jefferts Schori have a hidden agenda: Keep the Church of Scotland from acknowledging ACNA perhaps? She tried with the CofE and failed. Now she has been invited to visit the General Synod of the Episcopal Church of Scotland in June to give a brief address. The Presiding Bishop expects to speak on the subject of mission and to attend a Synod Dinner that evening. In this setting, she will have a golden opportunity to explain why "mission" equals litigation in TEC and why she is suing churches she neither built nor has any fiduciary claim to.

*****

St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral in London Ontario, Canada the mother church of the Diocese of Huron is in serious trouble. The latest Vestry Report has revealed that the church is only being kept open by profits earned from the church owned Woodland Cemetery, purchased in the 1800's by Bishop Benjamin Cronyn.

So we have, irony of ironies, a cathedral kept alive by death. The church also has many rental properties as it encompasses four city blocks in London. There are not enough souls attending St. Paul's and now they are running out of money, a reader told VOL. Might this be the new evangelism of the Anglican Church of Canada? Hope springs eternal.

*****

Integrity USA, the Episcopal Church's unofficial pansexual organization, smelling victory following GC2009 resolutions and in full pursuit of pansexual acceptance, is stepping up the pressure on bishops and clergy alike. They have a new strategic plan. The Vice President for Local Affairs, Neil Houghton, will meet with Integrity Province Coordinators across the country to develop and implement plans to strengthen local leadership and chapters. "The next steps for Integrity are to work at provincial and diocesan levels to make the legislative victories at GC2009 a reality everywhere," said Houghton. "This means working directly with dioceses and congregations for the full inclusion of all the baptized into the sacraments of the church."

*****

The Episcopal Church's Washington National Cathedral hosted a Christian-Muslim Summit featuring an Iranian Ayatollah March 1-3 "for a candid discussion of matters affecting Christian-Muslim relations and peacemaking efforts worldwide." Institute on Religion and Democracy Religious Liberty Director Faith McDonnell has expressed concerns that the summit will be an exercise in capitulation and appeasement to Islamists.

"We do not know what will be included in the 'candid discussion of matters' at the Christian-Muslim Summit, but we do know what should be on the agenda. Peacemaking efforts would be furthered if both Sunni and Shi'a would denounce the global jihad against infidels that has been responsible for the death of millions around the world." CANA Canon Julian Dobbs who attended the "dialog" between Christianity and Islam, which included Episcopal Bishop John Chane, committed himself and appealed to fellow believers to promote respect for all human life, religious freedom as an integral part of human rights and to confront issues of unjust treatment, violence and oppression of women and children.

"While these are commendable goals, it is difficult to know exactly how these Christian leaders intend to make tangible and measurable progress in their 'dialog' while Islam has no intention to amend the draconian and medieval aspects of shari'a law," said Dobbs.

"In Islam, Jews and Christians are given second class status. There are restrictions placed upon them which are designed to reinforce their second class standing. Of serious concern is Islam's apostasy law which prescribes the death penalty of any Muslim male who leaves the faith and refuses to return to Islam. There are other penalties such as the loss of inheritance rights and the annulment of marriage - all to be reinstated or returned when the convert returns to Islam."

*****

Did you know that Charles Darwin was a financial supporter of The South American Mission Society (SAMS)? It's true. Some two million people have been affected by the earthquake in Chile, with hundreds more having been killed. This earthquake was only slightly stronger than the one experienced by Charles Darwin in Chile, 175 years ago, almost to the day.

As part of his journey on HMS Beagle, Darwin wrote to his sister Caroline speaking of the awful spectacle of the ruins, the violence of the shock that he experienced at Valdivia, and how he was filled with wonder at witnessing "such desolation produced in three minutes of time."

This experience, coupled with the diversity of species on the Galapagos Islands, began to undermine his view of the world as a finely designed and finished divine clock. He saw the world as a place of pain, suffering and waste. "One second of time" he said, "has conveyed to the mind a strange idea of insecurity".

This idea of insecurity can be a reminder that we are not in charge of nature and are sometimes at its mercy. Darwin didn't accept a simplistic reconciliation of a loving God and the earthquake in Chile. Yet surprisingly, he gave small but on-going support to the South American Missionary Society. Possibly he recognized genuine compassionate action and wanted to help.

Perhaps for Darwin and for us the theological questions may never be fully solved, but the cry of those in need cannot be ignored.

*****

If you want to know where the largest Protestant churches stand on gay and lesbian clergy read the following:

-UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: 7.9 million U.S. members. The most conservative of the largest mainline denominations on gay clergy. An effort to repeal a ban on noncelibate gay clergy failed at the church's last General Conference, in 2008.

-EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA: 4.7 million U.S. members. The church voted in August to strike down a policy that required celibacy of gay clergy, becoming the largest U.S. denomination to take that position. The change allows those in committed same-gender relationships to be on official ELCA church rosters and serve as pastors at congregations that want them.

-PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA): 2.9 million U.S. members. Ministers must live in "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness." The church's General Assembly voted in 2008 to drop that requirement, but the move did not receive required approval from presbyteries.

-EPISCOPAL CHURCH: 2.1 million U.S. members. The splintering global Anglican fellowship has moved to the brink of a full schism since the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop. Last July, the Episcopal General Convention approved a resolution saying "God has called and may call" gays in committed relationships to any ordained ministry in the church.

-AMERICAN BAPTIST CHURCHES IN THE USA: 1.3 million U.S. members. Holds that "the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." The Baptist tradition emphasizes local autonomy, and some churches have appointed openly gay ministers, creating tensions.

-UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: 1.1 million U.S. members. Boasts a long track record of welcoming gay clergy. Allowed ordination of an openly gay man and openly lesbian woman in the 1970s. Ordination of practicing homosexuals was officially accepted in 1980.

*****

Anglicans in North America can reach out to support the Anglican Diocese of Chile. The Anglican Relief and Development Fundis setting aside donations to meet needs. On Sunday, February 28, there was a major earthquake, centered near the second largest city in Chile, Concepcion, but causing significant damage as far as 500 kilometers north in Santiago.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, the Anglican Relief and Development Fund has been in contact with Bishop Hector "Tito" Zavala, bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Chile. Bishop Zavala traveled to Concepcion on March 2 to personally assess the damage there.

ARDF has placed a donation button at http://www.anglicanaid.net/?/mail/page/22 for donations for Chile relief and recovery and will be working to offer concrete support for the work of the Diocese of Chile in the weeks ahead.

Anglicans in Chile are part of the Province of the Southern Cone. Bishop Zavala has traveled extensively in North America and has been a consistent friend and supporter of the Anglican Church in North America.

More information about the Anglican Diocese of Chile is also available at http://www.iachcl/2010/ Checks may be sent to: The Anglican Relief and Development Fund PO Box 3830 Pittsburgh, PA 15230-3830 ...with the word "Chile" in the memo line.

Archbishop Greg Venables himself writes: "Bishop Tito (Bishop of Chile) and his team are leading inspiring Anglican work throughout Chile. This earthquake represents both a setback and a great opportunity to demonstrate the reality of the transformation Christ brings through his Spirit working through his people. I hope we can support our brethren in Christ in Chile strongly at this time. "

*****

FACTOID. Between 1992 and 2004 when Katharine Jefferts Schori was Bishop of Nevada, the population of the state rose from 1.3 million to 2.6 million. During her tenure as bishop, the diocese's Average Sunday Attendance declined from 2,600 to 2,100. The 10 dioceses with the biggest percentage of declines in ASA, and the percentage change in population are:

DIOCESE ASA STATE POP CHANGE
1. Rochester: -25.449 1.833
2. Eastern Michigan: -23.872 6.919
3. Central New York: -23.812 -2.927
4. Western New York: -23.315 -3.013
5. Western Massachusetts: -22.341 5.584
6. Spokane: -22.162 20.932
7. South Dakota: -19.907 8.738
8. Iowa: -19.895 5.201
9. Northern Michigan: -19.885 -0.742
10. Western Louisiana: -19.788 4.245

Overall ASA for The Episcopal Church is 680,000, now below the 700,000 mark.

*****

In Cape Town, South Africa The Minister of Arts and Culture, Ms Lulu Xingwana walked out of an art exhibition she was supposed to be opening on grounds that it was pornographic. Xingwana said, "Our mandate is to promote social cohesion and nation building. I left the exhibition because it expressed the very opposite of this." This has sent shockwaves through the secular art community who is protesting her action.

Likewise the homosexual lobby is angry because the pornographic art showed nude homosexuals embracing. She has taken a courageous stand. It is an example others should follow by saying "No" to pornography in public places such as shops, art galleries, billboards, at a time when many even among Christians are compromising by silently accepting such things as a result of being deceived by the postmodern message of "tolerance" of sexual evil.

*****

From an Australian correspondent comes this word from a VOL reader. "I write to you from Australia where I currently attend an Anglican church in the Diocese of North Queensland. Unfortunately, like you have experienced in the US and Canada, the Anglican Church in Australia has been overrun by liberalism and apathy. While my diocese is not really so "political" or "controversial", at the local level some rather spurious actions can be seen.

"A few weeks ago, in my neighboring diocese a priest invited a defrocked Catholic priest into his church as a 'guest preacher'. This defrocked Catholic priest (Peter Kennedy) basically denies the divinity of Jesus. (See here: http://www.facebook.com/l/b5a22;www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story/2010/02/13/meet-the-priest-who-doesnt-believe-in-god/) "In my local parish, our new feminist, liberal priest is trying to get us involved in her favorite meditative tool, making and then walking labyrinths.

The accompanying literature refers to God as "He or She".... Yes, folks, we're slowly following the way of your TEC. "The only shining lights here are in Sydney (evangelicals) and Ballarat and The Murray (Anglo-Catholics).

I wonder with your experience and with the FoCA/GAFCon movement whether or not there could be a push to have the beginnings of a separate orthodox Anglican structure established within my country?"

Hang in their mate help is on the way.

*****

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