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COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org December 21, 2024 It should be apparent, even to the feeblest minded, that the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops is hiding a modern day ‘brood of vipers” increasingly being exposed as corrupt, as they fail to do their sworn duty to teach and uphold wholesome doctrine, and to banish and drive away all erroneous and strange opinions. Their egregious behavior in upholding sexual positions especially and including homosexual marriage is contrary to scripture is just part of the problem. What is emerging now, courtesy of the feisty blogger Anglican Watch, are bishops who have deliberately turned a deaf ear and the cries of those abused by clergy and their own behavior, all the while these same bishops sanctimoniously uphold diversity raising holy hands of inclusion in the name of their revisionist god. But their days might be numbered. The new incoming Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe is showing some cojones when it comes to bad boy and bad girl bishops. A case in point is his clamp down on the former Bishop of Rochester Prince Singh, of whom it might be said showed nothing princely about his person or diocesan reign. He might have gotten away with the abuse of his wife and two sons under former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, but Rowe has confronted his behavior head on and has suspended him for three years from ministry, holding him personally responsible and accountable for his appalling behavior. Singh, an Indian, got his head handed to him when his two sons wrote a letter to then presiding bishop Michael Curry about their father’s abuse of their mother, a woman he later divorced only to return to India to find an old flame and beat it back to America for his pension and other episcopal goodies. Curry cowardly recused himself thinking perhaps it would all go away, all the while preaching emotional love sermons, making a mockery of the very love that demands accountability. Todd Ousley, the worst intake officer in the church’s history, and recently dumped by Rowe, buried it all hoping that it would all go away. But the sons persisted and went public with knowledge of their father’s abusive behavior. Rowe took up the case and Singh was raked over the coals and told to repent, something bishops are exceedingly bad at doing, largely because they think they are closer to God because their miters point in a heavenly direction. But Rowe nailed him. Here is what he has done. He has  suspended Bishop Singh  for three years in settlement of two of the Title IV clergy disciplinary cases against him. Per the terms of the disciplinary agreement, reinstatement is neither automatic nor guaranteed but rather predicated on the successful completion of mental health and substance abuse treatment and counseling about the appropriate use of power and authority.  Specific provisions under the accord per a letter from  Rowe : ·  Be suspended from ministry for at least three more years. The suspension will conclude only when I am satisfied he is fit for ministry. ·  Undergo a thorough psychiatric and psychological assessment conducted by a professional in the United States designated by me. ·  Participate in truth-telling work related to both sets of allegations. ·  Participate in psychological work, education, and training in domestic abuse as required by me in consultation with a psychological professional. ·  Participate in psychological work, education, and training in anger management, as required by me in consultation with a psychological professional. ·  Participate in psychological work, education, and training in proper exercise of authority, as required by me in consultation with a psychological professional. ·  Undertake work addressing his relationship with alcohol and its behavioral consequences in a program approved by me. ·  Undertake work to address reputational harm suffered by people in the Diocese of Rochester as appropriate. ·  Make visits and apologies to people, congregations, and other groups whom I identify and who are willing. ·  Participate in education and training in Title IV values, process, and procedures. Some of the specific Title IV allegations against Singh are now online and can be found  here . https://www.anglicanwatch.com/bishop-singh-suspended-for-three-years-as-the-episcopal-church-shows-a-glimmer-of-integrity/ To my knowledge No presiding bishop in living memory has been this aggressive. Score one for the youngest presiding bishop in episcopal history socking it to one of the oldest bishops in the church. No love sermons here. But Singh is not the only offender. There are a number of bishops who should be brought up on Title IV charges reported by Anglican Watch . They include: Todd Ousley, Michael Curry, Glenda Curry, and Alan Gates, along with many other Episcopal bishops who are equally guilty of Title IV shenanigans, including knowingly mishandling complaints. Among these bishops are: ·  Clay Mathews , whose behavior during his tenure in the Office of Pastoral Development was every bit as feckless as that of piece-o’-snot Todd Ousley. ·  Alan Gates , who has knowingly brushed off allegations of criminal conduct by clergy in his diocese and gravely mishandled the Anderson case at Church of the Advent. ·  Shannon Johnston , who repeatedly ignored the requirements of Title IV, ranging from the need for a pastoral response to simply saying, “I don’t want to get involved,” even in the face of allegations of criminal conduct by clergy. He also covered up allegations of sexual harassment of an adult woman by Episcopal priest Stephen McWhorter, then canonically resident in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. ·  George Sumner , whose retaliation against Episcopal priest Rich Daly, support for the sexual harassment of an adult woman, and his deliberate mishandling of an ensuing Title IV complaint warrant immediate suspension. Meanwhile, the Title IV case against Sumner, which was filed with the appropriate intake officer more than a year ago, still has not even cleared the intake phase. ·  Susan Goff , who has refused to forward allegations of criminal conduct by clergy under her supervision to the diocesan intake officer. ·  Jennifer Brooke-Davidson , who also has refused to forward allegations of criminal conduct by clergy under her supervision to the diocesan intake officer. ·  Chilton Knudsen , who has held as acting bishop diocesan, that allegations of criminal conduct by a priest are not “of weighty and material importance to the ministry of the church.” She also has refused to report child sexual abuse to law enforcement on two known occasions. ·  Gayle Harris , who has refused to forward allegations of criminal conduct by clergy to her diocesan intake officer. ·  Paula Clark , who continues to sandbag allegations of perjury by Episcopal priest  Will Bouvel . Additionally, myriad canons to the ordinary, intake officers, and disciplinary board members, including  Bill Parnell ,  Rob Morpeth ,  Melissa Hollerith , and others, need to make themselves scarce or be defrocked. The days of episcopal wine and roses is clearly over. A new dawn has dawned under a new presiding bishop. And he is not prepared to sweep the sins of episcopal bishops under the rug. We will watch with interest to see where it is all going. END

The Children’s Society said it is committed to supporting survivors of abuse and accepting the donation would not be consistent with its principles.   By Aine Fox, PA Social Affairs Correspondent Shropshire News Dec. 20, 2024 The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby had chosen to make a donation to The Children’s Society but they have declined the offer (Andrew Milligan/PA) A children’s charity has rejected a Christmas donation from the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, saying that accepting it would not be consistent with its work in supporting victims of child sexual abuse. Earlier this week Justin Welby – who will officially quit in early January over failures in handling a Church of England abuse scandal – sent an annual e-card for the festive season, and said he was making a donation to The Children’s Society. A message accompanying the card from Mr Welby and his wife Caroline noted that the charity “works with children affected by criminal and sexual exploitation, abuse” and other issues. But the charity announced on Friday that it had “respectfully decided” not to accept the donation. Mark Russell, the organization's chief executive, said: “After careful consideration, we have respectfully decided not to accept the donation offered by the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury.   “The Children’s Society is deeply committed to supporting the survivors of abuse, our teams support victims of child sexual abuse, and this means that accepting this donation would not be consistent with the principles and values that underpin our work.”   Mr. Welby announced last month he was resigning from his leading role in the Church “in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse” in the wake of the Makin Review.   The resignation announcement followed days of pressure after the independent review concluded barrister John Smyth – thought to have been the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church – might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported him to police in 2013.   Across five decades in three different countries and involving as many as 130 boys and young men in the UK and Africa, Smyth is said to have subjected his victims to traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks, permanently marking their lives.   Smyth died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police, and was “never brought to justice for the abuse”, the Makin report said.   Mr. Russell added: “We were profoundly shocked by the findings of the Makin report, and our thoughts are with all survivors of abuse. We believe that there is an urgent need for the Church of England to reset its approach to safeguarding and continue to create a safer Church and safer spaces for young people, protected by real accountability and a culture of care.     “The Children’s Society’s life-changing work supports children facing abuse, exploitation or struggling with their mental health. We remain deeply grateful for the generosity of those who share our vision and the support of those donations is crucial to changing children’s lives for the better. We will continue to focus on delivering a society built for all children.”   A spokesperson for the archbishop said: “Lambeth Palace respects the decision made by The Children’s Society.   “The Archbishop of Canterbury shares the principles and values of The Children’s Society and is committed to supporting the survivors of abuse and victims of child sexual abuse.   “He applauds The Children’s Society for their tireless work in this field.”

By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org December 13, 2024   A lot is being made of culture, realignment and restructuring as churches look to regroup after massive losses over the past few years.   Around 40 million Americans have stopped attending church in the past 25 years, with estimates suggesting that "another 2 million Americans" could potentially be leaving the church, contributing to a growing trend of declining church attendance across the country; this is often referred to as "the great dechurching." Mainline denominations are in free fall.   What can be done about it? The Episcopal Church is by no means the biggest loser but a new Presiding Bishop and his bishops are talking up realignment and restructuring as they watch the numbers drop year over year hoping to reverse the trend. You can read Bishop Sean Rowe's aspirations here:  https://www.oaoa.com/people/religion/sean-rowe-wants-to-realign-the-episcopal-church/   Reading through the various options on the situation it looks very much like the bishops are rearranging the deck chairs on the SS TEC but with fewer chairs.   The bishops met at the DoubleTree Hilton Minneapolis Airport recently, and another 55 participated virtually and tried doing just that.   To get The Episcopal Church on the right footing, the newly minted Presiding Bishop Rowe hired Insight Global an international professional services and staffing company specializing in delivering talent and technical solutions to Fortune 1000 companies across the IT, Non-IT, Healthcare, and Engineering industries.   So, the question must be asked is, how can a secular company possibly know how a church runs, if its leadership is supposed to be aligned with God's will for the church and not just the best manager for the job. Do the managers of Insight Global hear from God about how TEC should run. Do they have spiritual or biblical insights. Do they meet the requirements of leadership laid out by the Apostle Paul such as humility, servant leadership, unwavering commitment to the truth, compassion, courage, vision, passion, adaptability, and a deep care for the spiritual growth of others; essentially prioritizing the needs of the community over personal gain, while actively leading with integrity and conviction in spreading the Gospel message to all people regardless of background.   Would the deep thinkers at Insight Global know what this even means? The company talks about developing a plan for strategic realignment. But unless the plan starts and end with God's kingdom being realized on earth then it is nothing more than rearranging deck chairs on a sinking ship. Aligning itself with the culture is not a winning strategy.   Two issues did pop up; one was on Title IV - the church's disciplinary system for clergy dominated discussion. Why am I not surprised. Anglican Watch a feisty unofficial watch dog on the sins of bishops and clergy has been kicking TEC's butt over failed disciplinary issues.   Here are some recent headlines: Sean Rowe removes bishop Todd Ousley from all Title IV functions prior to Ousley's departure later this year; Say farewell to a fraud: reflections on Title IV and the lies of Cayce Ramey; St. Paul's Dayton cuts Duplicitous Dan loose; Priest faces fraud allegations at Diocese of Dallas parish, resigns from Nashotah House board; Anglican Watch urges reconsideration of Duggan Title IV case in Chicago to cite but a few stories. You can read more here:  https://www.anglicanwatch.com/   The other issue was refocusing General Convention and the College for Bishops, with an educational program for newly elected bishops. How that will grow the diocese and parishes is anybody's guess. It is dubious to say the least.   One bishop seemed to catch on that the Church might need to focus on the Christian faith! OMG. The Rt. Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows of Indianapolis, vice chair of the House of Bishops concurred: "The heart of the matter is we want to have the Episcopal Church -- both in the aggregate and in each diocese -- be given every bit of steam it can have to make an effective witness for Jesus Christ. We talked about it being a life-and-death matter, because we believe in the dying and rising of Jesus as the core of our faith."   Well, there is a whole lot of dying going on and not much rising...and very little witnessing. Once upon a time, the Anglican bishops at the global Lambeth Conference boldly declared the 1990s the "Decade of Evangelism." It worked across the Global South, but not in the Global North.   Back 20 years ago The Episcopal Church created a "20/20 Vision" task force committed to doubling baptized membership by 2020. It was called the 20/20 strategy. One of its goals was to double average Sunday attendance (ASA) by the year 2020. It failed. The downward spiral continued. The 20/20 proposal totally flopped. Former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry's "revivals" revived nothing that we could find, but he did put on a good show.   And there is evangelism, another theme the bishops discussed. But that usually means trying to bring more alternative lifestyle pursuers into the church by pushing LGBTQ+ sexualities and pushing back on anyone who disagrees with them. Opening the doors wider to the unbaptized, or making communion available to anyone who wants it is not evangelism or pasting ashes on peoples' heads without asking if they had asked for their sins to be forgiven is not evangelism.   Therein lies the problem. Evangelism, biblically understood, is presenting the good news about Jesus, talking up repentance and confession. At its core evangelism is presenting the good news freely and trusting God to convert people.   Very few people in TEC know how to present the good news and most have never done so.   The bottom line is your average Episcopalian is going to be asked to share a faith they have not heard, bought into, or understood. If they had there would be no need for the ACNA to exist, because at the heart of the two churches there is a very different understanding of the gospel. What constitutes good news for TEC is not the same as good news promulgated by the ACNA.   TEC thinks that pushing DEI and gay marriage is good news, the ACNA does not. Railing on about racism is considered good news, but racism is not a fundamental problem in TEC with less than one percent blacks in the pews.   Pushing and advocating for LGBTQ issues is not filling churches. This crowd are not church goers. Pushing the trans cause is spiritual suicide. Switching out genitals through surgery is hardly an apologetic method to win souls for Christ.   Homosexual bishop Gene Robinson is fast becoming passe. How much more whine from pulpits about how aggrieved he is and how uninclusive the church is and how homophobic everybody is who doesn't agree with him, will average Episcopalians tolerate?   The more sexually off the rails TEC heads the worse it is all becoming. And the new presiding bishop Sean Rowe has no intention of reversing the church's stand on sexuality issues. He has made that abundantly clear.   So, if you violate the clear teaching of scripture on sexuality then why should anyone believe TEC bishops about any other doctrine the church should happily change its mind about or cavalierly discard.   TEC can't have it both ways. TEC can't proclaim a message of redemption from sin, all sin, and then give some sins a pass because the culture says so, and then hope to fill churches. It's a nonstarter. Why do evangelical churches grow? One of the reasons is a clear-eyed understanding of what grace, redemption, justification are with no compromises.   If TEC cannot proclaim a [coherent] message of redemption, then realigning and restructuring cannot stop TEC's decline. TEC will continue reaping the whirlwind of emptying churches.   END

by David G. Duggan © Special to Virtueonline www.virtueonline.org December 23, 2024   I don’t know what has happened to this world. Forty years ago, I was a captain of one of the usher crews at St. Bartholomew’s Church at 50th St. and Park Avenue in New York City. Seating over 1,200 people in pews that if people squished would accommodate 12 backsides, St. Bart’s was the largest Episcopal parish church in this hemisphere. Ushers were predominantly male, and regardless of gender dressed in pin-striped grey livery, with white shirts and a black and grey tie, unless the usher owned a morning suit with its swallow-tail jacket. White carnations were pinned to their left lapel.   Imagine my surprise when on a recent trip to NYC I walked into St. Bart’s and saw chairs instead of pews, 2" thick cushions instead of kneelers, and ushers wearing uncovered blouses, sport coats and multi-colored shirts. Even communion was dispensed, not while kneeling at the rail, but while standing at stations in the nave. Quelle sacrilege.   Back then, ushers would count the house, pass the collection plates, and guide congregants to the communion rail where vectors of priests would dispense the bread and wine. Built in the 1910s and designed by Bertram Goodhue in the Byzantine style (the only such building in Manhattan), St. Bart’s featured a mosaic and stained-glass by Hildreth Meiere, a sculpture by Gustav Thorvaldsen, and a movie-set backdrop for films as diverse as rom-com “Arthur” and spy-thriller “Salt.” After the service those ushers who had trained for the role gave tours. I was one of those.   I won’t comment on the nature of the service. Having had my connection to the Episcopal Church of my upbringing strained to the breaking point by wokesters and heretics, cowards and grifters, all I can say is that God must have a sense of humor to allow one of the cardinal parishes of creation to fall into an abyss of irrelevance greased by the triple-threat of diversity, equity and inclusion. The people whom I saw there (and did not remember me from my service decades ago) seemed to have drunk the Kool-Aid of what has become the Democratic party at prayer.   God has a long timeline. He, and He alone can stem the tide, stop the clock, and raise the dead. Perhaps those dead will include the Episcopal Church. Or perhaps not.

COMMENTARY   By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org December 26, 2024   The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith, and Order (IASCUFO) a permanent commission that advises the Anglican Communion on matters of doctrine, liturgy, canon law, and ecumenical relations, recently issued a communique following weeklong pro forma meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, earlier in December.   For the record it should be stated that this is the liberal arm of Anglicanism and is no longer well received by the vast majority of Anglicans who are orthodox in faith and morals.   The key phrase in the communique reads: “As we wrestled with our divisions, we sensed that the Communion may be moving from a season of raw and antagonistic division to one of reckoning with what will likely be a long process of resolution. We may now be able to face our theological differences and associated fractures more productively, as we seek responsible and creative ways to remain together, albeit to varying degrees. This will involve recognition of the hurt that has been caused, as well as concerted attempts to find healing for past and present wounds, and to rebuild trust.”   They acknowledged the recent release of the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals, the result of two years of study and dialogue by the commission.   “We call upon all churches of the Communion to cultivate generosity in the spirit of The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals, read the communique. Noble sentiments indeed.”   No mention was made of the Jerusalem Declaration which states that GAFCON bishops are out of communion with Western liberal Anglicans in the communion who preach and practice another ‘gospel’ that is no gospel at all.   But clearly the IASCUFO leaders saw an opening with GSFA leaders towards resolving the Communion’s divisions and cited the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals as a way forward.   To put it more simply; GAFCON are the ultra-conservatives, the GSFA are the conservatives and the rest, mainly in the west are liberals or progressives who see and affirm change for change’s sake, mainly in the area of sexuality. The  GAFCON Jerusalem Declaration speaks directly to this and repudiates it.   The proposals, which were endorsed by the Communion’s Standing Committee, call for a new description of the Anglican Communion that strikes  the phrase “communion with the See of Canterbury”. These proposals also call to elevate a senior primate to serve along with the ABC with responsibility for chairing the other Instruments of Communion."   IASCUFO says it believes the proposals have “potential to help us find a way through our divisions and disagreements within the Communion.” It encourages all of the Communion’s churches to “cultivate generosity in the spirit of the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals.”   This defangs the See of Canterbury which the Church of England might not go along with; but with the CofE in such total chaos at the moment, without a functioning leader it might be a case of striking while the iron is hot.   The CofE is a failing institution, irrelevant to the life of most Brits and increasingly irrelevant to the vast, mostly orthodox, Anglican Communion – 80 percent of whom want nothing to do with the CofE.   IASCUFO added, “Despite our divisions, the Anglican Communion needs to find ways for the contribution of the GSFA to be more fully recognized and received within its wider life and mission. We resolved that IASCUFO should reach out to the leadership of the GSFA to explore the relevance of The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals to our most immediate challenges.”   Four of IASCUFO’s 18 members are from churches that have become full members of GSFA by adopting its covenantal structure (Alexandria, Chile, Congo, and South East Asia), including all three of the primates serving on the body. Two more members are from churches that have been associated with GSFA in recent years but have not yet taken up the process of becoming full members (Burundi, Kenya), according to a report in the TLC.   But as the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion states, engagement with GAFCON will be essential if IASCUFO is fully to engage with the deep differences and divisions within the Anglican Communion.   The removal of ‘in communion with the See of Canterbury’ has been used to delegitimize the new orthodox Provinces, recognized by both the GSFA and GAFCON, (like the ACNA) and to imply that any breaking of communion with Canterbury is tantamount to leaving the Communion.   The recent decisions of the Church of England have meant that, irrespective of who the next Archbishop of Canterbury is, he or she will not be a person who guarantees that that will happen.   The elephant in the room is still Lambeth Resolution 1:10 which expressly forbids sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage. It further stated that they cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions!   Archbishop Welby, (though almost out the door) is on record saying, “I am the focus of unity and therefore I cannot and will not ever sanction or discipline another Church within the Anglican Communion.”  His approach is to let the official teaching of the Anglican Communion as it is stated in Lambeth Resolution 1.10 to stand but allow contrary practice on the ground by not exercising any discipline (including within his own Church of England).  In this way, over time, the practice will overcome the teaching, and biblically faithful doctrine will become irrelevant.   At the end of the day the current meeting of the IASCUFO and GSFA might be all smoke and mirrors.   One thing is clear; both GAFCON and the GSFA have demanded that repentance and repudiation of homosexuality and its attendant lifestyle must take place before any rapprochement can take place.  And that, it seems, it still a long way off. END

THE CITY OF MAN AGAINST THE CITY OF GOD   by David G. Duggan ©  Special to Virtueonline www.virtueonline.org December 26, 2024   Though I live in a city housing millions of souls, the pandemic, its crime and politics of unmatched corruption have largely robbed it of the vibe of city life. Crowds are shunning the downtown, remote workers don’t pack the public transit, and despite the holiday lights, the art, shopping, sports and entertainment venues don’t draw the suburbanites from their manicured lawns. It doesn’t help that its sports teams are beyond lousy.   For thousands of years, Christians and Jews have worshiped in cities. Perhaps not a requirement of the faith, cities create the critical mass and stark contrast of wealth and poverty, aloneness and congestion, sacred and profane. Mere blocks from cathedrals lie red-light districts, mere steps from high-end retailers beggars stick their hands out, and pickpockets are always prowling the streets and subways.   Though raised in rural Judea, Jesus spent about a third of his ministry in cities, principally Jerusalem, but also Capernaum and the Decapolis. He used cities as examples of places of sin worthy of redemption as a hen gathers her brood. Sometimes the crowds in the cities Jesus visited were so packed that the lame and the halt hoped simply to touch his garment to be healed. Their faith was rewarded.    Why God has chosen cities as recipients of His grace may seem incongruous. His initial call was to Abram to leave Ur, the largest city of Mesopotamia, and go to the Canaan wilderness, some 700 miles to the west. God later appeared to Moses in the wilderness and He used Moses to lead His people into the desert. After Nebuchadnezzar had leveled Jerusalem, the Israelites were exiled to Babylon where they were a religious minority. One might think that God was telling His people: “Forget this fascination with crowds and temples, walled enclosures and sentries. Stick to your roots as farmers and shepherds. There you will see my abundance and mercy.”   Yet the Israelites rebuilt the holy city when they were released from exile, and for 2,500 years ever since then, through the destruction of Jerusalem, the sack of Rome, the Black Death and plagues and pandemics, the faith has persisted in cities. Despite the crime and the grime, the poverty and the alienation, cities create the means of God’s mercy to shine through the winter darkness.    David Duggan is a retired attorney living in Chicago.

Three Archbishops Go Down over failed Safeguarding Revelations * York Archbishop head is on Chopping Block * Anglican Communion’s Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith, and Order (IASCUFO) Tries to Breach Road Block * Two Notable Anglicans Died this Year * Syrian Christians Face an Uncertain future. Dear Brothers and Sisters, www.virtueonline.org December 27, 2024   THE BATTLE is over for the Western provinces of the Anglican Communion, and for the Church of England in particular. As an Established Church, all the levers of power are tightly controlled by the two Archbishops and the House of Bishops. All the property and assets of the Church are vested in the Church of England as established by law by Henry VIII. No matter how many leave, they will not take any of those assets with them, and all will remain in the hands of the House of Bishops.   The House of Bishops has chosen to defy the Canon Law of the Church of England to impose prayers for the blessing of homosexual unions. No attempt appears to have been made to challenge this in the courts, the only redress available to the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC). They will walk away with nothing.   The CEEC, an association of mainly conservative evangelical Anglican members of the Church of England describes itself as the collective voice of the "vast majority" of evangelicals within the Church of England, aiming "to promote and maintain orthodox evangelical theology and ethics at the heart of the Church of England". It was founded in 1960 by the evangelical Anglican clergyman John Stott, whose theological legacy continues to this day. The CEEC Alliance has declared a “parallel province” supported by more than 2,000 clergy, and they have cautioned the bishops against a departure from the Church of England’s historic and biblical doctrine of sex and marriage. But it has no teeth when it comes to property, purses and pensions.   This is exactly what happened in The Episcopal Church, except the courts did not favor the Episcopal Church in every property case. In some cases deals were cut that allowed the continuance of the newly formed Anglican Church in North America to stay in their properties. There were big wins for the ACNA in Ft. Worth, South Carolina, and Quincy   No orthodox province should continue any longer to maintain any relations with the See of Canterbury. It is firmly set on the trajectory imposed by Justin Welby of embracing the full agenda of The Episcopal Church. It will not change whoever is appointed as ABC in 2025, since there are 41 other diocesan bishops who have committed themselves to this.   The future for orthodox Anglicanism lies beyond English shores. VOL believes the time has come for a new international leader based elsewhere, perhaps in Alexandria and the See of St. Mark or a new bishop of North Africa!   Speaking of which, all bets are on the Iranian-born Bishop of Chelmsford Gulnar "Guli" Francis-Dehqani to replace Justin Welby, the first woman archbishop in the Church of England and the third global archbishop following in the footsteps of TEC Archbishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Linda Nicholls of the Anglican Church of Canada. There have been several women Metropolitan bishops or archbishops in charge of an internal ecclesiastical province but not primates.   But as the Guardian newspaper observed, “The Church of England is beset by financial troubles, heresy, and, worst of all, no particular sense of what the Church is for or why it exists at all.”  The charge is a terrible indictment of a state church by a leading newspaper. If she wins can Francis-Dehqani turn it around? Sadly the House of Bishops looks more like an elder care facility.     The final nail in the Welby coffin ere he leaves, came when a children's charity rejected a Christmas donation from the departing archbishop, saying that accepting it would not be consistent with its work in supporting victims of child sexual abuse. That must have been a real slap in the face as his wife had endorsed the idea.   ***   BUT THE NEWS that captured the headlines was the departure not only of Archbishop Justin Welby but former Archbishop George Carey as well with John Sentamu, former Archbishop of York already out the door, and Stephen Cottrell the present Archbishop of York waiting for the axe to fall. One can only imagine what William Shakespeare would have made of all this.   Welby’s departure may seem shocking, but on several occasions when he found himself in hot water he had asked “should I resign.” His self-answer was no.   This time with conservatives riding his case and liberals finally having had enough of his failure to deliver on the promise of full homosexual marriage recognition, Welby tossed in the towel and said he would go.   It was an ignominious end from a hopeful beginning.   Following the end of the reign of the Hegelian-driven Rowan Williams whose thoughts and pronouncements had the primates of the Global South shaking their heads in bewilderment, Welby seemed like a breath of fresh evangelical air coming out of Lambeth Palace. Sadly it was not to be.   He was brought down by a layman barrister whose sadistic behavior with young men went ignored for four decades, finally caught up with him and he was gone.   Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey also quit the Church of England after it emerged he 'let a child abuser return to priesthood'. Lord Carey penned a letter announcing his resignation earlier this month amid mounting pressure over a sexual abuse case in relation to ex-priest David Tudor.                       Tudor was banned from the ministry for life this year as he admitted what the church described as serious sexual abuse involving two girls aged 15 and 16.   Now the Archbishop of York faces even more charges, but steadfastly refuses to resign (at this time of publishing). Tudor, who was banned from ministry for life this year, was reinstated during the Archbishop of York's time as Bishop of Chelmsford and remained in post after Stephen Cottrell was first told of concerns about him, the BBC reported.   Cottrell admitted that things 'could have been handled differently' as he faced calls to resign over his handling of the case.   Earlier, The Daily Mail reported that the CofE’s second most senior figure, ‘ignored’ 11 separate complaints, some involving leading figures in the Church, including bishops.   Cottrell opined that the church must “kneel in penitence and adoration” this Christmas and “be changed”, adding that the needs of others, including victims of abuse and exploitation must be put first in a Christmas sermon he delivered.   Victims of the priest branded Cottrell’s response to the case “insulting and upsetting” and suggested his resignation or him being forced out of his leading role in the Church was “inevitable”.   Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley questioned how Cottrell could have any credibility, and Bishop of Gloucester Rachel Treweek declined to publicly back him.   Lord Sentamu, the former Archbishop of York, was forced to step down from his Church of England role in May 2023 after a review into how he handled a child sex abuse allegation found that he failed to act on the claim and should have sought advice. The review also found that Sentamu's response to the findings was unacceptable. Smyth's Sadistic Behavior could claim 30 percent of the evangelical leadership in the CofE.   More and more it appears that Welby has become the fall guy for the presenting situation.   ***   Meanwhile the Church of England squirms as its role as leader of the Communion faces condemnation for its failure to adequately address the concerns of the communion especially over matters of human sexuality.   The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith, and Order (IASCUFO) a permanent commission that advises the Anglican Communion on matters of doctrine, liturgy, canon law, and ecumenical relations, recently issued a communique following weeklong pro forma meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, earlier in December.   The key phrase in the communique reads: “As we wrestled with our divisions, we sensed that the Communion may be moving from a season of raw and antagonistic division to one of reckoning with what will likely be a long process of resolution. We may now be able to face our theological differences and associated fractures more productively, as we seek responsible and creative ways to remain together, albeit to varying degrees. This will involve recognition of the hurt that has been caused, as well as concerted attempts to find healing for past and present wounds, and to rebuild trust.”   The IASCUFO praised the recent Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) new direction for the Anglican Communion, but will GAFCON Bishops buy it?   The proposals, which were endorsed by the Communion’s Standing Committee, call for a new description of the Anglican Communion that strikes  the phrase “communion with the See of Canterbury”. These proposals also call to elevate a senior primate to serve along with the ABC with responsibility for chairing the other Instruments of Communion."   But will GAFCON primates buy it? No mention was made of the Jerusalem Declaration which states that GAFCON bishops are out of communion with Western liberal Anglicans in the communion who preach and practice another ‘gospel’ that is no gospel at all.   One thing is clear; both GAFCON and the GSFA have demanded that repentance and repudiation of homosexuality and its attendant lifestyle must take place before any rapprochement can take place.  And that, it seems, it still a long way off. You can read more here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/the-city-of-man-against-the-city-of-go   ***   10 notable Christian ministry leaders , influencers who died in 2024 included two Anglicans . Bishop Jack Iker , 75, Anglican Bishop of Ft. Worth. He saw the diocese through its tumultuous transition from Episcopal to Anglican and managed to keep the properties for future generations of Anglicans. Iker is credited with helping to found the ACNA, that became the home for many congregations that left The Episcopal Church over its theologically liberal direction.   The second notable Anglican was Timothy Dudley-Smith , a former bishop in the Church of England and the prolific hymn writer behind such songs as "Lord, Through the Years" and "Tell all, my Soul," died at age 97.   A native of Manchester, England, Dudley-Smith served as bishop of Thetford from 1981-1991, general secretary of the Church Pastoral Aid Society from 1965-1973, and director of the Evangelical Alliance from 1987-1992. He was a close associate of the late John R. W. Stott.   ***   We could not end today’s digest without a mention of the Christians in Syria who now find themselves in a perilous position, having gotten rid of Basha al-Assad now find they must contend with rebel groups who hate them even more. “Better Assad than ISIS” ran the old theme. Now they don’t know where they stand or fall. You can read Giles Fraser, an Anglican priest’s A fearful Christmas in Syria Christianity is threatened by Islamism here: https://unherd.com/2024/12/a-fearful-christmas-in-syria/   ***   We have begun the transition to a new website . It will take a while to place over 35,000 stories in the archives and reconfigure the front page. Please bear with us. A transition like this is time consuming and costly and we could use some financial assistance to make it happen. We need specialists and consultants who can help make the change and transition possible; meanwhile the writing goes on.       Please consider a tax-deductible donation. A PayPal donation link can be found here: http://www.virtueonline.org/support.html   If you are more inclined with old fashioned checks, (as I am), you can send your donation to:   VIRTUEONLINE P.O. Box 111 Shohola, PA 18458   Warmly in Christ,   David   President, VIRTUEONLINE   VOL WISHES ALL ITS READERS A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

COMMENTARY   By David W. Virtue DD www.virtueonline.org December 31, 2024   They have healed the wound of my people lightly - Jer. 8:11   Globally, evangelicals in the Anglican communion have taken a huge beating. They have been scorned and derided as lacking diversity and inclusion. Progressives charge them with using Scripture to “gay-bash” while steadfastly refusing to believe that God has changed his mind to “widen His mercy” to include “committed” same-sex relationships which now meet His approval.   God has finally flipped the bird to straight white and black marriages and installed a new sexual sheriff with more inclusive views.   Evangelicals get bad press from the MSM because of their stand, whether it’s a Christian baker who refuses to bake a cake for two queers who want to get married, or African archbishops who believe the Bible, brought to them by Anglican missionaries a century ago, definitively repudiates both homosexuality and polygamy.   Before he fell from grace, Archbishop Justin Welby was well known for phoning African primates when he thought their nations were showing a jaundiced eye to sodomy, only to discover that in many cases their culture had no known word for “homosexuality.” All the while the West was buying African leaders’ acquiescence on the issue.   The Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC) leaders note two things in their response to the IASCUFO Nairobi-Cairo proposals. The first was the anachronism of colonial era structures for the Anglican Communion when the vast majority of active members are now found in the Global South; and secondly the broken and impaired relationships of communion which have arisen due to doctrinal differences, especially having to do with biblical anthropology and marriage.   The unspoken aspect to all this (though it was blurted out by the late  Bishop of Newark John Shelby Spong at Lambeth ‘98,) is that Africans have a primitive form of religion that is superstitious, defying both science and modern scholarship.   The EFAC leaders noted that while the issue has been in contention for several decades it has heightened since the Bishops and General Synod of the Church of England opened the way for the blessing of same sex relationships in 2023.   All this makes clear that earlier attempts to reform the Instruments by seeking moratoria, repentance, and renewed covenantal affirmations and commitments have not succeeded.   The American Episcopal Church paved the way for this rebellion against the moral order resulting in a split in that church and the formation of the Anglican Church in North America, with some 30 dioceses having their own archbishop, whom Justin Welby steadfastly refused to recognize.   Recognizing the tragic failure in theology and discipline, the EFAC leaders say they welcome the work of GSFA and GAFCON to reset the Communion and create structures which can enable full communion to continue between churches and faithful Anglicans based on Catholic and Apostolic faith and order.   A new twist will only heighten tensions. The Church’s evangelicals are seeking their own archbishops over a “de facto parallel province” to prevent a split over the blessing of same-sex partnerships. That may be the only way to preserve the fig-leaf of community.   The Rev Canon John Dunnett, director of the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC), an influential conservative group, is among those calling for a “de facto parallel province” to be created within the church, grouping together parishes that oppose last year’s move to allow priests to bless the unions of gay couples.   If it were legally enshrined as an official province, it “would have to have an archbishop” to oversee it, Dunnett said.   This would be in addition to the archbishoprics of Canterbury and York, whose provinces cover southern and northern England.   Divisions over gay rights extend to the highest levels of the church. Twelve dissenting bishops went public last year to declare they were “unable to support the collective decision” made by the House of Bishops to approve blessing gay couples who are married or are in civil partnerships.   The CEEC forms part of a conservative umbrella group called the Alliance, which counts 2,000 priests as supporters.   The Alliance, consisting of 2,000 priests as supporters issued a warning that if there is “further departure from the church’s doctrine” on sex and marriage, they “will have no choice but rapidly to establish what would in effect be a new de facto ‘parallel province’ within the Church of England”, which would require “oversight from bishops who remain faithful to orthodox teaching on marriage and sexuality”.   As EFAC leaders bishops Stephen Hale and Keith Sinclair noted; “it is vital that in ongoing reflection on our calling as the Church, the state of the Communion, and the report’s proposals to find a new way forward, that we are not found to come under the Lord’s judgment through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘they have healed the wound of my people lightly’ (8:11).   END

By David W, Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org January 3, 2025   The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell should step down, not simply because he failed safeguarding protocols in the church, but because he repudiates clear biblical teaching on human sexuality, that leaves the church, future generations and himself in spiritual jeopardy.   He has embraced the LLF Report allowing for the blessing of same sex unions even though the church still officially rejects homosexual marriage. It is a distinction with very little difference.    He has embraced a behavior that scripture does not sanction but openly repudiates in both the Old and New Testaments.   He believes that God has changed His mind in keeping with the times; that the ‘widening of God’s mercy’ now includes same sex relationships and that attempts to impose an old fundamentalist version of sexual ethics won’t play in today’s sexual climate. In effect culture determines truth not God’s unfailing word.   For people like Archbishop Cottrell, it is the hope and belief that such blessings would jump start the church with homosexual couples flooding the churches, boosting the church’s numbers and fortunes. It won’t happen of course. It never happened when The Episcopal Church embraced homosexuality and ordained Gene Robinson to the episcopacy. The church has been declining numerically since his consecration, year over year with merging parishes and dioceses.   But there is a darker side to all this when you relativize sex and it is this.   Cottrell has been credibly accused over his handling of the case of a priest accused of sexual misconduct. The BBC reported that the archbishop let a priest, David Tudor, remain in his post despite knowing that his parish barred him from being alone with children and the church had paid compensation to one of his accusers.     Tudor was eventually fired by the church and barred for life from the ministry in October after acknowledging he had sexual relationships with two teenage girls, aged 15 and 16, in the 1980s.   Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley, one of the few bishops to publicly criticize the way the church has handled abuse allegations, said she felt “incredulity” at the latest claims. She said Cottrell lacked the “credibility or moral authority” to be the church’s figurehead.   Of course, the church condemns this aberrant behavior and Cottrell must now violate his liberal views on sexuality by admitting the priest’s behavior is over the top, but he himself should remain in office.   Cottrell made every effort not to practice the church’s safeguarding standards and gave the priest a pass, not once but twice, suggesting that whatever he did he was exempt from church discipline.   The victims of the priest were naturally outraged and called out Cottrell and said he should resign.   Earlier in the month The Daily Mail reported that Cottrell had ignored a dozen abuse cases. With the Mail calling on him to resign. Cottrell refused. The BBC also revealed that Welby and a former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, were also involved in the Tudor case - Welby in 2018 and Lord Carey in 1993.   Cottrell’s laissez faire approach to sexuality, which no longer sees the Bible as the rightful source of understanding on sexuality must now include input from the culture, tradition, reason, science thus overriding the narrow strictures of scripture on sexuality practices.   To strike a blow against homophobia, fear mongering and hatred one must relent nay recant, and believe that God wants homosexuals to live freely with any talk of celibacy to be eschewed.   The fact that Jesus endorsed the binary male-female paradigm, speaks volumes. There was no need for exceptions. That Jesus hearkened back to Genesis, speaks volumes. Jesus did not need to touch on other sexualities, there was no need to. He had spoken declaratively and without apology.   If the very Son of God says the Father has not changed his mind in 4,000 years what arrogance it is of Cottrell to believe God has changed his mind.   Privately it has been reported that Cottrell told conservatives if they can’t get on board with the new sexuality, they should leave the Church of England for more compatible pastoral pastures. Cottrell denies he ever said this, but multiple voices say otherwise.   Cottrell’s position has riled up the evangelicals in the CofE forcing them to announce the formation of a new “parallel province” which, while sounding promising has little chance of success.   Even if the CEEC doesn’t prevail they will have raised enough noise to give heartburn to the House of Bishops. A future Archbishop of Canterbury is going to have to wrestle the situation to the ground. It will be painful to watch with no good ending. Embracing sexual sin comes at a huge price. In the case of the Church of England, the Mother Church, it will see its own demise.   Any way the Church turns it will not go well. A remnant church will remain but respected by no one, especially the Global South, who will view the Mother Church with withering scorn; a failed colonial enterprise.   The Church of England has sold its soul for a mess of pottage.   END

COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org   January 1, 2025   Amichai Chikli, minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, publicly reprimanded Pope Francis for his part in a recent display portraying Jesus as a Palestinian Arab and lectured the pope on the Jewishness of Jesus.   There is no other way to understand the decision to present his image in a cradle, wrapped in a keffiyeh,” Chikli chided. “Had this been a one-time matter, I would not have written. However, just a few weeks before this strange and false homage, in a more severe expression, you echoed the new blood libel, insinuating that the State of Israel ‘might be’ committing genocide in Gaza.”   “It is a well-known fact that Jesus was born to a Jewish mother, lived as a Jew, and died as a Jew,” Chikli wrote in a three-page missive. He cited Matthew’s gospel, reminding Francis of the “well-known fact” that “Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea.”   Increasingly Francis is coming across as a liberal Protestant wrapped in papal garb stuck in a literal and theological wheelchair. His comments about other religions of equal standing with Christianity and downplaying the uniqueness of Christ shocked conservative Catholics, while the growing infiltration of homosexuality in the Vatican is equally shocking to millions of orthodox Catholics, especially at a time when sexual abuse is so rampant. Increasingly homosexuality in the Vatican is dominating the headlines.   Chikli quotes other biblical texts reiterating to Francis the significance of “Bethlehem” and “Judah” in Jewish history. He notes that Bethlehem is both the city of Rachel’s death and David’s birth, explaining that Rachel is Israel’s matriarch and David is Israel’s archetypal king.   “It is also a well-known fact that the term ‘Jew’ originates from Judah, the fourth son of Leah, from whom the Tribe of Judah descended,” the minister pointed out.   Chikli proceeded to give the pope a lesson in Roman history and the empire’s attempts “to eradicate the connection between the Jews and Judah; one of the most prominent of these was Emperor Hadrian.” He records details of Titus’s destruction of the Second Temple and the Bar Kokhba Revolt, which resulted in the massacre of 580,000 Jews.   “Hadrian was not satisfied with the physical destruction of the Jewish settlement; he anticipated the future, to the day when the Jews would seek to return to Judea. Therefore, he renamed the province of Judea ‘Syria Palestina,’ after the Philistines, the arch-enemy of Israel,” he writes, explaining the origin of the name “Palestine.”   In a dig at Francis, Chikli also notes that the pope can verify the evidence for himself by driving just “13 minutes by car from St. Peter’s Basilica” and examining the Arch of Titus with its depiction of Israel’s conquest and humiliation by the Romans.   Perhaps Francis should take a course in Biblical history and theology to freshen up these embarrassing moments.   THE GENOCIDE BLOOD LIBEL   Referring to the pope’s recent comments calling for an investigation into the alleged genocide in Gaza, reported by The Stream, the minister contends: “This is a desperate and disgusting attempt to rewrite history.”   “As a nation that lost six million of its sons and daughters in the Holocaust, we are especially sensitive to the trivialization of the term ‘genocide’ — a trivialization that is dangerously close to Holocaust denial,” he notes.   Chikli details how the term “genocide” can be aptly applied to Nazi Germany, which “for the first time in the history of nations, set as its ultimate goal the complete annihilation of an unarmed people with whom it had no conflict, and most of whom were not even living in its territory.   “Let us recall that between the Jews, who made up less than 1% of the population of Germany in the 1930s, and the Germans, there had been no prior violent, territorial, religious, or political conflict,” he notes. Recalling the “sickening strategy” of the “Final Solution,” the minister cites as one example the Treblinka death camp, where 845,000 Jews from Poland, including children and elderly people, were murdered in gas chambers and then dumped into execution pits, concluding: “This is what genocide looks like.”    “The Vatican’s silence during those dark days of the Shoah is still deafening,” he writes, asking Francis to “clarify your stand regarding the genocide blood libel against the Jewish state,” a “new blood libel” recently promoted against Israel by the human rights organization Amnesty International.   Chikli concludes by drawing Francis’s attention to the 60th anniversary of the Nostra Aetate Declaration from the Second Vatican Council, which will be celebrated in 2025. The declaration announced that God's eternal covenant with the Jewish people is still in force: "God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues-such is the witness of the Apostle".  This marked a “significant milestone in the relationship between the Jewish people and Christianity,” he maintains, noting that Francis is known to be “a close friend of the Jewish people.”   The Vatican has maintained a diplomatic silence on the minister’s letter, with neither Vatican News nor Avvenire, the Italian bishops’ media, reporting on it.   In response, the pope has doubled down on Israel since Chikli’s letter, twice in public remarks last weekend accusing the Jewish state of massacring children in Gaza.   From this writer’s perspective, the so-called Vicar of Christ on earth is little more than a failed cleric falling for all the prejudiced statements of the UN and its antisemitic secretary-general.   Dr. Jules Gomes of The Stream contributed to this story.