Full Salvation. God's eternal purpose. God's whole purpose, conceived in a past eternity, being worked out for and in his people in history, to be completed in the glory to come, may be encapsulated in this single concept: *God intends to make us like Christ*. Whether we are thinking about eternal predestination or initial conversion or continuing sanctification or final glorification, the same theme stands out. At each stage there is a reference to the 'image' or 'likeness' of Jesus Christ. The fullness of salvation is conformity to him. --- From "Life in Christ" John R. W. Stott

The Mighty Privileges of Faith in Christ. It is by faith, simple faith in Christ as our Savior and Redeemer, that people's souls are made free. It is by receiving Christ, trusting Christ, committing ourselves to Christ, placing our whole weight on Christ–it is by this, and by no other plan, that spiritual liberty is made our own. Mighty as the privileges are which those who are free in Christ possess, they all become a person's property on the day that they first believe. They may not yet know their full value, but they are all their own. They that believe in Christ are not condemned, rather they are justified, are born again, are an heir of God, and have everlasting life. --- J.C. Ryle

Self-salvation is impossible. We know that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour (because he alone has the necessary qualifications, as we have seen), and that salvation is by God's grace alone, on the ground of Christ's cross alone, by faith alone. What we do not know, however, is exactly how much knowledge and understanding of the gospel people need before they can cry to God for mercy and be saved. In the Old Testament, people were certainly 'justified by grace through faith', even though they had little knowledge or expectation of Christ. Perhaps there are others today in a somewhat similar position. They know they are sinful and guilty before God, and that they cannot do anything to win his favour, so in self-despair they call upon the God they dimly perceive to save them. If God does save such, as many evangelical Christians tentatively believe, their salvation is still only by grace, only through Christ, only by faith. --- From "The Contemporary Christian" John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
April 15, 2011

Easter is shortly upon us and this year, unlike any other, we are being treated to yet a new dimension of Episcopal thought, life and Easter agit-prop.

According to PB Katharine Jefferts Schori, Good Friday with all its solemnity of our Lord's death is now being harmonized with Earth Day.

The Episcopal Church's office of Economic and Environmental Affairs released a statement urging followers to stay mindful of global warming, recycling and reducing carbon dioxide emissions while celebrating the ancient Christian holiday in 2011.

"This year Earth Day falls within Holy Week, specifically on Good Friday, a profound coincidence," said Mike Schut, a church spokesman. "To fully honor Earth Day, we need to reclaim the theology that knows Earth is 'very good,' is holy. When we fully recognize that, our actions just may begin to create a more sustainable, compassionate economy and way of life."

So we go from the sacred to the secular, from Christ's sacrifice on earth to earth hugging, from the vertical to the horizontal...all in keeping with TEC's newfound religion of peace on earth through Millennium Development Goals rather than through Christ's sacrificial death on the cross for our sins.

Said Schut: "On Good Friday, the day we mark the crucifixion of Christ, God in the flesh, might we suggest that when Earth is degraded, when species go extinct, that another part of God's body experiences yet another sort of crucifixion - that another way of seeing and experiencing God is diminished?"

From the toxic Diocese of Newark which brought you Spong, sodomy, Louie Crew and death (their first ordained gay priest died of AIDS), we now have something called GreenFaith, an interfaith nonprofit organization which strives to "inspire, educate and mobilize people of diverse religious backgrounds for environmental leadership." So from the vertical we have finally and apparently successfully moved to the horizontal in more ways than one.

No word yet if they're making it official by following the lead of the Napa Valley hotel that replaced the King James Bible with the Al Gore Bible.

*****

The big news of the week, however, is that a coalition of conservative Episcopalians calling themselves The Trust Fund Coalition, alarmed by reports that TEC is using trust funds for litigation against dioceses, parishes, and clergy that have transferred to other Anglican jurisdictions, has written an Open Letter to the Presiding Bishop and Executive Council of The Episcopal Church asking for a public accounting of the names of the trust funds used and the amounts taken from each one.

Prior written requests for an explanation of the amounts spent for litigation and sources for the funds, made by five retired bishops, a petition of 5,000 people, and the Anglican Laity Fellowship, have all received no response.

They say that an analysis of TEC's financial statements and Executive Committee minutes indicate TEC has spent over $6 million on litigation. This amount includes money from trust funds, many of which were originally gifted to the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (part of TEC) for mission purposes. You can read the full story in today's digest.

*****

In the Diocese of Ft. Worth, Judge John Chupp has granted the motion of the Diocese and Corporation to sever and stay all further proceedings in the main lawsuit against the diocese "pending a final determination of the severed claims through the appellate process." Background information is available on their Web site, fwepiscopal.org.

Following the trial court's April 5 order to sever and stay the main lawsuit against them, the Diocese and Corporation have today filed Notice of Direct Appeal to the Texas State Supreme Court.

*****

Astrophysicist Sir Martin Rees, who has a walk-on part in "We Are Doomed" (and who is properly written as "Lord Rees," though nobody seems to bother any more), has been awarded the Templeton Prize "for career achievements affirming life's spiritual dimension."

Previous winners of the prize, which seeks to promote better understanding between science and religion, include Catholic nun Mother Teresa, U.S. preacher Billy Graham and Russian novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn, as well as many leading scientists.

Sir Martin has described himself as "an unbelieving Anglican who goes to church out of loyalty to the tribe." I'd suspect that this position is utterly incomprehensible to anyone not (a) raised an Anglican, (b) in England, and (c) more than 50 years old. Compare George Orwell's oft-quoted remark that "I like the Church of England better than Our Lord."

*****

A retired Episcopal priest who owns a bar in northwestern Montana has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two girls in Maryland. The Rev. Donald W. Belcher, 82, was arrested in Yaak in December and extradited to Maryland in January. He was charged with molesting a 15-year-old girl in June 2006 and an 8-year-old girl in September 2010 in North East, Md. Belcher served as a minister in Troy and Libby from 1996-2001 and was vicar of a church in Street, Md., from 2001-2007. He and his wife purchased the Dirty Shame Saloon in Yaak in 2006.

*****

Is the Diocese of Western Michigan slowly disintegrating? VOL has written a number of stories about two leading parishes that form the financial backbone of the diocese and are involved in internal fights over money and incompetent diocesan leadership. Consider the following. Before Bishop Gepert arrived, the Bonnell Conference Center, located on Lake Michigan, was sold with the money deposited into "diocesan accounts".

St. Aiden's Chapel on the campus of Western Michigan University was sold off because the diocese didn't want to repair it/keep up property. As a result, the Episcopal Church will "never" have this kind of presence on a campus Western Michigan again.

During Bishop Gepert's reign, the following churches have closed: St. Paul's, Grand Rapids. St. Matthew's, Sparta St. Michael's, Cascade

The Cathedral of Christ the King was built in 1968 for approximately $2,000,000. It was sold in 2008 for $1,800,000. The cathedral was built by the late Bishop Charles Bennison whose enormous ego he has managed to pass on to his namesake son who is now systematically destroying the Diocese of Pennsylvania.

"Distressed" churches in Michigan include: Grace Church, Grand Rapids St. Luke's, Kalamazoo

*****

In the Diocese of Western North Carolina Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori celebrated and preached at a Service of Repentance, Healing and Reconciliation on April 9 at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Asheville, marking the end of a two-year period of study and conversation on the sin of racism in the Diocese of Western North Carolina.

More than 500 people attended the service, during which Western North Carolina Bishop G. Porter Taylor acknowledged the church's participation in slavery and the long oppression of Afro-American people. Taylor formally apologized for these sins and asked for forgiveness.

The two-hour-and-twenty minute service was sponsored by the diocese's Commission to Dismantle Racism.

But as Canon Gary L'Hommedieu of St. Luke's cathedral in Orlando noted, "You want to traffic in the seething rhetoric of liberation theology? Guess where that leaves the entirety of the American House of Bishops? You guessed it: on the side of the oppressor, in spite of their endless invocations of "justice" and "compassion," and in spite of the token minorities and white female professionals who exist to bolster the status quo. It is the Marxist logic of liberation that best reveals the motivation for the rhetoric of "justice" by an historic oppressor: in the present case, to preserve their own purple clad rear ends as members of one of America's most prestigious enclaves of privilege.

"Here it is in a nutshell: in today's adversarial politics the race card is power. It is used to advance power and forestall debate. It is meant not to build up but to tear down. It is meant to exploit what is a bad situation for the many for the short term advantage of a few. It is meant to divert public attention from the failures of leadership and to forestall accountability. And it is one final attempt to exploit the tragic experience of an historically oppressed minority for the political gain of an historic elite."

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, like more and more of her professional peers, feels she is entitled to play this card simply because she has learned to parrot a few choice phrases. That she thinks she can manipulate people simply by tossing around slogans demonstrates her real assessment of their intelligence--and their humanity. All she can do is signal to them that the majority population is politically vulnerable and there are still ways to take advantage of the situation. After all, that's what she's doing.

*****

In recent months there has been a wave of attacks against Christians throughout the Muslim world. Churches have been burned. Christians have been arrested, persecuted, and murdered. Following the burning of a Koran by a pastor in Florida, extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan killed over 20 people. While Koran-burning is a detestable act, it does not serve as an excuse for violence and murder.

While Western leaders have rightfully denounced the Koran-burning, they have failed to criticize the endless persecution of Christians by radical Muslims. Why are our leaders ignoring the destruction of human lives?

Learn more about the persecution of Christians by Militant Islam. http://www.thethirdjihad.com/christian/index4.html

*****

TEC lies about Ugandan bishop.Retired Uganda bishop Christopher Senyonjo speaks at UN, calls for global decriminalization of homosexuality, screamed a headline in the Episcopal News Service this week.

NOT TRUE. From Archbishop Henry Orombi's office comes this word, "Senyonjo was deposed in 2007 for presiding at the consecration of a Bishop of the Charismatic Church of Uganda (which we have not heard of since that consecration), which functionally set him up as an Archbishop of another denomination." But, he and the gay lobby persist in perpetuating the lie that he was deposed for his gay advocacy. It makes him more of a martyr that way. It's definitely a case of, "Don't confuse me with the facts."

The deposed Anglican Bishop delivered a presentation at the United Nations in New York on April 8 calling for the global decriminalization of homosexuality as a way to make progress in the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

"The criminalization of homosexuality remains the most significant barrier that needs to be dismantled to reduce the spread of AIDS," said Senyonjo, during a panel discussion that formed part of an informal interactive hearing at the U.N. "We need to make our laws and agreements more binding. We need to ask if our laws or beliefs help or prevent the spread of HIV and hinder or support families caring for loved ones."

Right. And the only person to "suffer" for his right to practice sodomy was a gay Anglican Ugandan activist who was murdered by another sodomite for not paying for sexual services rendered.

If you want to know just how TEC is trying to influence this godly orthodox Anglican province, Senyonjo now has a full time American priest fund-raiser out hustling dollars to push the TEC gay agenda on that country.

*****

New guidance aimed at preventing sham marriages in the Church of England is being sent to clergy and legal officers by the House of Bishops. The guidance has been agreed to with the U.K. Border Agency and was approved April 12 by Immigration Minister Damian Green.

"The House of Bishops is clear," said Bishop John Packer of Ripon and Leeds, "that the office of Holy Matrimony must not be misused by those who have no intention of contracting a genuine marriage but merely a sham marriage. The purpose of this guidance and direction from the bishops to the clergy and to those responsible for the grant of common licenses is, therefore, to prevent the contracting of sham marriages in the Church of England."

A sham marriage is intended to deceive public officials or society about its purpose. One of the most common reasons for such marriages is to gain immigration rights for one of the spouses.

*****

A Church of England cathedral is at the centre of a row after promoting nudism as "wholesome" and "liberating" on its website. The item was posted by Manchester Cathedral several weeks ago on its "Spirit of Life" site, which has been advertising a Mind, Body, Spirit fair planned for next month. The fair includes card readings, dream interpretations and a fire-breathing vicar.

Under a section headed "New Age", the item said airbrushed models create "an unhealthy, unnatural model of perfection".

In contrast, it continued, "naturism is a liberating lifestyle and belief which encourages self-respect, respect for others and for the environment, and embodies freedom and a unique sense of communion with nature. 'Christian naturists see this as God's design for living. It is purposefully non-erotic and non-sexual and engenders a wholesome appreciation of self and others." The cathedral website included a link to the little-known Christian Naturist Fellowship, set up in 1999 to organize "clothing-free" gatherings across the country.

Interestingly, all references to nudity suddenly disappeared from the site last week after critics said the cathedral was promoting fads that undermine traditional Christianity.

*****

On April 3, Grace Anglican Church celebrated five years of ministry in Slippery Rock, PA. Over the last five years, Grace Church has swelled to an average Sunday attendance of over 170 people, many of whom come from two nearby universities. Founding pastor Ethan Magness and his wife, Monique, planted the church in collaboration with St. Christopher's Church in Cranberry. Five years ago, the possibilities for ministry in Slippery Rock looked very different than they do today.

"We had a lot of things against us," remembers the Rev. Ethan Magness, "I had just graduated from seminary and had little ministry experience. Neither Paul nor I had prior involvement in any other plants. We didn't have any money. We were using old Anglican Prayer Book services that we weren't sure anyone would like. We didn't begin with a large 'core group.' And we were planting in Slippery Rock-not exactly an emerging metropolis."

*****

The situation in Japan is worsening. The nuclear meltdown is worse than previously thought. Its severity has been upgraded to the same level as Chernobyl. Our friends at Youth for Christ International (YFCI) are on the ground in Japan, right now, helping with recovery efforts.

Billy Graham was the first full-time evangelist of YFCI. The movement was founded in 1946, and is made up of tens of thousands of indigenous people in over 100 countries, giving every young person an opportunity to be a follower of Jesus Christ. They bring care and compassion to people around the world.

When the 9.0 earthquake hit Japan last month, YFCI workers were there. When the tsunami hit, YFCI workers were there. When the nuclear power plant began leaking, YFCI workers were there. They are still there today, and they will remain there, helping rebuild their lives, their missions, and the lives of those so tragically affected.

*****

A pilot project that pairs retired clergy with small, under-resourced congregations is expanding its program to include five new dioceses, bringing the total number of participating dioceses to 14, according to a press release.

The project, "New Dreams-New Visions," was launched in June 2010 and is a collaborative effort organized by three lead organizations -- the Church Pension Group, the Episcopal Church Center, and the Episcopal Church Foundation, working closely with the CREDO Institute and Fresh Start.

The five new participating dioceses are East Tennessee, Indianapolis, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Southern Ohio. They join the dioceses of Atlanta, Eastern Michigan, Iowa, Oklahoma, Southeastern Mexico, Southwest Florida, Spokane, Vermont and Western Massachusetts.

The New Dreams-New Visions project address two key issues in the Episcopal Church: A significant number of clergy are poised to retire while a significant number of congregations will not be able to afford to pay for full-time clergy.

So, as the wisdom goes, money will be spent on planes ferrying retiring priests around (Mrs. Jefferts Schori is a pilot) to congregations with an average Sunday attendance of 140 or less and who are unable to support a full-time priest. Might this be more of the future as parishes wither and die? Perhaps The Earth Mother has her new job in mind when she retires.

*****

The Presiding Bishop will make a pit stop in the faux Diocese of Pittsburgh on April 19. She will preach and preside at 10 a.m. in St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Wilkinsburg, as clergy renew their vows to local Bishop Kenneth Price, Jr. Later she will hold a short worship service and an open forum at Trinity Cathedral, Downtown.

The PB said God is already bringing about "resurrection in our midst" even though they only have 29 small congregations. Bishop Bob Duncan's rival Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh has 51 congregations. One wonders who is seeing the most "resurrection." VOL has been told that nearly all the ACNA congregations are thriving and growing which again begs the question: Who is getting the better end of the resurrection stick?

*****

The Diocese of Los Angeles nixes the Covenant. If you had any doubts about the viability of the Anglican Covenant circling the globe and The Episcopal Church, consider this from the Diocese of Los Angeles. "We cannot endorse a covenant that, for the first time in the history of The Episcopal Church or the Anglican Communion, will pave the way toward emphasizing perceived negative differences instead of our continuing positive and abundant commonality," states the response, signed jointly by the diocese's bishops and General Convention deputation.

So there you have it. So what do you think the chances are of GC2012 going for it? If I was a betting man, I'd say zilch. If the Diocese of LA is against it, you can be sure so will be the Diocese of California and Northern California as they are all in the same ecclesiastical bed. You can read it all here: http://episcopalnews.ladiocese.net/dfc/newsdetail_2/380

*****

ESSENTIAL TRUTHS FOR CHRISTIANS: A Commentary on the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles and an Introduction to Systematic Theology. Classical Anglican Press, $24.95 paperback, $49.95 hardcover. (London: Latimer Trust, 2009). This exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles by illustrious AMiA bishop John H. Rodgers brings a needed gravitas to a belated and beleaguered Anglican Communion torn by heresies and brings back to life the much-neglected Articles of Religion. Bishop John writes in his introduction "there is a pervasive ignorance of our Anglican Reformation heritage on the part of many in active leadership in Anglican Churches today. This condition makes it crucial to provide a book that can be read or referred to easily in the midst of busy lives." VOL believes he has achieved his aim admirably in this 700-page volume. He explains the 39 Articles one by one, expounding each as he goes along. For an excellent review of this book by Anglican vicar and occasional VOL contributor Charles Raven, click here or read it in today's digest. http://tinyurl.com/3ojvk89

*****

Not content with bending the minds of adult Episcopalians on the "joys" of sodomy Bishop Gene Robinson is now getting a toehold into the Episcopal School System. He recently addressed young people, yes very young impressionable minds, at St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts. He likened the liberation of slaves to the liberation of gays. He challenged his St. Mark's listeners to "keep moving the fence that divides 'us' from 'them' ever outward, until there is no more 'them' and we are all 'us'." So you move the sexual fence without repentance and faith till it absorbs everybody and everything including all manner of sexual sin - LGBTQ. In preparation for Robinson's visit, St. Markers viewed the film For the Bible Tells Me So, an award-winning documentary about homosexuality and religion, examining a variety of interpretations of what the Bible says on the subject. Do the parents of these kids know what their children are hearing and who they are hearing it from? Do they have any idea of the seductive power of people like Robinson to twist a whole generation about human sexual behavior? Lord have mercy.

*****

There is new life and growth in the ACNA, writes the Rev. Canon Phil Ashey, COO of the American Anglican Council. In his travels he has seen much. Here are some vignettes.

* Congregations which surrendered their buildings have found a renewed sense that the church is above all God's people in mission.
* New church plants can be found in Christ Church, Midland Texas in Lubbock and Odessa and St. Andrews Mt. Pleasant in downtown Charleston "City Church" has grown to over 200 on a Sunday morning with an average age of 25.
* All Saints, Dale City, VA reported 500 people involved in ALPHA. And on it goes.

Writes Ashey, "...no matter what primates and the people who manipulate Communion structures do, the Lord is still in charge of His church. The Holy Spirit is empowering his people to serve others and draw them to Christ."

*****

An archbishop, a professor, a leading human rights campaigner - and a 'muppeteer' behind the long-running TV series Sesame Street are among those topping the bill at a major upcoming Christian conference. Bishop Greg Venables, until recently Anglican Archbishop of the Southern Come, will join John Lennox, an Oxford University professor and trenchant opponent of Richard Dawkins, House of Lords crossbencher Baroness Caroline Cox and a formidable array of other speakers at this year's "Bible By The Beach" event in Eastbourne from April 29 to May 2.

More than 1,000 Christians from across the country as well as local Sussex churches are expected at "Bible By The Beach" - the acclaimed weekend teaching and worship event which continues to grow in reputation and public awareness as it prepares to enter its third successful year with the theme "Resurrection People."

*****

Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth? This book by British secular liberal Eric Kaufman will be released soon in the U.S. It argues, that "religious fundamentalists are on the course to take over the world through demography. We have embarked on a particularly turbulent phase of history in which the frailty of secularism will become ever more important."

Fundamentalism is used here, says Allan Carlson, "to describe persons with the Abrahamic faiths who take their beliefs seriously enough to allow teachings on sexuality, marriage and procreation to influence their lives."

Secularism, like DDT, has wiped out much of its opposition, but it has also given rise to new, resistant, strains of religion. (p.23) Kaufman has, reportedly (I have not read the book), done the math; the shocker is not a bright future for mainstream Evangelicals, (even) Catholics and other mainstream "conservatives" but:

"As the sea of humanity drains away [in the late 21st Century], it will expose resistant fundamentalist wellsprings--the future of our species. Already we see early signs of this in the resistance of all devout populations to religious decline. Old Order Amish, Mormons, Haredi Jews, Laestadian Lutherans, Salafi Islamists, and Quiverfull Protestants are rapidly increasing their share of a shrinking pie."

Don't hold your breath: "It will be a century or more before the world completes its demographic transition.... This much seems certain: without [a new secular] ideology to inspire social cohesion, fundamentalism cannot be stopped. The religious shall inherit the earth." (p. 269) A lot can happen in 100 years: take a look at 1911, and 2011.

*****

Anglican District of Virginia Bishop David Bena writes that in less than two weeks, the District Court of Fairfax will again take up the matter of the properties of a number of their member churches. The churches represented will be St. Stephen's, Heathsville, St Margaret's, Woodbridge, St. Paul's, Haymarket, Word, Gainesville, Apostles, Fairfax, Epiphany, Herndon, The Falls Church, Falls Church, and Truro, Fairfax. The Court Trial will likely go on for over a month, since each of the eight churches will be called on to defend their properties.

"I am calling us all to a time of prayer and fasting as we do final preparations for the trial. We would love to have been able to settle these issues over four years ago when a protocol, approved by both sides, was in place. Of course, you know that the protocol ended when our churches were sued. Since then we have attempted both formally and informally to set up a method to settle this, but have not been successful in getting an opportunity to sit down at table and do so. So we are where we are, and we need everyone's prayers that God will shine forth with the truth.

"We have almost tripled the number of parishes and missions since the Anglican District of Virginia began (15 to 43). Almost all the people who attend our churches come EVERY Sunday and are active Christians. We will have a very fine Constitutional Convention and election of a bishop next month.

"If we can retain our properties, we can see much more Christian mission coming from them. But, to paraphrase the Book of Job, 'but even if not, we will hope in the Lord.' God is doing a wonderful thing through the ADV. Let us be glad and rejoice in that. Please pray each day as we ramp up to the Court Trial beginning on Easter Monday (April 25), and then let us all be in prayer each day of the trial until its end."

*****

A small band of Christians is planning a rally in Washington, D.C., in a bid to make Good Friday a national holiday. Organizer Sharon Jones, a New York-based missionary, recalled growing up observing the holiday in her native Britain. She has scheduled a rally on the National Mall on April 22, or Good Friday. She hopes thousands will attend and watch a film about Jesus during the midday event. "Growing up in the U.K., I remember nothing was open," she said in an interview Wednesday (April 13). "It was a true day to just look unto Jesus and to say, 'Thank God that we are saved by the blood.' Now this is a perfect opportunity for an awareness of who Jesus is." Jones said 11 states and more than 135 countries observe Good Friday as an official holiday. She is circulating an online petition to Congress for a U.S. observance. Supporters include Christian groups based in New Jersey, Texas and Washington, D.C

*****

The Order of Saint Andrew is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. The Order of Saint Andrew, founded in 1986, is an Anglican Religious Order of men and women not living in community which is ecumenical in nature. It includes members from all Churches in Apostolic succession including the American Anglican Church, The Episcopal Church, The Roman Catholic Church, as well as other churches in the Continuing Anglican Movement. Members and Associates come from Canada, Switzerland, England, Australia and all parts of the United States. The Motherhouse is in Scarborough New York. For further information, please refer to their website www.osa-anglican.org

*****

Princess-to-be Kate Middleton has been confirmed as a member of the Church of England, weeks ahead of her April 29 marriage to Prince William. St. James' Palace spokesman announced that Middleton was confirmed by the Bishop of London, Rev. Richard Chartres on March 10, in a private ceremony attended by her family and Prince William.

The statement said Middleton, who was baptized as a child, chose to be confirmed as part of her marriage preparations. The prince was confirmed when he was 14, also by the bishop of London. As second in line to the throne, If he becomes king, Prince William will one day assume the title of supreme governor of the Church of England. Confirmation - which marks a baptized Christian's commitment to their faith - is not a precondition for marriage to a future monarch, but it will allow Middleton to receive communion in the Anglican church.

*****

Bishop Gunasekaran Samuel has sent the following message to VOL: "We are The Anglican Church of South India & Missionary Diocese of North India. Our church was established in the year 2004 in Tamilnadu, South India by Bishop Guunasekaran Samuel with a vision to follow the old Traditions of the Anglicans and to impart its constitutional rights and Holy Orders of the Church of England into each and every village by planting churches. Started with just 40 affiliated churches in the year 2004, by the tireless work of Bishop Gunasekaran has grown up to 320 churches, 280 Priests, 8 Bishops and 12 Missionaries have been rooted within the year 2011.Today God is doing wonders in South India through ACSI and stands as the First Growing church with a Seminary called as The Andrews Theological college & Seminary to train their own clergies and laities. ACSI grows in India. We need your Prayers. We welcome Mission workers to partake in short time Mission work along with ACSI." www.anglicanchurchofsouthindia.in

*****

It is with profound sadness that we say farewell to the Rev. Dr. Harry S.D. Robinson of Canada who died recently at the age of 84. He was a great evangelical preacher in the Anglican Church of Canada. He was a wonderful gracious man of God and a VOL supporter. Robinson was the foremost Canadian Anglican Evangelical parish priest of his generation.

A gentle giant both physically and morally, he combined a probing intuitive intelligence with an enormous love of people and focus on the Gospel task. He was a brilliant, original and unpredictable preacher and a perceptive critic of the interplay between the Gospel and contemporary culture. In the late 1970s, he was appointed Rector of St. John's, Vancouver, then a moribund, complacent small congregation.

At considerable personal cost, he set it on the path to becoming Canada's largest Anglican community, and one of its liveliest and most creative. As a churchman, he built bridges and encouraged friendships across the country. In his heyday, he exercised an almost unrivaled degree of personal authority. A person of great warmth, charm and humility, he inspired and mentored countless vocations to the ordained ministry. Dr. Robinson's funeral will be held at St. John's, Vancouver, next week.

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Please visit our website at www.virtueonline.org for the latest breaking news. Please support our brothers and sisters in Rwanda by buying their coffee from this website: http://www.drinkcoffeedogood.com/

If you have a friend who would like to receive this weekly digest of stories please feel free to sign them up or send an e-mail to VOL and we will do it for you. david@virtueonline.org If you have a news tip or news lead please don't hesitate to let us know.

All Blessings,

David