God is not so much about fixing things that have gone wrong in our lives as He is about finding us in our brokenness and giving us Christ. When Christ is not central and supreme in our lives, everything about life shifts out of orbit and moves out of kilter. So for Christians, our first task is to know Jesus. And of that knowing, we will come to love Him, adore Him, proclaim Him, and manifest Him. --- The Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola.

The mainstay of assurance. What we have to ask about the resurrection is not only whether it happened, but whether it really matters whether it happened. For if it happened, it happened nearly 2,000 years ago. How can an event of such remote antiquity have any great importance for us today? Why on earth do Christians make such a song and dance about it? Is it not irrelevant? No; my argument now is that the resurrection resonates with our human condition. It speaks to our needs as no other distant event does or could. It is the mainstay of our Christian assurance. --- From "The Contemporary Christian", John R.W. Stott

The supernatural power of God. The "natural" process which God has established, partly by creation and partly by judgment, is birth, growth, decay, death and dissolution. This is the cycle of nature. It includes man: "you are dust, and to dust you shall return." The very concept of "resurrection" is therefore supernatural. At Christ's resurrection the natural process of physical decomposition was not only arrested, nor even reversed, but actually superseded. Instead of dissolving into dust, his body was transfigured into a new and glorious vehicle for his soul. Indeed, the resurrection of Jesus is presented in the New Testament as the supreme manifestation of the supernatural power of God. --- From "Christ the Controversialist"

The whole project of modern liberalism has been to distribute "rights" in ways that liberals deem socially valuable. This rejects the founders' view that God and/or Nature endowed individuals with rights, which governments are instituted to protect. Twentieth century progressives and liberals believed instead the governments distribute rights according to elites' sense of social good. --- Paul Moreno, William and Bernice Grewcock Chair in Constitutional History, Hillsdale College.

Victory endorsed. We are not to regard the cross as defeat and the resurrection as victory. Rather, the cross was the victory won, and the resurrection the victory endorsed, proclaimed and demonstrated. --- John R. W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters
www.virtueonline.org
July 30, 2010

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori continued her "you'll-come-to-see-it-my-way" version of Anglicanism when her travelling road show took her to Wales this past week. There she sat down with the ultra-liberal Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, cementing her role as the Anglican Communion's chief spokes person for gay and liberal agit-prop. Like any good politician, she is coalescing her base for whatever the future holds, a parallel Anglican Communion, perhaps?

Then it was on to London where she preached at the ultra-liberal St. Paul's Cathedral sans miter. There she delivered her plan to save the world for God if only everybody (including God) would get on board about how to spend their money in accord with the now famous Millennium Development Goals and other niceties designed to bring peace on earth and goodwill to all persons. The motto of St. Paul's might well be "Glory to Man in the Highest". The cathedral announced that it is kicking off an economics think tank. Jesus might be invited, according to rumor.

Then it was off to the Anglican Communion's meeting of the Standing Committee in another part of London. It was there that the Presiding Bishop and her church were given a pass over its bad behavior in consecrating yet another homosexual - Mary Glasspool - to the episcopacy.

A proposal by a Malaysian attorney and layman on the Standing Committee that The Episcopal Church be separated from the rest of the global body was nixed. Cutting the U.S. church would inhibit dialogue on sexuality issues and, therefore, would be unhelpful, they agreed. Of course, it would.

"There was ... a clear reflection by members of the group that The Episcopal Church's presence is important to that dialogue, an unwillingness by the group to exclude us even though one member called for that because of that commitment to dialogue even when we don't agree on something," Jefferts Schori said during a later webcast back in the U.S.

So pansexuality is in while Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals are on their way out. There isn't quite enough "inclusion" and "diversity" for them.

Jefferts Schori's spin that it was about the refusal to dialogue is, of course, disingenuous and filled with hubris. We have been dialoging for over 30 years with no end in sight. It will ONLY come when the orthodox roll over and play dead. They will have to admit with much groveling that they have failed to "listen" to the whine of the pansexualists and now wish to redeem themselves with much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. It isn't going to happen, of course.

A new charter for the Anglican Consultative Council virtually guarantees that The Episcopal Church will stay in the ACC, regardless of how it behaves now or in the foreseeable future.

Even the docile Anglican Communion Institute weighed in with their take finally admitting that the ACC is garnering more power to itself than the Primates themselves. "It is not appropriate for one of the Communion's four Instruments to be an English company regulated by UK and EU law like any other UK company. We are not convinced that this role should be confused with the historic role of the Instruments of Communion in "the discernment, articulation and exercise of our shared faith and common life and mission" and in particular with the role of the Communion's Primatial leadership, which bears special responsibility for "doctrinal, moral and pastoral matters that have Communion-wide implications." (Covenant 3.1.4.) Translation: The Archbishops trump the ACC crowd.

Heavy stuff. They went on to urge the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates not to cede their independent authority to the corporate charter of the ACC, but to insist that their authority not be infringed upon by the ACC.

They went on to blast the ACC saying that it is now beyond doubt that the newly transformed and empowered ACC Standing Committee cannot function as the committee required by Section 4 of the Covenant.

To cap the newfound powers of the ACC, Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the ACC said the Primates should not meet in January, as it would be too costly. The Primates should meet every two years instead of yearly, suggested Kearon.

So, the ACC, which meets next time in New Zealand in 2012 at considerable expense to get there, does not want those interfering primates meeting any sooner in case they have some rather tough things to say about the ACC.

Question: So who is REALLY running the show? Is it the Primates? And why is Dr. Rowan Williams so silent?

Canon Gary L'Hommedieu has some pointed things to say about the actions of the ACC and Jefferts Schori.

He wrote, "The Standing Committee claims it is doing all this out of pastoral concern for the Communion as a whole. In patronizing tones it "acknowledged the anxieties felt in parts of the Communion about sexuality issues," but acknowledgement is not a moral act, nor a pastoral one. It is merely checking items off a list.

"This is a shameless manipulation by parliamentary hacks in overruling the known moral position of the majority. It is classic colonialism: redrawing the spiritual maps of distant "dark" continents according to the needs of those sitting at the table, and purporting to do so on behalf of those diminutive souls who regrettably could not be present.

"If the local authorities in these faraway lands-i.e. the Global South-permit the Standing Committee to have its way, they will by their acquiescence endorse the actions taken at this table. They will give substance to the new boundaries, acknowledging them to be the real ones."

The week ended with Jefferts Schori telling a Web audience that "diversity was a blessing" and that the existence of conflict in the church is a sign of health and vitality.

You have to wonder just how much spin you can take before your head falls off.

"If there's no conflict, it means that we're dead," said the Presiding Bishop. "There has always been push and pull in the church. It's a sign that the diversity among us is passionate and that is a gift from God, not something to be squelched."

Really. Tell that to the Episcopal Church's dwindling Anglo-Catholic minority and fleeing Evangelicals, who almost weekly leave for better, more orthodox theological pastures.

When asked by a viewer of the webcast, "Has the Anglican Communion abandoned us, have we abandoned them?" Jefferts Schori responded, "Nobody's abandoned anybody."

"We continue to be committed to God's commission together even though there [are] certainly some members of the Anglican Communion as there are some members of The Episcopal Church who disagree with decisions by various bodies either in this church or in others."

Disagree. DISAGREE. Who are we kidding? Have Archbishop Bob Duncan plus a score of other bishops left TEC, as have 100,000 members plus some 800 parishes because they politely disagree? Oh, the spin.

Diversity is a blessing, she said. Her goal as presiding bishop is to help others recognize that. "I've been clear from the very beginning that I think a big part of our challenge in the current age is to recognize that we are a multicultural church in many different ways - in terms of nationality and language, in terms of gender and orientation, in terms of socioeconomic status, in terms of educational level - and to value that diversity, to see it as a blessing and not something to be criticized or avoided," she said in response to a question on the primary goal she wants to achieve by the end of her nine-year term. You will notice no mention of theological differences.

What about the rich "diversity" that Anglo-Catholics bring to the table or the vibrant evangelicalism of those who can actually make churches grow? Where exactly is their place at the table? When will a liberal/revisionist diocese actually hire a graduate from Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry with a warrant to preach the gospel of God's grace? It will never happen. Orthodoxy is finished in TEC.

You can read a number of stories about all these events in today's digest.

*****

Just to let you know how diverse the Episcopal Church is, the historic parish of Christ Church in Savannah, Georgia is going back to court to reclaim the property for the vast majority of its members. This week they appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court on the recent ruling of the GA Court of Appeals upholding Judge Michael Karpf's decision issued in October 2009 against Christ Church in favor of the Diocese of Georgia and The Episcopal Church.

That decision upheld the plaintiff's argument that Christ Church holds its property in trust for the Diocese and the national church, based on a 1979 national church canon that was enacted without notification prior to or following its adoption.

If this decision is allowed to stand as Georgia law, then most churches should be concerned about whether or not they can keep title to their property should they, for any reason, come into disagreement or otherwise fall out of favor with the national church organization. Christ Church petitioned the state Supreme Court in order to protect their claims to hold title to their own property.

The Rev Marc Robertson stated, "This disagreement is not about real estate. It is about the basic tenets of the historic faith, proclaiming Jesus as the way, the truth and the life. And it is about freedom--freedom of religion-freedom to practice our religion as and where we have for over 275 years; freedom to choose to follow the Jesus of Holy Scripture and not a culturally-manufactured Jesus designed to promote a "different way of being Christian'."

*****

Sex scandals continue to bubble up in TEC as the long hot summer progresses. It was confirmed this week that the Rev. Bradford Whitaker, senior pastor at Christ Church Grosse Pointe, was suspended after it was revealed that he had an affair while serving in a previous church. Whitaker apparently will retain his ordination status, but will not be allowed to preach in an Episcopal Church for at least three years, according to church members.

In the Diocese of Connecticut a man who claims he was sexually abused by an Episcopal Priest is suing the South Windsor Church where he says the abuse happened nearly 40 years ago. Robert Gough was a middle school student, when he says Rev. Bruce Jaques lured him into his office and sexually assaulted him. The alleged abuse happened in the late 1970s, according to Gough's attorneys.

The lawsuit claims Jaques told Gough he was conducting research about children and how they change physically. Gough says Jaques touched him, and performed oral sex on him. He claims Jaques tried to lure him into his office on two other occasions, but Gough turned Jaques away.

A spokesperson for the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut said Jaques was removed from the priesthood in the mid 1990s when separate allegations were brought against him. "Abuse of any type by anyone in a position of power or authority is abhorrent, and not to be tolerated," Director of Communication and Media for the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut Karin Hamilton said.

*****

If you want to know where the Diocese of Atlanta is going theologically then know this. Jack Spong, the former Bishop of Newark will lead 5 sessions on "A New Christianity". A blurb from their diocesan website states that Bishop J. Neil Alexander and Staff welcome Spong, describing him as "a liberal Christian, critical thinker and prominent speaker". Really. Here is a man who dished up the "12 Theses" that deny almost every doctrine of the Christian Faith and he is described as a "critical thinker". Heretic would be a better word. He is so heretical and nasty that no one dares defy or oppose him. It was he who penned the infamous "Koinonia Statement" embracing homosexuality - a statement signed by former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold.

Spong will be giving three of his talks at the Cathedral of St. Philip whose Dean, The Very Rev. Sam Candler has rolled over to TEC's pansexual agenda. Other talks are planned for Trinity Presbyterian Church and Morehouse College.

You should also know that Bishop Alexander is the Chancellor of Sewanee: The University of the South. So ask yourself a simple question, would you want your kids going to a university/seminary (at considerable cost) whose chancellor not only allows an apostate like Spong into his diocese but also would allow your children to be indoctrinated with Spong's nonsense? Think carefully now.

*****

The Episcopal Church might be in trouble with its finances, but not so the Church Pension Group. It is experiencing an investment rebound, according to their annual 2010 report. Its "investment portfolio is well-positioned for the long term". At the end of March 2010, the pension fund had $8.516 billion available for benefits, compared with $7.024 billion at the same time last year.

The annual report shows that the fund is required to have $6.683 billion in assets available for benefits. Thus, it has $1.833 billion more than required. That amount is up from the $576 million that the fund had in additional reserves as of March 31, 2009. At the end of the fund's 2008 fiscal year, it had $9.226 billion in assets available for benefits, $2.865 billion more than required.

The Church Pension Group provides defined-benefit pension plans for clergy and lay employees, as well as a defined-contribution plan for lay employees and other investment options. It also offers health, disability, life, long-term care and property and casualty insurance.

CPG also owns Church Publishing Inc. and sponsors the CREDO Institute, designed to give Episcopal Church clergy and lay employees opportunities to examine their lives and vocations.

While the annual report says that the Clergy Pension Plan is fully funded, with assets in excess of liabilities, the report notes that this is not the case with the lay employees' defined-benefit plan. For investment purposes, CPG recently began to co-mingle the two defined-benefit plans and that strategy is expected to assist in getting the lay plan fully funded.

*****

Bored watching yet another liberal/revisionist bishop receive his/her miter and staff? Fret not, The Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming will provide you with a consecration coloring book all for yourself. Tomorrow when Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori consecrates John Sheridan Smylie as bishop, you can be entertained during the consecration with a "Consecration Coloring Book." No bad handwriting, please, and no placing miters on things they are not supposed to cover.

*****

Mainline Meltdown. Lutherans are apparently joining the Presbyterians in the march toward irrelevancy. Seven pastors who work in the San Francisco Bay area and have been barred from serving in the nation's largest Lutheran group because of a policy that requires homosexual clergy to be celibate are being welcomed into the denomination. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will add six of the pastors to its clergy roster at a service at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in San Francisco on Sunday. Another pastor who was expelled from the church, but was later reinstated, will participate in the service.

The group is among the first homosexual, bisexual or transgender Lutheran pastors to be reinstated or added to the rolls of the ELCA since the organization voted last year to lift the policy requiring celibacy. Churches can now hire noncelibate homosexual clergy who are in committed relationships.

You should know that TEC has a concordat with the ELCA.

L G B T + E L C A + T E C = Spiritual death

*****

The Anglican Church in North America is seeking a full-time director of communications who will work from its provincial office in Ambridge, PA. The director of communications will be responsible for building a provincial communications office and a province-wide volunteer communications team capable of effectively communicating the vision and activities of the province to its dioceses, parishes and members. Candidates should have experience in organizational communication or a related field and be able to demonstrate ability as an editor, writer and website manager as well as knowledge of print and online publishing processes. A successful candidate will also demonstrate leadership skills, an understanding of the potential and pitfalls of social media and a commitment to the province's vision and mission.

To Apply: Individuals wishing to apply for this position may do so by sending a resume and cover letter to HR@anglicanchurch.net Potential candidates with questions about the position may contact the Rev. Peter Frank at peter.frank@anglicanchurch.net, or by calling 724-266-9400 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              724-266-9400         724-266-9400  Candidates must submit materials no later than Friday, August 6.

*****

The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC) which is splitting over that Continuing Church's request for a Canadian Personal Ordinariate, saw its Victoria congregation split this week and a new congregation formed.

The former Rector of St. John the Evangelist, Canon Stanley Sinclair was expelled from the cathedral and excommunicated from his parish and the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada because he refused to accept the Pope's offer of unity being promoted by the Traditional Anglican Communion.

The Very Rev. Shane B. Janzen, who has accused Canon Sinclair of "sowing discord", and "going behind my back to spread false information, fear and disunity, summarily dismissed Canon Sinclair from his post."

Sinclair has now formed St. Mark's Traditional Anglican Church. They will hold their first services at St. Ann's Chapel on Humboldt Street, with its own church location to be announced within the next month.

Just how many people will show up at the service and be part of the congregation isn't known. With several local Anglican churches in the region closing and the rift in the church over the episcopal constitution, which was announced last October, there are many Anglicans looking for a home, said Sinclair.

Since October 2009, a third split has happened within the traditional segment as a result of the episcopal constitution published by the Vatican.

Under that constitution, traditional Anglicans could unite with the Roman Catholic Church but, among other things, the clergy would have to be ordained again.

The acceptance of the constitution "created a considerable problem for many clergy and laity across Canada," Sinclair said. The third group asked the archbishop of the Anglican Province of Christ the King, (APCK) based in San Francisco, to accept them under his authority, which he has done.

"That has led to the formation of the St. Mark's Traditional Anglican Church here," Sinclair said. "There are similar moves taking place across the country which further divides things, but it's simply that people can't conscientiously accept that the Anglican orders are invalid as the episcopal constitution says. It makes a second-class form of Christians."

*****

A Church of England vicar who carried out 360 sham marriages for illegal African immigrants marrying Eastern Europeans who wished to live in Britain has been found guilty. It is the biggest fake wedding scam Britain has ever seen. The Rev. Alex Brown abused his position by marrying 360 illegal immigrants to complete strangers. Armed with a marriage certificate, the immigrants were then able to hoodwink the Home Office into giving them a visa to stay in Britain as a "spouse", with access to education, healthcare and benefits.

At his Victorian parish church in the seaside town of St Leonards, East Sussex, Brown married up to eight couples per day between 2005 and 2009, a court heard. Brown conducted the ceremonies at The Church of St Peter and St Paul in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, between July 2005 and July 2009.

Ninety couples were registered as living on one road and 52 on another. There were several brides and grooms from the same house, and one husband-to-be went under the name of "Felix Spaceman". A bride changed into her borrowed wedding gown in the vestry before the ceremony, then stuffed it back into a plastic bag afterwards, while a groom produced a ring that was far too small for the bride's finger.

Nevertheless, Brown, 61, protested his innocence. He was convicted along with a Nigerian immigration solicitor - whose clients paid up to £15,000 for a dodgy wedding - and a Ukrainian who supplied hard-up Eastern Europeans willing to marry for £3,000 cash.

Brown, who is openly homosexual, also became the only vicar in 800 years to be convicted of failing to read out the banns - asking the congregation if they knew of 'any just cause or impediment' why two people may not marry.

Judge Richard Hayward adjourned sentencing until September 6, but warned the three who all live in St Leonards, that he is considering jail. He told them: "You have been convicted on very clear evidence of a serious offence."

After the Daily Mail exposed the shocking extent of the bogus marriage racket in 2004, new rules were brought in to combat the menace. Non-EU nationals were told they must apply for Home Office approval before being allowed to marry an EU citizen.

As a result, the rate plummeted from an estimated 3,578 fake weddings to just 282.

*****

More than a dozen religious leaders blocked Seventh Street in San Francisco before being arrested in an act of civil disobedience during a rally for immigration reform. The organization hosting the rally, SF Bay Area Coalition for Immigration Reform, said before the rally that they planned to be arrested to show their support for reform.

Among those arrested was the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California, the Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus. He along with supporters was detained for staging a sit-in on 7th Street during an immigration reform rally. The event occurred just hours after a federal judge blocked key parts of the controversial Arizona law SB1070, which was to go into effect the following day. The Rev. Deborah Lee spearheaded the civil disobedience.

The rally came just hours after a federal judge blocked key parts of a controversial Arizona law that is set to take effect Thursday. Senate Bill 1070 requires police, "when practicable," to determine the immigration status of people they reasonably suspect to be in the country illegally.

The law has drawn widespread condemnation from immigration and civil rights advocates and many elected officials, including President Obama.

View here: http://k9video.blogspot.com/

*****

Finding church a bit un-welcoming these days? Come hang out and discuss religion and spirituality from an affirmative, pro-LGBTQ perspective. A Ministry sponsored by St. Aidan's Episcopal Church and the San Francisco Night Ministry is offering a place where to have a "sacred cocktail" or two.

"We're Christian and we're open to all," said an LGBTQRSUVWXYZ blurb. Each week features a guest facilitator, followed by time to hang out and chat about religion, spirituality, and sexuality. "We're starting a new conversation -- come join us." Right. If you go and should happen to disagree with them, prepare to run for the hills. Tolerance for your position will end rapidly.

*****

Challenge To "In God We Trust" On Currency Is Rejected. In a brief opinion in Kidd v. Obama, (D DC, Oct. 30, 2009), the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected an Establishment Clause challenge to use of "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency, brought by a plaintiff who described himself as an atheist. The suit against the President and the Federal Reserve Board Chairman sought to have all currently circulating currency replaced with bills carrying no religious inscriptions. The court quoted a 9th Circuit opinion stating that use of the motto on currency: "is of a patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise." Actual case: https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2009cv1657-5

*****

While Episcopal homosexual activists garner millions of dollars for their cause, we at VOL need your support to counter the liberals and revisionists who daily ply their spin and degradation to persuade you that you are on the wrong path. We do need your help.

Please consider a tax-deductible donation. You can send a check to:

VIRTUEONLINE
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If you would like to make a PAYPAL donation you may go to VOL's website: www.virtueonline.org and click on the PAYPAL button. Thank you for your support. VOL's website is available in 34 languages. Our Global Anglican Theological Institute is available in 40 languages.

In Christ,

David