Dialogue evangelism. Dialogue is neither a synonym nor a substitute for evangelism. Dialogue is a serious conversation in which we are prepared to listen and learn as well as to speak and teach. It is therefore an exercise in integrity. --- From "The Contemporary Christian" John R.W. Stott

The early church understood its task to be the diligent and systematic proclamation of a message. If God's part was to give the power, their part was to give the word. --- From "The Meaning of Evangelism" John R.W. Stott

Evangelism and the Bible. It is an observable fact of history, both past and contemporary, that the degree of the church's commitment to world evangelization is commensurate with the degree of its conviction about the authority of the Bible. Whenever Christians lose their confidence in the Bible, they also lose their zeal for evangelism. Conversely, whenever they are convinced about the Bible, then they are determined about evangelism. --- From 'Scripture: The Light and Heat for Evangelism' in Christianity Today

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
10/16/2009

The 2008 Episcopal Church attendance figures are out and TEC is awash in red ink. Despite her best efforts not to tell us the state of the church at a recent press conference of the Executive Council, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori could not stop the inevitable. VOL has obtained the official figures. We have learned that The Episcopal Church (USA) continued its downward spiral in church attendance in 2008 with 86 dioceses showing decline with the Diocese of South Dakota leading the way with the biggest single decline of 11.6%.

Fourteen domestic dioceses revealed small or no gains. Twelve foreign dioceses split with six showing slight up ticks, four losing members and two not filing a report. After realignment, The TEC "Diocese" of San Joaquin showed a drop of 3,050 from 3,950 to 900, a decline of 77.2%.

Overall Average Sunday Attendance in 2008 was 705257 down from 727822 in 2007, a decrease of 22,565 or 3%. Over the last five years the loss in active membership has been 14%. Average median attendance went from 75 to 69.

None of this bodes well for TEC. Despite all the vaunted talk of inclusivity and diversity, anti racism training, homosexual marriages and Rites to go with them and possibly more homosexual bishops to come, the church continues its gadarene slide. There is a limit to tolerance that even the most brain-dead "get" after a while. It goes back to the old adage, "You can fool some of the people some of the time..."

You can read the full account of the Episcopal Church's decline in today's lead story.

Bible Blogger put it even more succinctly:
Membership - Down.
Attendance - Down.
Giving - Down.
Membership and attendance have been dropping for most of this decade, but the drop in giving is something new.

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The DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA continues its drive to grab the properties currently under the control of the Anglican Diocese of Virginia. A judge with the Virginia Supreme Court said that it would hear an appeal by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia (which includes primarily northern and eastern Virginia) and the national church, which got clobbered in Fairfax District Court last year.

The district court judge sided with nine conservative Virginia congregations whose members were fed up with the church's position on biblical literalism, gay clergy and gay marriage. Those conservative congregations voted in late 2006, early 2007 to leave the Episcopal Church, take their millions in real estate and join another, more like-minded branch of the Anglican Communion.

"The fact that the Virginia Supreme Court is going to hear an appeal of this case was expected. We continue to be confident in our legal position and in the rulings of the Fairfax County Circuit Court. These rulings, among other things, found the Virginia Division Statute constitutional," said Jim Oakes, Vice-Chairman of the Anglican District of Virginia, of which the nine churches are members. The beat goes on. New Bishop Shannon S. Johnston says he will continue the legal fight for as long as it takes. It will continue, he says, because freedom is under attack. A panel of the Virginia Supreme Court will hear their petition for appeal on October 21.

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In La Crescenta, California, the people of ST. LUKE'S ANGLICAN CHURCH will turn over the keys to Bishop Jon Bruno and the Diocese of Los Angeles. On Sunday, the Rev. Rob Holman delivered his final sermon bringing to an end a bruising legal fight the congregation waged and lost to practice the faith once delivered and hold on to their church. The bishop got the property, but he lost most of the people. To keep it afloat the diocese will have to put money into the parish. After rounds of costly litigation, the courts ruled in the diocese's favor, concluding that St. Luke's property was held in trust for the diocese and the national church. As in all these situations, the Dennis Canon triumphs. At the end, however, the faithful triumph and so does the gospel.

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The drive for genuine ecumenicity continues for traditional Anglicans. This past week leaders of ACNA, the Orthodox Church in America gathered at NASHOTAH HOUSE, Wisconsin, to restart unity talks with the Orthodox Church. Here the two seminaries signed an historic covenant in unity pledge. A decade's long impasse between Anglicanism and the Orthodox Church was broken. Signing an historic "covenant" between Nashotah House and St. Vladimir's Seminary, traditional Anglican leaders and their counterparts in the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) pledged themselves to work towards unity.

Speaking to an international audience of one hundred and seventy people, ACNA (Anglican Church in North America) Archbishop Robert Duncan stated that signing the conference's inter-seminary covenant, committing Nashotah House and St. Vladimir's seminaries to mutual prayer and fellowship, "lays the groundwork of something very much larger", namely "serious dialogue" with the OCA and "the resumption of ecumenical discussion between two separated parts of the Church."

A VOL reader who was present wrote, "What a scene. My wife and and I were sitting within eight feet of five bishops; Archbishop Bob Duncan and bishops Keith Ackerman, Jack Iker, Ed Salmon and William Wantland. Then we had communion with them all around us - what a gathering it was with two Metropolitans thrown in, as well as the Antiochian priest who had married us 29 years ago." VOL's reporter Fr. Michael Heidt wrote two stories on that event which you can read in today's digest.

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The Bishop of SOUTH CAROLINA, The Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence sought to clarify his diocese's position in The Episcopal Church. He has called a Special Convention on Oct. 24 to approve five resolutions, none of which mean the diocese will leave the Episcopal Church or withdraw from "the mother church." He did say that the Diocese of South Carolina actually preceded the existence of what is today known as the Episcopal Church and his diocese was one of the dioceses that founded and ratified the Episcopal Church after the American Revolution.

The proposed resolutions are not intended as a withdrawal from the church, he says, rather "they are a means for the Diocese of South Carolina to more fully engage the challenges that surround us, in both the contemporary culture and the Episcopal Church, without withdrawing from the national church."

Only one of the proposed resolutions makes any reference to "withdrawing." But these are from those entities within the national church which have gone contrary to Holy Scripture; the teachings of the worldwide Anglican Communion (of which the Episcopal Church understands itself to be a member); the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this church has received them; the Book of Common Prayer; and the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.

You can read the full story in today's digest.

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On a brighter note CANA bishop Martyn Minns noted that membership in his jurisdiction has jumped to 90 Congregations adding 13 congregations from six different states plus one in Canada have now joined the orthodox Anglican organization. People are seeking a rich liturgical worship and connection to the Global Anglican Communion, says Bishop Minns. "We are excited to welcome these new congregations from across North America into the CANA fellowship, a body of orthodox Anglican Christians committed to upholding the Word of God. We as an Anglican body are seeing orthodox Christianity thrive in the U.S. and around the world and are pleased to play a pivotal role in bringing orthodox congregations together."

*****

Ultra-liberal Atlanta Bishop J. Neil Alexander was elected 23rd chancellor of Sewanee, the University of the South this week by the university's board of trustees. He will continue to serve the Diocese of Atlanta. He succeeds Alabama Bishop Henry N. Parsley Jr., who had served as chancellor since May 2003. The chancellor is elected from the bishops of the university's owning dioceses for a term of six years. The chancellor is chair, ex officio, of the board of trustees and a member of the board of regents. He has written a book eulogizing homosexuality.

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In Pittsburgh, the Standing Committee of the original DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH called for a time of prayer. The Rev. Karen Stevenson, rector of Trinity, Washington, and president of the diocesan Standing Committee has asked that all members of the Diocese set aside time for special prayer and fasting during the days ahead, that the Holy Spirit might provide insight, guidance and strength in the midst of current challenges.

"As you may be aware, Judge Joseph James issued a ruling on October 6 regarding the Calvary litigation, ordering the transfer of all stipulated Diocesan (not parish) assets to the Episcopal Church (TEC) diocese, based in Monroeville. While the Standing Committee and diocesan leadership prayerfully discern courses of future action, including the possibility of appeal, these prayers should be, as always, that God's will be done in this and all things."

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Conservative Anglican clerics and laity from New England and New York are meeting in Conway, New Hampshire, welcoming new parishes and clergy. The Diocese of the Northeast of the ANGLICAN CHURCH IN AMERICA part of the worldwide Traditional Anglican Communion, is holding its annual synod in Conway on Wednesday through Friday. This year's meeting is focusing on church mission, evangelism and youth programs.

*****

The CHURCH OF ENGLAND could lose $70 million in its Bed Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village an upper middle class community located in Manhattan.

The list of losers from Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Inc.'s (NYSEBLK) record $5.4 billion purchase of sprawling New York City apartment complex Stuyvesant Town Peter Cooper Village in 2006 is getting longer. With the downturn of the residential real estate market, The Wall Street Journal reports that besides the principal buyers other investors in the deal such as the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., insurance company Hartford Financial Services (NYSE:HIG) and the Church of England are in danger of losing most or all of their investments.

Credit rating agency Real Point LLC estimates the property is now worth less than $2.1 billion, less than half of the acquisition price. What's just as frightening is that Tishman and BlackRock burned through nearly $365 million of their reserves since the purchase and now have only $33.7 million left to service debt.

Some of the money was spent for legal fees to try to evict existing tenants in an effort to raise rents, but many of the cases have been tossed out of court. The old tenants paying below market prices left the owners far beneath their revenue expectations, which were vital for servicing the debt load. Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) predicted by 2011 net operating income would triple to $336 million from $112 million in 2006. Realpoint LLC says revenue for 2009 only will be $139 million.

Some have also pointed out that reserves were wastefully spent on unnecessary upgrades in landscaping, which included a putting green and new trees, as well as significant renovations to vacant apartments, which included new kitchen cabinets and marble kitchen floors. But now, Tishman, BlackRock and its host of investors are paying the price, with some speculating that the owners can only hold off default till February. The Church of England had a $70 million equity stake in the town.

*****

This month, Dr Rachel Jordan, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Council's Mission and Evangelism Associate, talks about how young people are communicating God's love through ice-cream, surfing and sock puppets - thanks to the latest round of pump-priming grants from the Youth Evangelism Fund. You can subscribe to the podcasts. No mention of a gospel that demands discipleship or a cross apparently.

*****

ISRAELI authorities blocked the Bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, from leaving the country last week for Britain, the president of the Compass Rose Society reports. The Rt. Rev. Philip Poole, suffragan Bishop of Toronto, reports that Bishop Dawani was scheduled to deliver an address to the annual general meeting of the Compass Rose Society -- a fundraising group that supports the work of the Anglican Consultative Council.

However, the bishop's "permit application to use the Tel Aviv airport was not granted by the Israeli authorities in time for the meeting." Bishop Dawani "was denied access to the airport after completing the usual and customary protocols required by Israeli authorities," Bishop Poole reported, adding that it was "difficult to understand what interest was served by keeping Bishop Suheil from attending this international gathering of Anglicans".

Members of the Society met in London on Sept 29-30, and were given a private briefing by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams on his recent trip to Japan.

Financial statements released by the society show that in 2008 it raised $422,232; a decline of $43,000 from 2007. From these funds, $299,081 was contributed to the ACC in 2008, while $367,196 was donated in 2007. The Compass Rose Society draws its members primarily from wealthy Americans, Canadians, residents of Hong Kong and other parts of the Communion, who are asked to contribute $10,000 to join. Source CEN

*****

Anglo-Swedish rift over church gay marriage. The Church of England has condemned a proposal by the Church of Sweden to grant same-sex couples the right to religious wedding ceremonies.

In a sharply worded letter to Swedish archbishop Anders Wejryd, two high ranking bishops from the Church of England call the proposal "problematic", adding that it risks causing "an impairment of the relationships between the churches".

"What is now proposed appears to be a fundamental re-definition of the Christian doctrine of marriage and of basic Christian anthropology," charge English bishops Christopher Hill and John Hind in the letter.

The critique comes following March correspondence from Archbishop Wejryd in which he informed his colleagues in England of ongoing discussions within the Lutheran Church of Sweden about allowing gay marriages in Swedish churches. You can read the full story here: http://www.thelocal.se/20732/20090716/

For Sweden and for the Swedish Church, this coming week may be fateful. The Kyrkomötet (Churchwide Assembly), the highest decision-making organ in Sweden's largest church body, will gather to decide whether to seek the (continued) right to perform marriages and whether to adopt a gender-neutral marriage rite. This is not simply a matter for a single church body but, whether one knows it or not, a decisive question for the whole Swedish people. Will the church, that for centuries was a great blessing for the land, stand firm for marriage as instituted by God, or will it prostrate itself to political opinion? Everyone seems to assume that the decision will follow the suggestion of the church's board of directors and the worship committee. The political parties have decided and the party whips are busy, both among the Social Democrats and the Center Party. Humanly seen, all indications are that the Church of Sweden will adopt a new doctrine of marriage that is alien to the Bible and the Confessions and to the world-wide church.

*****

ANGLICAN HEALTH NETWORK announces the launch of a micro health insurance pilot. People on very low incomes in the developing world may soon be able to access health insurance thanks to the Anglican Health Network (AHN), according to an October 15 news release from the Anglican Communion Office. Based in Geneva, AHN announced October 6 that it will establish a new pilot project to test the concept of providing a "micro health insurance plan" in an African setting. The AHN was established at the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in May 2009. Its key ambition is to support Anglican health providers to improve health care in the developing world. "In an era when faith communities have been rediscovered as key health services providers, we are pleased to be leading this innovative approach to low income health care" said the Rev. Paul Holley, president and co-founder of AHN.

*****

About 60 members and supporters of the community-action group ACORN gathered at a North Philadelphia church this week to sing the praises of the beleaguered organization."There are two ACORNs out there," said Ian Phillips, ACORN's Pennsylvania legislative director and one of the organizers of the event. "We wanted to talk about the ACORN that people who live in the community know." The 90-minute session, at the House of Prayer Episcopal Church on Limekiln Pike, was part pep rally, part revival meeting. Speakers included State Rep. Mark Cohen, retired city labor leader Tom Cronin, city Consumer Affairs Director Lance Haver, and nearly a dozen organizers and city residents who work for or have benefited from ACORN's action. In the midst of praising the organization, several speakers took aim at the "right-wing conservative" critics who they say have launched a campaign to smear ACORN. "We will not be hearing from any pimps or prostitutes today," said ACORN's Junette Marcano, who served as moderator at the session.

*****

Theos (the public theology think tank) released the results of a poll of over a thousand adults which reveal that the overwhelming majority of people in Britain want to keep Christ in Christmas. In the poll, conducted by ComRes in May 2009, 84 per cent of those interviewed disagreed with the statement that "Christmas should be re-named to reflect our multi-cultural society". 85% agreed that "Christmas should be called Christmas because we are still a Christian country". Commenting on the results of the poll, Nick Spencer, Director of Studies at Theos, said, "The results of this research underline what most people instinctively know. There remains enormous and genuine affection for both the Christian festival of Christmas and the values underpinning it."

*****

Bishop Bertil Gärtner died on September 20 at the age of 84. He taught at Uppsala University, and from 1965-1969 was Professor of New Testament at Princeton University. In 1970 he succeeded Bo Giertz as Bishop of Gothenberg, Sweden, where Bishop Bertil served until 1991 and was widely known as a gifted theologian, pastor and champion of the Apostolic Ministry. During his retirement he ministered as a "flying bishop" to traditional, orthodox parishes, organizations and renewal groups.

*****

Survey: Does Your Church Use the 1662 Book of Common Prayer? Robin Jordan is taking a survey of Anglican churches in North America that use the classic Anglican Prayer Book-The Book of Common Prayer of 1662. If your church uses the 1662 Book of Common Prayer at any or all of its services and is located in Canada or the United States, Puerto Rico or one of the US territories, he would like to hear from you. Please leave your answers to the following questions in the comments section below.

* What is the name of your church?
* What is the name of its current pastor? Did he introduce the use of the 1662 Prayer Book? If not, who did?
* With which ecclesial body is it affiliated? If it is affiliated with the ACNA, please also give the name of jurisdiction and the cluster, diocese, district or network to which it belongs.
* What is its location?
* What is its email address?
* Which forms of service-Morning Prayer, Litany, Holy Communion, Evening Prayer, Baptism, Confirmation, etc.-from the 1662 Prayer Book does it use and at what services?
* What other worship aids-service books, hymnals, songbooks-does your church use with the 1662 Prayer Book?
* Further comments.

Please note that churches using the Reformed Episcopal Church's new Prayer Book-The Book of Common Prayer of 2005-are not using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer but a service book that combines elements taken from both the 1662 Prayer Book and the 1928 Prayer Book. The result is a service book that differs significantly in its theology from the 1662 Prayer Book. The purpose of this survey is to identify churches that actually use the classic Anglican Prayer Book and to learn more about them and their use of the 1662 Prayer Book. Thank you for helping with this survey. Click to do the survey here:
http://anglicansablaze.blogspot.com/2009/10/survey-does-your-church-use-1662-book.html

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