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The Strategy of Terror. "In totalitaria, the use of this weapon is refined to a science which can wipe out all opposition and dissent. The leaders of totalitaria rule by intimidation; they prefer loyalty through fear to loyalty through faith. In the panic caused by totalitarian terror, men feel separated from one another, as by an impassable vacuum, and each man becomes a lonely, frightened soul. Totalitaria is constantly on the alert for social sinners, the critics of the system, and accusation of dissent is equivalent to conviction in the public eye. Insinuation, calumny, and denunciation are staples of the totalitarian strategy."
"There exist several milder forms of mass terror, for instance, the strategy of no political rest."
"The ELCA was not supposed to talk about sex this year at their Church Wide Assembly, but alas, those Lutherans fell victim to the strategy of no political rest. We see the same thing in The Episcopal Church, where the proponents of radical social engineering are hitting the orthodox from every side, and never relent. They claim to want to maintain the unity of the Communion, but are engaging a political and personal assault against the orthodox that few living today have ever seen in the Church. This strategy of terror they use while sowing seeds of the enigma of co-existence creates quite a personal conflict in a person of integrity, but not in the Bishops who are leading the charge. It is paralyzing to anybody who might want to lead a reform." ---The Rev. C.J. Conner Article printed from "Jesus and the Culture Wars": http://www.revcjconner.com URL to article: http://www.revcjconner.com/?p=78
Why God is not always known. Just as it is the nature of light to shine, so it is the nature of God to reveal himself. True, he hides himself from the wise and clever, but only because they are proud and do not want to know him; he reveals himself to 'babies', that is, to those humble enough to receive his self-disclosure ... The chief reason why people do not know God is not because he hides from them, but because they hide from him. --From "I Believe in Preaching" John R. W. Stott
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
8/16/2007
It has been suggested, and I believe it is true, that what we are watching today is the Episcopal Church -- and the Anglican Communion -- coming apart at the seams. We are going through much the same thing that the early Church did prior to the Council of Nicaea. It, too, was coming apart at the seams, thanks to multiple heresies. Nicaea was a new beginning for the Church. The Council of Nicaea was historically significant because it was the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom.
Next year at Lambeth, if all attend, we might well be asking a different set of questions, while yearning for a consensus through an assembly of some 800 plus bishops looking for answers that will resolve the present dilemma in the Anglican Communion. As of this week, barely 200 out of the 800 bishops have said they will attend which bodes ill for Lambeth. The palace is saying it is a postal problem but some of us are not quite so convinced. The net effect is that Lambeth has lifted the deadline so you dear bishops can reply, or not, at your leisure. You can read the full story here or in today's digest: http://tinyurl.com/yrz5hz
Ironically, the 600 or so who have not responded might also be seen as a fitting answer to York Archbishop Sentamu's recent assertion that Dr. Williams expects those who attend Lambeth to abide by the decision-making processes of the Anglican Communion. Wrote one VOL reader, "I find it amazing that a province can be seen to have self-selected out of the Communion by not attending the Lambeth Conference, but NOT (so far) for incorrigible heterodoxy!"
The bottom line for the Anglican Communion is whether we will be a church that recognizes sex solely in marriage between a man and a woman, or will we accept alternative sexual options that open a Pandora's box that could lead right back to polygamy! To sodomize or not to sodomize, that is the question. Whether tis nobler just to say NO and carry your cross, or broker it in by a thousand (GC) resolutions. That is the question. The whole Anglican Communion comes apart over anal sex and blessing those who want to do it and gets blessed by the church to be allowed to continue doing it! What will we tell our grandchildren?
In today's QUOTE OF THE WEEK (see above) an astute observer noted about the Culture Wars in TEC,; "The amazing thing is that conservative bishops are even paralyzed in the face of the attack and can do nothing to stop their peers---I think it is the back side of the homosexual dysfunction, a meanness that is nothing short of possession by the devil..."
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In my lead story, "ANGLO-CATHOLICS Face Isolation and Demonization" we asked the question, "Is there any hope for the dwindling minority of Anglo-Catholics left in The Episcopal Church?" For the moment, Anglo-Catholics are adrift and isolated. As one Anglo-Catholic priest put it, "I feel like a small beached whale. People are throwing buckets of water over me to try and save me. My real fear is being dragged back into the ocean where I am all alone." Anglo-Catholics have become marginalized not only in TEC but the Roman Catholic Church has also given them the thumbs down. You can read that story here or in today's digest: http://tinyurl.com/2sggox
On the subject of "Anglican Use of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church" which Anglo-Catholics have yearned for, an Anglican University professor and VOL reader who was in England recently and met with various Forward in Faith UK leaders, told him (including Canon Arthur Middleton of Durham), what Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester, has come to admit, in private, that women's ordination was "a terrible mistake" and that it played a big part in landing the Church of England in "the mess" it's now in -- even though he hasn't said that he now believes it to be wrong at a theological level.
They also told him that they had very good information that Rome will issue a decree for Catholic Anglicans at the end of September (perhaps a papal Motu Proprio) expanding the "Pastoral Provision" into a "Personal Prelature" with its own bishop, world-wide in its scope, and not, as at present, limited to the USA.
He was told that Rowan Williams is now disdained by all sides and most of his fellow-bishops and church bureaucrats, as an indecisive ditherer -- and most especially and fiercely by liberals of Affirming Catholicism and just plain liberal types who regard him as having betrayed both them and their shared beliefs about gays, gay partnerships and the like.
How then will the ABC be received when he meets with the American House of Bishops in September in New Orleans? One group that will be watching, waiting and listening for what he has to say will be the Network bishops. The Episcopal Church may well hang upon what Dr. Williams says.
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IN other global news, Archbishop Peter Jensen of the DIOCESE OF SYDNEY has said that his six bishops have told the Archbishop of Canterbury that they cannot reply to the Lambeth invitation until they know the response of American bishops to demands made by Primates in February at Dar es Salaam. Sydney indicated it would follow the lead of the African churches that have said they will not attend if the American bishops who consecrated Gene Robinson were invited.
The bigger question is, what if Archbishops Jensen and Peter Akinola (Nigeria) form a pincer movement and declare that they will have an alternative Lambeth!? It all grows more interesting by the day.
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If you want to know what gives evangelicals apoplectic fits, it's when the ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN, Dr John Neill, says that while "the ideal - and right place - is for sex within marriage", he "certainly would not condemn anybody in a loving relationship".
Asked if the Anglican Church considered pre-marital sex a sin, Dr Neill said, "I think that making hard and fast statements about listing things as sins would be less common nowadays." You may now scream and beat your head against a wall. Source - Church of Ireland Gazette.
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FROM WITHIN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH the news is not much better. The church center in New York has a new organizational plan to reshape ministries based at the Episcopal Church Center. All this restructuring, according to Mrs. Katharine Jefferts Schori, TEC Presiding Bishop has "great potential for creativity and capacity building." The new configuration will be the way we carry out our mission statement that emphasizes our being a service organization to dioceses and congregations and to the whole church," she said. IS this merely reshuffling the deck chairs on the TEC Titanic? The church is losing 700 members a week, more and more dioceses are in litigation with orthodox priests and parishes, more sex scandals are emerging each day and all we get is a new "organizational " plan."
A MORE realistic view of what is going on at the parish level comes this note from a vestry meeting at St. John's parish in Carlisle, PA. Fr. Mark is concerned about attendance declining. There were 100 fewer people this year on Mother's Day. He asked for help in understanding what was happening. A list of "lost sheep" was developed for the vestry to call or email encouraging people to return. Fr. Mark, Dan and Don met about the pledges. They did not see any reason for the lack of attendance. Pam asked if this problem was widespread, as she hadn't heard any rumblings of discontent. Fr. Mark replied that it was true throughout the diocese. Maribeth noted that it might be a demographic problem.
No Maribeth, what you are hearing is the death rattle of a diocese. It has nothing to do with demographics; that's the liberal spin. Sure communities go up and down, but the odd thing is that when an Episcopal parish goes on the chopping block it is usually bought by an upstart independent evangelical group! Go figure. This is precisely what happened with the cathedral in Western Michigan.
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From Peter Conklin of the DIOCESE OF MILWAUKEE in Waukesha, Wisconsin, comes this word, "What the Episcopal Church needs are not more conferences so they can talk about sister moonbeam, goddess Sophia, Bishop Spong's views - the merits of Obama (from Bishop Gene Robinson), and how to make all of our young people marry their same sex partners. "I would agree on having a conference about what to do about our empty churches, it would be nice if some of our over-worked clergy would visit elderly Episcopalians lying in nursing homes, like my mother, a life long Episcopalian who died with no clergy there to help her through it. Am I bitter? You bet! There is no lights-camera-action for visiting a nursing home. As soon as an Anglican church opens up in my town, I will be in the front pew rejoicing. Until then I sit home on Sunday mornings and watch the Roman Mass on EWTN. To be sure the Episcopal Church of my youth is gone never to return."
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In the DIOCESE OF OKLAHOMA outgoing bishop Robert Moody admitted in an interview that the diocese faces several challenges if it is to increase its membership. "When I became bishop in 1988-89, we numbered close to 20,000 people and now we're at about 17,500. Some of that is due to the demographic changes that have occurred in communities where we once had churches but no longer have churches. And some of that is due to people being upset with the Episcopal Church because of where I or the House of Bishops or the General Convention has stood on some of these issues that I related, referred to (In 2003, Moody joined the majority of the Episcopal Church USA's House of Bishops in voting in favor of the consecration of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay clergyman, as New Hampshire bishop). News alert for Moody: IT IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE!
***** In the diocese of Pennsylvania, the case of Moyer v Bennison has been placed on the October jury trial list in Norristown. Bennison will be given the trial he denied to Fr. Moyer. In fact, he will be called as a witness by Moyer's attorneys. Finally, what really happened will be revealed in a public trial. Bennison also faces Presentment charges with the National Church.
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In the DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT, VOL learned this week that things are getting downright nasty. Bishop Drew Smith and TEC announced they are now going after the vestry of Trinity Episcopal Church in Bristol, Ct. Apparently they were all were notified this week. This parish and its priest Fr. Helmandollar decided to join CANA. As a result the diocese defrocked the priest after he and most of the congregation voted to leave The Episcopal Church. He and the breakaway Anglicans were asked to leave the church property by July 8 but they have remained.
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In the DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA, Bishop Peter James Lee verses a dozen orthodox parishes that have left with their properties reached an agreement of sorts. The Episcopal Church agreed to dismiss all unpaid church volunteers and rectors as defendants in one of the largest lawsuits ever in the denomination. The Anglican District of Virginia viewed this as a victory, but the bigger issues still remain. "We are appreciative that after all these months, our volunteer vestry members and our pastoral leadership are no longer named defendants in lawsuit filed by the Diocese and The Episcopal Church," said Tom Wilson, Senior Warden of The Falls Church, and Chairman of the Anglican District of Virginia Board of Directors. You can read the full story here or in today's digest at: http://tinyurl.com/yveabj
This did not keep Lee from deposing three local clergy - the Rev. Elijah White, of Hamilton, who is the pastor at Church of Our Saviour, Oatlands, the Rev. Jack Grubbs of The Potomac Falls Church, and the Rev. Clancy Nixon of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Ashburn. Some 21 clergy who have transferred to the Anglican Communion through CANA are now officially deposed.
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THE REV. CANON DAVID C. ANDERSON, President and CEO of the American Anglican Council, took a swipe at the upcoming meeting of the US House of Bishops in New Orleans. He particularly excoriated Archbishop Rowan Williams' presence, "These days many folks are asking whether the result of the Archbishop of Canterbury's visit to the Episcopal House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans in September will be the same sort of nonsense as the committee report on TEC's compliance which Dr. Williams pulled out of his miter at Dar es Salaam. The committee findings, heavily influenced to say what the Archbishop wished them to say, were that TEC had made substantial progress in explaining themselves satisfactorily, and that all was OK. The primates didn't buy it then." Look for a rerun of the same game at New Orleans, and the same conclusion: "Although the Episcopal Church has not completely satisfied the stipulations of the Communique, they have made a courageous and honest effort in that direction given the limitations of their polity, and more time will need to be accorded them for full compliance to be realized." I would like to be proven wrong about this!
The AAC Communique Compliance Office will have a summary of compliance/non compliance actions available for the House of Bishops' meeting and for Dr. Williams and company before the New Orleans HOB meeting. "We do trust that SOMEONE will wish to know the facts before absolution is pronounced. One of the real problems that no one on either side of the water seems to wish to address is the inability of the Anglican Communion Office and the Archbishop of Canterbury to fund office operations - or the Lambeth Conference - without massive money from The Episcopal Church. Can you imagine a trial and conviction where the accused is paying for the court's operation on a yearly basis, and yet the judge and court officers are not judicially deferential? Follow the money, they say. It isn't justice, and it isn't sound theology."
IF YOU WOULD like to see a recorded video interview with Canon Anderson you may do so by clicking on the following link: mms://69.93.51.164/americananglican/august8davidanderson-1.wmv Or you can visit their home page at: www.Americananglican.org
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In other news Arun Arora, the ARCHBISHOP OF YORK'S Director of Communications blasted Anderson saying Why Canon Anderson Got it Wrong in an online argument between Anderson and the Archbishop over core doctrine and belief and the authority of Holy Scripture." You can read that story here. http://tinyurl.com/2qndouNow Anderson has responded to Arun Arora and you can read what he says here or in today's digest http://tinyurl.com/2mqyob
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THE WINDSOR BISHOPS met at Camp Allen, Texas this past week but according to a bishop who was there "they will not produce a statement this time."
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LUTHERAN UNREST. The two major branches of American Lutheranism are in opposite camps over sodomy and same-sex marriages. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) is the liberal denomination that is following the bell curve of the Episcopal Church. On the final day of its 2007 Church wide Assembly in Chicago (August 11), they adopted a resolution which "prays, urges, and encourages [ELCA geographical] synods, synodical bishops, and the presiding bishop to refrain from or demonstrate restraint in disciplining those rostered leaders in a mutual, chaste, and faithful committed same-gender relationship who have been called and rostered in this church."
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the orthodox branch blasted back at their ELCA brothers and said, "news of this action causes serious concern and consternation among the members and leaders of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). We in the LCMS hold firmly to the conviction that, according to the Holy Bible, homosexual behavior is "intrinsically sinful." We are deeply disappointed that the ELCA, by its decision, has failed to act in keeping with the historic and universal understanding of the Christian church regarding what Holy Scripture teaches about homosexual behavior as contrary to God's will and about the biblical qualifications for holding the pastoral office."
FROM ALL THIS might we see a new grand alignment with orthodox Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians and Methodists coming together to form a more perfect union while the liberals go their way...downhill as they adopt a this worldly post modern agenda?
Said an LCMS statement: "We firmly believe that the sin of homosexual behavior, like every sin that fallen human beings commit, has been paid for in full by the life, suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The LCMS also believes that we must continue to reach out in love to all people on the basis of what God's Word alone teaches about human sinfulness, God's grace in Christ, and the new life empowered by God's Holy Spirit."
An orthodox ELCA Lutheran responded saying; "A number of us in the ELCA sought to reject the ECUSA approach 10 years ago. We lost. Now the ELCA has become the ECUSA."
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And just when you thought that a liberal Episcopal bishop couldn't defy spiritual gravity, the Bishop of the DIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES J. Jon Bruno came out with a statement about Hinduism and the Episcopal Church that will make you run for the narthex. In an Indian Rite Mass to be offered at St. John's Parish, Bruno will take the opportunity to ask for deepening dialogue with the leaders of the Hindu community and will offer an historic apology for the religious oppression that has been imposed on Hindus by many Christians! Say what? What is Bruno smoking? The Internet is full of countless stories of Christian persecution by Hindus and others in India. I can't recall seeing any about Christians oppressing Hindus; they are such a minority, they're in no position to be oppressors. Of India's teeming millions only two percent are Christian; the rest are mostly Hindu with a smattering of Moslems!
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The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Rt. Rev. Charles E. Jenkins, Bishop of the Episcopal DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA, will celebrate the Resiliency of Spirit in New Orleans at a special Ecumenical Worship Service to be held in the auditorium of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on the evening of September 20, 2007. The Bishop extended the invitation to Dr. Williams to observe the work of recovery and transformation and to celebrate the resiliency of spirit in New Orleans. "We are humbled that the Archbishop has accepted our invitation to visit and touch the mission of renewal and restoration on the Gulf Coast," Bishop Jenkins said of this historic occasion.
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A DUTCH CATHOLIC bishop has suggested that Christians should refer to God as "Allah" to promote better relations with Muslims. Bishop Martinus "Tiny" Muskens of Breda told a "Network" television show "God doesn't really care how we address Him." Pointing out that "Allah" is a term already used by Christians who speak Arabic, Bishop Muskens said that humans are needlessly divided over such terminology. God, the bishop said, is above such bickering." The Dutch bishop admitted that his suggestion was not likely to gain widespread acceptance. But he predicted that within a century or two, Dutch Catholics would be addressing prayers to "Allah."
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AMONG the stories you can read in today's digest is an interview with the Archbishop of York by Stephen Crittendon of the Australian Broadcasting Company. Very enlightening. Here is one response by Dr. Sentamu: "... the communion, at the heart of it, has got to do a number of things. While on one hand upholding Christian teaching, [it] must also be very loving and kind towards gay and lesbian people because that's part of the resolution. And it must also continue to listen. And I'm not so sure, when some people speak as if the debate has been concluded, or we cannot engage with this, you're being very faithful to the resolution."
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The Anglican Communion Network Good News Initiative will hold "Sharing Our Faith" Conference in Gainesville, FL August 24-26, 2007 It will be held at Servants of Christ Anglican Church in Gainesville. Among the conference speakers are the Rev. Dr. Michael Green, Evangelist and Author; Ms. Carrie Boren, Missioner for Evangelism for the Diocese of Dallas; Mrs. Jenny Noyes, ACN Coordinator for Evangelism; the Rev. Tom Herrick, ACN Director for Church Planting; and the Rev. Dr. Jack Gabig, ACN Director for Children & Youth. Christian apologist Dr. Michael Green will also debate atheist Dr. Robert Price. A block of rooms at the Holiday Inn West ($92/night) and the adjacent Newberry Inn & Conference Center ($79/night) located at 7417 Newberry Road, Gainesville, FL 32605 has been reserved. Room rates for this event are guaranteed until August 10 or the block is full (whichever comes first) under the name AANF (Anglican Alliance North Florida). To make a hotel reservation, call 1-800-551-8206 or 352-332-1615. Gainesville information: http://www.cityofgainesville.org/about/leisure/ Servants of Christ Anglican Church: http://www.servantsanglican.org/nuke/
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