Kenyans Protest UN Pro-Abortion Summit. "Africa is not for sale. African women do not need to sacrifice their children to be empowered. They tell us we are poor because we are many. That is a lie! We are poor because they took and still take our resources." --- David Nussman

God's created norms. There can be no 'liberation' from God's created norms; true liberation is found only in accepting them. --- John R.W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
November 15, 2019

The question might fairly be asked is this; do we now have three Anglican communions? The first, of course, is the official Anglican Communion with its four instruments of unity ruled over by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The second is GAFCON ruled over by ACNA archbishop and GAFCON chairman Foley Beach. The third are Global South Anglicans led by a Primates' Council headed up by Archbishop Justin Badi of Southern Sudan. He is the new chair of the GSA Primates' Steering Committee.

Each has its own rule book -- The Anglican Communion has the decennial Lambeth Conference which has passed multiple resolutions from multiple gatherings of the communion over many years; GAFCON has the Jerusalem Declaration and the Global South has a newly formed Covenant.

This proposed covenantal structure for the GSA outlines a series of doctrinal commitments, as requisite for "full communion" between churches, dioceses, and even congregations. It also states that "our churches are out of communion with those churches that allow the blessing of same-sex relationships or purport to solemnize same-sex marriages in their doctrine and practice."

The Jerusalem Declaration specifically says, "We acknowledge God's creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family. We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married."

The knotty resolution 1:10 stands at the epicenter of the Anglican Communion hanging like a Damoclean Sword over all three communions.

Both GAFCON and the Global South have ratified Resolution 1:10 as the gold standard for human sexual behavior, that is, between a man and woman no exceptions. While the Lambeth Conference has in theory passed the resolution, Archbishop Welby refuses to reinforce it.

This led one ACNA bishop to make the follow observation from a senior African prelate when asked about going to Lambeth. He said that that the question about sexuality had already been decided by Archbishop Welby with respect to Resolution 1:10. By inviting Bishops in same-sex relationships (and those who consecrated them), Welby has made the conference violate Lambeth 1:10. Additionally Archbishop Welby himself is In violation of Lambeth 1:10. There is no need to discuss resolution 1:10 anymore, Archbishop Welby has unilaterally decided to overturn it for the Communion.

So, there you have it. If Welby has already decided that inviting bishops living in a homoerotic relationship with another person of the same sex to Canterbury next year, then he has effectively undermined that resolution which was adopted on a vote of 526 to 70 with 45 abstentions.

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A leading Anglican LGBTI+ activist who is campaigning to make "reparative therapy" a criminal offence was warmly received by Pope Francis at Casa Santa Martha this week after Holy Mass in the pontiff's private chapel. Jayne Ozanne, who led the debate banning reparative therapy in the Church of England's General Synod, told Pope Francis that that she had tried to make herself straight through conversion therapy, and that such treatments had led many young people to consider suicide. The lesbian activist self-identifies as an evangelical Anglican.

So, the bigly question is this? Who are the pope's gatekeepers who let her get this close to the Pope and spew her rubbish in his ear? Well, it turns out that it was Archbishop Justin Welby who opened that door, according to Bishop Gavin Ashenden. The same question might be asked of Catholic pro homosexual activist the Rev. James Martin, who also got an opportunity to bend the Pope's ear. These photo ops do not serve those who are trying to remain faithful to God's word

You can read the full story here: https://virtueonline.org/pope-meets-notorious-anglican-lesbian-activist

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The following is a list of dioceses within the Anglican Church of Canada that will marry same-sex couples:
Diocese of Ontario
Diocese of Central Newfoundland
Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador
Diocese of Western Newfoundland
Diocese of New Westminster
Diocese of Toronto
Diocese of Niagara
Diocese of Montreal
Diocese of Ottawa
Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
Diocese of Rupert's Land
Diocese of Kootenay
Diocese of Edmonton
Diocese of B.C.
Diocese of Huron

Conservative Anglican blogger David of Samizdat observed; "That hits the 45% mark. Soon it will be more economical to list the dioceses that have not authorized same-sex marriage. Again, this raises the question: why did they bother to hold a vote on this at General Synod and why all the subsequent fuss when it failed to pass?" Indeed.

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ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT, Jerusalem And the Middle East has a new Primate in the person of Michael Augustine Owen Lewis. He will continue to serve as diocesan bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf, a post he has held for the past twelve years. Prior to that he was for eight years Bishop of Middleton in the Province of York in the United Kingdom. He succeeds in the primacy the Most Reverend Suheil Dawani, Bishop of the Diocese of Jerusalem.

The Episcopal Electoral College for the Diocese of Down and Dromore, meeting in St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, elected Archdeacon David McClay as the new Bishop of Down and Dromore. He succeeds the Rt. Rev. Harold Miller, who retired at the end of September.

The Venerable David McClay is Archdeacon of Down and Rector of Willowfield Parish Church, in East Belfast. He was previously Rector of Kilkeel and has served his whole ordained ministry to date in the Diocese of Down and Dromore.

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Ever since Sydney Archbishop Glenn Davies told homosexuals to leave the Church rather than "betray God's Word," he has been taking it in the neck from liberals who wish he would take a flying leap off a cliff. A prominent Australian Anglican author Lashed out at the evangelical archbishop and said the Anglican church must evolve or die.

Nikki Gemmel roared at the archbishop in a column and asked; 'What is the Anglican Church becoming? What does it want to be to the people of Australia? I ask this as a woman who's invested in Anglicanism but is heartbroken at the way this religion is being riven internally.' She said esteemed church leaders made her feel 'vandalized' and accused them of hijacking the church by 'bigotry and intolerance,' calling it a 'travesty of Jesus's teachings.'

She went on a riff saying that The Archbishop of Sydney had a definition of Anglicanism that was not her. She accused him of sexism though he had nothing to say about women at all; he focused solely on sexuality issues.

"The public image: a riven and confused church that doesn't quite know what it stands for but is pushing people away in the process. Not only members of the congregation but non-churchgoing parents with children in Anglican schools," she said.

That's odd. The Diocese of Sydney is the largest and most vibrant diocese in the entire Anglican Church of Australia! It is thriving even as liberal and progressive dioceses are withering on the vine because they cannot declare a definitive gospel message while pushing sexual and abortion limits against Scripture and catholic teaching down through the centuries. Nowhere in her blast at Davies does she cite one Scripture, only her own personal anguish at churches being ripped apart over homosexual marriage. What Scriptures could she quote from pray tell? Not one.

You can read the full story here: https://virtueonline.org/prominent-australian-anglican-author-lashes-out-sydney-archbishop-glenn-davies

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Progressive pansexualist "Christians" have declared war on orthodox believers. Their goal is not mere acceptance, but to overthrow the moral order and destroy conservative churches who hold the line on faith and morals

It should be obvious by now that progressive pansexual "Christians" have only one goal - to destroy traditional Christianity and the churches that support it, declare they have won and wave the rainbow flag of victory.

While they have never started or built churches, they have spent decades infiltrating and taking over orthodox parishes and turning them in the name of inclusion. Then they watch as the churches slowly wither and die.

This was the plan all along. Having their sexuality not merely approved but accepted and controlling the sexual agenda of the church was always their objective. Total capitulation and control.

The greatest threat to free speech and the free exercise of religion is the homosexual (and transgender) agenda. Nothing else comes even remotely close, said distinguished legal scholar and political philosopher Robert George of Princeton University. To read the full story click here: https://virtueonline.org/progressive-pansexualist-christians-have-declared-war-orthodox-believers

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The ongoing, never-ending legal saga in South Carolina continued this week when the Episcopal Church in South Carolina filed yet another petition on November 11 in Federal Court. This time TEC objected to the Diocese's use of the name The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, as well as to references found on the diocesan website pertaining to its history.

The Episcopal Diocese requested the enforcement of the Court's Order and Opinion and Permanent Injunction issued on September 19, 2019. The petition cited numerous examples that prove continued violations of the Injunction by the disassociated diocese as it "hold(s) itself out to be the Historic Diocese in many respects," including using a name that is "confusingly similar" to that of the Diocese of South Carolina.

The filing outlines various other violations of the Permanent Injunction, including redirecting the web address of the Diocese of South Carolina to their new web address and that the disassociated diocese's new name, "The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina," is in fact "confusingly similar" to "The Diocese of South Carolina" as Judge Gergel's ruling had issued the Injunction to avoid. As noted in the filing, "The Injunction places a heavy legal burden on the Disassociated Diocese not to choose a confusingly similar name, because the Court has already found that Defendants infringed Plantiff's marks." Yet, the new name contains the entirety of the historic diocese's name, adding only one word, "Anglican," which aptly describes the historic diocese -- a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion as part of The Episcopal Church.

The Anglican diocese's legal team, in conjunction with the Standing Committee is formulating a response. The diocese had not issued a statement at the time of going to press. VOL will bring you their response as soon as it is posted.

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While most Episcopal seminaries are shrinking, one recently died, and more are coupling together to stay alive, that is not the case with the Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA. President H. Lawrence Thompson III announced this week that In the small town of Ambridge, PA, a renewal is taking place and his seminary is in the forefront of that. Storefronts are being updated, old buildings are being refurbished to house new tenants and new sidewalks have been poured. Trinity School for Ministry has a desire to support this renewal in a way that is helpful to the town and that also helps to build community.

To that end, Trinity School for Ministry has purchased the Presbyterian Church of Ambridge, located just a few blocks from Trinity's campus. "When the pastor from the church approached me to inquire whether we would be interested in buying the church, I knew that I had to explore this option," stated Thompson. "We knew we needed a larger chapel/meeting space and we had been praying that God would help us to discern whether or not to build a brand-new building," Thompson added. "We received our answer-- not surprisingly, this existing church met every one of my criteria that I had identified for a new building. God has given us such a tremendous gift."

The recently purchased building will allow Trinity to move forward into the future as its residential student population continues to grow and its partnerships reach even further globally. Trinity now has the ability to:

• welcome local churches and neighborhood groups who need a larger space for events;
• offer a setting for Christian conferences and education;
• create a better setting in which to train Trinity's students to preach;
• provide additional space for Trinity's students to relax and socialize with each other
• film worship services so that we may send the recordings to students in other countries;
• reach out and serve the wider needs of the Ambridge community.

*****

Well why should all congregations in ACNA use the new ACNA Book of Common Prayer? The Rev. Dr. John H. Rodgers, a retired bishop and former TSM president listed some reasons why we all need to be praying through the one, new BCP.

1. It is biblical. Like its predecessors, it is largely composed of Scriptural content and nowhere leads us astray. This is important given the need for biblical instruction in our congregations and given the impact a repeated liturgy has on our minds and hearts.

2. It is Anglican. The new BCP is rooted in the 1662 tradition which is the most widely recognized BCP among Anglicans globally. At the same time, it also makes available the better parts of the 98 Book.

3. It will strengthen the unity of mind and heart among those who use it regularly. Its use will begin to create a common language and memory among us, increasingly forging in us a deeper union and common sense of identity.

4. Lastly, it will no doubt be improved in minor ways. In the days ahead, regular use will bring the need to light. It is important to have the wisdom of the whole Church involved in that process.

The Lord through the New Testament, time and time again calls us to unity in Christ. This decision which is now before us is central to how we answer that calling. I pray that we will not miss this opportunity the Lord has placed before us.

*****

Only a quarter of evangelicals in the United States believe abortion should be illegal in all cases. According to a new poll, a majority of self-identified Christians in the U.S. identify as "pro-choice" and less than half of evangelicals identify as "pro-life."

Save the Storks, a pro-life organization that partners with pregnancy centers to provide women with free ultrasounds, released a new survey this week that it sponsored through the research firm Magid.

The survey is based on online interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide ages 18 to 69. It was conducted in May to gauge Americans' opinions and attitudes on abortion.

"There's a disconnect in our culture right now," said OB-GYN Dr. Karysse Trandem, a spokesperson for Save the Storks. "The majority of Americans believe that life begins at or before the heartbeat, but the majority of evangelicals and Catholics identify as pro-choice."

While the research breaks down data by religious demographics, it should be noted that religious classification for the survey was done by self-identification. This means that evangelical respondents were self-identified and not determined by belief qualification.

*****

If you think Pope Francis might have gone off the rails or missing a few marbles, a lot of people might just agree with you. Here are the latest headlines.

Pope Compares Conservatives to Nazis. Francis condemns capitalism as criminal at International Association of Penal Law meeting.

The Synod Fathers proposed to define ecological sin as an action or omission against God.

Pope Francis: "[W]hen I hear a speech [by] someone responsible for order or for a government, I think of speeches by Hitler in 1934, 1936."

Say what!

Anglican blogger and VOL columnist Dr. Jules Gomes wrote this story for church Militant an orthodox Catholic blog.

VATICAN CITY --- Pope Francis is attacking politicians who oppose the homosexual agenda as evidence of "Nazism," while launching his strongest attack yet on capitalism and repeating his call for the abolition of the death penalty.

"It is no coincidence that in these times, emblems and actions typical of Nazism reappear, which, with its persecutions against Jews, gypsies and people of homosexual orientation, represents the negative model par excellence of a culture of waste and hatred," he said in his address to the International Association of Penal Law at the Sala Regia in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican Friday.

"And I must confess to you that when I hear a speech [by] someone responsible for order or for a government, I think of speeches by Hitler in 1934, 1936," he said. "In the last century we saw so many brutalities against the Jewish people, and we were all convinced that this was over. But today the habit of persecuting the Jews, brothers and sisters, is here reborn. This is neither human nor Christian."

Condemning the "punitive demagogy "in several countries, Francis called upon the legal community to prevent such behavior from degenerating "into an incentive to violence or disproportionate use of force."

"They are inadmissible behaviours in the rule of law and generally accompany racist prejudices and contempt for socially marginalized groups."

The pontiff was addressing 600 delegates at the 20th International Congress of Penal Law, the oldest association of specialists in criminal law, which brings together university professors, lawyers, magistrates, researchers, students and criminal law practitioners. The theme of their Nov. 13--16 congress is "Criminal Justice and Corporate Business."

The pope went on to denounce the "idolatry of the market," blaming "global financial capital" for "the origin of serious crimes not only against property but also against people and the environment."

"It is responsible for organized crime, the over-indebtedness of states and the plundering of the natural resources of our planet."

He also raised the specter of "ecological sins," raised at the recent Amazon Synod: "We are thinking of introducing ecological sin into the catechism."

And you thought that all the crazies were Episcopal. Not true, apparently.

*****

If you enjoy satire, then you can ask why the Episcopal Presiding Bishop bewails empty pews when the Episcopal Church embraces what the world believes.

Here's a teaser: At a hastily called press conference, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Michael Curry, publicly bewailed Americans for not joining his Church when it believes exactly what the surrounding culture believes.

"We have fully embraced the LGBTQII2 community, abortion rights for women, anti-racism training, identity politics, the Jesus Movement and challenged the very definition of sin. We have made every effort to match all of our core doctrines to that of secular American society." You can read it all here: https://virtueonline.org/presiding-bishop-bewails-empty-pews-when-episcopal-church-embraces-what-world-believes

*****

My new book, THE SEDUCTION OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH is out and if you would like a copy, I would be happy to send you an autographed copy for a donation of $100.00. The money will not line my pockets, but will allow me to send copies to Global South bishops who would not otherwise be able to obtain a copy. My hope is to put this book in the hands of every bishop in the Anglican Communion so they will never again be fooled by anything a sitting Presiding Bishop says about The Episcopal Church. This book represents nearly three decades of reporting. I hope you will buy it.

You can send a check to:
VIRTUEONLINE
570 Twin Lakes Rd
P.O. Box 111
Shohola, PA 18458

Or you can hit VOL's PayPal link here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=66yVctdRJfn56ObJTxNqRn37s81ca3TxyKoR_-1iSo1u2jIy86mIBsCow1RhWJMBFAV5KW&country.x=US&locale.x=US

Please don't forget to add your return address.

All blessings,

David