There must be a recovery of the church, the institution which shaped our culture. If we are ever to recover our country and our culture it is imperative that we first recover our church. This is a task for all biblical Christians whether by prayer, encouragement, or action. The recovery begins with us. --- Campbell Campbell-Jack

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
August 23, 2024

WE are not in an age of change, but a change of age, writes Dr. John Seel, an Anglican cultural renewal entrepreneur and social impact consultant. America and the West stand at a civilizational inflection point.

We are amid a 500-year historical geo-political inflection point. The world as we have known it is changing, so profoundly that our histories going forward are going to be altered, he says.

"We are not talking here about the accumulation of incremental changes, but the wholesale changes of assumptions, global actors, and personal experiences. We are facing a paradigm shift--the likes of the fall of Rome (475 AD), the collapse of Constantinople (1453 AD), and Luther at the Diet of Worms (1521 AD).

"The issues facing the church are significantly deeper and longer lasting than the shift from a Neutral to a Negative World. We are shifting from a Negative World to an outright hostile world.

"This hostility is not conscious or explicit but implicit, not personal but foundational, and not political but cultural. It is an invisible hostility that makes it even more dangerous. This makes the new social reality the church is facing far more significant than we have previously imagined.

"The first step is to wake up to the depth of the situation facing the church and to get our diagnosis aligned to reality. In this process of diagnosis, you cannot trust the mainstream media or the normal purveyors of academic insight as the elite culture is complicit and sometimes even the source of the disease.

"The American evangelical church is ill-prepared for adapting to these shifts. The likelihood is that under sustained cultural pressure, it will resort to doubling-down on past approaches, wearing an anti-intellectual, anti-elitist, populist-fundamentalist resistance as a badge of honor. This is the equivalent of being in a foreign country and talking louder and slower. This will only serve to further marginalize the American evangelical church's impact in the ongoing cultural conversation. By spiritualizing their resistance and demonizing the other, they will further the degree of polarization and potential for any meaningful impact.

"We are as a Western Christian church at an historic inflection point. We are at a point of decision. To meet our moment, we will need the courage to face these realities, the humility to seek God's leading, and the discernment to balance innovation with historic orthodoxy."
You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/change-age

Another piece along the same lines is by Dr. Os Guinness. It is titled: OUR CIVILIZATIONAL MOMENT. The waning of the West, the war of the worlds, and the role of the faiths that will be critical to the outcome. You can read it here:
https://virtueonline.org/our-civilizational-moment-os-guinness

He writes: "The world is fast approaching one of the great turning points in history. After half a millennium of unprecedented dominance, Western civilization is on the wane and the shadows it casts are lengthening. Many parts of the West are living off memories, and outbreaks of weakness, folly, madness, and decadence are all too evident. But any image of sunset and twilight is too benign. Bitter ideological and cultural conflicts throughout the West now cap the story of the massive and destructive conflicts over the last few centuries, many of them set off by the great quartet of Western cataclysms: the Renaissance and the Reformation in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the Enlightenment and the French revolution in the eighteenth. It is plain that the West has lost faith and lost confidence in itself. It no longer knows how to tell its own story, and it is gambling the civilization on which it rests. The present moment is moving towards a decisive phase of the showdown. Too many people are in denial and too few realize the gravity of the stakes."

These pieces are not for the intellectual faint of heart. They are tour de forcesof intellectual thought and rigor. You will learn much, reflect more and reconsider how you can re-orient your life around Christ and His message.

***

Church Decline equals loss of income. As the church attendance declines in America and every year, 2.7 million church members become inactive, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, coffers also dry up. Inflation in America: Churches Report Decrease in Giving. From the grocery checkout line to the gas pump and now the church pew, Americans are closely watching what they spend and it's putting some churches in a bind.

"Churches are in some instances struggling," Robert Blair with Ministry Brands told CBN News. "They're not keeping up with inflation. Donations are down. In some instances, attendance is down." You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/inflation-america-churches-report-decrease-giving

***

The ACNA Diocese of Western Anglicans will have a new bishop and the two finalists are Canon Phil Ashey and the Very Rev. Eric Zolner. Their next bishop will be elected at their diocesan synod on Saturday October 19. Whomever is elected will then have to be approved by the ACNA College of Bishops at their meeting in January 2025. A date in March 2025 was reserved for the consecration of the bishop-elect in California. My money is on Ashey. He has done a lot for the ACNA on Canons and Constitutions and this is his reward. The deeper question is why ACNA needs so many bishops; some 100 and seven former bishops for about 128,000 Anglicans! But that's another story.

***

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH cannot seem to face its own destiny of why, when you embrace sexual immorality, (homosexual behavior), that this, in time brings the whole house down.

Almost weekly another story emerges of failed safeguarding, of dodging and weaving around in flagrante delicto priests and bishops misbehaving and getting a pass.

An Episcopal Church bishop based in California has been accused of not properly enforcing disciplinary action, 'safe church', measures against a pastor who allegedly failed to properly vet a sex offender.

Last December, the ex-wife and two adult sons of former Bishop Prince Singh filed a complaint against Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Episcopal Bishop Todd Ousley over their alleged mishandling of abuse accusations against Singh.

The family members argued that Curry and Ousley, the latter of whom had served as an intake officer for complaints against bishops, failed to properly follow the Title IV process.

In February, the Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs announced the launching of a new "three-part protocol" to better explain and promote the disciplinary process for bishops.

The three aspects included a newly created webpage for reporting alleged misconduct, a separate webpage that gives updates for ongoing disciplinary cases and "an annual statistical report on complaints involving bishops and their outcomes."

You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/episcopal-bishop-accused-not-enforcing-safe-church-measures-against-pastor

Anglican Watch the unofficial watchdog of The Episcopal Church and others is prodigious in its exposure of TEC's crimes and misadventures by its clergy and bishops. Little escapes their eagle eye.

You can read this piece here: https://www.anglicanwatch.com/the-episcopal-church-needs-to-take-criminal-conduct-by-clergy-seriously/

***

Belshazzar could not read the hand writing on the wall and neither can Episcopal Presiding Bishop-elect Sean Rowe. By any measure The Episcopal Church has ceased to be a Christian denomination.

From the moment avowed homosexual V. Gene Robinson was "consecrated" to the episcopacy, to the ordaining of multiple gay and lesbian priests to the priesthood; to its rolling over to multiple LGBTQI+ sexualities, embracing homosexual marriage, openly promoting gay pride parades, demanding reparations from people who had never enslaved a soul, to its pushing anti-racism training on people who are clearly not racists ending with faux revivals, the church has been on a downward trajectory. The tens of millions of dollars spent on lawyers to recover properties that will one day lie fallow cannot be overlooked.

It has become apparent that TEC has ceased to be a meaningfully Christian church. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/belshazzar-could-not-read-hand-writing-wall-and-neither-can-episcopal-presiding-bishop-elect-sean

***

The Diocese of Georgia is planning to sell its diocesan offices and move into the building of a shuttered church, said an ENS headline. The TEC Ship of State is slowly sinking into the sunset. This is by no means the first diocese to do this and it clearly will not be the last. You can read it here: https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2024/08/21/diocese-of-georgia-to-sell-diocesan-offices-move-into-building-of-shuttered-church/

The short term is that these buildings because of their location are worth big bucks. In the case of Georgia proceeds from the sale of the old diocesan office building will allow the diocese to pay off all of its outstanding debt, with $1 million left over to invest and support the diocesan budget. This of course is short term, because the diocese will go on shrinking with something called people. As I have said before the Episcopal Church will die the richest Church in the world, which, if the Church Pension Fund is not exhausted, and it appears unlikely as it has $15 billion in hand; it can continue long after the Second Coming.

If you want to know how bad things are read this:

https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2024/07/25/amid-talk-of-a-churchwide-clergy-shortage-dioceses-experiment-with-local-leadership-models/

One blogger pulled together the essential facts here:

"...The Episcopal Church still has nearly 7,000 congregations. The number of active Episcopal priests, on the other hand, has fallen over the past 20 years to fewer than 6,000.
...congregations of 50 or fewer worshipers make up most of the church's congregations (55%)
...in 2022, 12% of Episcopal congregations were served by a priest who is retired. That same year, 54% of priests were listed as part time, more than double the 26% from 2010.
...Active priests, or those whose employers are actively contributing to the church's clergy pension fund, peaked in 2004 at 7,886 and have since declined to the current 5,614. During that time, the number of retirees has increased. Retirees first surpassed the number of active priests in 2011 and now total 8,320."

The once mighty ship is going down as VOL predicted.

Presiding Bishop-elect Sean Rowe's plan to boost church growth had better kick in soon or he won't have a church worth saving.

***

Just how bad are things in the Church of England? This writer believes that Justin Welby the Archbishop of Canterbury has gone off the CofE reservation with little hope of return.

What started out as promising leadership for the Church of England and, by extension, the Anglican Communion, has devolved into a state of permanent dysfunction and dystopian nightmare.

The Archbishop of Canterbury's evangelical credentials, earned through his association with Holy Trinity Brompton and Alpha have completely disappeared in a flurry of woke issues which have decimated the Church of England bringing it to the brink of schism.

Six issues have haunted him, costing him and the church deeply, resulting in a near total breakdown of the institution, making it even more irrelevant than it has overwhelmingly become to the British public. You can read the full story here: https://virtueonline.org/justin-welby-has-gone-church-england-reservation-little-hope-return

Welby himself got rebuked this past week over actions in the case of a chaplain deemed terror threat for questioning LGBT ideology.

He got criticized for his handling of a case involving Bernard Randall, a chaplain blacklisted for a sermon questioning LGBT teachings at a Christian school. A leading legal figure within the Church of England described Welby's refusal to address the concerns as "plainly wrong."

Randall, 52, previously a chaplain at Trent College in Nottingham, was barred from preaching for five years following a 2019 sermon in which he encouraged students to debate LGBT teachings after they asked for his guidance on the issue. Despite being cleared by multiple secular bodies, Randall's license to preach was withheld by the Bishop of Derby, Libby Lane, citing safeguarding concerns. Why this bishop was not brought up on charges and fired is beyond me. She took an oath to defend the doctrine of the church and she dumps a priest for doing precisely that. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/justin-welby-rebuked-over-actions-case-chaplain-deemed-terror-threat-questioning-lgbt-ideology

Another writer, Campbell Campbell-Jack weighed in on a piece about Welby titled, POLITICAL NOT SPIRITUAL.

"In his interventions in the recent riots in the UK, particularly in England, the leader of the Church of England gives no indication that he understands why the riots have happened or has any compassion for England's increasingly resentful white working class. His leadership has been political and not spiritual and has only served to deepen the gulf between the church and the working-class people of England and the underclass who inhabit the poorest areas of our cities. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/poitical-not-spiritual

And just to let you know how the abortion and homosexual steamrollers are slowly rolling over evangelicals in the CofE, Britain's oldest evangelical gathering got blacklisted for a pro-life display."

Britain's longest-running and most prestigious evangelical convention has sparked controversy after blacklisting pro-lifers for displaying the intact image of a nine-week-old baby a few hundred yards away from the conference site.

***

The Church of England is increasingly dropping the word "church in favor of "relevant and modern-sounding" descriptions such as "community," a new study suggests.

However, the Church of England described the report as "nonsense" and had no plan to drop the word 'church.'

It was responding to an independent report by the Centre for Church Planting Theology and Research at Cranmer Hall, Durham entitled 'New Things: A Theological Investigation into the Work of Starting New Churches Across 11 Dioceses in the Church of England'.

The report found that around 900 "new things" have been started in the past decade, with none of the eleven dioceses using "church" as the primary descriptor. You can read more here: https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/cofe-says-reports-its-dropping-the-word-church-are-complete-nonsense

Pro-lifers slammed the organizers of the Keswick Convention, which has been held in the town of Keswick in the Lake District of Cumbria since 1875, for promoting a secular "non-directive approach" to women who are faced with the question of whether to murder the babies in their wombs. Jule Gomes has written brilliantly about it here: https://virtueonline.org/britains-oldest-evangelical-gathering-blacklists-pro-life-display

***

If you had any doubt about Muslim intentions in the Middle Eastwatch this video: Palestinian Muslims say they plan to kill all the Christians in the entire Holy Land after they finish the genocide of Jews in Israel. As you can see in this documentary film, the Palestinian Muslims advise their Christian neighbors to convert to Islam before it is too late because all non-Muslims will have to be executed as human sacrifices for the sake of Allah (God of Islam).
Christian leaders tried to appeal to the global media to get the international community involved in safeguarding and protecting the Christian minority and their holy places. Sadly the media do not care when Christians are murdered and persecuted. Too many "journalists" in the West try to preserve the image of Islam as a "religion of peace" therefore they ignore the persecution of minorities all over the Arab-Muslim world.

No one in the media seems to care about the brutal persecution of Christians in the Arab-Muslim world. This documentary is very hard to watch, please take this into account before visiting the following link!

Link to the documentary: https://rumble.com/v56d7yi-the-sunday-people.html

If you want to better understand the conflict in the Middle East, I highly recommend following filmmaker Pierre Rehov here on X (formerly Twitter): @rehoov

***

The spiritual decline in American society reveals the limitations of Christian evangelicalism. Barna research revealed that evangelicals are far fewer in number than typically reported, often less biblical in their thinking.

America's cultural decline is a direct result of the spiritual collapse of Christianity in the nation, according to veteran researcher Dr. George Barna, Director of Research at the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.

The research shows that much of this steep cultural decline flows from the dramatic transformation in the evangelical community of the United States in the past 30 years.

In reality, evangelicals are far fewer in number than typically reported, often are far less biblical in their thinking than one might think, and tend to vote in far fewer numbers than expected. Although more conservative on moral issues, as a whole evangelicals reflect fewer lifestyle differences from the culture than often thought. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/spiritual-decline-american-society-reveals-limitations-christian-evangelicalism

***

I reviewed two books this past fortnight. DEEP ANGLICANISM: A Brief Guide by Gerald R. McDermott.

This book introduces the reader to the Anglican tradition at a deeper level of the tradition. By "deep" I mean an approach that transcends the usual divisions of "high church," "broad church," and "low church."

In short it means plumbing the depths of orthodoxy, liturgy, and sacraments, while travelling on the pilgrim road and living a life of adoration in pursuit of the Beatific Vision.

McDermott is an orthodox Anglican theologian, priest author of 25 books and hundreds of articles on Jonathan Edwards. He is one of the finest, most fully qualified writers with the requisite Ph.D., seminary trained and a former university professor. His book can be read by the learned and the pew sitter. He writes in clear, plain English, something academics are often not prone to. Here is a sample:

"While Roman Catholics say the Eucharist is the source and summit of worship, Anglicans say that preaching and Eucharist are both important and Eucharist without preaching might lack something." https://virtueonline.org/deep-anglicanism-brief-guide

Another volume is BE TO THE FLOCK A SHEPHERD, by Bishop John W. Howe. In the pulpit the pastor is king. He can say anything uninterrupted; with many parishioners believing he can say no wrong. He enjoys unbridled support. He experiences little or no contradiction.

John Howe, a former Episcopal bishop is a preacher in the finest tradition of evangelical Anglicanism. It is not surprising that he has enjoyed unbridled support for his Bible-based ministry. He has the added advantage of a commanding presence in the pulpit.

He has been an Episcopal priest and bishop for most of his life, most of it in central Florida.

For young wannabe priests and pastors who see the pulpit in their future, this volume will inspire and encourage, perhaps even cajole you into seeing God's call on your life. And God only knows America needs biblical preachers as never before with millions of Americans walking away from the church, many because they did not hear the bread of life from the pulpit. During his years in the ministry, he joined Sharing of Ministries Abroad (SOMA) which opened his eyes to the global church situation.
You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/be-flock-shepherd

***

A couple of issues emerged from the recent DNC this past week in Chicago that you won't find anywhere else. THE WRONG BISHOP SHOWED UP AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, writes VOL correspondent Mary Ann Mueller. Roman Catholic Cardinal Cupich failed the intersectionality inclusivity test. He's Caucasian and he was born a boy. Convention planners mistakenly choose the wrong religious figure to pray for their political convention.

Cardinal Cupich does not seem to check any of the Democrats' favorite intersectionality boxes. He is a Roman Catholic, albeit he's liberal -- way left of center -- and he is a white male. You can read more here:
https://virtueonline.org/wrong-bishop-showed-democratic-national-convention

Evangelical Christians rally for Kamala Harris ahead of DNC, screamed a headline. 'Voting Kamala ... (is) a vote against another four years of faith leaders justifying the actions of a man (Donald Trump) who destroys the message Jesus came to spread,' said Jerushah Duford, granddaughter of the Rev. Billy Graham.

A diverse group of Christians is throwing support behind Vice President Kamala Harris' White House bid, organizing fundraisers and Zoom calls in hopes of helping catapult the Democrat to victory in November -- and, they say, reclaiming their faith from Republicans in the process. You can read more here:
https://virtueonline.org/christians-evangelicals-rally-kamala-harris-ahead-dnc

Touching the Third Rail: Religion and politics. "This election presents the sum of all fears. Do we have the faith to face them believing that God is in control? Or do we turn aside and hope that God will save us from ourselves? writes David Duggan a Chicago attorney. You can read his take here: https://virtueonline.org/touching-third-rail-religion-and-politics

***

The Middle East is never far from our thinking as the pain of war ratchets up world opinion. Israel is taking the brunt of the world's anger with charges that she should mandate a ceasefire in exchange for hostages. Some are going even further saying that the US should defund the war by withholding military aid and money to Israel so the war stops. That is not going to happen. PM Bibi Netanyahu says he will wipe the Palestinian militant group Hamas "off the face of the earth" and they won't stop the war for a faux peace.

This begs the deeper question; Is Christian Zionism Evil? No, says Dr. Gerald McDermott.

Some evangelical leaders in the Middle East suggested as much in their August 5 "Collective Call to the Global Church from Middle East Evangelical Leaders," he says.

Here is their key statement:
We unequivocally reject all forms of violence against civilians to achieve justice (Jeremiah 22:3; Romans 3:15-18), and strongly condemn all religious, political, and social ideologies that hinder a lasting peace including antisemitism, islamophobia, and Christian Zionism. [my emphases]

Let me first say that I agree that "violence against civilians" is evil. I presume these evangelical leaders mean violence that targets civilians, for most Christians agree with Christian just war theory that distinguishes between intentional targeting of enemies in a just war and unintentional killing of civilians. Even God did things, like miraculously springing Peter from prison, that resulted (unintentionally?) in violence against innocents (Herod putting Peter's guards to death) in Acts 12.

I will assume that these evangelicals agree that the vicious attacks on Jewish civilians on October 7 were evil because Hamas terrorists (and those who accompanied the soldiers) targeted civilians -- men, women, and children. Even the elderly. They raped women and decapitated babies. It doesn't get any more evil than that. You can read his full take here: https://virtueonline.org/christian-zionism-evil

***

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I have done a YouTube interview with Dr. Gerry McDermott on the War in Israel. You can see it here: https://youtu.be/98nNyRRWIz4?si=HEnsrJHU1eRYNjC2

I have also started a SUBSTACK with my scribblings on the Middle East with the war in Israel. You can see them here: https://substack.com/@davidvirtue2?utm_source=user-menu

***

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Warmly in Christ,

David