VirtueOnline

ENGLAND: Will the Church of England ever find peace?

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 16:30:00 -0500

ENGLAND: Will the Church of England ever find peace?
Comments made by Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, against gay marriage attracted protests outside York Minster
Arguments about women bishops will dominate public proceedings of the Synod, but gay marriage is one of the burning issues behind the scenes

By Martin Beckford
The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9057367/Will-the-Church-of-England-ever-find-peace.html
Feb. 2, 2012

Across the country, the 477 members of the Church of England's governing body are bundling reports, agendas and background papers into suitcases ready for next week's four-day General Synod in London.

But while the wood-panelled walls of the circular chamber at Church House, Westminster, echo to the sound of debates on such matters as the Draft Parochial Fees and Scheduled Matters Amending Order, the real decisions will be made furtively in the tearoom during breaks and, for those lucky enough to have received their gilt-edged invitation card, at the white-tie Dinner to the Archbishops and Bishops held at Mansion House every two years.

At the heart of the most important discussions is the question of whether the Church wants to go along with the increasingly liberal mood of English society, or whether it chooses to stick with its traditions.
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WASHINGTON: No pious baloney

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 15:10:00 -0500

WASHINGTON: No pious baloney
Eric Metaxas brings down the house with an aggressive attack on 'phony religiosity' at the annual National Prayer Breakfast

By Emily Belz
WORLD Magazine
http://www.worldmag.com/webextra/19142
February 2, 2012

Speakers at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in the nation's capital usually keep their talks diplomatic. After all, the room is filled with ambassadors, lawmakers from both parties, Cabinet members, and people of various faiths from around the world.

But Eric Metaxas, the featured speaker Thursday morning and the author of biographies on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and William Wilberforce, talked to an audience of 4,000 important people about false religion, human depravity, poverty, slavery, and abortion. But the New York author delivered his sharp commentary with his trademark wit, which kept the audience roaring with laughter. (See below for video of the event.)

The halls of the Washington Hilton, the hotel that hosts the breakfast, were buzzing afterward as people discussed the speech-Metaxas' speech, not President Obama's, which followed. Outside the hotel, a protestor asked, "Is it true what I'm hearing, that Eric Metaxas talked about Jesus?"
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LONDON: No Civil Partnerships in CofE Churches, says bishop - UPDATED

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:50:00 -0500

LONDON: No Civil Partnerships in CofE Churches, says bishop

Clergy letter about civil partnerships in our churches

By Richard Chartres
February 2, 2012

I am of course aware of the letter that a number of clergy in this Diocese has signed regarding civil partnerships in our churches. Their request to General Synod is based on very proper pastoral concern and it is right that this matter continues to be discussed openly.

New arrangements relating to religious premises and civil partnerships were laid before Parliament on 8th November 2011 and came into force on 5th December 2011. The Church's position under those arrangements is that no Church of England religious premises may become "approved" for the registration of civil partnerships without there having been a formal decision by the General Synod to allow this.
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Diocese of Virginia Is an Emperor without Clothes

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 16:50:00 -0500

Diocese of Virginia Is an Emperor without Clothes

By A.S. HALEY
The Anglican Curmudgeon
http://accurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2012/02/diocese-of-virginia-is-emperor-without.html
Feb. 1, 2012

Thanks to BabyBlue, we learn that the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, barely a week after its Bishop held out the olive branch to the departed CANA parishes, used his other hand to hit them with a sucker punch: his attorneys have filed a motion with Judge Randy Bellows for an award of prejudgment interest. (You can read the text of the motion and supporting memorandum at the link to BabyBlue's post.)

"Prejudgment interest" means just what the name says -- it is interest on an amount made payable for a time period before any actual judgment is entered. (After a judgment is entered against a defendant for a sum of money, postjudgment interest begins to accrue on the amount of the judgment, and continues to accrue until the judgment is paid in full.)
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Writing Jews Out of History: The Sounds of Silence

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 15:50:00 -0500

Writing Jews Out of History: The Sounds of Silence
Archbishop of Canterbury excoriated for omiting the word "Jew" on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

By Georgette Bennett
The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/georgette-bennett-phd/writing-jews-out-of-histo_b_1240636.html
January 30, 2012

Last Friday was Holocaust Remembrance Day. A British associate of mine sent me the link to Archbishop Rowan Williams' message, which was distributed to honor that occasion. Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is Primate of All England and spokesperson for the worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church. He is a man of extraordinary good will and an advocate for religious diversity. And yet, he managed to get through almost his entire speech without mentioning the word "Jew." This is astounding. How does one commemorate the Holocaust and fail to mention the major group that was singled out for obliteration?

The Archbishop's message focused on a powerful theme: the need to speak up for the "stranger" and the "neighbor" and to turn "strangers" into "neighbors." But, in many of the countries in which they were murdered, Jews were not "strangers." They were "neighbors" -- fully assimilated Germans, Poles, French, Dutch, Greeks, Scandinavians.
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SAVANNAH, GA: Christ Church Episcopal seeks contempt against sister congregation

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 10:50:00 -0500

SAVANNAH, GA: Christ Church Episcopal seeks contempt against sister congregation

By Jan Skutch
www.savannah.com
February 1, 2012

Christ Church Episcopal may be back home in its Johnson Square building, but squabbling over church property continues.

The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia and Christ Church Episcopal on Monday asked Chatham County Superior Court Chief Judge Michael Karpf to hold the Rev. Marcus Robertson and Christ Church Savannah in contempt of court.

They argue Robertson and Christ Church Savannah have failed to comply with a court order to return a $2 million endowment fund and other property after the two congregations agreed to the return of the historic Johnson Square property in December.
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OLYMPIA WA: "Redefine marriage and history will not be kind to you"

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 10:30:00 -0500

OLYMPIA WA: "Redefine marriage and history will not be kind to you"
The following prepared remarks were delivered to the Washington state legislature hearings on the definition of marriage in Olympia, Washington

by Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse
http://www.ruthblog.org/
January 30th, 2012

I am here today to address those of you who have already made up your minds to redefine marriage. History will not be kind to you. Previous generations of social experimenters have caused unimaginable misery for millions of people. Particular people advocated the policies that led to today's 50% divorce rate and 40% out of wedlock childbearing rate. None of these people has ever been held accountable.

I am here today to hold you to account, for the predictable harms you have already caused and will continue to cause by redefining marriage.

Let me remind you of the essential public purpose of marriage. Marriage attaches mothers and fathers to their children, and to one another. Once you replace that essential public purpose with inessential, even frivolous private purposes, marriage will not be able to do its job. But children will still need secure attachments to their mothers and fathers, a need which will go unfulfilled.

You are redefining parenthood, as a side effect of redefining marriage, without even considering what you are about to do. Until now, marriage makes legal parenthood track biological parenthood. The legal presumption of paternity means that children born to a married woman are presumed to be the children of her husband. With this legal rule, and the social practice of sexual exclusivity, marriage attaches children to their biological parents.
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WESTERN MICHIGAN: A Sidelined Cathedral

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 07:30:00 -0500

WESTERN MICHIGAN: A Sidelined Cathedral

The Sacred Castle
The Cathedral of Christ the King
Kalamazoo, Michigan Blurb. Pp. 80. $34, paper.

Review by Douglas LeBlanc
January 31, 2012

Whatever else may be said of the Diocese of Western Michigan's Cathedral of Christ the King, it embodied the spirit of the late 1960s. Seen only at a distance, in black and white photos, the cathedral looks about as inviting as the Third Church of Christ, Scientist, an embattled landmark of brutalist architecture in the nation's capital.

The Sacred Castle, available in rich color from the innovative print-on-demand Blurb imprint, highlights the beauty that transcends the former cathedral's forbidding exterior, with its 16 towers rising from a boxy base. The book collects photographs by the Very Rev. Cynthia L. Black, who was the cathedral's dean for 19 years, and four others: James Carter, Kirsty Eisenhart, Mike Matthews, and Lance Rosol.

Black writes in a brief introduction about seeing the cathedral interact with nature: "I could witness the east wall appearing to be on fire as the sun rose in the early morning each spring, and catch the majesty of a full moon rising over the king's 'crown' in the fall. Each week as I celebrated the Eucharist I saw a cross appear in the wine (a reflection from the lights above, with the oculus at the center). On any given sunny day I could watch the sunlight come through the oculus and trace an arc on the Cathedral floor, but capturing those images was rarely possible."
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PB and HOB Prexy face offAnglo-Catholic Priest Denied Entry to RomeMore...

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 04:10:00 -0500

Humility consists, not in condemning our conscience, but in recognizing God's grace and compassion. ---- St. Mark the Ascetic, 5th century

Keep Looking Unto Jesus. Keep on looking unto Jesus. Faith shall soon be changed to sight, and hope to certainty. Looking to Jesus on earth by faith, you shall end with seeing Jesus eye to eye in heaven. Those eyes of yours shall look on the head that was crowned with thorns, the hands and feet that were pierced with nails, and the side that was pierced with a spear. You shall find that seeing is the blessed consequence of believing, and that looking at Jesus by faith, ends with seeing Jesus in glory, and living with Jesus for evermore. When you awake up after His likeness, you shall be satisfied. --- J.C. Ryle

Spiritual sacrifices. The uniqueness of Christ's sacrifice does not mean, then, that we have no sacrifices to offer, but only that their nature and purpose are different. They are not material but spiritual, and their object is not propitiatory but eucharistic, the expression of a responsive gratitude. This is the second biblical undergirding of Cranmer's position. The New Testament describes the church as a priestly community, both a 'holy priesthood' and a 'royal priesthood', in which all God's people share equally as 'priests'. This is the famous 'priesthood of all believers', on which the Reformers laid great stress. In consequence of this universal priesthood, the word 'priest' (*hiereus*) is never in the New Testament applied to the ordained minister, since he shares in offering what the people offer, but has no distinctive offering to make which differs from theirs. -- John R. W. Stott
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THE CAVALRY IS NOT COMING FOR REFORM OVER WOMEN BISHOPS

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 20:40:00 -0500

THE CAVALRY IS NOT COMING FOR REFORM OVER WOMEN BISHOPS

By Julian Mann
Special to virtueonline
www. virtueonline.org
February 1, 2012

"Should I stay or should I go?" was the 1981 song by the English punk rock band The Clash. It is the question looming over conservative evangelical members of Reform in the shadow of next week's meeting of the Church of England's General Synod in London.

The General Synod elections of September 2010 did see gains for traditionalists but with 42 out of 44 English dioceses having voted for women bishops since then, the bus is now unstoppable.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org]]>

MARRIAGE AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: Fundamental Goods That Stand or Fall Together

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 14:40:00 -0500

MARRIAGE AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: Fundamental Goods That Stand or Fall Together
Archbishop Duncan Signs Open Letter on Marriage
TEC Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori's signature not to be found

An Open Letter from Religious Leaders in the United States to All Americans

http://thenalc.org/documents/usccb/usccb-11JAN2012-marriage-religious-freedom-letter.pdf
January 11, 2012

Dear Friends:

The promotion and protection of marriage-the union of one man and one woman as husband and wife-is a matter of the common good and serves the wellbeing of the couple, of children, of civil society and all people. The meaning and value of marriage precedes and transcends any particular society, government, or religious community. It is a universal good and the foundational institution of all societies. It is bound up with the nature of the human person as male and female, and with the essential task of bearing and nurturing children.

As religious leaders across a wide variety of faith communities, we join together to affirm that marriage in its true definition must be protected for its own sake and for the good of society. We also recognize the grave consequences of altering this definition. One of these consequences-the interference with the religious freedom of those who continue to affirm the true definition of "marriage"-warrants special attention within our faith communities and throughout society as a whole. For this reason, we come together with one voice in this letter.
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Unstable behaviour

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 11:20:00 -0500

Unstable behaviour
A leading activist agrees that homosexual preferences are fluid and changing. If so, why do gays need special treatment?

By Peter Saunders
Mercator Net
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/unstable_behaviour
January 30, 2012

Many people think that homosexuality is a biological characteristic like race or sex - biologically fixed and genetically determined. They think this because this is the view that has been successfully propagated by the gay rights lobby for decades in order to provide a justification for arguing that 'homophobia' is a form of discrimination akin to racism or sexism.

This belief has also been behind moves to treat discrimination against 'practising' homosexuals as a human rights issue by pretending that homosexuals are a biological category like 'women' or 'Asians' whose distinctive features are genetically determined rather than just a group who have simply made a certain life-style choice.

But in fact the strength and direction of erotic attraction, although relatively stable in some people, can be quite changeable in others - it is often not fixed at all.

Similarly, identical twins often have different sexual orientations proving that, although sexual orientation may have some genetic influences, it is not genetically determined. There is, in other words, no such thing as the gay gene.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org]]>

THE TWO WAYS (Matthew 7:13,14)

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 11:10:00 -0500

THE TWO WAYS (Matthew 7:13,14)

by Ted Schroder,
February 5, 2012

A characteristic of our age is the plethora of choices we have. When we go to the supermarket, or a restaurant, or go onto the internet, we are faced with a wide variety of options. It takes a great deal of time to decide between them. Religion is no different. There has always been a multiplicity of choices between faiths. When St. Paul went to Athens he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. (Acts 17:16) Today there is a cafeteria of spiritualities on display for us to pick and choose between.

Jesus, however, confronts us with the choice between only two possibilities. All religions, all spiritualities, all philosophies, can be divided into one or another of these possibilities. As he comes to the end of the Sermon on the Mount he says that the time for decision has come. We must choose between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness, the culture of worldly materialism and the culture of Christ.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org]]>

President Obama and Same-Sex Marriage - The Dance Continues

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 10:40:00 -0500

President Obama and Same-Sex Marriage - The Dance Continues

By Albert Mohler
http://www.albertmohler.com/
January 5, 2012

Some predictions are rather safe to make. 2012 is almost certain to be a determinative year on the issue of same-sex marriage. Multiple courts appear poised to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] and, even more urgently, the appeal on California's Proposition 8 at the Ninth Circuit U. S. Court of Appeals will set up a certain appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court. Given the facts of this case and the significance of the nation's most populous state, the Supreme Court is almost certain to take the case. This sets the stage for the courts to make some determinative statement on same-sex marriage within the next several months - a decision that will go a long way toward setting the direction of the larger culture.

At the same time, the same-sex marriage issue will play a part in the 2012 presidential campaign. The reason for this is quite simple. The issue of same-sex marriage is about far more than marriage as a legal institution and about more than sexuality and personal autonomy. It is the great inescapable issue, and we will know in fairly short order what all the candidates believe about the issue.

Then again, maybe not.

Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org]]>

Running to the Free World - Faith McDonnell

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 08:40:00 -0500

Running to the Free World

By Faith McDonnell
http://www.theird.org/
January 27, 2012

Chinese Christian dissident and popular author, Yu Jie, titled his recent statement about leaving China, "Exposing CPC Tyranny and Running to the Free World." Animosity-filled Leftists may condemn and make apologies for America. But to courageous democracy-lovers around the world like Yu Jie, who became a target of the Chinese government with writings such as his book China's Best Actor: Wen Jiabao, America is still the free world and the best hope for those living under Communist oppression.

We wrote about Yu after first meeting him and his wife, Liu Min, in 2005 when IRD arranged a Capitol Hill briefing for him and another Chinese Christian dissident, Zhang Boli, one of the "most-wanted" leaders of Tiananmen Square, who is now pastor of a large Chinese church in northern Virginia. With the conversion and participation of Yu and other young intellectuals and dissidents, the Church in China has been infused with new energy and confidence with which to confront the Communist government of the People's Republic. Yu, a prolific writer and former vice-president of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, was a leader of Bejing's Ark Church, a house church movement started as a Bible study by his wife Liu Min and two friends in 2001.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org]]>

UGANDA: Orombi leaves big shoes to fill

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 06:30:00 -0500

UGANDA: Orombi leaves big shoes to fill

By Michael Mubangizi
http://www.observer.ug/
February 1, 2012

News of the early retirement of Church of Uganda Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi has taken many people by surprise. While presiding over the consecration of Rt Rev.Nathan Ahimbisibwe as the first bishop of the newly created South Ankole diocese, Orombi revealed that he would be stepping down as archbishop this year, one year before his official retirement.

Orombi, who later told journalists that he is retiring to make his "own programme and go where [I] want", replaced Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo as Archbishop Church of Uganda on January 25, 2004. He was expected to serve a 10-year non-renewable term at the helm of Church of Uganda, but he opted to bring forward his retirement.

Orombi legacy

Aged 62, Orombi is still three years short of retirement according to Church of Uganda regulations. The prelate will best be remembered for his passionate promotion of interdenominational unity. He surprised many Anglicans in 2005 when he preached at Kampala Pentecostal church (now Watoto church). At the time, Anglicans and Pentecostals didn't quite see eye-to-eye, but Orombi rose above that.
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NASHVILLE, TN: Former Episcopalians face more upheaval

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:30:00 -0500

NASHVILLE, TN: Former Episcopalians face more upheaval
Former Episcopal priest Thomas McKenzie and others are left in limbo amid a spat between Anglican Mission leaders and the overseas Anglican group that adopted them

By: Bob Smietana
The Tennessean
http://tinyurl.com/7hegcwa
January 28, 2012

For the second time in a decade, the Rev. Thomas McKenzie has found himself in an ugly church fight.

Back in 2004, it was over sexuality and salvation in the Episcopal Church.

Now it's over power and money, the spat between leaders of the Anglican Mission in the Americas - made up mostly of former Episcopalians like McKenzie - and the overseas Anglican group that adopted them.

"It's sinful, it's ugly, it's wrong," said McKenzie, pastor of Church of the Redeemer in Nashville and a former Episcopal priest. "And it doesn't bring honor to the name of Christ."

Over the past decade, thousands of Episcopalians have split from that denomination because they feel it lost its theological moorings. Some of its bishops have denied that Jesus is the only path to salvation, and the denomination allows gays and lesbians to be leaders.

They found allies in Anglican bishops from places like Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria and South America. Those bishops, like the leaders of the Episcopal Church, are part of the Anglican Communion but hold more traditional beliefs.

Some local former Episcopalians, like those at Church of the Redeemer, joined the Anglican Mission, which was run by the Church of Rwanda.
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Anglican Church Leaders to meet in Tallahassee

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:10:00 -0500

Anglican Church Leaders to meet in Tallahassee

January 31, 2012

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Tallahassee has been chosen as the meeting place for Anglican Church leaders from across the United States and Canada.

The Anglican Church in North America will hold its Archbishop's Cabinet and Executive Committee meetings, as well as Anglican Relief and Development board meetings in Florida Capital City.

The bishops and leaders will be shaping orthodox Anglicanism in North America.

There will be a Worship Service, followed by a reception, on Tuesday, January 31, at 7:00 p.m. The meetings will happen on February 1-2.

All events will take place at Saint Peter's Anglican Church, which is located on 901 Thomasville Road.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org]]>

Muslim-Christian Violence in Nigeria - Archbishop Ben Kwashi

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:00:00 -0500

Muslim-Christian Violence in Nigeria

By The Most Rev. Dr. Benjamin Kwashi
January 22, 2012

The Anglican Archbishop of Jos delivered the following lecture to the Westminster Institute in McLean, Virginia. Mary Ann Mueller transcribed it for Virtue Online (www.virtueonline.org) Archbishop Ben Kwashi is one of the most well-known and respected advocates for the Persecuted Church in Nigeria.

Twice (in Feb. 2006 & July 2007), he has been the victim of attempts on his own life; his wife Gloria was badly beaten in one [2006] of those attempts. In 1987 his church and vicarage were burned down in Christian-Muslim riots.

In my growing days we saw the potential that there was in this country [Nigeria] ... tremendous. The opportunities, up to today, are limitless. I mean, the opportunities in the rest of the world are narrow. But the opportunities in Nigeria is still very broad, and big, and wide for economic growth, for intellectual growth, for manpower development, for any good that can come to humanity there in Nigeria. Nigeria has just a heart for that. It is estimated that today there is 167 million in this country [Nigeria] in more than 400 autonomous kingdoms, autonomous languages, and they have since Independence [Oct. 1, 1960] managed to come together, except for the intervention of military coups that took over from the heirless civilian regime in 1966 and since then, for nearly 30 years, Nigeria knew nothing but military rule.

It is from that period that, I think, we began to see some of the seeds sown for the crisis that Nigeria now faces.

If you take a city like Jos, I come from Plateau State, [one of 36 states]. I was born and raised in [Amper] the north of Nigeria. I went to a Nigerian Military School.
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Culture War and the Global Church - Mark Tooley

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:30:00 -0500

Culture War and the Global Church

By Mark Tooley
http://spectator.org/
January 31, 2012

Liberal Protestant denominations are increasingly no match for their conservative brethren worldwide.

Global Christianity is thriving, with one out of every 3 people on earth professing Christian faith, according to a Pew study released last month. But Christianity is shifting south. Two percent of global Christians 100 years ago lived in sub-Saharan Africa. Today, nearly a quarter do, equal to Europe's percentage, and soon surely to surpass it.

Insulated secular elites in the U.S. remain largely clueless about thriving religion even in America, much less globally. To the extent they notice domestic religion, it is often the echoing voices of liberal Protestant elites who preside over increasingly empty churches.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Episcopal Church, both of which are now likely below 2 million members, will have their governing conventions this summer. They will probably solidify their liberal trends, especially in deconstructing traditional marriage. United Methodism, unique among the major liberal Mainline denominations for having not compromised its sexual teaching, will convene its General Conference in late April in Tampa. Its U.S. membership of 7.6 million is shrinking, while is overseas membership of 4.5 million, mostly in Africa, is surging.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org]]>

Virginia Episcopal Diocese: A Pyrrhic victory?

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:30:00 -0500

Virginia Episcopal Diocese: A Pyrrhic victory?
Virginia's breakaway Anglican congregations lose the latest legal round over possession of their properties, but can Virginia Episcopalians afford to keep them?

By Les Sillars & Grace Dobbs
WORLD Virginia
http://worldvirginia.com/2012/01/a_pyrrhic_victory
Jan. 31, 2012

The breakaway Episcopal congregations in Virginia, who left in 2006 over the American denomination's liberal theology, have lost the latest round in the legal battle over the church property. Some have warned their members to expect to move within a few months.

In a 113-page ruling issued Jan. 10, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows reversed a ruling he made in 2008 giving custody to the conservative congregations. The Virginia Supreme Court overturned that ruling in 2010 and ordered a new trial.

At issue is ownership of seven Virginia churches, including two prominent, historic congregations that trace their roots to George Washington: Truro Church in Fairfax and The Falls Church, for which the city of Falls Church is named. But it is not clear that the denomination, on the verge of finally winning the battle that began in 2006, has either the members or the money to keep operating the churches themselves.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org]]>

The Hubris of Spending Other People's Money - A.S. Haley

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:50:00 -0500

The Hubris of Spending Other People's Money

By A.S. HALEY
The Anglican Curmudgeon
http://accurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2012/01/hubris-of-spending-other-peoples-money.html
January 28, 2012

Budget discussions in ECUSA's Executive Council continued to be contentious today at the Maritime Center, as the various factions duking it out are beginning to realize how little control they have over the process. For the General Convention activists, it is all about losing sight of the "vision":

"Neither iteration - 19 percent asking or 15 percent asking - provides a new vision," Katie Sherrod said in reporting the reaction of the Governance and Administration for Mission committee. "We need a vision for the future."

(Note to Dr. [hon. Causa] Sherrod: The vision is right there in front of you, but you are incapable of seeing it because it does not mesh with your view of the world. Meanwhile, facts on the ground are fast overtaking what little remains of the things over which you still have some discretion. Soon you will not have any choices left to discuss, let alone make.)
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org]]>

NIGERIA: Islamic Leaders Have a Duty to Stop Boko Haram - -Onaiyekan

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:40:00 -0500

NIGERIA: Islamic Leaders Have a Duty to Stop Boko Haram - -Onaiyekan

By Malachy Uzendu
THE DAILY CHAMPION
http://allafrica.com/stories/201201310392.html
January 31, 2012

CATHOLIC Archbishop of Abuja, Most Rev. John Onaiyekan yesterday appealed to Islamic leaders to try and rein in members of the Boko Haram insisting it remains their cardinal duty to humanity since the sect members claims they are Muslims who are propagating "ideal" Islamic programmes.

Onaiyekan made the remark while reeling out programme of activities for the Episcopal ordination of Rev. Fr. Anselm Umoren as the Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Abuja Archdiocese.

According to Onaiyekan, what is more important in order to bring back members of the sect to live normal life style was to begin to work on their theology, stressing that if the Islamic leaders could succeed in correcting the wrong doctrines imbibed by members of the sect, peace and stability would return to the country.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org]]>

Presiding Bishop and HOD President Face off over TEC Budget

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:40:00 -0500

Presiding Bishop and HOD President Face off over TEC Budget
Litigation costs are forcing church's hand in how it will spend money now and in the future

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
January 31, 2012

A power struggle and simmering rivalry which has been going on for a number of years between Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and House of Deputies president Bonnie Anderson erupted this past week when the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church met in Maryland where the two parties offered different visions of the mission of the church.

Executive Council received two different budget proposals from its Executive Committee with one setting the diocesan asking at the current level of 19 percent, and requiring cuts of almost $6 million from the $140 million 2010-2012 budget adopted by the General Convention. This is the position favored by PB Jefferts Schori.

The other lowers the diocesan asking to 15 percent and requires cuts of almost $21 million from the current budget. HOD President Anderson favors the 15 percent asking.

Both budgets were ultimately scuttled and a third budget was sent to Program, Budget & Finance.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org]]>

Resisting fundamentalism - a dreadful poster

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0500

Resisting fundamentalism - a dreadful poster

J. Michael Povey
Povey Prattle Blog
http://jmichaelpovey-retiredpoveinsarasota.blogspot.com/2012/01/resisting-fundamentalism-dreadful.html
January 27, 2012

This poster has gone viral on the internet today. I find it to be utterly appalling. It makes me feel embarrassed to be an Episcopalian.

It is of course historically inaccurate on two counts.

First: We have not resisted fundamentalism since 1784. Fundamentalism as a major factor in American Protestantism did not emerge until the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Second: The assertion that Jesus "resisted the Pharisees" is a rather simplistic interpretation of scripture. What we see in the gospels is that Jesus had disagreements with some of the Pharisees.

In fact his only encounter with a named Pharisee - Nicodemus - shows a Jesus who is gracious and thoughtful. Never did he resist the Pharisee Nicodemus.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org]]>

Tunics, cloaks, and church buildings - Robert S. Munday

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:50:00 -0500

Tunics, cloaks, and church buildings

The V. Rev. Robert Munday
http://toalltheworld.blogspot.com/2012/01/tunics-cloaks-and-church-buildings.html
Jan. 28, 2012

"And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well" (Matthew 5:40, ESV).

Last week I happened to be in Savannah, Georgia; and, as I try to do whenever I am in town on a Sunday evening, I attended the beautiful sung Compline at historic Christ Church. Christ Church is the oldest Anglican church in Georgia-older than the State of Georgia, older than the Diocese of Georgia, and older than the Episcopal Church. It is the only church where both John Wesley and George Whitefield served as rectors. Christ Church, whose vestry voted unanimously to separate from the Episcopal Church in 2007 (a vote that was sustained by 87% of the membership) recently had its building taken away by the courts and given to the Episcopal diocese.
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Archbishop John Hepworth to Resign on Easter Day

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:10:00 -0500

Archbishop John Hepworth to Resign on Easter Day

Traditional Anglican Communion
Office of the Primate Archbishop John Hepworth

28th January 2012

To the Bishops, clergy and people of the Traditional Anglican Communion

My Dear Fathers, Brothers and Sisters,

In June of 2003, I was elected as the second Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion. At the Plenary Meeting of our College of Bishops, held in Australia in conjunction with the inauguration of my Primacy, it was made strongly clear - without dissent - that I was to further the ambition of this Communion since its beginnings to discover a means by which Anglican ecclesial communities might come into the fullness of Catholic Communion in a corporate manner, without loss of the treasures of the Anglican tradition.

I prosecuted that mandate of the College in National and Diocesan Synods, in meetings and discussions with anyone whom I thought might assist in both Anglican and Roman Catholic circles, having made clear to the Holy See that I would not allow my own circumstances to become an impediment to unity.
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LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, MD: President Anderson clears up confusion

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:30:00 -0500

LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, MD: President Anderson clears up confusion

By Bonnie Anderson
January 29, 2012

Dear Deputies and First Alternates:

A confusing situation has arisen and I'd like to set the record straight:

On Thursday, the Presiding Bishop released a video directed to the House of Deputies expressing her opinion about legislative issues that will come before General Convention this summer. Yesterday, the Office of Communications sent an email to bishops that mischaracterized my response to the video's release and asked the bishops to forward the video message to their diocese's deputies.

On Thursday afternoon, I received word from the General Convention Office that the Presiding Bishop, via the Office of Communications, had directed that office to forward a video message from the Presiding Bishop to all deputies. I had neither seen the video nor been consulted about it and so I told the General Convention Office to hold it.

In my nearly 25 years as a deputy, I don't ever recall the Presiding Bishop speaking directly to the House of Deputies outside of a joint session or without giving the House due notice, while at General Convention. I don't ever recall a Presiding Bishop corresponding directly with deputies outside of the General Convention, without the knowledge of, or in collaboration with the President.
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A message from the Episcopal Church Executive Council

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:20:00 -0500

A message from the Episcopal Church Executive Council

The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church issued the following message at the conclusion of its three-day meeting in Linthicum Heights, Maryland

A Message from Executive Council January 29, 2012 Linthicum Heights, Maryland

* God is awesome
* The Good News is not fair
* God always acts first

The Rt. Rev. James Cowan of the Anglican Church of Canada

As Executive Council gathered for its penultimate meeting before General Convention, heavy rain was pelting the south windows of the Maritime Institute like hard little fists, making everyone grateful for the solace of dry warm spaces. This was Executive Council's third meeting of this triennium in this venue, a reflection of a money-saving strategy to contract to meet in a couple of places, Linthicum Heights, MD, and Salt Lake City, UT. In prior triennia, Executive Council had moved around the church, meeting once in each of our nine provinces, but our new discipline of choosing only two money-saving venues is a reflection of our willingness to adapt to changing financial conditions.
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RISING ISLAMIC PERSECUTION

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:00:00 -0500

RISING ISLAMIC PERSECUTION

There is a rising tide of Islamic persecution of Christians in countries from Nigeria to Afghanistan, writes Philip Rosenthal of Christian View Network.

A number of Christians have been sentenced to death for their faith.

Hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled their homes, numerous churches have been burned and some of these countries such as Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan face the risk of extinction of Christianity if trends continue.

Even in the West many converts from Islam and their families are afraid for their safety.

Government leaders speaking against this persecution have been assassinated by these radicals.
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