"We are not to regard the cross as defeat and the resurrection as victory. Rather, the cross was the victory won, and the resurrection the victory endorsed, proclaimed and demonstrated" -- From The Cross of Christ by John R. W. Stott

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
December 7, 2007

Iraqi Christians are worse off now than when they were under Saddam Hussein, the Rev. Canon Andrew White, a Baghdad priest, told CBS' "60 Minutes". The Archbishop of Canterbury holds a "secret" Eucharist for homosexuals and tells them to keep dialoging with straight folk; d-i-v-o-r-c-e comes to the Anglican Church of Canada; the Diocese of San Joaquin will meet in Fresno for their 48th annual convention to vote on whether or not to remain a part of the Episcopal Church of America; Bishop Jeffrey Steenson, former Bishop of the Rio Grande, was officially received into the Roman Catholic Church, and Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola dropped into the US (Virginia) to consecrate more bishops for his North American franchise - the Convocation of Anglicans in North American (CANA). And for sheer absurdity (and mockery of marriage), the homoerotic Bishop of New Hampshire announced he was marching down the aisle for a June wedding with his significant other. "I always wanted to be a June bride," said Bishop Gene Robinson at a talk recently at Nova Southeastern University.

These are some of this week's highlights in the Anglican Communion.

By any standard, things are getting messier and messier; the nice word is realignment. Dr. Rowan Williams came out with a statement on World Aids Day that could be interpreted in a couple of different ways. I have examined this at some length in an article in the digest today or you can click here: http://tinyurl.com/377xs8

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Liberal clergy anger at PENNSYLVANIA Bishop Charles E. Bennison reared its head when a priest from a blue blood Philadelphia suburb wrote a letter to Bennison which he copied to Frank Griswold, Mrs. Jefferts Schori and a number of others saying his parish will withhold its 2008 pledge until Bennison is officially gone. The inhibited bishop should resign, he said, and do it now.

Apparently, that isn't going to happen. Bennison is going to fight his inhibition tooth and nail. Word has it he has hired a leading public relations firm in Philadelphia to spruce up his image, though how he can do that and make anything he has done believable, is beyond belief. How do you spruce up pedophilia for goodness sake!

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In Savannah, Ga., CHRIST CHURCH is divided, and headed for court. The 274 year old parish that started with a land grant from King George of England and led by famous names like John Wesley and George Whitfield, and has been the spiritual home of some of this city's most notable residents, including Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts will find out who owns the property. Some 87% of its longtime members voted recently to part ways with the Episcopal diocese it had been a part of for more than 200 years to join an Anglican diocese in Uganda. You can read the full story in today's digest.

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The secret 'gay' Eucharist group of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and intersex priests in the CHURCH OF ENGLAND, were told by Dr. Williams that they should continue to engage with their opponents in the ongoing row over human sexuality in the Anglican Communion. The fact of the matter is that is not going to happen any more. Dialogue over sodomy in The Episcopal Church is dead. The orthodox are done talking and are leaving in droves. They have had enough, are finished with the issue and want to move on to mission of the conversion of souls. Sodomy talk is dead. As if any more evidence were needed, someone stood up at the "Eucharist" and said that if all the homosexual clergy were taken out of the Church of England, it would fall apart.

Perhaps it should. The parlous state of the CofE might just be because there are hoards of homosexual clergy flowing around. That is why it is a spiritually dying institution with less than a million now attending CofE parishes. Weak girlie men clergy like Nickie Henderson are the kiss of death of the church, and he is trying to buy a bishopric in Lake Malawi! I wonder what is next, Mass for masturbators...secret prayer meetings for pedophiles! Is it any wonder that homoerotic sex is undoing the whole Anglican Communion?

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IN CANADA we are seeing the beginnings of painful lawsuits over parish properties, replicating what is happening now in the U.S. One of Ottawa's oldest churches, St. Alban's Church on King Edward Avenue, which is part of the Anglican Network in Canada, recently unveiled a gloves-off separation strategy including a $1-million defense fund for legal battles in wresting properties such as St. Alban's away from the Anglican Church of Canada. It is embroiled in a civil war that has spilled over from the US between mainstream Anglicans and a breakaway organization promising a return to tithing, the original prayer book, and a firm stand against blessings for same-sex unions. As a result, the new Primate of the Canadian Church, Fred Hiltz, has appealed to the Archbishop of Canterbury to help resolve differences with conservatives. One doubts this will be very effective. Williams has failed to lower the ecclesiastical temperature in the Episcopal Church; four bishops have fled to Rome; and four dioceses are ready to leave the liberal denomination with tens of thousands of faithful believing Episcopalians fleeing monthly from the sinking TEC ship. The days of talk are over. Episcopal flight is in full swing, a new ecclesial structure is in place, and a North American Province is under way. It would seem, on its face, that if Rowan Williams is not on board, it is he who might be left behind.

The truth is "Christian" liberalism is finished. America's mainline denominations are playing out the great liberal death wish of the 60s and the chickens have come home to roost with the endorsement of sodomy as good and right in the eyes of God. It isn't, of course, and the orthodox know it. They are leaving the no longer powerful denomination for spiritually richer pastures that promise them a continuation of the gospel they have received and want to pass on to future generations.

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There is a ton of irony in the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY going off to Singapore shortly to make nice with Islamic leaders, while a report out of Iraq, by an Anglican priest, says that Christians are considerably worse off now than they were during the regime of the late Saddam Hussein, Iraq's former dictator.

There's no comparison between Iraq now and under Saddam, said Canon Andrew White in an interview on CBS Television news program "60 Minutes."

"Things are the most difficult they have ever been for Christians, probably ever in history," said the British cleric. He told reporter Scott Pelley that about 90 percent of Iraqi Christians have either fled Iraq or have been killed after being targeted for assassination by Islamic extremists. By some estimates, there were once more than one million Christians in Iraq. The CBS report states that one-time Christian strongholds in Baghdad, such as the neighborhood of Dora, are virtually empty of Christians.

White told Pelley that among those killed or kidnapped have been leaders of his own parish, whose bodies have never been found or recovered. "Here in this church, all of my leadership were originally taken and killed," he said. "This is one of the problems. I regularly do funerals here, but it's not easy to get the bodies."

As a result of the killings, White conducts what have been called "underground" services for what remains of his congregation, including the infirm, elderly and others who have been unable to flee Baghdad. White told CBS the sectarian killings in Iraq are an example of religion "gone wrong." He said, "When religion goes wrong, it kills others."

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In the DIOCESE OF SAN JOAQUIN, clergy and lay delegates of the diocese will meet December 8 in Fresno for their 48th annual convention to vote on whether or not to remain a part of the Episcopal Church of America. "This is a landmark convention for us," said the Rev. J.P. Wadlin of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Ridgecrest. "This is the second part of a two part process. Any move must be ratified by two successive conventions to become canon law. If it passes and we do remove ourselves from ECUSA, we have to belong to some branch of the Anglican Church. The Archbishops and Bishops of the Province of the Southern Cone in South America have extended an invitation to us to come under their protection. The move would be temporary, pastoral and reversible."

Bishop John-David Schofield is made of tough stuff and has already withstood a couple of blasts aimed at him. Four of his fellow bishops tried to inhibit him recently, and Mrs. Jefferts Schori has written threatening him with inhibition and worse if he tries to leave the TEC and take his parishes with him. The days of inclusive talk, diversity, and making nice are over. It is getting down and dirty with lawsuits and accusations flying in all directions.

To make the point, Bishop John-David wrote a letter to Mrs. Jefferts Schori stating that he hoped she would back off litigation and politely telling her that he believed in the authority of the Holy Scriptures and Catholic Faith and Order shared by the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches and by some 60 million faithful Anglicans worldwide. It is The Episcopal Church that has isolated itself from the overwhelming majority of Christendom and more specifically from the Anglican Communion by denying Biblical truth and walking apart from the historic Faith and Order. You can read the full letter in today's digest or here: http://tinyurl.com/2oao9g

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IN CANADA, the "D" word - DIVORCE was uttered by ultra-liberal New Westminster Bishop Michael Ingham this week, acknowledging what everyone else knows, that the Anglican Church of Canada is heading off the train tracks and into the swamp of ecclesiastical irrelevance.

Of course Ingham has had departures going on in his backyard for a couple of years now so this is not entirely new news. What was started then is now coming to full fruition with a newly anointed Southern Cone bishop coming into this bailiwick. Ingham is breathing fire and brimstone, but the truth is he can't do much about it. Parishes who receive the Rt. Rev. Donald Harvey will be in danger of his ecclesiastical wrath. Of course Ingham's theology, which is just a shade to the right of John Shelby Spong's, is precisely the reason the orthodox are flying out the door. If Ingham wants to take himself to hell he is welcome to do so. There is absolutely no reason why anyone should follow him. Only lemmings and sheep do that and this is one false shepherd whom many do not want to follow.

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If you are looking for a raison d'etre for EVANGELISM then hit this link. Bishop John Guernsey (Uganda) gives a 20-minute sermon on the subject. This is well worth the time. You will be inspired: http://fatherdalton.com/2007/12/01/bishop-john-guernsey-a-video-message-on-evangelism/

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AIDS is on the increase in the U.S., living proof that endorsing sodomy is a no-win situation for Episcopalians as it is also decreasing their ranks. New government estimates of the number of Americans who become infected with the AIDS virus each year are 50 percent higher than previous calculations suggested, sources now say.

For more than a decade, epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have pegged the number of new HIV infections each year at 40,000. They now believe it is between 55,000 and 60,000. The higher estimate is the product of a new method of testing blood samples that can identify those who were infected within the previous five months. With a way to distinguish recent infections from long-standing ones, epidemiologists can now estimate how many new infections are appearing nationwide each month or year. The higher estimate is based on data from 19 states and large cities that have been extrapolated to the nation as a whole.

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A group of Episcopalians that included seven bishops were among other religious and influential Christian leaders who signed a letter asking Muslims to forgive Christians. The letter with signatures recently appeared as a full-page advertisement in The New York Times. "Muslims and Christians have not always shaken hands in friendship; their relations have sometimes been tense, even characterized by outright hostility," the authors said. "Since Jesus Christ says, 'First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye' (Matthew 7:5), we want to begin by acknowledging that in the past (e.g. in the Crusades) and in the present (e.g. in excesses of the 'war on terror') many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbors. Before we 'shake your hand' in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world."

Last month 138 Muslim scholars, clerics and intellectuals sent a letter titled "A Common Word Between Us," seeking common ground between the two faiths. The letter was hand delivered to many Christian leaders including Pope Benedict XVI, the Orthodox Church's Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I and all the other Orthodox patriarchs, and to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the leaders of protestant churches worldwide. Archbishop Rowan Williams has already responded to the letter in a joint communique written with several prominent Jewish rabbis.

Episcopal bishops signing the letter include: Barry Beisner of Northern California, Joseph Burnett of Nebraska, Edwin F. Gulick Jr., of Kentucky, Shannon Johnston, coadjutor of Virginia, David C. Jones, suffragan of Virginia, Peter James Lee of Virginia and George E. Packard, Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies. Other Episcopalians signing the letter include the Very Rev. Joseph Britton, dean, Berkeley Divinity School at Yale; the Very Rev. Sam Candler, dean of St. Philip's Cathedral, Atlanta, and the Very Rev. James Kowalski, dean of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, New York City.

The letter also includes the endorsement of several prominent evangelicals, among them the Rev. Rick Warren, founder and pastor of Saddleback Community Church and author of "The Purpose Driven Life"; the Rev. John Stott, rector emeritus, All Souls' Church, London; the Rev. Bill Hybels, founder and senior pastor, Willow Creek Community Church, and Robert E. Cooley, president emeritus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Among those launching the letter in the United Kingdom last month was David Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity and fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge University.

In a news conference on Nov. 26 at the Cultural Foundation of Abu Dhabi, Muslim scholars invited Prof. Miroslav Volf of Yale's Center for Faith and Culture in order to thank him and his colleagues for their embrace of "A Common Word." Both Muslim and Christian leaders have expressed interest in meeting together as a next step toward mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence.

No mention was made of Islamic persecution of Christians in Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt Iran, Iraq and Indonesia and the church leaders who have signed this statement and who have been silent over the growing persecution of Christian minorities as has the 138 leaders who have made no mention that the fact their Christian minorities in their countries are denied full human rights and religious liberties. Furthermore, nobody asked why the leaders of Saudi Arabia won't allow Christian workers to worship openly in churches and have to skulk behind closed doors so as not to offend effendi. Of course that might have something to do with oil, but that might be stating the obvious.

One wonders how much more groveling Christian leaders will do before Muslims while they, on the other hand, are busy building Mosques, making converts and quietly preaching jihad to their followers, looking forward to the day for the reign of the rule of Sharia. Perhaps someone should have contacted Anglican leaders in Northern Nigeria before signing this statement. Some of the worst outbreaks of violence have been committed by Muslims against evangelical Anglicans. Thousands have been slaughtered, bishops have been abused and there is no sign of any abatement in sight.

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Not That Kind of Christian!! (2007). An eye-opening 80 minute documentary explores the struggle in the gay, lesbian, and transgender activist community for acceptance within the Episcopal church, and how the successes of the movement in the United States have created a rift between the Episcopal church and its Great Britain equivalent, the Anglican church.. The documentary draws on interviews from major players on different sides of the conflict, including Louie Crew, the founder of the first Anglican gay rights organization; Gene Robinson, the first openly homosexual Bishop; and David Virtue, the Anglican church's most outspoken anti-gay media personality. The film also assumes a broader perspective on religion, community, and morality, questioning how "faith" has become a euphemistic term, interchangeable with intolerance, exclusion, and nationalism. When this documentary film becomes available we will notify VOL's readers.

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The Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) is holding its annual Council and Convocation this weekend, December 6 - 9, in Herndon, Virginia. Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria will fly in to consecrate four new bishops on Sunday, December 9th. The four, along with their wives, are on retreat this week in spiritual preparation.

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The DIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES held its annual Convention recently with a call to move "beyond barriers" to become a "beloved community". The 112th convention of the Diocese opened to the beat of Native American drummers and enthusiastic approval of the Jamestown Covenant, heralded moving beyond barriers to inclusion of all and overwhelmingly called for removal of the separation wall between Israel and Palestine.

Bishop Jon Bruno encouraged about 1,000 clergy and lay delegates, visitors and guests to work to remove individual, communal and global walls and barriers. "While in the Holy Land earlier this year, I encountered the separation wall," Bruno told the gathering. "When I returned to L.A., I realized the separation wall exists here, too," preventing full participation of various ethnicities, races, genders, socioeconomic classes, undocumented immigrants, and gays and lesbians, as God's beloved community. No mention was made of those parishes who want to flee such calls for inclusivity for a call to repentance and faith. Delegates renewed a three-year companion relationship with the Diocese of Jerusalem and welcomed as guest speakers the Rev. Canon Naim Ateek and Rabbi Steven Jacobs for a conversation about Middle East peacemaking.

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LOOK WHO'S EDUCATED NOW. It has been the cry of Western Anglicans that African Anglicans are largely uneducated buffoons who are just not up to the latest thinking on sex, women's ordination and biblical interpretation. If they would just sit at the feet of their western brothers and sisters they would change their minds about a whole host of things. The Archbishop of Canterbury, when he was in New Orleans earlier this year, made the point that the younger churches should learn from the older ones, but he never said what exactly they should learn.

VirtueOnline asked CANA Bishop David Bena when he was in Nigeria to lookup the educational levels and accomplishments of the Nigerian Province's HOB. He was not surprised to learn that at least 25 bishops and archbishops have earned theological PhDs, but according to Archbishop Akinola that was by no means the sum total. It was still being compiled. And where did these Nigerians get their doctorates? Try Oxford, Cambridge, London, Harvard, Yale, and Virginia, to name but a few top of the line universities.

How does this compare to the U.S. and Canada? Mrs. Jefferts Schori has a doctorate in Oceanography (which might explain a lot). Paul Marshall, Bishop of Bethlehem has an earned doctorate and that's about it. Retired South Carolina Bishop C. FitzSimons Allison also has an earned doctorate. A check with Canada and the UK revealed that there are more earned doctorates in Nigeria than the US, Canada, England, New Zealand and Australia put together...and Dr. Williams thinks the Global South should be sitting at the feet of the West! Some of us think that if there is a New World Anglican order in the making, we know who to turn to and who should run it. Perhaps it is time for the Western Anglican world to sit at the feet of the Global South to see what they can learn.

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The Analyst (Monrovia) -- The EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF LIBERIA is expected to return to the polls on December 28, 2007, to elect the successor to the incumbent Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Edward W. Neufville, II, who retires from active service on December 17, 2007. The decision to hold another election comes as a result of the nullification of the results of the November 17th polls held in Suakoko, Bong County. The results of the November 17th election were nullified by the Archbishop of the Province of West Africa, the Most Rev. Dr. Justice Akrofi, for what he called canonical breach.

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CORRUPTION IN KENYA. Reports out of Kenya by a lay evangelical Episcopalian from the U.S. involved in development there, says that a patriarchal culture is preventing money from getting to the "least of these". A Kenyan bishop is using money to benefit his diocese and not his people, he told VOL The layman said the diocese prospers while people often go without. Monies, he said, are being appropriated for purposes that benefit a handful of people while the broader church suffers. "It is causing a loss of trust in the diocese, it is making many Kenyans suspicious." The bishop was confronted but refused to back down. "It is causing great conflict as many Kenyans are now coming into contact with the West where there is a high degree of accountability." He said accusations have been made for some time without any change of direction. Another NGO executive said the prevailing view by this bishop is that you need to take care of the institution first and people second. "The poorest parishes are required to give to the diocese, but they don't receive anything from the diocese. This is causing a loss of trust in the diocese and is making non believing Kenyans suspicious. As Kenyans get exposed to Western values they are starting to question the kinds of decisions made by bishops who are putting the institution ahead of the needs of people."

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ROGER STEER (author of "Guarding the Holy Fire" Baker Books) has been commissioned by IVP Books to write a new biography of John Stott. The book will be shorter than Timothy Dudley-Smith's 2 volume biography and is designed to reach a wider audience. If you have a reminiscence of John to share, or a particular perspective on him, Roger is anxious to hear from you. Please contact Roger on rs@rogersteer.com

As you know, VOL regularly features quotes from the works of John R.W. Stott and we are delighted that Mr. Steer is writing a book about this great man who kept the faith alive in the Anglican Communion, especially the UK in the later half of the Twentieth Century.

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I was privileged this week to visit the AMERICAN HERITAGE FOUNDATION, a conservative think tank in Washington DC to hear and participate in a discussion on Global Jihad and the persecution of Christians in Muslim lands. It was an extraordinary occasion with a number of press folk in attendance. Media from IRD, WORLD magazine, RNS to name but a few were kept busy listening to Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo who heads the Barnabas Fund speak on the subject of Muslim persecution. I have interviewed the Guyana-born British leader for today's digest. I think you will find his words enlightening, sobering and encouraging as we face a renewed threat to the Christian Faith both at home and abroad.

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