Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
January 4, 2008

It's time to face reality, a reality that exists to one extent or another across the mainline churches; namely, that there are two different religions, both going by the name of Christianity, at war within the institutional body of the Church. Only one of them may rightly be called by that name. In that respect, Anglicans and others across the mainline spectrum are dealing with a situation that very much resembles the first century conflict against Gnosticism (among others), one that requires the same strength of conviction and willingness to take an uncompromising stand for truth that our forebears in the faith exhibited. If that means declaring, "let them be anathema," (Galatians 1:8) so be it. It ain't polite, but it's the truth.

WITH these words in mind from a noted writer on Anglican issues, the Anglican Communion continued to reel as the meaning and impact of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) began slowly to sink in to Anglicans around the world. The Blogs were alive with the sound of words.

There were no half measures or half positions. People either loved the idea or hated it. Some saw it as a slap in the face to the Archbishop of Canterbury and a repudiation of Lambeth, while others saw it as a vindication that a long suffering Communion, rent by heresies sore distressed, was no longer a safe place to hear, learn and respond to the gospel and that something radical needs to happen. What better place to begin that process but in the Holy Land.

From Archbishop to theologians and lay persons, opinions raged across the Internet. An archbishop and a bishop in the Middle East both came down against the idea, but for different reasons, while an Australian and a Nigerian archbishop both stuck to their guns and said it must go forward, saying that what is at stake is the very truth of the gospel, the mission of the church, the kingdom of God.

The question everyone is asking is: Is the purpose of the Jerusalem meeting to organize a formal rupture in the Anglican Communion, which would leave the liberals isolated with Archbishop Peter Akinola heading up a new conservative communion with a biblical understanding of mission?

At this time of writing, there is no reason to believe that most Anglicans, conservative or not, want a separate communion. Both Dr. Peter Jensen and Peter Akinola have made it abundantly clear that people are free to go to Lambeth in July if they want to, and that GAFCON is not a substitute for Lambeth. But the choice for them this summer is Dr. Williams' painful reluctance to give the necessary leadership everyone wants from him. Akinola and Jensen's enthusiastic gospel-driven alternative does precisely that. If what finally happens is that Williams ends up leading a largely liberal church, while the global south emphasizes a gospel driven mandate to save souls, who can stop them, even the very stones would cry out. They are only doing what comes spiritually. Who can blame them for doing that?

Word has just been received, as yet unconfirmed, that the Bishop of Jerusalem, Bishop Dawani, who opposes the GAFCON gathering in June in the Holy Land has heard about the Holy Land meeting. Peter Frank, Communications Director for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, confirmed to VOL: "Bishop Dawani has confirmed that he received a letter in advance from the Primate of Nigeria on December 24. Further, he will be meeting with Archbishop Jensen and Archbishop Akinola in the next two weeks. He has said that Jerusalem is for all Anglicans." An e-mail I sent to Dawani was not responded to by the time VOL went to cyber press.

Concerning the Presence/Absence at Lambeth by the "orthodox" and the efficacy of a Covenant to be the doctrinal and ecclesial super-glue that holds the Communion together, one observer noted the following: "The Institutionalists are begging, pleading, whining, arguing, and praying for 'orthodox' attendance at Lambeth and to push for an adopted Covenant. By the sheer volume of words through the number of comments they post and the long length of their comments, the Institutionalists are 'winning' the policy debate.

"As a bemused, yet interested bystander, I think it's a colossal mistake for 'orthodox' bishops and primates to attend Lambeth for a number of reasons. Nor do I think a Covenant and the interminable jaw-jaw process to approve, ratify, and then unenforce a Covenant will be effective either in removing the God-mocking heresy and apostasy in TEC, ACC, CofE, and other parts of the Anglican Communion. It is abundantly and painfully clear that the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has granted safe conduct and passage for the liberal heretics and apostates to continue undisciplined. Therefore, the heresy and apostasy will continue to flourish, spread, and embed itself further into the fabric of the Anglican Communion whilst the liberal apostates and the conservative Institutionalists debate, dither, and delay over issues such as the meaning and interpretation of unitive ecclesiology, Scripture, the Authority of Scripture, the deliberately ambiguous sections on discipline in the Draft Covenant, ad infinitum."

You can read two stories I have written about GAFCON in today's digest, as well as several more from Australia. They are full comprehensive articles, but they are by no means the final word. We will learn more in the days to come. VOL will keep updating you as decisions are made.

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Today's main story has been long coming, in fact overdue. The Bishop of the DIOCESE OF SAN JOAQUIN, the Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, has been the subject of liberal Blog vilification, slander, lies and much more. He agreed to lay it on the line about his sexuality, his leadership in the diocese and much more. I am personally grateful that this godly Anglo-Catholic bishop was willing to speak candidly with VOL about his life and lay to rest the rumors and innuendo.

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The DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA, feeling the pain of departing parishes and diminishing finances, now faces a first class financial crunch. The diocese is taking out a $2 million "line of credit" to pursue lawsuits against a dozen parishes that have fled their ecclesiastical grip. Revenues from remaining parishes have fallen short of expectations as they cease to pledge or fall behind on their payments. The diocese is also planning to sell "real properties" to raise cash. Said one observer, "the situation in Virginia is having a devastating impact on the Episcopal Church propaganda machine. For Bishop Peter Lee to consider selling diocesan real property in order to raise cash is bad news for Mrs. Jefferts Schori and her minions. Her 'tiny minority' mantra is no longer playing, even among 'Remaining Episcopalians.'" You can read the full story here or in today's digest: http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=7409

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In the DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT, the entire congregation of Christ Church in Watertown has severed its ties with the national Episcopal Church. They held their last service in the church on Sunday. Future services will be held in a community room at a nearby bank under their new name, New Hope Anglican Church. It is one of the "Connecticut six," a half-dozen churches in the state diocese that disagree with national church leadership over the rejection of Scripture as normative for the life of the church and the appointment of an openly homoerotic priest to the episcopacy. The Rev. Allen Benedict says the congregation has agreed to give up its church buildings and property, estimated to be worth $7 million, and its name, Christ Church Parish.

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The first responses to the Draft Covenant are starting to pop up. Predictably, the Church of England's response (once you get past all the folderol), boiled down to one paragraph, is

"...to refrain from intervening in the life of other Anglican churches (sc provinces) except in extraordinary circumstances where such intervention has been specifically authorized by the relevant Instruments of Communion."

So there you have it. No mention of the fact that pansexual behavior is the besetting cause for such "interventions" or that no one is willing to discipline TEC or Canada for allowing same-sex rites and unions to being performed. There was this line however, " [We] acknowledging the need for the exercise of discipline within the life of the Church in order to preserve its holiness and the effectiveness of its mission and to ensure that those who have erred are brought to repentance, healing and restoration (Mt 18:15-20, 1 Cor. 5:1-5, 2 Cor 2:5-11, 1 Tim 1:20)." So will Dr. Williams "exercise such discipline" against TEC and Canada?. We wait with bated breath for such action.

The Episcopal Church, the Church of England and the Church of Ireland responses to the Anglican Covenant are largely positive. As one commentator noted, "most of the official (and even unofficial) responses I have seen to the Draft Covenant have been so broad-brushed as to be practically without usefulness. Liberals, by and large, reject the idea of a Covenant altogether. When they get beyond simply (or elaborately) stating this blanket rejection, their practical suggestions for an actual draft tend to be offered in the form of a kind of inclusive stripping of all detail. Concrete and constructive counsel has been obscured by rejectionist hand-wringing." Indeed.

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IN CANADA, the Council of General Synod (CoGS) reviewed the Anglican Church of Canada's preliminary response to the Draft Covenant for the Anglican Communion. They proposed some changes, among them, that there be a more forthright expression of the autonomy of individual provinces and a principle of not intruding on each other's affairs.

A common covenant for Anglican churches was among the recommendations of the Windsor Report, published by the Lambeth Commission, which was established to seek ways of arresting a schism in the Anglican Communion. The Communion has been bitterly divided over the consecration of a gay bishop in the United States and the blessing of same-sex unions in the Vancouver-based diocese of New Westminster. A communion-wide working group prepared the draft for submission to the communion's Covenant Design Group. (The Covenant Design Group issued its draft report in February 2007.)

In its response, CoGS said it hoped that a covenant "would promote mutual responsibility and interdependence within the Communion." However, it expressed reservations about the constitutional example provided in the Windsor Report, saying it was "too detailed in its proposals and we are concerned that such a model might foster the development of a complex bureaucratic structure which might stifle change and growth in mission and ministry."

It also affirmed that "we do not favour the accumulation of formal power by the Instruments of Unity, or the establishment of any kind of central 'curia' for the Communion." (The Vatican's curia is a centralized administrative body functioning under the pope's authority.) A number of CoGS members said they were "troubled" with a proposal that provinces "heed the counsel of our Instruments of Communion in matters which threaten the unity of the Communion and the effectiveness of our mission."

INTERPRETATION. We want to stay in the Anglican Communion on our terms, not on any mutually agreed upon covenant that might exclude aberrational sexual behaviors.

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SHOWING UP IN CANTERBURY. The Diocese of South Carolina sent a message to the Anglican Communion this week in the person of the Dean of South Carolina, the Rev. William N. McKeachie who wrote, "Dr Williams's Advent Letter now points us towards resurrection. The arcane and process-oriented rules of our ecclesiastical game can give the impression that, whatever the ups and downs and however convoluted the circling and turning and posturing, there never seems to emerge anything but a 'dejà vu all over again' lack of consensus. Now at last, however, Dr. Williams has laid out terms on which Lambeth 2008 might address and even answer the perennial questions about Anglicanism: What is it? Can it be saved? Is it worth it?

"My own hope would be that the Primates and Provinces of the Global South will, on this basis, overcome their understandable skepticism (not least about 'professionally facilitated conversations'!) and show up for Lambeth en masse. For it is now clear that even the pathetically uncertain trumpet of the New Orleans Statement by the US House of Bishops is too much for many, if not most, American dioceses to heed. At a truly Communion-wide Lambeth, what the Reverend Dr. Paul Zahl has called the 'ersatz Christianity' of the leadership of the US Church would surely be exposed for what it is: a false gospel."

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The EPISCOPAL CHICAGO CONSULTATION that met last month stated that the gay agenda is the Gospel agenda, and that opposition to full inclusion of lesbigays is a sin. This was funded by a $60,000 grant. A VOL reader googled the grant source and discovered it was the Arcus Foundation.

Liberals have long bemoaned conservatives who get grants from sources like the Ahmanson Foundation for their causes, but when they get them from liberal foundations then that is apparently okay. This consultation was supported by several grants, including one from the Arcus Foundation of Kalamazoo, Michigan, which works to "achieve social justice that is inclusive of sexual orientation, gender identity and race." Following the conference, the Consultation received a $60,000 grant from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation to support its future work.

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IN CANADA, the new proposed structure of the Anglican Network in Canada is beginning to take shape.

Here are some facts and figures.

Two retired Canadian bishops, Don Harvey and Malcolm Harding, have joined the South American Province of the Southern Cone.

Headquarters office:

Toronto area Budget: $130,000 for start-up (to be collected Dec. 2007 to March 2008)
$750,000 annual operating budget

Revenue plan: 10 per cent tithe of parishioner to parish
10 per cent tithe of parish to Network
10 per cent tithe of Network to Anglican Relief and Development Fund Canada, an international development agency created in 2004 by the Anglican Communion Network

First synod: November 2008

Episcopal leadership: Bishop Donald Harvey and Bishop Malcolm Harding

National director: Canon Charles Masters

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And from a priest in the DIOCESE OF WESTERN CANADA & ALASKA based in Victoria, BC comes this word: "Archbishop Hiltz noted that the national governing convention, General Synod, has 'strived to honour every voice as the church works through contentious and difficult issues before it. This is particularly true in the way the church has endeavoured to address matters of human sexuality.' It is interesting to note that as Hiltz claims the above statement, that those clergy who were once in the gay life style and have, through the healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ, been set free, were denied the right to speak at General Synod about their change in their lives. This is just another example of saying only half-truths."

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BISHOP VICTORIA MATTHEWS, who resigned as the diocesan bishop of Edmonton effective Nov. 30, has accepted the position of bishop-in-residence at Wycliffe College, in the University of Toronto, for the winter term 2008. Bishop Matthews will teach at Wycliffe's pastoral department, preach, and take part in the college discernment day. In 1993, Bishop Matthews became the first female bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada when she was elected suffragan (assistant) bishop of Toronto. In 1997, she was elected diocesan bishop of Edmonton. She also served as the chair of the Primate's Theological Commission. Bishop Matthews announced her resignation Aug. 2, citing that she believes "God is now calling me in a different direction."

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Pressure mounts against DANES opposed to women's ordination. Recent Danish newspaper articles report a campaign for "respect" by female "priests." Some 114 of these filed a complaint saying they feel abused and disrespected by certain male priests and parish council members who oppose ordaining women. The women complain that the abuse is so unbearable that some male priests refuse to shake their hands, particularly at their ordinations, because they do not recognize the validity of ordaining females. The latest article reports the unanimous decision by Denmark's bishops (two of whom are female) to open an investigation ... and threatening to remove priests or council members who are found insufficiently respectful of female priests. [There is, of course, no concern about those who disrespect the faith of others who find female ordination unscriptural.]

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KENYAN ARCHBISHOP appeals for assistance to help victims of Kenya riots. Primate Benjamin Nzimbi, of the Anglican Church of Kenya, is appealing to local churches in Kenya and well wishers to contribute funds to buy food, clothes, medicine and treatment for those who have been injured in the post-election fracas. Some people who have been heavily traumatized will need care for a while. Trouble has occurred all over, mainly in the Rift Valley in Elodoret and Kitale, but also in Nakuru, Kisumu and in Mombasa in the East and among tribes who have not been involved in the main struggle. The struggle has been at a higher spiritual level as well.

"I am hopeful that things will calm down. The Government has stopped gatherings and meetings and that has helped. For after most of these demonstrations some people become a little bit rough and are on a rampage. They break into shops and loot food."

Funds can be donated through Anglican Mainstream, 21 High Street, Eynsham, OX29 4HE And will be sent without deduction to the Anglican Church of Kenya. Donations can also be made through PAYPAL using the button below. Anglican Mainstream is a charity and a gift aid form can be sent on request. http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/index.php/2008/01/04/archbishop-of -kenya-appeals-for-assistance-to-help-victims-of-kenya-riots/ http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post =2657>

President Kibaki and South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu have called for an end to the post election violence in the country saying leaders from across the political divide must give dialogue a chance. President Kibaki assured Archbishop Tutu that he was committed to political dialogue with members of other political parties. At a meeting held at State House Nairobi, the President and Tutu noted that there is an urgent need to find a solution to the politically instigated violence. The two underlined the sanctity of human life, noting that political protests must never be an excuse for killing innocent people.

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They will consecrate a new bishop in the DIOCESE OF NEVADA on January 5th to replace Mrs. Jefferts Schori who has gone on to higher things. And the winner is...(drum roll please) the Rev. Dan Thomas Edwards. One wag observed, "You have a better shot at winning at a craps table than hearing the gospel in this diocese." Mrs. Jefferts Schori will be the chief consecrator. Co-consecrators will be Arizona Bishop Kirk Smith, Atlanta Bishop Neil Alexander and retired Northern California Bishop Jerry Lamb, who has been interim Bishop in the diocese of Nevada.

Visiting bishops will include: Robert Anderson, Assisting in Los Angeles; Mark Handley Andrus of California; Harry B. Bainbridge of Idaho; Barry L. Beisner of Northern California; J. Michael Garrison of Western New York; Carolyn Tanner Irish of Utah; Bavi (Nedi) E. Rivera, Suffragan of Olympia; and James E Waggoner Jr. of Spokane. All are liberals or out and out revisionists. By contrast, the consecration of the Rev. Mark Lawrence in Charleston, SC will see a near total turn out of orthodox bishops with one notable exception, Bishop Clifton Daniels of East Carolina, a token liberal who will be there to represent Mrs. Jefferts Schori.

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I have posted a number of stories in today's digest that I think will excite your imagination, including an interview the BBC did with Mrs Jefferts Schori. Please take a moment and go to the website for the very latest, breaking stories: www.virtueonline.org

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All Blessings,

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