COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD I www.virtueonline.org I May 18, 2026 A Wisconsin priest has surveyed thousands of Episcopal churches in an effort to pinpoint what fuels growth. The Episcopal News Service, the official publication of The Episcopal Church documents the launching of the Rev. Chris Corbin’s project with backing from Forward Movement called the Growing Episcopal Churches Study. In it, he already has obtained survey responses from hundreds of Episcopal churches,

ACNA has mule churches. We need rabbit churches COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD I www.virtueonline.org I May 13, 2026 The Anglican Church in North America entered history at a genuinely pregnant moment. The Episcopal Church had lost its way. After years of conflict, lost buildings, broken relationships, orthodox Episcopalians needed something safe. Stable. A place to land. It didn’t happen. We left the house on fire. And then we built the same thing next door. We replicated

Two voices, two visions vie for the Anglican Church in North America: Will it be Bishop Phil Ashey's Conciliarism or Canon Chuck Collins' Reformation Anglicanism? COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue I www.virtueonline.org I May 12, 2026 The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a province under deepening pressure. Archbishop Steve Wood, elected in June 2024, became the first archbishop in the denomination's history to face an ecclesiastical presentment, in October 2025,

Sam Allberry, a British born pastor, apologist and author who admitted to an inappropriate relationship with another man, is not the only narrative on same-sex attraction. Thousands of men and women have renounced the gay lifestyle, married, and now live with spouses and children. Here are some of their stories. COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org May 8, 2026 Elizabeth Woning "Today I am fulfilled, joyful, and feminine — all things I never was while living

By James Parker www.virtueonline.org May 8, 2026 NEWS: In light of recent revelations regarding Sam Allberry. British-born pastor, author and apologist, who was “disqualified from gospel ministry" following information about a past relationship with another man, VOL believes that stories of healed homosexuals need to be told. These are men and women who have renounced their past homosexual lives, and now believe that God has restored them to full heterosexuality. Their storie

By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org May 5, 2026 Anglican bishops who should have known better must now face the uncomfortable fact that they allowed an allegedly non-celibate homosexual priest to officiate, speak, and pass himself off as a theologian and cultural spokesperson across some of conservative evangelicalism's most prominent platforms. The reckoning, long overdue, has finally arrived. Sam Allberry — British-born pastor, apologist, and author — used Anglican

COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org May 6, 2026 To no one's surprise, the Church in Wales Governing Body has voted to make permanent provision for same-sex blessings for couples in same-sex civil marriages and civil partnerships. This follows the consecration of an avowed lesbian archbishop to lead the province — some would say, into the ground. Statistics bear this out. Between 1996 and 2016, the number of signed-up Church in Wales members dropped from 91,

By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org May 4, 2026 Canon lawyer Bishop Phil Ashey believes that ACNA Archbishop Steve Wood will be exonerated, based on a video discussing the upcoming trial of the inhibited ACNA archbishop. Wood faces three formal ecclesiastical charges arising from a presentment filed in October 2025. All three charges were deemed by a Board of Inquiry to have sufficient grounds to proceed to a church trial. The charges include violation of his ordina

COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org May 4, 2026 Background: A Communion at the Crossroads The Anglican Communion — some 85 million souls spread across 165 countries, holding together in uneasy fellowship since the first Lambeth Conference of 1867 — has always been more a family than an institution. Families, of course, can be torn apart. The fault line running through this one is not new: it was exposed most visibly in 2003 when The Episcopal Church (US

By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org April 28, 2026 Six Anglican theologians convened at the Reformed Episcopal Seminary in Oreland, PA to assess a Communion in deep crisis. The appointment of a woman Archbishop of Canterbury, the blessing of same-sex couples by the Church of England, ongoing GAFCON and Global South realignments, and the fracturing of traditional structures have brought Anglicanism to the edge of permanent schism. The symposium's central question: Can

COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org April 28, 2026 NEWS ITEM: The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has launched a company, JPW Mediation, to facilitate mediation and global reconciliation. On his Linked In page, he explains that the archbishop “plays a pivotal role in fostering unity and addressing key issues within the church and society.” Justin Welby's twelve years as Archbishop of Canterbury (2013–2024) were, by almost any measure, deeply

Distinguished Contributors Anglican Scholars & Clergy Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Anis Archbishop (Ret.), Province of Alexandria Egypt Rev. Dr. George Westhaver Principal, Pusey House Oxford, UK Rev. Dr. Gerald McDermott Distinguished Professor of Theology Jerusalem Seminary Dr. Alice Linsley Biblical Anthropologist & Scholar Midway University (Ret.) Rev. Ben Jefferies Priest & Liturgical Scholar Trinity Anglican Seminary Rev. Mark Perkins Chaplain & Assistant Headmaster St. Dunsta

PHOTO: Rev. Dr. Gerald McDermott By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org April 25, 2026 Six speakers from across the Anglican Communion gathered at Reformed Episcopal Seminary outside Philadelphia to assess a Communion in crisis. The appointment of a woman Archbishop of Canterbury, a lesbian Archbishop of the Church in Wales, the Abuja Affirmation, the Jerusalem Declaration, GAFCON, the GSFA, and the continued push to affirm and bless homosexual unions — Anglicanism fin

COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD www.VirtueOnline.org April 22, 2026 As the denomination sinks slowly toward its twilight years, carried along by an aging congregation of Baby Boomers with few younger members filling the pews behind them, corruption has risen in near-perfect proportion to the weakening of its institutional safeguards. The Episcopal Church did not arrive at its present crisis overnight. What is unfolding today — a cascade of financial irregularities, s

COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org April 19, 2026 The Episcopal Diocese of Western New York is fighting for its institutional life. Founded in 1838 — the first diocese ever to be divided from another, and notably the first not to follow state lines — it once stood as a flagship of Anglican witness in the Great Lakes region. St. Paul’s Cathedral graces the heart of downtown Buffalo, a monument to an era when the diocese commanded cultural authority and spi

Rite to be added to the Church in Wales' Book of Common Prayer By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org April 17, 2026 The Church in Wales Governing Body has voted to make permanent provision for church blessings of same-sex civil marriages and civil partnerships. Five years ago, the Governing Body declared it "pastorally unsustainable" to offer no formal recognition to those in committed same-sex relationships, and approved a blessing rite on a five-year experimental bas

COMMENTARY David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org April 15, 2026 An AI-generated image depicting Donald Trump as Jesus Christ, posted on Truth Social on Sunday night, brought forth sound and fury from a number of quarters. It was later deleted. The image, which was shared without a written comment by the president, showed Trump donning a traditional white robe and red shawl and healing a man while surrounded by four adoring people, including a nurse and a soldier. In the ba

By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org April 14, 2026 Dame Sarah Mullally used her first Easter Day sermon as Archbishop of Canterbury to renew calls for peace in the Middle East. "Violence, division and insecurity are affecting the lives of billions of people around the world," she said, adding that "many feel that their heart is in pieces." "The bereft, the wounded, the refugee — this week our gaze and our prayers have been turned towards the land where Jesus was cruci

COMMENTARY David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org April 10, 2026 The unspoken truth about the new Archbishop of Canterbury is that she is entirely irrelevant to the present and future of the Anglican Communion. Nothing she has said or apparently believes will move the needle toward either greater unity or meaningful growth. A Communion Already Fractured To understand why, one must appreciate the structural collapse that preceded her appointment. The Anglican Communion — onc

COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue, DD www.virtueonline.org April 8, 2026 There are moments when the Church must speak plainly—not to the world, but to herself. We are fond of asserting our belief in truth, righteousness, and the unchanging standard of God. We preach judgment, repentance, and holiness, warning that all will stand before Christ's throne to give an account. Yet, when that standard is applied unevenly—when it shifts depending on who is under scrutiny—we not only fail