Communion Roils // Anglican Diocese of Nth. Africa Consecrates New Bishop // Calvin Robinson Bombs Again // Two TEC Dioceses Fail to Merge // Anglican Church of Canada on Death Watch //

TEC Terminates Resettlement Program with US // Trinity Anglican Seminary Opens New Center

What we need is not more learning, not more eloquence, not more persuasion, not more organization, but more power from the Holy Spirit. – John Stott

More than 60% of American adults report consuming Christian media in some form, whether through television, radio, podcasts, news websites, social media, or YouTube. This is not an occasional interaction — among these users, half engage with Christian content at least once per week --- NRB

A Pew Research Center study conducted in 2024 found that for every American who converts to Catholicism, another 8.4 leave. The only reason that Catholicism is able to maintain a relatively steady share of the U.S. population – about 20% – is due to the high percentage of immigrants and migrants who are Catholic. --- The Conversation

The motto of one newly elected American world leader: "Fight!" The other introduced himself to the world with his first public word as pope: "Peace." The contrast between President Donald Trump and Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV couldn’t be more stark — politically, personally or in their world views. --Laurie Kellman/The Associated Press

Dear Brother and Sisters,

www.virtueonline.org

May 16, 2025

It has been an incredible two weeks in the life of the Anglican Communion that included the election of a new pope that will undoubtedly have implications for whoever is the next Archbishop of Canterbury. With four of the seven candidates for ABC being women, it might behoove the deep thinkers in the Church of England to think long and hard about what the implications will be for Anglican/Catholic (ARCIC) talks and dialogue if they elect a woman. Oops won’t do it.

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The Anglican Diocese of North Africa elected a new bishop in the person of Ashley Null, a white westerner, the first elected Anglican bishop ever in this neck of the woods. He stands in the shoes of St. Augustine and promises to be just as orthodox, a stand that will not go down well with woke western Anglicanism that has succumbed to the siren call on issues like homosexuality, homosexual marriage and the ordination of women. Null rejects all three.

I was in Tunis for this memorable occasion and witnessed this unique consecration. I wrote several stories about this historic occasion which you can read here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/the-consecration-of-bishop-john-ashley-null  and here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/a-brief-history-of-anglicanism-in-north-africa and here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/tunisia-s-christian-heritage-includes-the-famous-martyrs-of-carthage

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Calvin Robinson, a mixed-race Anglican priest from Britain appeared once again in the news. He reared his head after being tossed out of the Anglican Catholic Church (ACC) for unseemly behavior following his appearance at a Mere Anglican Conference where he went off script and raged about women’s ordination. He was given his marching orders by his boss ACA Archbishop Mark Haverland, for, among other things antisemitism. He was briefly picked up by REC Bishop Ray Sutton, a bishop in the Anglican Church in North America, who then had second thoughts and dropped him like a hot potato. Robinson was also criticized by ACNA Archbishop Steve Wood who said in a statement; “I am concerned to have the Anglican Church of North America affiliated with a leader whose public comments and persona consistently fail to exhibit the love and grace of Jesus Christ.”

Robinson has floated around more Anglican jurisdictions than Donald Trump has had marriages, but he has managed to keep his little flock in Michigan with him. Where he lands next is anybody’s guess. He is very high church and Romish so the Ordinariate might have him, but who knows. You can read more here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/calvin-robinson-too-hot-to-handle-is-booted-from-the-reformed-episcopal-church

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The Episcopal Church continues its Gadarene slide into oblivion with the announcement that two dioceses that were set to merge have decided against it. According to Anglican Watch blog this amounts to ecclesiastical suicide.

The two Pennsylvania dioceses that previously shared Bishop Sean Rowe (now Presiding Bishop) as part of a partnership agreement voted on May 3 to end their six-year collaborative effort. The announcement spells bad news for both dioceses. It reflects an unwillingness to face the reality that both dioceses are facing an existential crisis that will only get worse with time.  Both dioceses have aging congregants in small parishes and very limited income; not enough to support a full time paid bishop. You can read more here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/decision-by-pennsylvania-dioceses-to-have-separate-bishops-underscores-episcopal-unwillingness-to-ac

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The Anglican Church of Canada is on death march to oblivion.  Its future is at stake. By any reckoning it is on life support. A panel of Anglican experts recently outlined six paths to ‘big change’ in church. A commission wrote a 48-page document offering six pathways along which the church could organize work to update and strip down its governance to improve efficiency, clarity and inclusion.

The commission, established by former primate Archbishop Linda Nicholls recommended major cuts to the size of the church’s organizational committees and governing bodies.

The commission’s recommendations are aimed at adapting the church to the needs of a smaller membership and a 21st-century social and political landscape, said the report.

All this is code for ‘we don’t have enough money coming in to keep the bureaucracy going and the lights.’ Here is the data for average Sunday attendance.

In 2001 it was 162,000, by 2019 it was 87,000, by 2022 it was 65,000. Would anyone be surprised if today, in 2025, it was under 50,000! How could a church be sinking this rapidly last beyond 2040! Meanwhile the population of Canada continues to grow. Today it stands at 38.8 million! Clearly immigrants are not rushing through the red doors to hear the latest word on homosexual inclusion. You can read more here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/death-by-a-thousand-cuts-anglican-church-of-canada

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The US resettling of Afrikaners from South Africa brought out a predictable response from The Episcopal Church and its presiding bishop.

A letter released from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe said the denomination will terminate its partnership to resettle refugees with the U.S. government over a request to resettle Afrikaners after the administration had effectively halted the U.S. refugee program.

In a short response, Vice President JD Vance called the Episcopal Church's withdrawal from the refugee program "crazy" in a post on X Monday.

Vance, who identifies as Catholic, had previously accused faith-based groups, like the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, of relying too heavily on federal funds for refugee resettlement, suggesting financial motives over humanitarian concerns. You can read more here: https://religionnews.com/2025/05/12/episcopal-church-ends-refugee-resettlement-citing-moral-opposition-to-resettling-white-afrikaners/

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Trinity Anglican Seminary in Ambridge, PA announced the official opening of a new worship space and event center, The Trophimus Center, with a ribbon cutting ceremony on May 15, 2025.

It will be a place for Trinity students to engage in liturgical formation, hosts classrooms and events, and invites the local community to participate in worship. It also supports the wider Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and other mission partners as a keystone institution for leadership conferences, said a press release.

The Rev. Cn. Dr. Bryan Hollon, Dean and President, said, “The Trophimus Center’s opening is a major advance in Trinity Anglican Seminary's mission to be a global center for Christian formation in the Anglican tradition. With its beautifully restored worship and meeting spaces, the Center equips our students in the beauty of Anglican liturgy while providing our community and the entire Province a central gathering place for learning, worship, and fellowship. This incredible facility will enable Trinity to form leaders steeped in our rich tradition and better equip the churches we serve to offer the gospel's beauty, depth, and truth to a world desperately seeking all three." You can read more here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/trinity-anglican-seminary-opens-a-new-worship-space-and-event-center-the-trophimus-center

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The number of Christians experiencing persecution worldwide has risen to an estimated 380 million in 2025, according to the annual World Watch List, released by Open Doors, a Christian anti-persecution watchdog.

North Korea retains its position as the most dangerous country for Christians, followed closely by Somalia and Yemen. Central Asia remains a region of concern, with China, a nation of approximately 1.41 billion people, ranking 15th on the list.

Open Doors CEO Henrietta Blyth expressed concern about the growing threat to religious freedom, particularly in countries with strong international trade ties, such as China. She urged governments to consider religious persecution when forming alliances. “We want the question of freedom of religion or belief to be one of the perspectives they think about,” Blyth said, emphasizing the need for faith and religion to be included in vulnerability assessments.

The report also highlights the increasing use of advanced technology, including artificial intelligence, to suppress religious activities. In China, facial recognition technology is being deployed to monitor church attendance, with mandatory use in state-sanctioned churches. Noncompliance often results in raids or closures. Such systems have been reportedly exported to other nations, including Iran, which ranks 9th on the list.

Conflict continues to be a significant driver of persecution in regions such as Nigeria, ranked 7th, where Christian communities face attacks by armed militants. Despite Christians making up nearly half of the population, villages and churches are frequently targeted, with men killed and women taken hostage.

But the main point is that throughout these challenges is the resilience and unwavering faith of persecuted Christians.

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Who will be the next leader of the Church of England? The position of Archbishop of Canterbury has been vacant since January 2025 writes George Pitches.  Who will be the person to guide the Church of England through what has been a volatile era of polarization, safeguarding scandals, yet spiritual awakening amongst the youth and renewal in the UK.

The Crown Nominations Commission, which consists of 17 members and must decide by a 2/3 majority, will short list and interview candidates before eventually making a recommendation to the prime minister. The PM then forwards the name to King Charles III, the supreme governor of the Church of England, who formally makes the appointment.

Predicting the next archbishop is notoriously difficult – Welby himself was a famously left-field choice. However, a number of names have been placed in the frame, including several female bishops. If appointed, they would make history by becoming the first ever woman to become Archbishop of Canterbury.

Here are seven prospective candidates:  Rt Rev Martyn Snow, Bishop of Leicester; (lead bishop for the Living in Love and faith report.) So pro-gay. The Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford. Guli was one of 44 bishops to sign an open letter in support of priests being allowed to enter into same-sex marriages in 2023. The Rt Rev Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich, but has ruled himself out of contention by committing to serve on the commission that will nominate the archbishop. The Rt Rev Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester, supported the celebration and blessing of “faithful monogamous same-sex relationships.” Enough said. The Most Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York, but he has come under criticism for his role in recent safeguarding scandals, with some clergy calling for his resignation. The Rt Rev Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London. She described the prayers of blessing for same-sex couples as a “moment of hope for the Church”. The Rt Rev Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Newcastle supports “full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in the life of the Church”, including the introduction of same-sex marriage.

It is fascinating in that it took less than two weeks for the Roman Catholic Church to find and elect a new pope following the death of Pope Francis. It is taking a year for the Church of England to find a new archbishop, and even then, whoever is chosen, won’t satisfy large sections of the church or most of the Anglican Communion.

And you wonder why Church of England evangelicals (CEEC) want a separate province to proclaim the gospel. How that will play out is still anybody’s guess.

VOL believes that the only person missing is a trannie hairdresser from Three Cocks Lane, Gloucester. He/she would have their credentials drawn from the Bully Pulpit School of Indifferent Theology.

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On a slightly better note, there is word of a 'quiet revival' in the UK that should encourage the Church. Evangelical leader John Stevens has welcomed new findings from the Bible Society’s Quiet Revival report based on a study of 13,000 people by YouGov for the Bible Society, challenging the long-held assumption that churchgoing in the UK is in terminal decline.

It found that church attendance among adults has in fact risen from 8% to 12% in the last six years —an increase of over 2 million people. Most strikingly, attendance among 18 to 24-year-olds has quadrupled, from 4% to 16%, with young men seeing the largest rise, from 4% to a remarkable 21%.

In a new post on the website of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, Stevens noted that these changes reflect a deeper spiritual longing: “Young people say they are more spiritual … those who attend church report higher life satisfaction and connection to their communities.

“Secular liberalism has not delivered the happiness and freedom that it promised, with ever-increasing loneliness and mental health issues.

"Young people bear the impossible burden of having to define their own identity, and young men are tired of the relentless castigating of so-called ‘toxic masculinity’.

This longing has sparked interest not just in evangelical churches but also in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy are attracting those drawn to tradition and transcendence, while Bible-teaching evangelical churches are welcoming seekers with a clear message and community rooted in Scripture.

The Chief Executive of the Bible Society, Paul Williams, said the findings of their study were “highly significant" and should “transform the perception of Christianity and churchgoing in England and Wales”.

A co-author of the report, Dr Rhiannon McAleer, added, “These are striking findings that completely reverse the widely held assumption that the Church is dying.

"While some traditional denominations continue to face decline, broad-based growth—especially in Catholic and Pentecostal churches—is painting a very different picture.” You can read more here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/signs-of-quiet-revival-in-the-uk-should-encourage-the-church-says-evangelical-leader

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Christians are praying that more British MPs will be persuaded to reject Kim Leadbeater's assisted suicide bill when it is debated again in the House of Commons today. The Westminster debate comes just days after the Scottish Parliament backed similar proposals for Scotland put forward by Lib Dem MSP, Liam McArthur.

Ciarán Kelly, director of The Christian Institute, called the bill "extremely dangerous" and said it was "no overstatement to say this is a matter of life and death. Should this bill become law, doctors would legally be permitted to help adults deemed to be terminally ill to kill themselves," he said.

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I am grateful for those of you who supported my desire to attend the consecration of the new Bishop of North Africa in Tunis. I met a group of wonderful people especially and including several African bishops and archbishops who read VOL. For them VOL is their most vital source of news about the Anglican Communion and they implored me to keep going despite my age.

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My Substack on the Middle East continues to grow. It is drawing a lot of attention from across the globe. You can access my Substack here: https://davidvirtue2.substack.com/  I am a strong supporter of the state of Israel’s right to exist and prosper while confronting her enemies both foreign and domestic.