ECUSA SINKS LOWER...GAY BISHOP MARRIES...SCANDAL AMONG THE CLERGY

"Wait till the end and you will see the outcome of events. Don't fuss, don't worry yet awhile. Imagine someone who is not of the trade watching a blacksmith start melting down gold and mixing in ashes and straw. If he does not wait till the end, he will think that the poor piece of gold is going to be destroyed. Now, if the farmer waits all the winter, so much the more ought you to await the final outcome of events, remembering who it is that ploughs the soil of our souls. And when I speak of the final outcome, I am not referring to the end of this present life, but to the future life—God's plan for us aims at our salvation and glory." St. John Chrysostom, On Providence 9. 1

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Orthodox believers are being refined in the crucible of the Episcopal Church. The fire is raging all around us. We are all being sorted and sifted. We are being tested to the very limits. Yet St. John Chrysostom tells us to wait.

It was another horrible week in the life of the Episcopal Church. ECUSA's first openly homoerotic bishop Otis Charles, now 78, married a 62-year old man who had been married four times before to women. The ceremony lasted two hours and 45 minutes. When it concluded, Charles, the world's first openly gay Christian bishop, also became the world's first bishop to wed his same-sex partner in church. The retired bishop turned up with his grandson to the "wedding". That alone is enough to have mothers running for cover with their children in hand.

When I asked a lady in Colorado Springs, why more and more women were signing on to Virtuosity, becoming more open in their support of this ministry, declaring themselves out of communion with ECUSA, and willing to write for VIRTUOSITY, she had this to say.

"Pansexuality threatens our children. When you move sexuality away from God ordained limits our children can become victims of sexual predators, because no one knows where the boundaries are any more."

She is right of course. ECUSA is, sexually speaking, without boundaries. Old sodomites marry younger ones; a transgendered man is ordained a deacon, he goes from being Paul to Paula, a pregnant lesbian priest runs the youth ministries for a diocese, a sodomite is consecrated to the Episcopacy, the age of consensual sex is getting lower… and on and on it goes.

Parents see their moral authority challenged and they run for cover and take their children with them. "We will leave the Episcopal Church before we allow our sexually vulnerable children hear things approved of that God says a resounding no to," said the woman.

And that may well be ECUSA's undoing. Women, mothers with young impressionable teenage children; the rot will stop with the women.

IN OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

BETHLEHEM BISHOP Paul Marshall, author of a book on lesbian love, comes out swinging, putting his handful of orthodox priests on the defensive? You can read that story today.

Or why a self-professed lesbian priest in the DIOCESE OF COLORADO may face disciplinary charges because she is accused of luring the lonely widow of a deceased priest in the Diocese into a sordid lesbian affair, and then making up a liturgy to marry her at the church altar to sanctify her misconduct. You can also read that story.

BUT THE NEWS is not all bad. The recent Anglican Communion Institute conference in Colorado Springs was a win win. The conference emboldened church leadership around the country.

"The sense of urgency that everyday delayed hundreds leave the church is finally dawning on many of us. Clearly the financial situation is far worse than predicted. Parishes are all in a bind, payrolls hard to meet as people are failing to show up, not return after breaks for skiing and spring break, and collections are plummeting. Diocesan assessments are simply going to be the first thing to go—just to keep the lights on and the salaries paid," writes the Rev. Don Armstrong an ACI leader and parish priest who is prepared to stand up to his revisionist bishop Rob O'Neill.

The numbers being shared by the clergy around the church are far worse than was first predicted. Members are leaving this tension filled church that lacks leadership and a gospel in droves. The Episcopal Church is disintegrating before our very eyes. In three years the Diocese of Colorado—if things go really well will close 40 congregations—in seven years there may be only a couple dozen Episcopal congregations still viable and the diocese will be bankrupt—all so a practicing homosexual can be a bishop in New Hampshire, and because we lack the integrity and love to tell gays to straighten up and instead take the easy way out by saying they are just fine—when they are not.

The Rev. Kevin Martin president of Plano-based VITAL MINISTRIES and an expert on congregational development for more than 15 years says in his recent newsletter that in the 40-year steady decline ECUSA is experiencing that we are losing our percentage of the U.S. population faster than the actual numbers.

He writes: First is 1930 when we began a long period of steady growth. Second is 1965 when ECUSA was at its largest. Third is 2000, the last year that we have full numbers. It clearly shows the rise and decline of the Church. Several points stand out. Among these I would list: The decline of congregations. The dramatic decline of children in Church schools. Today, the average church school has 37 children. The increase in clergy fueled by the larger number of non-parish and retired clergy. The relative stability of the burial number. The back door remains consistent. The decline in adult baptisms, receptions and confirmations. The fact that we baptize less than one adult per congregation. It is beyond any reasonable comprehension that our leaders can know these numbers and claim that ECUSA is doing well.

"I can only attribute this to either denial or political spin," he says. You can read his full report today.

The AMERICAN ANGLICAN COUNCIL BOARD met this week in Atlanta, Georgia and celebrated the realignment of Anglicanism, noting a strong grass roots movement of individuals and churches that are forming coalitions and planning program initiatives, networking, assisting with missionary endeavors and planting churches. A full report is in today's digest.

And from the DIOCESE OF ALABAMA comes this. "I am a member of the Church of the Ascension in Montgomery Alabama. Our Bishop, Henry Parsley, voted against the consecration of [V. Gene Robinson] but since then he has spent most of his energy threatening the few Alabama Priests brave enough to attend Plano (including our own) saying we need to

A second member of the task force, Bishop Donald Young of the diocese of Central Newfoundland, said he felt "sadly let down" by the inaction of the house of bishops. "This church is going to be in real peril and I think we need to do something about it," said Bishop Young.

Meanwhile, in an interview prior to the bishops' decision, New Westminster Chancellor George Cadman said that while he respected the work of the task force, he had questions about the issue of ceding authority.

"The General Synod canons on episcopal jurisdiction are clear and certainly, the traditions of the church have been to respect the jurisdiction of the diocesan bishop," he said. "I don't believe firmly that any diocesan bishop would have the ability to cede jurisdiction."

The Anglican Communion in New Westminster (ACiNW), a coalition of dissenting parishes and clergy seeking AEO said the coalition was grateful that the task force took the time to listen to the ACiNW.

"That's a first in the Canadian church," said ACiNW spokesperson Chris Hawley. "Clearly the bishops have taken seriously the issues here and the depth of division. We were grateful for the call for a generosity of spirit on the part of bishops, as this is something we've been appealing for all along."

With files from Marites N. Sison