Evangelism in Global South Jeopardized by Lesbian Archbishop Election // Archbishop Welby Denied PTO // York Archbishop Excoriates Israel // ACNA News - Trial Postponed
- Charles Perez
- Aug 22
- 11 min read
//TEC: Psychedelic Priest Kicked out // RCC Numbers Plummeting // TEC News - Bishop AWOL
The revival in Britain is real, but the data reveal a sobering detail: Catholic and Pentecostal churches are seeing increases in attendance, while the Church of England is in decline. Why? Because too many Anglican leaders have sought to imitate the world rather than stand against it. – Rev. Dr. Ronald Moore
God intends us to penetrate the world. Christian salt has no business to remain snugly in elegant little ecclesiastical salt cellars; our place is to be rubbed into the secular community, as salt is rubbed into meat, to stop it going bad. And when society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw up our hands in pious horror and reproach the non-Christian world; but should we not rather reproach ourselves? One can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad. It cannot do anything else. The real question to ask is: Where is the salt? --- John Stott
Beware of manufacturing a God of your own: a God who is all mercy, but not just; a God who is all love, but not holy; a God who as a heaven for every body, but a hell for none; a God who can allow good and bad to be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and bad in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your own, as truly an idol as any snake or crocodile in an Egyptian temple. The hands of your own fancy and sentimentality have made him. He is not the God of the Bible, and beside the God of the Bible there is no God at all. --- Bishop J. C. Ryle
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
August 22, 2025
If the election and consecration of an avowed homosexual to the episcopacy in the person of Gene Robinson wasn’t bad enough; (Vickie Gene wasn't married at the time of his "consecration"), the election of an avowed (but unmarried) lesbian to be the next Archbishop of the Church in Wales, sealed the deal for the orthodox Global South.
This is quite possibly the straw that will break the camel’s back of any more talk of Indaba, unity, pluriform truths, and why-can’t-we-all-just-get along notions. They have evaporated with the morning tide. The Anglican Church in Nigeria excommunicated the Church in Wales as they did The Episcopal Church when Robinson was made bishop. GAFCON and GSFA archbishops complained mightily.
At a level that not even the Welsh bishops imagined, it will not only do enormous damage to the communion as a whole, but it will jeopardize evangelism in the predominantly Islamic Global South, even as Anglican churches are growing by leaps and bounds, and the Church in Wales is on a fast track to oblivion.
With the Church in Wales in serious decline the question must be asked what if the archbishop pays a visit to her cathedral ere she retires, and finds it empty?
The news brought outrage, disappointment and anger at the action by the House of Bishops in the Church in Wales.
Global South Anglicans, which are predominantly theologically evangelical, are saddened, angry and rightly fear pushback from the Islamic community who view homosexuality as a grave sin.
“The crime of homosexuality is one of the greatest of crimes, the worst of sins and the most abhorrent of deeds, and Allah punished those who did it in a way that He did not punish other nations. It is indicative of violation of the fitrah, total misguidance, weak intellect and lack of religious commitment, and it is a sign of doom and deprivation of the mercy of Allah,” according to official Islamic teaching. In Islam, sodomy is viewed as a reprehensible act.”
Global South Anglicans who are overwhelmingly orthodox in faith and morals, are experiencing persecution on a scale never before seen with over 7,000 Nigerian Christians killed in the first seven months of 2025 by jihadist groups in various parts of Nigeria, a new report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has revealed. An additional 7,800 people in the West African country were seized and abducted. You can read more here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/welsh-election-of-lesbian-archbishop-will-jeopardize-evangelism-in-the-islamic-global-south
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The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell and four other CofE bishops excoriated Israel this past week, blaming Israel for causing what they call a “deliberate famine” in Gaza. The bishops also demanded recognition of Palestine “regardless of facts on the ground”.
The Church of England’s animus towards Israel is, by now, well established.
The five bishops took it up a notch this week, and in unprecedented language threw Israel under the bus, blaming the small, besieged democratic state for the ongoing war, accusing Israel of “starvation,” “deliberate famine” and “terrible injustices” being inflicted on the hapless people of Gaza.
The bishops demanded a Palestinian state “regardless of the facts on the ground,” which, if conceded too, would see the obliteration of Israel within a decade if not sooner.
The bishops’ statement was the largest pile of sanctimonious excrement since an effort to broker same-sex unions into the Church of England; an effort that looks increasingly like a failed project. There are more blood libels in their combined statement than hot dog vendors in Manhattan.
Here is what the bishops said; “We continue to call for an immediate end to this war and for negotiations leading to lasting justice, security and peace…a deliberate famine is being inflicted on the people of Gaza and Air drops of aid are dangerous and entirely inadequate substitutes for what is needed: the unimpeded delivery of aid through the U.N. and other established humanitarian organizations.”
You can read more here: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/archbishop-of-york-cofe-bishops-excoriate-israel
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Poor old Justin Welby can’t catch a break. The former Archbishop of Canterbury, whose legacy lies in tatters, has been denied Permission to Officiate by the bishop of Southwark, where Welby has settled, according to a report in Private Eye.
His diocesan bishop, who was once loyal to him, has so far declined to give him permission to officiate (PTO) that would be necessary for him to minister as a volunteer. VOL reached out to Southwark Bishop Christopher Chessun for comment, but he could not be reached.
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From Dr. Jules Gomes in Vatican City
The U.S. Catholic Church is plummeting in membership, with nine out of 10 cradle Catholics abandoning it to become religious “nones,” a bombshell study has revealed.
“More and more of those raised Catholic are leaving,” the study published in the University of Notre Dame’s Church Life Journal on August 12 concludes. Examining church attendance figures from 1973 onward, philosopher Michael Rota and sociologist Stephen Bullivant, both committed Catholics, note that “while many religious groups in the U.S. have experienced decline over this period, Catholics are doing particularly poorly.”
For Catholics hoping Leo XIV’s election as the first American pontiff would spark an increase in churchgoing, the survey presents challenging findings. The survey also calls into question the credibility of recent reports detailing widespread conversions of youth to Catholicism. You can read more here: https://stream.org/mega-exodus-rocks-u-s-catholic-church-9-out-of-10-cradle-catholics-defect/
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The ACNA has postponed the trial of Bishop Stewart Ruch, III. A public statement from the Ecclesiastical Court for the Trial of a Bishop said they are in the process of reviewing thousands of pages of investigative records, trial exhibits, and transcripts in preparation for the resumption of the trial which is set for Oct. 6, 2025.
In other ACNA news, David Roseberry, former rector of Christ Church, Plano has written a two-part series on the ACNA that is worth considering.
ACNA at the Crossroads: A Gentle Critique and a Hopeful Restart
Pressures and our Polity, Leaders, and What Could Come Next.
They can be viewed at his substack.
Here are some highlights: The Problems We Now Face
Overlapping Jurisdictions
Returning to the lifeboats and bedfellows metaphors, we now have areas of the country where two or three—sometimes I’ve counted seven—jurisdictions have staked a flag in the same region. That is confusing, to say the least.
Some bishops ordain women for other dioceses but don’t welcome them as priests inside their own. Others welcome women priests but will not ordain them. Others ordain women but restrict them from serving as rectors. And a few promote women in every leadership role to the point of requiring clergy to affirm the position or remain silent.
Two Added Pressures on the Province include the persistent challenge of human sexuality in our Western culture. The ACNA has affirmed marriage as between a man and a woman. Period. But the surrounding culture has not stopped pressing—redefining marriage, gender, and identity in ways we could not have imagined in 2009.
Then there is the ongoing Bishop Ruch drama. It has dragged on far too long. Legal complexities, confidentiality, and documentation have tangled even our most capable leaders in a sticky thornbush.
Our factions—evangelicals, charismatics, Anglo-Catholics, progressives—often behave less like theological movements and more like political parties. If we keep acting like rival parties, we’ll get what politics has given America: endless division, no forward motion.
Because there is no College of Clergy or Laity, the ownership of fixing these broader important issues—all of them—rests squarely on the bishops. There is no other group with the authority to act.
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If you want to really know what is going on in missions that is successful read along. LOVE FOR THE LEAST (L4L) a global ministry to the Muslim world reported 26 baptisms in Istanbul recently! A jailed former Muslim now a Christian convert was jailed for his faith. While in jail, M****d h led 15 others to faith, three of whom he's identified potential as church leaders. This is what happens when you stick a church planter in prison.
L4L reports that their three-year-old network now has 180 churches in six countries, reaching four generations of disciples. “We've trained 20+ new Ir-nian Believers during our first three days, baptized 26, and are now spending four days training new church leaders. We need to make sure they have the basics down. The group is doing really well. Today we're working on spiritual gifts, abiding and identity in Christ and Discovery Bible Study (growing disciples).
A PLEA FOR SUPPORT: We have a persistent issue with the Ir-nians being evicted from their Istanbul apartments for hosting church gatherings. The only way to stop this harassment is to register the churches as an "Association," giving them some legal protections. It will cost us about $10,000 to make this happen. Prayers appreciated. They're an incredibly high-yield investment. You can support them here: https://lovefortheleast.org/give/
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PSYCHEDELICS AND THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. You sometimes have to wonder when and where the craziness will end in TEC, perhaps when the last church closes. The RNS reports that the Bishop of Georgia Frank Logue concluded that a priest involved in psychedelics back in 2016 should finally be given the heave-ho after a 13-month investigation. The priest whose name happens to be Hunt Priest, committed “conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy” and “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation,” said the bishop. It took them five years to figure it out.
After 20 years in the priesthood, they finally gave him the boot. Priest pivoted from being a parish priest to founding the nonprofit Ligare, a Christian psychedelic organization. Endorsing psychedelics was apparently too much for the bishop.
Perhaps TEC can change its mantra from The Episcopal Church Welcomes You to: HIGH, HARD AND HOMO - A Church for you. Come as you are, stay as you are.
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Apparently, the former Bishop of Florida, Samuel Howard Johnson has gone missing. But they are not expecting his body to wash up on the Florida coastline. He’s wanted by church prosecutors for Title IV complaints over his failure to be nice to homosexuals who wanted ordination when he was bishop. Howard committed the “sin” of discriminating against gay and lesbian clergy, in part by requiring them to be celibate if they wished to be licensed in the Diocese of Florida. CELIBATE! That is a dirty word in TEC, you could get kicked out of the church just for saying the word. Needless to say, Howard probably thinks this is a witch hunt as he has retired. If they push him to appear he could leave TEC and join the ACNA as one of his confreres Bishop John Howe did just north of him in Central Florida.
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Anglican Watch, a watchdog group for the Episcopal Church, is calling for the immediate resignation of the Rev. Barb Kempf, who serves as the national intake officer for complaints against bishops under the church’s Title IV clergy disciplinary processes. The move follows a series of dismissals by Kempf on pretextual bases, including canonically unauthorized fact finding efforts, false and misleading interpretations of church canons, and repeated refusals to obtain needed information from complainants.
In one case, Kempf brushed off a clergy disciplinary complaint against retired Massachusetts bishop Alan Gates involving taking a child across state lines for purposes of sexual abuse. Gates failed to report the matter to law enforcement as required by state law and church policy.
Anglican Watch also reports this. The Diocese of Central New York Title IV intake officer the Rev. Julie Calhoun-Bryant doesn’t understand her role regarding a situation involving allegations of misconduct by the Rev. Rebecca Roberts, rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal in Cazenovia, New York. Since then, Anglican Watch has received a copy of Title IV intake officer The Rev. Julie E. Calhoun-Bryant’s intake report, which recommends dismissal of the complaint on the basis of a lack of evidence of misconduct.
There’s a huge problem with that: It is not within Calhoun-Bryant’s authority as an intake officer to make findings of fact or assess evidence. As a Title IV intake officer, Calhoun-Bryant gets to ask one question, and one question only, under the canons that authorize her work: Assuming the matters complained of to be true, would they constitute material violations of church canons?
In other words, it doesn’t matter if the allegations seem zany, unsupported by evidence, not consistent with her knowledge of the case, or anything else. The key goal of the Intake Officer is to decide whether or not the facts presented, if any were true, would constitute an “Offense” under the Canons. (Title IV.6.5). This determination expressly excludes any determination as to the actual truth of the allegations.” You can read more of Anglican Watch’s reports here: https://www.anglicanwatch.com/
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Influential evangelical leader James Dobson has died; his family institute announced in a post on social media on Thursday. He was 89. “He went home to be with the Lord peacefully, following a brief illness,” the statement read.
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Interested in where your ministry ranks in global Anglicanism. Of the top 45 most widely read Anglican ministries, VOL ranks No.2 after the Episcopal News Service (ENS). You can read more here:
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CORRECTION. In a recent Viewpoints I said there were no ACNA parishes in Philadelphia. I erred. There is one REC parish, the Church of the Atonement in Northern Germantown.
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My Substack on the Middle East continues to grow. It is drawing a lot of interest and attention from across the globe. You can access it 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. My latest report can be seen here: “Peace, peace when there is no peace”
I hope this doesn't seem irrelevant, but the person who shot kids in a Minneapolis church recently was transgender. Should people like that be allowed to buy firearms?