VIRTUEONLINE VIEWPOINTS

"Churches without theological confidence often become churches without people. A Christianity without creeds eventually becomes a Christianity without a congregation." —Loren Richmond

"A church unsure of what it believes about Jesus will eventually become unsure of why it exists at all." —J. Gresham Machen

"It's easy—far too easy—to treat the gospel like something malleable, something we can tweak at the edges to make it more palatable, more 'reasonable,' more in step with the spirit of the age. But Scripture doesn't give us that luxury. When Paul addresses the Galatians, he doesn't offer a gentle correction or a polite clarification. He reaches for the strongest language available: if anyone proclaims another gospel, let him be accursed (Gal. 1:8–9). That's an apostolic anathema." —J. Neil Daniels

"It is only against the dark background of sin and judgment that the gospel shines forth." —John Stott

"The greatest miracle that God can do today is to take an unholy man out of an unholy world, and make that man holy and put him back into that unholy world and keep him holy in it." —Leonard Ravenhill

"I must say this…there will be no peace in the world until all humanity embraces the One True God and His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus makes it very clear that He is the ONLY way to the Father. If we embrace ideologies that deny Jesus Christ as our only Savior we are not on the path to peace, we are hastening destruction. Countless martyrs have died embracing Philippians 2:10, 'Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father'... To deny this in pursuit of peace in the world is a betrayal of Our Savior who died for us. Que viva Cristo Rey!" —Bishop Joseph Strickland

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Dear Brothers and Sisters | www.virtueonline.org | May 29, 2026

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WHEN CHRISTIANS TURN TO ALGORITHMS FOR ANSWERS A new survey reveals unsettling levels of trust in AI for spiritual guidance — and raises hard questions about where the church has failed

There is a disturbing new finding: Christians are turning to Artificial Intelligence for spiritual guidance. A recent survey reveals that a significant portion of practicing Christians are open to trusting AI for guidance on life's most important questions — including spiritual growth and purpose — and some rank its advice as comparable to God's Word for wisdom and truth.

The new research from Barna Group, in partnership with Gloo, found that 54 percent of practicing Christians say they would completely or somewhat trust AI's advice for "having a sense of meaning or purpose in life," while 48 percent would trust it for advice on growing spiritually.

Practicing Christians express high levels of trust in AI across other domains as well. More than six in ten (62 percent) say they would trust AI with advice on achieving financial stability. Just over half would trust it for mental and physical wellbeing (56 percent), feeling happy and content with life (56 percent), understanding and expressing one's true self (54 percent), and building meaningful relationships with others (53 percent).

"What we're seeing is that Christians are genuinely open to AI as a support for the domains that matter most to them — wellbeing, purpose, even spiritual growth," said Daniel Copeland, Barna's vice president of research. "That level of openness is higher than we might have expected, and it holds across multiple areas of flourishing."

But Christians have fears about AI, too. An overwhelming majority — 83 percent — say they're concerned about AI misrepresenting Scripture. Seventy-two percent worry about AI beginning to replace God. And 73 percent fear people will lose their faith because of it.

About one-third of practicing Christians (34 percent) believe spiritual advice from AI is just as trustworthy as advice from a pastor — a figure higher than that of the general population (30 percent). Among Gen Z, nearly two in five (39 percent) agree. Among Millennials, it climbs to 44 percent.

"This is where the data gets genuinely confounding," Copeland said.

"Christians say they trust AI with spiritual growth, and a meaningful share say its spiritual guidance is as trustworthy as a pastor's — yet large majorities are simultaneously concerned about AI misinterpreting Scripture, replacing God, or undermining the role of spiritual leaders. The use case and the underlying fear are both present, and they're pointing in different directions."

The contradiction is not as puzzling as Copeland suggests. When pastors stop feeding their flocks, the sheep find other pasture. That AI is filling the void is not a technology problem. It is a pastoral failure.

Read more: https://www.crosswalk.com/headlines/contributors/michael-foust/christians-are-turning-to-artificial-intelligence-for-spiritual-guidance-survey-finds.html

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THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND FOLLOWS TEC DOWN THE SAME RABBIT HOLE The homosexuality debate was supposedly settled. It wasn't. It never is.

Revisionists in the Church of England are once again pushing their homosexual agenda, despite the General Synod's failure to approve the prayers in the Living in Love and Faith report. The issue was supposed to be settled. It wasn't.

Professor King, a lay member of Synod for Oxford Diocese and vice-chair of its Gender and Sexuality Group, has brought a motion reading: "That this Synod affirm that there are no fundamental objections to being in a committed, faithful, intimate same-sex relationship, and that such a relationship can be entirely compatible with Christian discipleship."

We have seen this before. The TEC playbook is recognizable in every line. TEC also began not with marriage but with affirmation — affirming the dignity of gay persons, affirming their place in the life of the church, affirming that their relationships deserved pastoral recognition. Each affirmation was carefully worded to stop short of doctrinal revision while making the next step feel not only natural but obligatory.

If there are "no fundamental objections" to a same-sex relationship, on what grounds does the Church subsequently refuse to bless it? Marry it? Ordain those in one? The King motion is not an endpoint. It is a ratchet.

Read more: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/down-the-same-rabbit-hole-the-church-of-england-follows-tec-into-the-abyss

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CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM: VIRTUE OR VICE? Evangelical scholar John Stackhouse tries to chart a faithful path between patriotism and idolatry

How should Christians think about Christian nationalism? Evangelical scholar John Stackhouse believes he has the answer. His new book, Christian Nationalism: A Christian Guide to Loyalty, Idolatry, and Priority, takes up the question directly.

The core issue Stackhouse addresses is whether love of country is a virtue or a danger. He steers between two extremes: those who insist Christians should embrace nationalist rhetoric wholesale, and those who condemn any patriotism as idolatry. Through a study of biblical identity, he argues that earthly loyalties are real, meaningful, and good — but always secondary to one's identity in Christ. The key danger arises when political identity begins competing with Christian identity. Stackhouse calls that idolatry. On that point, he is right.

Read my full review: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/christian-nationalism-a-christian-guide-to-loyalty-idolatry-and-priority

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ACNA: PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL Internal fractures, legal threats, governance battles, and a pending archbishop's trial — the Anglican Church in North America is at a crossroads

ACNA is in the news with full force, facing internal diocesan struggles, legal threats, and much more.

I argue that the real sin of ACNA is pride — not just its collective sins, but its institutional self-congratulation. Proud that we are not like TEC. Proud that we have not embraced pansexuality. Proud that ACNA is growing and TEC is not. Proud that we are orthodox and TEC is heterodox. Proud, in short, that we are not like them.

The irony is almost too rich to ignore. ACNA was born out of a righteous rejection of The Episcopal Church's apostasy — and that origin story, noble as it was, has become something of a golden calf. We tell the story of our founding so often, and with such satisfaction, that we have begun to confuse the act of leaving with the act of arriving. Separation from error is not the same as arrival at truth. It is merely the beginning of the journey.

Meanwhile, ACNA is trying desperately not to break apart over women's ordination while simultaneously trying to define itself: are we conciliar or confessional?

The women's ordination question is Exhibit A. ACNA has managed to hold together Anglo-Catholics who regard female ordination as an ontological impossibility and evangelicals who regard opposition to it as mere tradition dressed up as theology. That is not a settlement. It is a ceasefire. And ceasefires, as history teaches, have a way of breaking down at the worst possible moment — usually when the combatants are already exhausted from fighting on other fronts.

Read more: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/acna-pride-goeth-before-a-fall

Duncan Steps In. The latest development in the troubled Diocese of Western Gulf Coast — which has been unable to elect a new bishop — is that former Archbishop Bob Duncan has been asked to serve as interim bishop for a year, or until a new bishop is found.

Read Bishop Lowenfield's letter: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/archbishop-duncan-to-interim-as-bishop-of-western-gulf-coast

South Carolina Demands Transparency. The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina has proposed resolutions ahead of ACNA's Provincial Council meeting in Tulsa (June 17–19), demanding public release of the transcript from Bishop Stewart Ruch's ecclesiastical trial and the findings of a third-party procedural review. The Ruch trial ended in acquittal but was marred by prosecutorial resignations over alleged judicial misconduct. South Carolina is seeking coalition support among other dioceses, though the province maintains the Council lacks authority to compel the court to release documents — a tension that may ultimately require adjudication by the Provincial Tribunal, several members of which have conflicts of interest tied to the Ruch proceedings.

The broader June gathering will also take up a sweeping Title IV disciplinary canon revision that restructures the church's misconduct adjudication bodies entirely. The College of Bishops and Executive Committee have moved to prohibit floor amendments to the reform package — drawing pushback from delegates who argue the Council should exercise genuine legislative agency rather than rubber-stamp leadership's work. These governance battles unfold against the backdrop of Archbishop Steve Wood's pending trial on personal and sexual misconduct charges, scheduled to begin July 20, making the competing visions of ecclesiastical authority and transparency anything but abstract.

ACNA by the Numbers — Such as They Are. ACNA is handling its statistics the same way TEC did last year — embedding them in a feel-good annual report rather than releasing full diocesan data. ACNA's Annual Impact Report is linked here: https://anglicanchurch.net/impact/

The report lists 1,005 parishes — down from 1,027 last year, a loss of 22 congregations. Average Sunday Attendance stands at approximately 98,000, up roughly 2,000 from last year's 96,148. There were 3,445 baptisms, and 118,000 are engaged in children's and youth ministries. Notably absent: membership figures and confirmation numbers.

ACNA lists 58 bishops, including five newly consecrated. The College of Bishops shows 50 active bishops, 42 retired, 15 deceased, and 8 former ACNA bishops who have left for another jurisdiction or been deposed. There are 618 deacons.

Full statistics — or what passes for full statistics in ACNA — remain embargoed until the Provincial Assembly meets in mid-June.

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NICKY GUMBEL, SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND THE MAGA BACKLASH The Alpha pioneer called Christians to fight inequality. The response revealed more about his critics than about him.

Nicky Gumbel, the Alpha course pioneer and former leader of HTB, has been accused of promoting communism and unbiblical ideas after he called Spirit-filled Christians to fight inequality.

When Gumbel posted on Instagram — "Those indwelt by the Holy Spirit should be at the forefront of the fight for gender, racial, and social equality" — it hardly seemed controversial. He followed it by noting the epidemic of violence against women and girls, the surge in racially and religiously motivated hate crimes, and the astonishing growth in wealth among the ultra-rich, and asked: shouldn't Christians be making a stand?

The responses, he said, horrified him.

On this side of the pond, we are experiencing much the same thing. If you are not on board with Trumpism and MAGA, and you believe the Bible speaks to social justice, you will be labeled a communist, Marxist, or Socialist — and cancelled.

This is a confusion with a long history. The 1974 Lausanne Congress hammered out the relationship between the gospel and social action. John Stott led the charge alongside a number of Global South Christian leaders. Billy Graham had to concede the point. The gospel has a social dimension that cannot be ignored. Stott later wrote Issues Facing Christians Today — a book that has apparently been forgotten by those now calling Gumbel a communist. Tony Campolo, never accused of soft preaching, demanded that those who came forward at his crusades align with a local church and begin practical ministry. That is not Marxism. That is Matthew 25.

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SPIRITUAL COWARDICE FROM THE PULPIT Most pastors won't name sin. They won't say why, either.

Most pastors and priests are cowards. They will speak of sin in the abstract, in safe generalities — but they will not name it.

When did you last hear a priest rail against materialism? You won't — because his biggest financial supporters are wealthy parishioners whose money keeps the lights on. Rail against pride? Never — not when personal success is the American sacrament. Mention homosexuality? Expect to be denounced as homophobic, uninclusive, and bigoted until you repent of your supposed prejudice — or your congregation walks. Address women's ordination? You'll be told you're excluding half of God's creation, never mind that the Church declined to embrace it for two thousand years. We have progressed, after all. It's the enlightened 21st century. And always remember: when people leave, the plate empties — and possibly your salary with it.

Adultery is the safe target. Easy applause. But when did you last hear a preacher take on what Jesus actually said about lust in the heart? Not a word from the pulpit. Philip Yancey wrote about it. Your pastor won't.

I call this spiritual cowardice. The question every pastor and priest must eventually answer is this: What am I willing to lose for the sake of Christ?

Read my full column: https://www.virtueonline.org/post/to-die-or-not-to-die-that-is-the-question

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EBOLA RETURNS — AND MILLIONS OF ANGLICANS ARE IN ITS PATH 

Ten African nations face a new outbreak. Anglican bishops are responding with prayer and public health measures.

Ten countries — Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Zambia — now face the Ebola epidemic. All contain millions of Anglican believers, many of whom have already been affected.

Anglican bishops are combining prayer with practical public health measures in response to the World Health Organization's emergency declaration for the outbreak centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

Archbishop Georges Titre Ande (Congo and Bishop of Aru) has strongly urged communities to pair prayer with practical action. The Anglican church is actively sharing accurate health information and combating misinformation in local communities.

Bishop Martin Gordon (Diocese of Goma, DRC) notes that while his people are experienced in dealing with Ebola, this outbreak features the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no vaccine. He has requested prayers for health workers, resources, and containment. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOC_X7OZ9Cc)

Bishop Brian Marajh (Diocese of Kimberley & Kuruman) has issued a letter to his clergy and parishioners urging earnest prayer for the eradication of the virus and expressing solidarity with affected communities.

Across the affected regions, Anglican and partner churches have implemented mandatory preventive measures — frequent handwashing, avoiding physical contact, and limiting outside visitors. The World Health Organization officially declared the current epidemic a public health emergency of international concern on May 16.

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