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Handle with prayer!
News – ANiC and AEN
Bishop Donald Harvey named Dean of ACNA
Our moderator, Bishop
Don has been appointed Dean of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) by
Archbishop Robert Duncan. This
appointment was unanimously ratified by the ACNA Executive Committee. As
dean, Bishop Harvey will support our Primate by representing Archbishop Duncan
at various events and meetings both within North America and internationally
when the Primate is unable to attend. The Primate’s increasingly hectic
schedule was causing concern and, with the recent appointment of three
suffragan bishops for ANiC, Bishop Don now has more flexibility in his
schedule. See the full news release.
Vancouver area congregations
appeal court decision
The four Vancouver-area ANiC
parishes have filed an appeal of Mr Justice Stephen Kelleher’s November 25th BC Supreme
Court decision in order to allow the congregations more time to discern whether
they should proceed with the appeal. By filing an appeal before the 30-day
deadline, the congregations are keeping their options open. See the news
release for more details.
Parish
and project news
St
George’s (Ottawa) – Prior to Christmas,
the Rev Paul Donison presented “The 5 minute Christmas story”, a dramatic
performance taken word-for-word from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Standing
outside the church building in downtown Ottawa, Rev Donison gave repeated
performance over the lunch hour attracting crowds of office workers and
shoppers who also enjoyed carols sung by a St George’s
choir and received invitations to Christmas services. A number of Ottawa media
covered the story including CBC, the Ottawa Sun, and the Ottawa Citizen.
St
George’s (Burlington/Lowville) – On the weekend
of Feb 26-28, Bishop Malcolm Harding will lead a spiritual renewal conference
entitled, “Leaning into the wind of the Spirit” at St George’s in Burlington.
This promises to be a time of spiritual blessing and transformation. For
information on this Burlington conference, please email Betty Pistol or
call 905 873-1918 and see the brochure. If you would like
Bishop Malcolm to minister in your parish, please see website for information.
St
Paul (Stoney Creek, ON) – Bishop Don will
celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul with St Paul Anglican Bible Church on
January 17. Visitors are welcome. Services are held at 3pm at John Knox
Christian School, 795 Hwy 8, (just east of Fruitland Rd) Fruitland (Stoney Creek).
St
Hilda’s (Oakville, ON) – The January Anglican Planet features St
Hilda’s many community-oriented initiatives, including its annual “garage sale
give away” event. Commenting on these initiatives, the St Hilda’s rector, the
Rev Paul Charbonneau is quoted saying, “We’re
really adamant about not taking any money… We want to express the tangible love
of Christ for people… There’s a surprise element. It opens the door for people
to share; it leaves the door wide open.” The article states “St. Hilda’s is renowned for its generosity
to the community… many in Oakville are experiencing the tangible grace of God
--with no strings attached.”
St
Timothy’s Anglican Bible Church (West Island, Montreal) – On Sunday, January 3, St Timothy's held an Evening Extravaganza of Praise & Prayer to
celebrate the 1st anniversary of the congregation's founding. Over 60 members and friends
braved a snow storm to join the celebration.
St
Aidan’s Ministries – The first
information meeting for one of the two church plants St Aidan’s (Windsor, ON) is
nurturing was held last week in Chatham, ON and the Peterborough
Examiner reported on the meeting.
Holy
Trinity (Marlborough, MA) – Photos and a
video from the recent ordinations of four deacons by Bishop Don
Harvey at Holy Trinity are now posted to the parish’s website.
Ordering Ginger Group books online
You can now order the
Anglican Agenda Series books – authored by the “Ginger Group” and edited
by Dr J I Packer – via the ANiC
website. You can also order ANiC lapel pins, pens and a variety
of other items. Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) pins can be ordered via
the ACNA website.
Calendar of upcoming events –
for your interest and prayer support
Jan 12 – Meeting of
ANiC Examining Chaplains in Toronto
Jan 13 – Meeting of
Archdeacons and Bishops in Toronto
Jan 13 – St Aidan’s
Ministries meeting in Belle River, ON to discuss a church plant
Jan 14 – Meeting of
Bishops in Toronto
Feb 26 – 28 – St
George’s (Burlington) – Spiritual renewal conference with Bishop Malcolm
Mar 16 -18 – 5th Annual ANiC clergy retreat at Cedar Springs
(near Abbotsford, BC)
Mar 18 – Ministry leadership seminar at Heritage
Seminary, Cambridge ON
Apr 7-9 – reFocus Canada, a preaching and
theology conference, in Burnaby, BC
ANiC in the news
Abbotsford News – Dec
29 2009 – Anglican Churches file appeal
Canadian
Christianity – Jan 6 2010 – Anglican parishes appeal
Anglican
Planet – Dec 27 2009 – Supreme Court ruling mixed
Anglican
Journal – Jan 8 2010 – ANiC trustees appeal court decision
News shorts – Anglican Church in North America (ACNA)
Church planters summit: Feb 22-23 in Plano, Texas
Registration is now open for the Anglican 1000 Church Planting Summit at
Christ Church, Plano, Texas on February 22-23. Father David
Roseberry who is leading the charge on the 1000 new churches initiative, says, “Church planters, students, young church
leaders, bishops, and committed laity from around the continent will gather
together for intensive learning and networking sessions. We will share best
practices, learn from some of the top leadership in the church planting
movement, and hear real church planters tell their story from the frontiers of
the mission field.”
Speakers include: Archbishop
Duncan, Ed Stetzer, Bishop Todd Hunter, William Beasley, Bishop Doc Loomis and
David Roseberry.
Anglican Relief and Development
Fund Canada expects charitable status soon
Thank you for your continued
prayers for the Anglican Relief and Development Fund Canada (ARDFC). We are
hopeful that CRA will grant charitable status for the Canadian aid organization
soon and ARDFC is already preparing to undertake a malaria prevention project
in Kenya. ARDF is the Anglican Church in North America’s international relief
and development arm and ARDFC will allow Canadian Anglicans to donate to
specific international aid projects. Since its founding in 2004, ARDF has partnered in 96 relief and development projects in
32 countries, and has made nearly $4 million dollars in grants. Currently, it
is focusing on: a multipurpose community center in Gambella, Ethiopia; a
farming project in the Sudan; and a microfinance project in Bolivia.
Church of England synod set to
debate recognition of ACNA
Ruth Gledhill reports that when the Church of England synod meets in February, it will
consider a private member’s motion “calling for the Church of England to
declare itself ‘in communion’ with the Anglican Church in North America”. A
simple 50 per cent majority is needed to pass the motion.
ACNA launches new website
ACNA has unveiled an improved
website at www.anglicanchurch.net.
The website connects seekers with one of the more than 765 ACNA churches in
North America via its online database and map. ANiC is now working to update
listings for our parishes in that database. For those interested in seeing what
our detractors have to say about the website see here.
News shorts – Canada
Double tragedy strikes Anglican
Church of Canada (ACoC) leadership
Please keep Anglican Church
of Canada leaders in your prayers as they cope with the sudden and tragic
deaths of both Canon Geoffrey Jackson, General Synod’s
senior development officer and Gini Pollesel, wife of Archdeacon Michael
Pollesel, General Secretary of the ACoC. Archdeacon Pollesel was also injured
in the car accident that killed his wife.
Diocese of Toronto to host Bishop
Gene Robinson
The Cathedral Church of St
James in the Diocese of Toronto invited the controversial Episcopal
Church bishop to preach January 10.
Diocese of Montreal to offer
blessing for same-sex couples
The Anglican Journal reports that Bishop
Barry Clark is now allowing priests in the Diocese of Montreal “…to bless same-gender couples who have been
civilly married. Montreal becomes the fourth diocese in the Anglican Church of
Canada to offer a sacrament for same-sex blessing.”
Diocese of BC bishop calls for
return to Christian beliefs
The AEC blog draws our attention to a
column by Bishop James Cowan in the recent Diocese of BC newspaper in which the
bishop identifies growing heresies as a cause of the decline in Anglican
churches on Vancouver Island. He concludes, “…unless we couple reduction and restructuring with spiritual renewal and
the reclamation of those aspects of faith which are both central and essential
to Christianity the downward trends of Anglican ‘religion’ on these islands
will continue.”
Bishops pessimistic that
sexuality issues will be resolved by General Synod
Reporting on observations by
pastoral visitors deputized by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Journal reports that ACoC
bishops are generally pessimistic that there will be “any clear resolution of the divisive issue of sexuality at the church’s
upcoming General Synod in Halifax this June… however, the gathering is bound to
be “a watershed both for the (Anglican Church of Canada) and for its wider
relations with the Anglican Communion.” The article quotes one bishop
saying, “We have no heart for any more
arguing and certainly have no more energy left; we just wish it would all go
away!”
Changes to ACoC pension fund to “cost
more, pay less”
The Anglican Journal reports that “The Council
of General Synod (CoGS) has approved changes that will increase the employer
contribution paid by dioceses and reduce the amount of pension earned by plan
members.”
Canadian Anglican news
Church of England Newspaper –
Dec 23 2009 – Priest arrested on child porn charges
Anglican
Journal (letter to the editor) – Jan 1 2010 – Simply un-Christian (regarding
litigation)
Anglican Planet – Dec 27 2009 – Bishop MacDonald: “Catholicity is at stake”
Parksville
Qualicum News – Dec 17 2009 – Proud
of their parish
VirtueOnline – Jan 2 2010 – The fictional world of Canadian Anglican Archbishop
Fred Hiltz
Anglican Journal – Jan 1 2010 – CoGS looks to the future
News shorts – United States
Dr Radner declares TEC of past two
centuries “is no more”
In a paper posted to the Anglican
Communion Institute website, Dr Ephraim Radner says, “The Episcopal Church, as it has been known through the past two
centuries, is no more, in any substantive sense. TEC is simply no longer the
church filled with even the strength of purpose we saw only 10 years ago… That
church, shimmering still with some of the vibrancy of love spent for the Gospel
seen140 years before, even 90 years before, is now gone. And TEC will not
survive in any real continuity with this past and its gifts.” He goes on
to say that TEC’s active membership has plummeted nearly 20 per cent in the
last 10 years, seminaries are closing, and “The Anglican intellectual tradition that is embodied by and that has
derived from TEC is bankrupt”. While seeing
fault on all sides, he then enumerates evidence of the “moral unraveling of TEC”: litigation,
public vitriol on blogs, the perversion of canonical order, ignoring pleas of
Communion leaders, and theological innovation to accommodate sexual immorality.
Although he acknowledges that
“TEC has become the (necessarily
shrinking) institution of the aging, who have less and less to offer…”, he
remains hopeful based on the Anglican Covenant and in “…the reinvigorating reconfiguration of existing and healthy dioceses,
and the refashioning of broken ones and the building up of new things.”
TEC backs taxpayer funding for
abortion
The Church of England Newspaper reports that “…the Religious Coalition for
Reproductive Choice released a letter endorsed by the Episcopal Church… and
other liberal religious groups expressing their opposition to an amendment to
the health care reform bill before Congress that would remove abortion funding
from the proposed legislation.”
US litigation update
The LA Times reports that St Luke’s (La
Crescenta, California) is appealing a California court ruling,
asking the US Supreme Court to rule on it’s property dispute with the Diocese
of Los Angeles and establish a uniform approach for state laws to follow in
church property disputes.
US church in the news
Ft Worth Star-Telegram –
Dec 25 2009 – Fort Worth’s Episcopalian split tops 2009’s religion
news
CrossWalk – Dec 24 2009 – Rising
from the ashes: The new Anglican Church
News shorts – International
Anglican Covenant
The revised and now final
draft of the Anglican Covenant has had a mixed reception. You can read the full Covenant, see the revisions to the last draft, see a commentary on those revisions, see
how Provinces responded to the earlier
draft, and read the cover letter to the Provinces
signed by the Secretary General.
An Anglican Communion Institute (ACI) commentary focuses
primarily on who may and may not affirm the covenant and urges churches and
dioceses to commit to the Covenant as soon as possible. In discussing a
provision for churches not currently listed on the Anglican Consultative
Council’s rolls, they note that the Covenant says “The Instruments of Communion may invite other Churches to adopt the
Covenant using the same procedures as set out by the Anglican Consultative
Council for the amendment of its schedule of membership. Adoption of this
Covenant does not confer any right of recognition by, or membership of, the
Instruments of Communion, which shall be decided by those Instruments
themselves.” From this, the ACI concludes that these procedures appear
to be “flexible and responsive to
developing circumstances”.
A former
Archbishop of Southeast Asia and Nepal, the
Right Reverend Moses Tay, is reported
by the
Christian Post to strongly oppose the Covenant, going so far
as to “…advise fellow Anglican leaders
not to waste their time on church structures which the Bible describes as dung
and instead to concentrate on the supreme tasks of evangelism and discipleship,
which he has succeeded in doing in America…. To me, at best, it [the Anglican
Communion Covenant] is whitewashing so the Church remains one and is not split;
a lot of crack underneath is not shown.” Saying the covenant would not
solve the essential problem of the Communion – which is a crisis of
biblical orthodoxy – he said, “The
Anglican Covenant cannot be of God because if you try to keep the light and
darkness together, righteous and immoral together, to say we are a church, it’s
disparaging the meaning of covenant… the covenant is a very sacred thing… [It
is] God saying, ‘You will be Mine.’ … If you are using
the sacred word to include dirt; that use of the word is an abomination.”
The Rev Dr Leander Harding reflected, “When I was a
young man and entering into a business contract for the first time, I asked my
father for some advice about the enforceability of a particular contract. He
told me that if a man’s word wasn’t any good, his paper wasn’t any good either.
In many cases the current chaos that we are experiencing in the Churches of the
Anglican Communion is not a result of a lack of articulated rules and
procedures of church discipline, but is the result of an unwillingness by those
charged with the stewardship of the order of the church to enforce such
discipline as has already been established. This version of the Anglican
Covenant is a minimalist document. It does clarify issues of communion life and
order and provide an agreed-upon process for handling disputes. It can be a
real instrument for growth in truth, unity and mission, but only if those to
whom the responsibility has been given to be stewards of the church’s order
have the necessary moral courage to fulfill their office.”
The
Rev Matt Kennedy of Stand Firm in Faith, expressed his reservations: “My problem with the Covenant is that it enshrines the Communion itself
as… the norm by which all other norms, including scripture and tradition, are
to be normed. Many leaders in the ACNA support signing the Covenant. I am not
there yet. I think the Covenant is a sub-Christian document.”
A S Haley, aka the Anglican Curmudgeon in a lengthy analysis said, “How
will the Covenant be able to bring unity out of such discord? That is just the
problem --it won't; it cannot… The reason is that the Archbishop of Canterbury
has largely allowed ECUSA and ACoC to call their own shots… in reality he has
little authority to do more, and even less inclination to assert any more
authority than he already has asserted… Those who are pushing for its adoption
will want to sign it just as a means of differentiating themselves from ECUSA
and the ACoC… it appears that the Primates of the Global South will endorse the
Ridley Draft as early as next April. And to tell the truth, it will only be by signing on to
the Covenant that the Global South will be able to participate in the use of
its mechanisms to limit the
further damage being done by ECUSA and ACoC… it is a fair guess that at least
three-fourths of the member churches of the Communion, and perhaps even fourth
fifths or more, will sign on to the Covenant.”
Additional
analyses:
Religious Intelligence
– Jan 7 2010 – Confidence in the Covenant?
Covenant Communion –
Jan 6 2010 – Is the Anglican Covenant Non-Anglican?
Anglican Mainstream – Dec 20 2009 – Reflections
on an Anglican Covenant
Leander Harding – Dec 2009 – Response to the Announcement of the Anglican Covenant
Traditional Anglican Communion
leader responds to pope’s offer
In a recent address, Archbishop John
Hepworth of the Traditional Anglican Communion, has
indicated receptivity to the Vatican’s recent overtures. He says,” Catholic communion is not an idea, nor the
acceptance of a set of beliefs. It is standing together at the Altar of God,
affirming one faith and receiving together the one Body and Blood of the Christ
who is God and brother. Our bishops have realized from the start of our
separation from the Anglican Communion that it was a separation of pilgrimage.
Pilgrimage must have a goal. Our goal was the healing of catholic disunity,
that Anglicans had sought and then abandoned.”
News
from around the Communion
Zimbabwe – Zimbabwean media report that the
deposed, pro-Mugabe ex-bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, continues to use his
political influence to subvert justice, have police arrest Anglican leaders and
prevent parishioners from worshiping in their churches all in contravention of
court orders. The news reports stated that “…pro-Kunonga police units went
around most of the Anglican parishes in the high density areas of Harare
threatening parishioners who were trying to attend services on Christmas Eve –
and this despite an agreement achieved in court to allow services to proceed
undisturbed. The Anglican Journal quotes the current
Bishop of Harare, Chad Gandiya, saying, "As
Anglicans it seems we have no legal recourse in this country… The police are
interfering in our church services without restraint, and continue to defy
existing court orders. The police are supposed to be protecting us but they are
the ones harassing us."
Global South – In a National Post article, reporter Charles
Lewis documents the shift in Christianity’s “centre of gravity” to the
developing “global south”.
Nigeria – Ruth Gledhill reports in the Times that there has
been more violence unleashed by a radical Muslim sect in northern Nigeria with
eight deaths. She says, “…religious
violence has already cost the lives of over 50,000 people since 1999…”
West
Indies – The Church of England Newspaper reports that “The Bishop of Barbados, Dr John
Holder has been elected Primate of the Church of the Province of the West
Indies” – replacing Archbishop Drexel Gomez.
Persecution
of Christians
Muslim
countries – The Wall Street
Journal carries a rare article entitled Islamic Christianophobia which
documents some of the hardship and violence endured by Christians living in
predominantly Muslim countries. It states, “…few groups have suffered as grievously as Christians in Muslim lands.
Fewer still have suffered with such little attention paid…. In its annual World Watch List, Open Doors ranks eight Muslim countries among the 10 worst persecutors
of Christians. The other two, North Korea (which tops the list) and Laos, are
communist states. Of the 50 countries on the list, 35 are majority Muslim. In
many Muslim lands, conversion to Christianity carries a death sentence.
The article concludes: “It might seem natural that at least some
attention would be paid in the West to the plight of these Christians. Instead,
attention seems endlessly focused on "Islamophobia"… But the West's
tolerance for its large Muslim populations stands in sharp contrast to the
Muslim world's bigotry and persecution of its own religious minorities."
A similar National Post article notes that Saudi
Arabia, a western ally, is particularly “horrific
when it comes to religious liberty” It also notes that “…64 countries — about one-third of
all nations — had “high or very high restrictions on religion… [and] nearly 70% of the world’s 6.8 billion people live in
countries with high restrictions on religion…”
North
Korea is said to be the harshest
persecutor of Christians and Christian Today reports that
persecution in the country is worsening as the economy collapses even more. One
person who has escaped the country reports that “It is like a giant prison camp has crossed
the land. Starvation spreads out over the entire nation; it has become the norm.”
Egypt – Christians are experiencing
increased persecution, including the abduction, forced marriage and conversion
of girls. Spero News reports that five Coptic
Christians were killed in a drive-by shooting as they left church on January 7 –
the day Coptic Christians celebrate Christmas.
International media coverage
Church Times – Dec 31
2009 – Anglican Churches sent final text of Covenant – ‘not
a penal code’
Church of England Newspaper – Dec 18 2009 – New call for lesbian bishop to be blocked The
American Conservative – Feb 01 2010 – Come all ye faithful: Benedict’s counter-reformation
Church
of England Newspaper – Dec 11 2009 – Schism ‘now inevitable’ for Anglican Communion
BBC
– Dec 24 2009 – Archbishop
of York condemns Ugandan anti-gay bill
The Independent –
Jan 5 2010 – Pro-Mugabe bishop locks out faithful
Anglican
Journal – Dec 30 2009 – Nearly 70 percent of world faces religious
restrictions says report
Soul food
Made
in God’s image, marred by sin
Abortion – After years of
denying any link, a US National Cancer Institute researcher has admitted that both abortion and the
use of oral contraceptives significantly increase breast cancer risks. This
conclusion is corroborated by a recent study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center, as well as by studies conducted in Turkey and China.
Worth reading
The National Post Christmas Eve editorial clearly
and poignantly explains the true meaning of Christmas, taking the reader
through the Bible to show how God’s promise to Abraham is fulfilled in
Christ. The editorial says, “In Christ all things hold together. All
things, Christians believe, not just their own spiritual things. In Jesus
Christ, to look at man is to look at God. In Jesus Christ, the God who lovingly
and freely created the mighty galaxies and the lilies of the field now comes as
man to redeem and to save that very same creation.”
The Anglican Planet
recommends some excellent biographies of Christian
saints, including Augustine, Calvin, Wesley, Newton and Wilberforce.
Just for fun
95-year-old Lenora was in
excellent health and her pastor thoroughly enjoyed his regular visits with her.
But on one visit, she simply wasn’t her usual cheerful, encouraging self. He
could see Lenora was worried. After some coaxing, she finally confided,
"Every one of my friends has died and gone on to heaven. I'm afraid they're
all wondering where I went!" www.mikeysFunnies.com
Please
pray...
For our ANiC projects, church plants and parishes – especially for a St Aidan’s Ministries’
church plant organizational meeting in Belle River (Jan 13).
For our bishops and rectors – especially
for Bishop Don in his new role
as Dean of ACNA as well as for the meeting of our bishops and leaders on
January 12-14.
For Bishop Malcolm’s
spiritual renewal mission at St George’s in Burlington, Feb 26-28.
For
the ministry of ANiC congregations; that we would share the Good News with those around us who
need to meet our Lord & Saviour.
For the legal cases
| • |
For the four
Vancouver area ANiC parishes and their lawyers who are considering
proceeding with an appeal of the November 25 court decision. May God grant
clarity and unity. |
| • |
For the Windsor case (involving St Aidan’s) which is being dealt with in London, Ontario. |
| • |
For all the congregations involved in court proceedings and disputes. Pray for
peace for the wardens and trustees who
are on the front lines and bear the burden of risk and responsibility. Pray for
a continued focus on, and blessing upon, their ministry in the midst of this
turmoil. |
| • |
For sufficient contributions to the Legal Defence Fund so that legal costs
can be covered and the churchwardens and trustees are not at personal financial
risk. The Ontario parishes, in particular, need greater financial
support at this time. |
| • |
For the leaders and
parishioners of the dioceses pursuing eviction of and damages against ANiC
congregations and wardens in court. |
| • |
That God will be
glorified in all court proceedings. |
Praise God for the interim
negotiated agreement with the Diocese of Niagara providing stability for St George’s, St Hilda’s and Good Shepherd.
For the granting of charitable status to the Anglican Relief and Development Fund –
Canada.
For the leadership of the Anglican Church of Canada grieving two recent deaths.
For our fellow
Anglicans and other Christians facing
violent persecution in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Muslim lands and Communist
countries, especially North Korea.
And now a word from our sponsor
Praise
the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
For great is his steadfast love
toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 117
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