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Handle with prayer!
News shorts – ANiC and AEN
ANiC welcomes Bishop Ron Ferris
Bishop Ronald Ferris, recently retired Bishop of Algoma (in Ontario), is now an ANiC bishop under the Primatial jurisdiction of Archbishop Greg Venables. He joins Bishop Don Harvey and Bishop Malcolm Harding. While Bishop Ron will focus primarily on church planting in the Lower Mainland of BC, he will be available to assist with episcopal ministry. See the ANiC news release and the Anglican Journal article.
Charlie Masters to speak in Kitchener
ANiC’s Executive Archdeacon and National Director, the Ven Charlie Masters, will speak at a pastors’ seminar, February 5, in Kitchener, Ontario on the topic: “Are Evangelicals Next? What Evangelicals must learn from Conservative Anglicans on Homosexuality”.
Time: Thursday, February 5 at 9:30 am
Place: St Paul’s Lutheran Church, Kitchener
For more information or to register email Rev Roy Hamel at or phone 519-836-3151.
ANiC synod audio – as well as video – podcasts now available
Due to popular demand, Christian has kindly posted audio podcasts of ANiC’s inaugural synod, in addition to the video podcasts. You can watch the videos on our website or link to iTunes from the bottom of the page. Audio podcasts are also available on iTunes with a link from our website. Podcasts from our April conference are available as well.
Sympathies extended to ANiC archdeacon
We offer our deepest sympathy to the Venerable Trevor Walters whose father recently passed away in England. Howard Lyndon Walters (known as Lyn) succumbed to lung cancer January 9, 2009. Trevor, who was at his father’s side when he died, says his father, aged 88, lived a remarkably healthy and active life. He adds: “God had pursued Dad his whole life and it appears that God caught up with him in the last few weeks of his life.” Praise the Lord!
Ordination of new priest
Bishop Don ordained the Rev Karen Bergenstein to the priesthood in Ottawa on January 25th. She had been ordained to the deaconate last May.
New blog launched
The Red Deer, Alberta area now has an “orthodox Anglican” blog. Steve Lenaghan has launched Red Deer Anglican.
Legal fund
The legal team will need your ongoing prayers and financial support. With a 3 week trial commencing May 25 in New Westminster, and ongoing pressure in the diocese of Niagara, designated financial support is critical to their efforts to preserve church buildings and assets for ongoing historic and biblically faithful Anglican ministry. The court decision in New Westminster will be relevant to and set a precedent for every congregation in the Anglican Church of Canada that may be concerned about the theological drift of the Canadian church. In fact, these court decisions will have implications for other denominations who are struggling with the same issues in their church. Please pray about how you can contribute to the fundraising efforts in your area. Donations to the legal fund can be made online. Please specify “Legal Fund” next to “Fund/Designation” on the CanadaHelps donation page, or on your cheque.
Tour of the Holy Land
There a few spaces still available in the upcoming 15-day Holy Land tour, 26 April – 10 May, lead by ANiC priest Sharon Hayton. The price is hard to beat and the knowledgeable guides are provided by a highly regarded Jerusalem-based Anglican tour ministry. Check it out!
Canadian news and blogs
Delhi News-Record – Jan 21 09 – Church tackles change
Anglican Samizdat – Jan 20 09 – The Anglican Church of Canada has been infiltrated! (A link to the audio of Archbishop Hiltz’s entire talk can be found on the AEC blog in a January 15 discussion)
News shorts – Anglican Church in North America
& Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans
Case for new province to be presented to primates meeting
Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams has asked for a paper setting out the hopes and situation of the proposed North American Province. The Living Church News Service reports that Bishop Bob Duncan (Pittsburgh), is involved in a “series of consultations with the primates who originated the call” for a new Anglican province in North America. Bishop Duncan explained that, following consultations about the proposed new province between Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and members of the GAFCON primates’ steering committee in London last month, Archbishop Williams had requested a paper setting out the hopes and situation of the proposed province. The Archbishop invited the primates to forward the case to the Anglican Consultative Council along with their comments. Bishop Duncan said the GAFCON primates will present the paper and make the case for an alternate province during the primates’ meeting in Alexandria, Egypt, next month.
Meanwhile, the Anglican Journal reports that Archbishop Fred Hiltz of the Anglican Church of Canada has been invited to speak at the Primates’ meeting. “The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has asked the primates (national archbishops) of five provinces, including the Anglican Church of Canada, to reflect on the impact that the current Anglican conflict over sexuality has had on the mission and priorities of their churches.” The primates of Uganda, Pakistan, South Africa and the US will also present to the Primates meeting which is the first week of February in Alexandria, Egypt.
In discussing his presentation with the Anglican Journal, Archbishop Hiltz said he planned to raise the issue of cross-border interventions. He said “…no bishop in the Canadian church is happy or will tolerate these interventions, no matter where they stand on the blessing of same-sex unions…” “While some bishops have indicated that they would take some “incremental steps” in allowing same-sex blessings, they were still exercising “gracious restraint,” he said. “None of the bishops to date are saying ‘across the board, it can happen.’ They’ve been gracious in trying to listen to the rest of the church. We’re not moving that quickly, we’re somewhere in the middle here. While all that is happening, we still have the continuing intervention of primates and bishops from other jurisdictions who are showing no restraint.” He said he hopes to have “some constructive conversations with some folks that are at the frontline of cross-border interventions or if they’re not on the frontline, they’re certainly supportive.”
While he was in the States participating in the Diocese of Virginia’s convention, the Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, is reported to have said “…he would resist the founding of another province with every fiber of his body”, calling it "total nonsense."
Websites redesigned
The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) has a new website. It includes valuable links to resources, including the GAFCON site, which has also been redesigned for easier access to information and resources. Parishes and parishioners are encouraged to join the FCA.
Bishop Duncan commends Church Alliance for a New Sudan
The Rt. Reverend Robert Duncan, archbishop-designate for the Anglican Church in North America, has written an open letter endorsing the work of the Institute on Religion and Democracy’s Church Alliance for a New Sudan (CANS). The Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), based in Washington, DC, began advocacy for Sudan over twelve years ago. “With my blessing,” says Bishop Duncan. “CANS Director Faith McDonnell is inviting… parishes to consider becoming part of this critical alliance between US churches, the Church in Sudan, and Sudanese churches in the United States.” As part of the Church Alliance for a New Sudan, parishes will be equipped to pray for, build relationship with, and be advocates for Sudan, according to McDonnell. For more information visit the Common Cause Partnership website.
News shorts – United States
Pittsburgh diocese assets frozen
A financial services firm has frozen the accounts of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh because it is unsure who should be allowed to access them. The Post Gazette reports that Morgan Stanley said that it would not allow any further distributions until a court rules who has the legal authority to access the account. In October 2008, the majority of the parishioners and parishes in the diocese voted to realign under the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.
Anglican congregation cannot be immediately evicted
The Living Church News Service reports the California Supreme Court has accepted a petition for review filed by the rector and vestry of St John’s Anglican Church, Fallbrook. The decision to review the case sets aside an appellate court decision in October 2008 which found that the vestry had ceased to be eligible to serve as directors of the corporation when they considered disaffiliating from the Episcopal Church in July 2006. The decision also means that the diocese cannot evict the Anglican congregation until after a decision is handed down.
Anglican Communion Institute (ACI) challenges Presiding Bishop Schori
Scholars at the ACI have published “Misuse of the Canons & Abuse of Power by the Presiding Bishop: A Statement on Bishop Scriven ” in which they express growing alarm at the erratic and unlawful behaviour of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. They say:
In recent months ACI has asked with increasing urgency whether the Presiding Bishop is willing and able to comply with the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church. Her most recent canonical misadventure is purporting to remove from the ordained ministry a bishop [Bishop Henry Scriven] in the Church of England canonically resident and working in England and subject to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Oxford and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Her canonical overreaching has now extended into the heart of the Church of England, placing in serious question the extent to which the Presiding Bishop continues to perceive herself as in communion with that church and its primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
On January 15, 2008, the Presiding Bishop purported to accept the “renunciation” of ordained ministry by Bishop Henry Scriven. It is now sadly evident that an actual renunciation is no longer a prerequisite for the Presiding Bishop’s “acceptance” of such an extraordinary action by a bishop of the church.
…in addition to constituting an abuse of the canons, the Presiding Bishop’s action has profound consequences for TEC’s status as a constituent member of the Anglican Communion and its communion with the Church of England… Her abuse of the canons has now reached beyond TEC and into the Church of England itself.
… we call on those Bishops of TEC who wish this church to remain “a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, in communion with the See of Canterbury” to call a halt to this conduct or to request that the Presiding Bishop clarify what her understanding is of the place of The Episcopal Church within the Anglican Communion.
Virginia affirm the “blessedness” of same-sex relationships
The Diocese of Virginia voted in its convention to affirm the blessedness of same-sex relationships and introduce liturgies. This diocese previously had been considered theologically moderate. This is just one of a disheartening series of events, primarily in TEC, leading up to the Primates meeting next week.
Buddhist/Anglican priest nominated for bishop
The Diocese of Northern Michigan’s sole candidate for bishop is reported to be a practicing Buddhist. Former diocesan Bishop James Kelsey proudly noted in 2004 that the Rev Kevin Thew Forrester had “received Buddhist ‘lay ordination’,” and was “walking the path of Christianity and Zen Buddhism together.”
Gene Robinson prays at US inaugural event to “God of our many understandings”
True to his earlier promise, Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson ensured his invocation at an event prior to US President Barak Obama’s inauguration, was not particularly “Christian” by addressing a “multi-faith” god. You can see a video and transcript of the prayer at Christianity Today.com.
In the US media
The Christian Century – Feb 10 09 – Episcopal Church wins in property disputes
Anglican Communion Institute – Jan 19 09 – Common Cause and a new Province
News shorts – International
Bishop Nazir-Ali addresses key concerns
Speaking at the Mere Anglicanism conference in South Carolina, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali is reported by VirtueOnline to have said:
The “instruments of unity”, particularly the Lambeth Conference, had failed. The invitation list for Lambeth blatantly ignored the Windsor Report specification that those involved in the ordination and consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson not attend.
"Human sexuality is a first order issue because it is at the heart of the anthropology of the Bible. God created man and woman and they fulfill this common mission in this particular way. Marriage and the family...this teaching about the way men and women should behave is found throughout the bible… Marriage is a Sacrament of Christ to his church...that is why it must always be a first order issue."
You can listen to an interview with Bishop Nazir-Ali here. (This wide-ranging interview, primarily on secularism and Islam, starts several minutes into the recording.)
New leader for Church of England Evangelical Council
The new chairman of the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) is the Ven Michael Lawson. He is the Archdeacon of Hampstead, “…a composer and former concert pianist, a celebrated filmmaker and author, and the founder of a charity helping India’s Untouchables.” In a wide-ranging interview with Religious Intelligence he indicated his admiration for the Archbishop of Canterbury, but expressed concern that, while Dr Williams tries to draw a distinction between his personal theology and his position as Archbishop, his statements while Archbishop of Canterbury may have “created difficulties for people who are struggling with sexual temptations.”
Sunday schools provide youth with defense against false teaching
The Nigerian House of Bishops has called for a renewed Sunday school and discipleship emphasis to combat atheism, secularism and false teaching. They said, “The Sunday school movement has lost its place in many Western Churches with the result that the youth are defenceless against the false gospels propagated by the media. We believe that there is an urgent need to equip Sunday school teachers and youth workers with creative, well designed programmes if we are to avoid a similar fate with our own young people who will be ‘sheep without a shepherd’ if we fail to respond.” They also called upon congregations “to establish a healing ministry as a central element of their common life and ministry to the community.”
The cries of a continent
Reports from Zimbabwe tell of a formerly prosperous nation on the verge of meltdown – 80 per cent unemployment with rampant malnutrition, anthrax and cholera. Schools are shut down as are many hospitals due to lack of proper sanitation. The cruel tyranny of Robert Mugabe’s government is destroying his people.
In the Congo, villages are being burned and civilians slaughtered by a marauding rebel army know as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) – which has also been ravaging Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan. Just days ago these terrorists set fire to a church full of people holding a prayer vigil, clubbing and hacking worshippers to death with machetes. The LRA is well-known for attacking villages, raping women, murdering men, and abducting children to be forced soldiers or sex slaves. Since Christmas Eve, the LRA has murdered at least 620 Congolese civilians and kidnapped more than 160 children. The day after Christmas, the LRA attacked a village in eastern Congo and over a hundred houses were set on fire. When people fled to a church to hide, the LRA went in and slaughtered them.
In the international news
Evangelicals Now – Jan 09 – The new Anglican entity in North America
The Times – Jan 27 08 – Anglican primates to meet in Egypt
Soul food
Rejoicing with those who rejoice
The Rev Canon David Short recounts God’s amazing, just-in-time provision for St John Shaughnessy’s 2008 financial shortfall. He says, “We came to the beginning of December needing $330K by year end – the largest amount ever, and this in the context of a marketplace which was in meltdown… December 2008 broke all records for cold and snowfall [in Vancouver], with four consecutive snowstorms leaving over 60 cm of snow on the ground. The roads became impassable, the sidewalks treacherous, and the weight of the snow on rooftops, threatening. We had very small Sunday congregations on December 14, 21 and 28. We made the difficult decision to cancel two of the four Christmas Eve services… and Christmas Day. On Boxing Day, late at night, the roof of the [church] Portico collapsed under the tremendous weight of the snow. It seemed to be a metaphor for our helplessness… Then, during the week after December 28 a large number of individual parishioners, made their way to the church office to deliver their financial gifts.” St John’s finished 2008 with a deficit of “a mere $10,000.” As Canon Short says, “It was God’s doing and we should stop and praise him for his grace and ask him to help us trust him for the future.” Read the whole story
Worth reading
Dr Stephen Noll offered a “recent” history of the crisis in the Anglican Communion to the recent Mere Anglicanism conference. Starting in 1996, he shows how the “judgment of God has fallen on the Communion and how the mercy of God is still operative”. Dr Noll discusses how the “…breakdown of orthodox doctrine… over the past half century caused a crisis of discipliner…. The result has been a heretical church and a dysfunctional Communion. The crisis has also revealed a long-standing flaw in the governance of the Communion.” He holds out hope, however. Speaking of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and the June 2008 GAFCon conference, he says:
The recent conference in Jerusalem concluded: “We believe the Anglican Communion should and will be reformed around the biblical gospel and mandate to go into all the world and present Christ to the nations.” The churches that gathered in Jerusalem do not want to go it alone. Like all Anglicans, they hold a high view of the catholicity of Christ’s Body, and they believe that God has gifted the Communion with potential to reach out to the many nations. The Prophets of Israel always followed up their oracles of judgment with words of consolation and restoration for God’s chosen people. I believe that the history of decline and fall has another chapter coming, one in which the Lord will address our Communion with love and hope for a new beginning.
New Bible study out in time for Lent
A new Bible study series based on the teaching at GAFCon is now available. The six-study series, called “The Way of the Cross,” can be used on its own, or in conjunction with downloadable, 30-minute audio or video recordings from GAFCon. The Latimer Trust says the questions are designed to open up the whole biblical story of salvation, and draw on the Bible expositions, which set out the implications of the passages for our global Anglican Communion. The many contributors include Canon David Short (Vancouver, BC) and the Revd Vaughan Roberts (Oxford, England). Archbishop Peter Akinola (Primate of all Nigeria) has written the forward. For more information see the Latimer Trust website, or Anglican Mainstream online. Canadians can order the series from Regent College Publishing, www.regentpublishing.com.
Just for fun
In response to the recent British atheists’ campaign of bus posters, which say “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”, the Church Times posts this clever cartoon.
Please pray...
For the very important Primates meeting in Alexandria, Egypt the first week of February and particularly for the GAFCon Primates. As in the past, this meeting will undoubtedly prove to be highly significant in the unfolding of God's will for the Anglican Communion.
For the people of Zimbabwe and the Congo. Pray that peace, order and good government would be restored quickly.
For Dr Barbara Pell, wife of the Rev Dr Archie Pell as she battles cancer.
For new ANiC congregations and fledgling church plants; that the Lord's wisdom be sought, and that they may find success and growth in His Name.
For newly ordained priest, the Rev Karen Bergenstein and her church planting work in the Ottawa area.
For the deacons two who will be ordained to the priesthood in the near future:
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The Rev Daniel Endresen, on February 22. He will serve in Montréal at St Timothy's Anglican Bible Church |
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The Rev Ronda Nychka, on March 1. She will continue her ministry at Toronto’s Yonge Street Mission. |
For those congregations still involved in court proceedings and disputes; may they be blessed with the courage, peace and wisdom of God. Prayer also for the judges and lawyers involved.
For the biblically faithful clergy and laity in the ACoC, particularly in dioceses that are departing from historic Christian teaching.
For our nation and government in these days of deepening economic woes. Pray that our leaders will have the wisdom to seek God and His righteousness.
And now a word from our sponsor
Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins...
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
Isaiah 58:1, 6-12 (ESV)
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