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Handle with prayer!
News shorts – ANiC and AEN
Bishop Malcolm announces he will retire this summer
I wish to inform you that I will be retiring as Bishop Suffragan for ANiC on June 30/09. I have indicated to Bishop Don that I will be available for occasional episcopal ministry after June 30 as needs arise and until at least new ANiC bishops are in place.
In so many ways my episcopal ministry with ANiC has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my entire ministry.
So, many thanks for your prayerful support over the past months as we travelled together on this spiritual journey of renewal and, God willing, revival in North America.
+Malcolm
“Working shoulder-to-shoulder with my brother Malcolm has been a great joy and encouragement for me,” said Bishop Don. “He is a gifted man of God with a gentle humility, a passion for revival and keen insight. I’m very grateful that he is willing to continue to assist in the episcopal ministry when needed. Thank you, brother, for your service to the Lord.”
Clergy retreat deadline looms
Registration has been brisk, but there’s still room for a few more clergy members. Deadline for registration is Wednesday, February 25. Full details are on the ANiC website, as is the agenda.
| Date: |
March 3-5, Tuesday 4pm – Thursday after supper |
| Location: |
Cedar Springs Retreat Center in Sumas, Washington (near Abbotsford) |
| Topic: |
Truth for Transformation: Mission as a 21st Century Global Christian Communion |
| Speaker: |
Canon Dr Chris Sugden (Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream in Britain) |
Diocese of BC refuses to negotiate: Update on St Mary’s Nanoose Bay
The diocese has refused to negotiate with the congregation of St Mary’s Nanoose Bay despite the specific request issued from the recent Primates Meeting in Egypt that mediation be pursued to resolve disputes. The people of St Mary’s have been ordered by the bishop’s commissary, Bruce Bryant-Scott, to vacate their building this week. For now, the congregation will move their services to a local library. The congregation has also chosen to mark their new beginning with a new name: Christ’s Church (Oceanside). While not abandoning their claim to the church building at this time, the current interim order in the St. Mary’s Metchosin case has set the precedent for parishes in the B.C. diocese who realign with ANiC. In that case, the court granted the diocese use of the building until a trial takes place in respect of the trust claims on the property.
Episcopal Commissary appointed in Ottawa area
After consultation with leadership of ANiC churches in the Ottawa area, Bishop Donald Harvey has appointed the Rev Archie Hunter for a very specific task as Episcopal Commissary for ANiC’s church plants in the Ottawa area. His focus will be on working with and nurturing a number of emerging church plants and their leaders.
News shorts – Anglican Church in North America (ACNA)
The Anglican Church in North America by the numbers
The Diocese of Fort Worth (Southern Cone) has posted a report that quantifies the Anglican Church in North America, concluding the fact that it has more members than 12 of the 38 Provinces in the Communion. It reports that average Sunday attendance exceeds 80,000 and estimates that membership exceeds 100,000.
News shorts – United States
Diocese cuts power to churches on reserve in the dead of winter
The Diocese of South Dakota is reported to have sunk to a new low in its dispute with congregations of churches the diocese intends to close on the Pine Ridge Reserve. The diocese not only had the power cut to these churches in the dead of winter, but it is actively preventing utility companies from accepting payment from other parties. Earlier, Pine Ridge Tribal Courts had issued an injunction, temporarily preventing the diocese from "disposing of" the churches as the Bishop had announced.
Lutherans consider “local option”
The Associated Press reports that a task force of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has issued a report which is said to recommend “allowing individual congregations to choose whether to allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy.” The recommendation will be considered this August at the biannual convention of the 4.7-million member denomination.
In the US media
Newsweek – Feb 14 09 – The rise of a new flock
EpiscopalLife Online – Feb 17 09 – Include new province
News shorts – International
Church of England synod discusses proposed Covenant
The Church of England (CoE) general synod, held Feb 9-13, considered many matters including the Anglican Covenant and draft legislation allowing female bishops in the CoE. This is a summary:
- Speaking to general synod about the Anglican Covenant, Bishop Nazir-Ali said what held the Communion together in the past – common history, similar ways of worship and ‘bonds of affection’ – were no longer sufficient.
“The Covenant is one way of ensuring that the common life of the communion is healthy and effective… If… the Covenant correctly identifies the fundamentals of Anglican identity and also provides a basis for deeper and more godly relationships, then we, at least, should say ‘yes’ to it… As the Communion has emerged, it has been necessary, from time to time, to develop common declarations and structures which would assist in the unity and coherence of the body.”
[However]…the ACC is the final arbiter in deciding whether a Province or a church has relinquished the force and meaning of the Covenant for itself. Once again, we have to ask whether this is where the final decision should be made. Surely, it should be a body such as the Primates, who, in consultation with the other Instruments of Communion and speaking on behalf of the bishops and their churches, are able to make a decision which sticks.
The main purpose of the Covenant is inclusion rather than exclusion. We cannot forget, nevertheless, that these questions have arisen for us because of the need for adequate discipline in the Communion on matters which affect everyone. Nor, of course, can we forget that discipline is for the purpose of reconciliation and restoration. In the meantime, such discipline will undoubtedly have what have been called ‘relational consequences’. This is a matter of deep sorrow and of repentance for all of us and should lead us to be committed to continue the search for that unity in truth which General Synod has asked for in its previous resolutions…
Archbishop Williams reportedly disagreed with Bishop Nazir-Ali on the matter of the Covenant’s disciplinary potential. "We mustn't have excessive expectations of the covenant," Williams is reported to have said. "It's part of an ongoing inquiry of what a global communion might look like. At every stage it is something which churches voluntarily are invited to enter into."
A lay delegate, citing TEC’s aggressive persecution of faithful Anglicans – deposing 12 bishops, 104 clergy and launching 56 lawsuits – asked what hope a Covenant with no teeth could offer.
Church of England synod sends legislation on women bishops for revision
In the discussion on introducing women bishops to the Church of England, the mood of synod was reportedly less militant that last time and more sympathy for those conscientious objectors who would require structural protection. There seems to be some thought that, the proposed legislation, which synod voted to send to a revision committee, could be altered to better accommodate the needs of those opposing women in the episcopate. See the Guardian and a BBC story.
Bishop Don’s talk at CoE synod gets panned – and praised
Bishop Don was the guest speaker last week at a Church of England synod fringe event – sponsored by Anglican Mainstream. Colin Coward, the Director of Changing Attitudes (a homosexual lobby group), attended and filed a report on his blog. He says, in part:
It’s all very familiar, and was delivered by a bishop who is clearly likeable and passionate. Those listening to him were enthusiastic about his message… Blame is endemic to the conservative narrative. It is our, liberal, fault; we who believe we are maintaining the tradition of Anglicanism against those who are trying to destroy the Elizabethan settlement and create a schism. What they are doing is blessed by God and they are right. There is no sense of the complexity of human feelings and actions, no thought that those they oppose might also have a degree of integrity and a conviction that what we believe is has a holy dimension and stands in a great tradition of the biblical call for justice.
A video of Bishop Don’s interview with Ruth Gledhill, well-known religion correspondent with The Times, is available online.
Other Church of England synod news
Synod overwhelmingly passed a motion requesting the House of Bishops report on their understanding of the uniqueness of Christ and provide guidance on evangelism in a multi-faith society. Bishop Nazir-Ali (Rochester) supported the motion, saying in part:
As Chair of the House of Bishops Theological Group, I am glad to reaffirm the biblical teaching on the utter uniqueness of the God who reveals himself to Israel but also on the universal significance of this one God, the source and ground of all that exists, for all peoples and the whole world. The New Testament tells us, and the Catholic Creeds declare, that, in Jesus Christ, God himself has entered into human history and we encounter him in this human person. But because it is God who is encountered, the particular becomes full of universal significance.
In response to a speech by a lay delegate of Asian descent who chastised synod for not supporting converts from other faiths who faced persecution from their own people even in Britain, the Archbishop of York immediately asked synod to take time for silent prayer.
Arguing that there are racist undertones in parishes and diocese, synod passed a motion asking bishops to ban clergy who are members of the British National Party.
Archbishop Akinola challenges the Communion to “Wake up”
In a pastoral letter posted to the Church of Nigeria website, Archbishop Peter Akinola (Nigeria) talks about the recently concluded Primates meeting. He concludes:
All through our gathering at the recently concluded Primates’ meeting I kept wondering whether we were the ones to whom John was writing [in Revelation3:1-6]. We have a glorious reputation – a worldwide communion of millions with a glorious history and beautiful heritage, fluid structures, grand cathedrals, “infallible” canons, historical ecclesiology and ‘flexible’ hermeneutics – but we are in danger of forgetting what we have received and heard and replacing it with the seemingly attractive gods and goddesses of our age. We are in danger of becoming the ‘living dead’ by giving the outward appearance of life but in reality we are no more than empty and ineffective vessels. In parts of our Communion some have merged the historical gospel message of Jesus the Christ with seductive ancient heresies and revisionist agendas, which have resulted in an adulterated and dangerous distortion of the gospel. The call to obedience and repentance is one that we must declare but we refuse and instead we replace it with a polite invitation to empty tolerance and endless conversation. Sometimes we think that we can replace the need for repentance with activities, programmes, endless meetings, conventions and communiqués --- we are wrong!
Our world is in turmoil desperately looking for hope and we have been given that hope in the life and person of Jesus the Christ who sets us free from the slavery of sin to the new life of the Spirit --- that is our message, that is our assurance, that is the holy life to which we have been called. It is a life of costly commitment where we reject the false gods and promises of this present age and embrace the one true God and His righteous claims upon our lives. It is a life of obedience to the revealed Word of God which must never be compromised. It is a gospel message which is to be fully proclaimed unfettered and undiluted. It is a life worth living and a life worth dying for. It is a life of true freedom that was birthed in this land and one we dare not forget.
“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent!” [Rev 3:2]
Ash Wednesday, Feb 25, declared day of prayer for Zimbabwe
The Primates, at their meeting in Egypt, requested that Anglican Churches worldwide set aside Ash Wednesday, February 25th, as a day of prayer for Zimbabwe. Years of corruption and turmoil have destroyed the countries infrastructure, resulting in economic, political and social devastation. Disease is rampant. Christians are persecuted. Pray for peace, a return to good government, economic recovery and immediate intervention to address the suffering.
Archbishop Orombi calls for prayer and fasting
The New Vision reports that the Primate of Uganda, together with leaders from the Orthodox, Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist and Pentecostal Churches, has called on Ugandans to participate in 40 days of prayer and fasting, repenting of the evil that has led to increased cases of human sacrifice and appealing to God to heal the land. “There is greed, corruption and an inhuman thirst to spill innocent blood because our society is degenerating owing to greed, Godlessness and moral corruption,” he said.
Appointment of new secretary for Anglican Communion affairs
The Archbishop of Canterbury has announced that the Rev Canon Joanna Udal will serve as the new Secretary of Anglican Communion Affairs, based at Lambeth Palace.
Diocese of Recife blessed with growth
Since it realigned out of the liberal Province of Brazil in 2005 and was received by Archbishop Greg Venables of the Southern Cone, the Diocese of Recife has experienced <http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/?p=7489> considerable growth. From 4371 members in 2005, the diocese now numbers over 6000 members, and confirmed members active in church life have more that doubled. Bishop Don recently attended the Diocese of Recife synod, representing Archbishop Greg.
Intolerance of Christians
If you’ve noticed that society is increasingly intolerant of Christian views, you’re not alone. Telegraph religion reporter, Martin Beckford calls it the “war against Christians” and says it strikes at the heart of freedom of speech. The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, wrote in the Daily Mail:
For me, my trust in God is part of my DNA; it is central to who I am and defines my place in the world. It informs my whole life, not just a weekly service on a Sunday. It is the failure to grasp this basic understanding of what it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ that lies at the heart of the problem of which these two cases are just symptoms.
Those who display intolerance and ignorance, and would relegate the Christian faith to just another disposable lifestyle choice, argue that they operate in pursuit of policies based on the twin aims of 'diversity and equality'…
Christianity has been at the heart of the history of this nation. British history, customs and ethos have been gradually shaped by Christianity… Christianity is the tapestry upon which our country's heritage was woven. All of this is lost to those who would deny Christianity any place in our nation today…
My challenge, then, to the 72 per cent of this nation who marked themselves as 'Christian' in response to the census of 2001 is that if they wish to safeguard that same Christian tradition, they must renew their faith and become actively involved in their local church.
A delegate at the Church of England general synod, the Rev Nezlin Sterling, told synod:
We cannot allow ourselves to be marginalised. This process of marginalisation of Christianity seems to be moving at a rapid rate in our country. I am of the belief that we in the church are so anxious to be politically correct that we on occasions forget to reflect on whether our actions are Christ-correct.
We have positioned ourselves like the disciples did after Christ died, behind closed doors, paralysed with fear of the world recognising that we are Christians and bearers of the good news of salvation. It would appear that the church is making a choice between community cohesion and evangelisation, and the former seems to be given priority…
There is no room for complacency, no room to procrastinate or retreat but like a mighty army of the church we Christians must go forward, spread the Gospel and the good news of salvation. Every person in my mind is a potential convert.
Another response to the Primates meeting in Egypt
The Rev Dr Leander Harding has joining the ranks of those responding to the Primates Communiqué. He says: “There is a sense of the bizarre and of unreality about discussions that view schism as something that approaches but has not yet come.” However, he believes the Anglican Covenant will – eventually – provide a constructive way forward and calls on orthodox North Americans leaders to work together. He also asks us to reconsider the recommendation in the Primates’ Communiqué and the Windsor Continuation Group report which called for “a kind of ecclesiological escrow” offering pastoral care and oversight for orthodox North Americans. However, he sees this as viable only if the ultimate goal is reconciliation, not with the former Provinces (ACoC and TEC), but with a “renewed world-wide communion organized around a biblical and apostolic covenant which sets clear boundaries for member churches”.
In international news
The Atlantic – March 09 – The Velvet Reformation [lengthy profile of the Archbishop of Canterbury]
Soul food
Worth reading
National Post columnist Ian Hunter writes about the erosion of marriage and how the legalization of same-sex marriage has led to the current debate over polygamy.
To stay or go, that is the question
Mark Larratt-Smith has written an excellent paper responding to “Patient endurance – On living faithfully in a time of troubles” which was published by members of the Anglican Communion Institute (ACI). In their ACI paper, the authors – Ephraim Radner, Christopher Seitz and Philip Turner – argue against formation of the Anglican Church in North America. They say, “The obedient form of differentiation suggested by the pattern of Christ is not separation but faithful persistence along a different path within the fellowship of the church that has nurtured one as a Christian but has, nonetheless, gone astray.”
In his response, Mr Larratt-Smith, a member of the Anglican Church of Canada as well as a member of Anglican Essentials Network, makes many good points, including:
You have suggested that the situation of the American and Canadian Churches can best be understood as evidence of God’s judgement… [I]t would seem at least possible that God’s purposes also extends to encompass the cleansing and renewal of His Church so that it can again concentrate on its primary mission of faithful witness and evangelism.
Our unity derives from our relationship with Christ and his relationship with the Father: “I in them and you in me”. [John 17] Over the centuries the visible structures of the Church have changed and will continue to do so, but the challenge to faithful discipleship remains constant as the bond of unity.
Whether in practice the new Province eventually replaces the two Provinces that are drifting into apostasy, or whether it remains a parallel structure within the Anglican Communion is relatively unimportant. What is really important is the opportunity and the commitment of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) to get on with sharing the Gospel and making disciples in an environment free from the kind of mindset that recently led the Canadian Primate to imply in a letter to his fellow Primates that the Anglican Church of Canada is obligated to adjust its doctrines simply in order to conform to the changing social provisions of the State.
What… I hope you mean by “patient endurance” is actively, persistently, and without compromise speaking into the corrupted structures from within. This is the well trodden path of prophesy… that sooner or later will inevitably involve facing bitter criticism, rejection and persecution from those who refuse to listen.
There are no easy choices. If I join ACNA, I will be leaving behind people that I will continue to love. If I remain where I am, I will still be relying on ACNA and on those who have had the courage to create it to provide me with a lifeline of fellowship and hope to endure as an active witness within the Anglican Church of Canada… The choice that I and others must make will, in each case, be influenced by the individual circumstances in which He has placed us. Our experience of God is always that His ways are not our ways… In the end there is only one strategy: His strategy. There is only one church: His Church. If we are faithful to Him, He will continue to build it on us as His foundation.
Just for laughs
By popular Church Times cartoonist Dave Walker
Please pray...
For wisdom as ANiC seeks to find more effective ways of ministering to and encouraging “Orphaned Anglicans” – those who are Biblically faithful but have no orthodox Anglican church in their community.
For Bishop Don, Bishop Malcolm and Bishop Ron. Pray for clear guidance and boldness to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading.
For Barbara Pell and other ANiC members and leaders who are experiencing health problems.
For new ANiC congregations and fledgling church plants. May they seek and know the Lord's wisdom and experience His blessing on their congregations.
For congregations and clergy discerning God’s will for them regarding whether they should join ANiC at this time.
For those congregations still involved in court proceedings and disputes. Pray for wisdom, courage, peace and the necessary funds. Pray also for the judges and lawyers involved.
For the needed money to support the legal defence of ANiC congregations. Pray for upcoming court hearings that could dramatically affect legal costs.
For our national, provincial and civic leaders as well as for our nation. May God be pleased to grant repentance and cause a revival to sweep our land.
For peace and order to come to Zimbabwe, the Congo and other troubled parts of our world.
And now a word from our sponsor
The Battle is the Lord’s
Psalm 47
Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.
He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.…
God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted!
2 Chronicles 20
… Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you… Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you… O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel… And he said, “… Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's. Tomorrow go down against them… You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf… Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”
Then… all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. And… [they] stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice…. And when [Jehoshaphat] had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed… When Judah came… they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped… And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel…
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