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Handle with prayer!
News – ANiC and AEN
ANiC parishioners’ survey
Have you made your voice heard yet? All ANiC
parishioners 18 and older are asked to complete a short, five minute survey. The
information from this survey will help ANiC’s development team plan for ANiC’s
growth and sustainability. For more information and to take the survey now, please see the ANiC
website. Parishioners without Internet access can get paper copies
of the survey from their rector. Thanks so much!
Virtual
clergy retreat
If you
didn’t make it to the clergy retreat, you can still benefit from the teaching. Podcasts
of the four teaching sessions by the Ven Michael McKinnon are posted to the
ANiC website. (Thanks to ANiC’s registrar the Rev Tom Carman for
making the recordings.)
New England
youth conference recommended
St Michael's Youth Conference,
a 52-year tradition in New England, will be held July 31 – August 6 in West
Hartford, Connecticut. In recommending the conference, the Ven Michael McKinnon,
ANiC archdeacon for New England, says that St Michael’s is thoroughly orthodox
and steeped in the Catholic tradition. Its primary goal is to form “an
intentional community whereby young adults come to know Jesus Christ as their
personal Lord and Saviour. He says, “Please consider sending your 14-21 year-old
young adults. It will be an investment in your child’s soul. They will
experience a fun-filled,
life changing, faith-building week as they grow in their knowledge
of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Bible, the sacraments, Church liturgy, Christian
moral teaching – and much more! Many participants come back year after year.”
For more information, contact Archdeacon Michael – who, along with Fr Andrew
Carlson, serves on the faculty of the conference – at (508)481-8493 or John3v17
(at) verizon.net.
New ANiC
clergyman explains why he left his former Church
The Rev Tony Harvey, who recently was licenced in ANiC
after years of ministry, has written a short letter to explain his decision to
leave the Anglican Church of Canada. You can read it on the ANiC
website.
ANiC
member begins mission in Southern Sudan
ANiC
has a special connection to the Southern Sudan, with the congregation of St John’s
Surrey being comprised largely of former refugees from that country. Now, the Rev
Lexson Maku of the Church of the Ascension (Langley, BC) has just returned from
Southern Sudan. While there he registered his new mission organization, the Afro-Canadian
Evangelical Mission, met with community leaders and government officials in Mundri
where he was born, and purchased land. He and his coworkers hope to build an
orphanage to minister to the large number of orphaned children – the
result of decades of vicious warfare – as well as start a vocational
training institute to help rehabilitate former child soldiers.
Future
plans include the building of an elementary school, providing sources of clean
drinking water, and building and equipping a hospital. He says, “Our aim is to
reach the orphans with the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. There
is a lot of poverty in Southern Sudan. Please pray for this new nation that
will be formed on July 9th.” Southern Sudan is one of the poorest, least
developed places on earth, with virtually no infrastructure, schools, hospitals
or industry. The devastation caused by 50 years of conflict mean the new nation
of Southern Sudan is starting from scratch. Please also pray for the Rev Maku
that God would prosper his ministry.
Parish
news
St Matthias &
St Luke’s (Vancouver, BC) is holding a bazaar on Saturday, May 7 to
raise funds for its July 22-24 summer camp which will be led by Bishop Don Harvey.
The bazaar – a thrift sale and food market with delicious ethnic delicacies
for take-out and eat-in – will run from 10am to 4pm at the church, 680 West
49th Ave, Vancouver. See the poster for full
details.
St John’s
(Vancouver, BC) is holding a fundraiser on May 14 for an upcoming short-term
mission trip to Malawi. The fun and entertainment will start at 6pm with a
concert, dessert party and silent and live auctions. Admission is by donation.
Calendar
of upcoming events – for your interest and prayer support
April 26-29 Titus Institute Exponential Conference
on Church Planting in Orlando
May 7, 10am-4pm – St Matthias & St Luke’s
(Vancouver) bazaar
fundraiser
May 14, 6-9:30pm – St John’s (Vancouver) Malawi
mission team fundraiser
May 28 – Moncton, NB church planting workshop
June (TBD) – Marlborough, MA church planting workshop
June 6-20 – Asian Mission short-term
mission trip to Thailand and the Karan refugee camps
June 30 – July 14 – Asian Mission short-term
mission trip to China, working with disabled orphans
July 22-24 – St Matthias & St Luke’s
church camp with Bishop Don
Nov 2 – Clergy Day as well as spiritual life
conference for laity – both in Victoria, BC
Nov 3-4 – ANiC synod, Victoria, BC
On the
front lines: Growing and planting churches
Profile: Celebration Church in Barrie Ontario
“When we left the Anglican Church of Canada, we
made the decision to start anew and take a little time to reflect on what effective
ministry in our community would look like,” says the Rev Brian McVitty, rector
of one of ANiC’s newest parish. “Our name, Celebration Church, comes from Acts 8:8
where the proclamation of the Gospel brought much joy to the city of Samaria. We
wanted a name that reflected who we want to be as a people of God and
encapsulated our vision of reaching out to the community.”
Although Celebration Church launched in mid-January with a full program, the leadership decided to wait
until April for the formal inauguration, allowing time to iron out the wrinkles
and settle into life as an ANiC parish in a new building and with a new
vision. On April 9th, Celebration invited ANiC clergy and their spouses from
all over Ontario to come together for a mini-retreat with Bishop Don Harvey. That
afternoon, at the church’s official launch service, Bishop Don inducted both
the Rev McVitty and the Very
Rev Peter Williams (honourary assistant).
Later that week, the church held a city-wide open house in the Barrie
convention centre with Bishop Charlie Masters. Thanks to a coordinated
advertising campaign, which included 4000 door hangers, radio ads and signage,
the open house was well-attended, even drawing the local radio station.
The Celebration congregation comprises about 35
families. It meets in a Baptist church fellowship hall where it not only shares
facilities with the Baptist congregation but also Sunday School teachers and some
programming.
Asked about the one key thing he wants to
communicate to ANiC, the Rev McVitty says, “It was so helpful for us to take
the time to pause and prayerfully reset our compass by reexamining our vision,
mission and values before launching.”
Inspiration
for planting and growing churches
The Anglican1000 website recommends five church planting books:
| • |
Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? by Roland
Allen |
| • |
Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer |
| • |
Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become
Movement Makers by Ed Stetzer & Warren Bird |
| • |
Ten Most Common Mistakes Made by Church Starts by
Jim Griffith and Bill Easum |
| • |
Church Planting Landmines by Tom Nebel and Gary
Rohrmayer |
The Anglican Coalition in Canada, a ministry partner
with ANiC, has planned a Leadership Conference for May 25-27 in Richmond, BC
with Dr Terry Walling, a Fuller Theological Seminary professor, church
leadership trainer and church planting coach. Details are on the ACiC website.
News
– Anglican Church in North America (ACNA)
Holy Week observance
Canon Phil Ashey of the American Anglican Council
provides a two-minute video that discusses the practices of Holy Week and the importance of marking these
events as we enter into the “fellowship of sharing in His sufferings”.
Bishop
Nazir-Ali makes an “urgent call to the western Church”
The
American Anglican Council is co-sponsoring a speaking
tour next month by highly regarded Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, an
advocate for persecuted Christians around the world, an expert on Islam, and an
outspoken critic of UK public policy. Called Hold Fast: An Urgent Call to the
Western Church, these meetings are designed to encourage confident Christian
living in the face of the threats posed by secularism, multi-culturalism and
Islamic extremism. Currently scheduled meetings are in Atlanta, GA on May 18,
Newport Beach, CA on May 20, and Dallas/Fort Worth, TX on May 24.
Legal
update
A
second ACNA church in Virginia, Church of the Word (Gainsville), has reached an out-of-court settlement with the Episcopal Church that forces the church to “voluntarily disaffiliate from the Convocation of Anglicans in North America
(CANA), the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) and the Anglican Church in North
America (ACNA) for a period of five years”. Canon lawyer A S Haley expresses his
deep concern about this violation of the free exercise of religion
guaranteed in the first amendment of the US constitution. He argues that no
court in the US would uphold the prohibition in this agreement on association
with ACNA.
News –
Canada
Huron College to confer honourary doctorate on TEC
Presiding Bishop
A small Anglican college affiliated with the
University of Western Ontario has announced that it will confer an honourary Doctor of Divinity degree on the Episcopal
Church’s Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori at its convocation on May
5. Anglican Church of Canada primate Archbishop Fred Hiltz will present the
award together with Bishop Robert Bennett (Huron); then the Presiding Bishop
Jefferts Schori will give the convocation address to the 13 graduates and their
family and friends.
Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) House of Bishops
rejects open communion
In a statement released after
their week-long meeting in Niagara Falls, the Anglican Church of Canada’s House
of Bishops has announced its decision to not allow non-baptized church-goers to
partake of Holy Communion. They say:
“We have been made aware through
media articles and pastoral visits by bishops that in some parts of Canada a
practice of ‘open table' has begun. This involves admitting people to Holy
Communion before baptism. We recognize that this practice arises out of a deep
concern to express Christian hospitality. However we unanimously reaffirm our
understanding that the Eucharist is the sacrament for the baptised. We do not
see this as changing for the foreseeable future. At our next meeting, the
bishops will discuss and offer guidance to the church on Christian hospitality
and mission and how these relate to the Table of Christ.”
However, in response to the ensuing unhappy reaction
from members, Archbishop Fred Hiltz told the
Anglican Journal that the bishops “…are
open to further discussion on this issue”.
More Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) news
The ACoC’s
general secretary, the Ven Dr Michael Pollesel, has announced his resignation effective October 31.
The
next House of Bishops meeting in November will tackle a General Synod request to consider the implications of Anglican clergy
refusing to perform marriage ceremonies.
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) in action
The EFC
has been granted intervener status in a May 18th Supreme Court of Canada case which deals with
parental rights and freedom of religion.
The EFC
has written an open letter to Aeroplan protesting its discriminatory policies in singling out evangelical
ministries for exclusion from its “Charitable Pooling” program.
A very
good, short video produced by the EFC, Rethinking
Prostitution in Canada, pulls back the veil and reveals the truth
about this supposed “world’s oldest profession”.
News
– United States
Parishioners demand an
accounting of funds used for Episcopal Church litigation
VirtueOnline
reports that a coalition of Episcopalians
– calling themselves the “Trust Fund Coalition” – has written
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and the executive council of the
Episcopal Church (TEC) asking for a public accounting of the funds used for TEC
litigation. They had become “alarmed by reports that TEC is using trust funds
for litigation against dioceses, parishes, and clergy that have transferred to
other Anglican jurisdictions”. They have demanded “the names of the trust funds
used and the amounts taken from each one”. Previous attempts – by both
bishops and laity – to get this information have gone unanswered. The
article states that TEC has initiated over 50 lawsuits “to acquire property
owned by dioceses and parishes. They sometimes include actions against vestry
members. Over four hundred removal actions against clergy have been filed in
ecclesiastical courts…” The open letter from the Trust Fund Coalition threatens
legal action of its own if TEC fails to provide a “complete accounting of TEC's
financial disbursements for litigation”.
More US news
Church
of England Newspaper – April 15 2011 – Pittsburgh
petitions Pennsylvania Supreme Court
News –
International
Pray
for the GAFCon Primates meeting next week
The
GAFCon Primates have requested prayer for their meeting in Nairobi, Kenya the
week following Easter. An email from Archbishop Peter Jensen (Sydney,
Australia), secretary general of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA),
says, “There are still many important issues confronting the Anglican
Communion, and it is more important than ever… to provide clear and biblical
leadership for Anglicans who want to hold firmly to the truth of God's word. Please
do pray for the Primates in their important deliberations and for outcomes
which will aid the proclamation of the gospel around the world.”
Revisionist
CoE appointment creates controversy
Writing in
the Telegraph, the Rev John Richardson explains why the nomination
of the Rev Nicholas Holtam, rector or St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, as
Bishop of Salisbury “…poses great challenges for traditionalist Anglicans here
and abroad, but it also raises serious questions about the functioning of the
Crown Nominations Commission, responsible for choosing Anglican bishops.” The
Rev Holtam’s marriage to a divorcee traditionally could disqualify him from the
post and thus presents a potential challenge to church order. More seriously,
the Rev Holtam is an advocate for changing Church doctrine on matters of
sexuality. The Rev Richardson, who also blogs as the Ugley Vicar, denounces the
current system for nominating bishops in the Church of England which he says is
“shrouded in secrecy” and puts “so much power in the hands of so few”.
A Church Society statement says, “In his public ministry Mr Holtam has actively promoted erroneous
teaching on the issue of human sexuality which puts him at odds with the
declared mind of the House of Bishops, the General Synod of the Church of
England and the 1998 Lambeth Conference, [and] makes him unfit for ministry in
the Church of England let alone as a Bishop… [W]e call on the Church to repent
of its folly, to uphold Biblical teaching and to cry out to the Lord for mercy.” For samples of the Rev Holtam’s
views see here and here.
Surprisingly,
a Church of
England Newspaper article notes that the Bishop of Sherborne, Dr
Graham Kings, who was previously considered to be evangelical, is totally
supportive of the Rev Holtam and his appointment.
A CoE commenter
onTitusOneNine notes that, in the past 18 months, a number of
appointments to the House of Bishops have served to make the Church of England’s
episcopacy even more liberal. Speaking of the appointment of the Rev Holtam, he
writes, “…this appointment is the third preferment in the last 18 months of one
of the founding steering group of Inclusive Church… “
Exodus
of Anglo-Catholics continues
In a Telegraph
article on the Roman Catholic Anglican Ordinariate, a Church of
England clergyman considering the Ordinariate is quoted saying, “Orthodox
Christians in the Church of England are being marginalised by this liberal
agenda that keeps on accelerating. You look around the leadership of the Church
and there’s no one there who is likely to stop it.” The article concludes, “For
Archbishop Williams, the battle to stem the tide of Anglicans defecting to Rome
has only just begun. Hundreds, if not thousands, are likely to leave if the
Church gives final approval next year to current plans to make women bishops.”
Disestablishment
supported
In Arbiters of
the Faith, The Rev Dr Andrew Goddard questions whether the time has
come to push for disestablishment of the Church of England to free it from
undue political interference in theological matters.
Anglican
Covenant updates
In a fascinating
review of the Covenant history and current prospects, canon lawyer A
S Haley explains why the Episcopal Church will never sign the Covenant. He also
ironically notes that the very factions within the Communion that most
stridently oppose the Covenant are “the ones who control the Covenant amendment
and adoption process” through their domination of the Anglican Communion
Standing Committee.
The
general convention of the Diocese of Los Angeles has declined
to endorse the Covenant at its recent meeting and recommends the
Episcopal Church does the same.
Meanwhile,
the Anglican
Journal says that, “With its usual faithful response to requests
from the Anglican Communion, the Anglican Church of Canada is preparing
materials for next year’s discussions of the proposed Anglican Covenant.”
Anglican
bank for development work under consideration
An
Anglican Communion meeting in Nairobi, involving participants from the Global
South as well as from the west, has agreed upon three
priorities for relief and development work: “Economic empowerment,
with support for micro-finance, including working on a roadmap towards an
Anglican bank… Peace and reconciliation, [and] learning from the experience of
the church in countries affected by conflict.”
Archbishop
Kwashi blasts Communion for not supporting persecuted Christians
A Church of
England Newspaper article on the recent visit of Archbishop Ben
Kwashi (Jos, Nigeria) to Britain, recounts the many times he, his wife, his
house and his churches have been attacked in the past decades. And yet, “The
Kwashis accommodate 50 orphaned children in their home whom they feed and
educate.” In a video posted
to YouTube he and his wife Gloria tell journalist Ruth Gledhill
about life in Jos with the recent attacks on Christians. In a BBC radio
interview, Archbishop Kwashi gives testimony to the transforming love
of Christ in the face of persecution and speaks of his indebtedness to the
missionaries who came to Nigeria and lead his father to the Lord.
In a Church Times
article, Archbishop Kwashi comments on the lack of support he has
experienced from the Anglican Communion in the midst of the persecution in Jos.
While he had experienced no support while at Lambeth 1998 – and chose not
to attend Lambeth 2008 – he says it was very different at GAFCon (in
Jerusalem in 2008). “People not only wept and prayed, people showed solidarity.
After that, people from GAFCon did visit Jos, did go to Sudan, [and are] still
going… [W]e don’t want your money, just a visit to encourage… to put your hand
on my shoulder and say, ‘Brother, we’re with you.’ That never happened in
Lambeth.”
From
around the Communion and the world
Ivory
Coast – An article in
the Anglican Journal reports that at least 1500 have been killed in
the civil war in the Ivory Coast and about 800,000 have been forced from their
homes. Ethnic killing is reported to be ongoing.
Japan – The Anglican
Communion News Service reports that the death toll from the
earthquake and tsunami is now well over 13,000 with move than 14,000 still
missing. 67,000 people have been displaced and almost 59,000 homes destroyed. The
Anglican Church in Japan says that three churches were so badly damaged they
have been demolished or are unsafe to use and others sustained earthquake
damage. At least one lay member was killed and two others are missing. Some
pastoral care is being provided in the hardest hit areas. Relief work is
currently focused on supplying food and daily necessities, but this will likely
change to providing community services and counselling support as the situation
stabilizes.
Nigeria – The National Post
reports that recent national elections have triggered rioting and
violence, especially in the predominantly Muslim north. Rioters targeted those
thought to have voted for the Christian presidential candidate. State elections
are slated for next week, which could result in more violence. Please pray for
calm.
Somalia – A young man who had recently converted to Christianity was murdered on Monday by al Shabaab extremists who are enforcing Sharia law on the people.
Sharia law mandates the death penalty for conversion from Islam. The very few Christians
in Somali are being systematically killed.
More
international news
Church
of England Newspaper – April 15 2011 – American
decadence a sign of the end times, archbishop warns
Church
of England Newspaper – April 8 2011 – Tohoku
[Japan] ‘annihilated’ archbishop reports
Soul
food
Resources
Podcasts of top preachers – You can listen to
sessions from the recent Gospel Coalition conference on Preaching
Christ and the Gospel from the Old Testament. The conference featured top
evangelical leaders in North America. (Be sure to scroll down the page to see
the sessions.)
History of heresy – A 1988
Churchman paper summarizes past controversies and heresies in the
Church and points out the ever-present threat of compromising, or even losing,
the Gospel.
Children’s curriculum – The Anglican Church
League (Australia) highly
recommends the Praise
Factory, a resource for systematic
theology curricula for pre-school and elementary age children.
Anglican systematic theology – Anglican Spread
blogger the Rev Charles Raven highly
recommends a recently published book by Bishop John Rodgers: Essential
Truths for Christians: A Commentary on the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles and
Introduction to Systematic Theology. Bishop Rodgers is with the Anglican
Mission in the Americas. The Rev Raven says, “…after
many years’ work, Bishop John has produced a book which will be truly essential
for all those committed to rebuilding global Anglicanism as a confessing
Communion with a confident and clear witness to the gospel”. The Thirty-Nine Articles, a key part of our
“Anglican Reformation heritage”, are affirmed in the Jerusalem Declaration “as containing
the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God’s Word and as authoritative
for Anglicans today”. The Rev Raven says
Bishop Rodgers’ book is “an impressive exercise in Anglican systematic
theology”, yet highly accessible.
Of interest
King James Bible – A Church of England
minister has undertaken a project to
mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible and “raise awareness about the impact of this translation on the English
speaking world”. His project is to
explicate a list of 365 phrases that have come into common use – or that
he feels should be more commonly in use – that originated in the King
James Bible. He deals with phrases such as “carried away”, “wit’s end” and
“miserable comforters”. Every day he discusses one of the phrases. His list of phrases is here.
Following the money – An article on
MethodistThinker.com follows the money trail for the multi-million
dollar advocacy of the homosexual agenda in Catholic and mainline Protestant
churches.
Chilling forecast
The CEO
of the UK’s Christian Medical Fellowship in a discussion of
demographic trends in the west concludes, “Unless something is done
to reverse the demographic trends, economic necessity, together with the
‘culture of death’ ideology which is becoming more openly accepted, may well
mean that the generation that killed its children will in turn be killed by its
own children.”
Just for fun
Joey's
dad invited Rev & Mrs Brown to dinner. Joey's mom made an extra-special
meal. It was Joey's job to set the table with the good china and silver.
As
everyone sat down to eat, Joey's mom said, "Joey, dear, you forgot to set
a knife and fork for Mrs Brown."
"I
didn't think I needed to," Joey explained. "I heard Daddy say she
eats like a horse."
One
lazy Saturday morning the wife and I were quiet and thoughtful, sitting around
the breakfast table when I said to her unexpectedly, "When I die, I want
you to sell all my stuff immediately."
"Now
why would you want me to do something like that?" she asked.
"I
figure a woman as fine as you would eventually remarry and I don't want some
other jerk using my stuff."
She
looked at me intently and said: "What makes you think I'd marry another
jerk?"
www.mikeysFunnies.com
Thought
Some
cause happiness wherever they go. Others, whenever they go. www.mikeysFunnies.com
Please pray...
For our bishops
and clergy and their families
For ANiC
projects, church plants and parishes, and for their proclamation of the
Good News to those in their communities who desperately need new life in
Christ – especially over Easter
For the four Vancouver-area ANiC parishes and their
legal counsel as they await the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on
their application for leave to appeal
For other ongoing legal challenges faced by ANiC
parishes, including the ongoing litigation involving St Aidan’s (Windsor) and the ANiC parishes that were formerly in
the Diocese of Niagara –
and their mounting expenses
For all the congregations involved in court proceedings and disputes. Pray for a continued focus on, and
blessing upon, their ministry in the midst of this turmoil. Pray for peace for
the wardens and trustees who are
on the front lines and bear the burden of risk and responsibility
For the leaders
and parishioners of the ACoC dioceses pursuing eviction of and legal costs against ANiC congregations and wardens
For donations to the ANiC legal defense
fund which supports parishes involved in disputes with their former
dioceses
For the implementation by the Diocese of Maseno
West (Kenya) of the malaria prevention project,
sponsored by the ARDFC. May God
use it to bless Kenyans and
bring many to Christ
For the people of Japan and Christchurch, NZ.
May they turn to God and find comfort and hope
For persecuted Christians especially in Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Iraq, Somalia, and other Muslim lands
For countries in Africa and the Middle East where radical Muslims are seeking to
leverage the political instability to gain control
For repentance and revival in our hearts and in our nation, for a
hunger for God and His Word
Pray for the GAFCon primates who are meeting next
week in Nairobi as they consider the issues in the Communion and set plans that
will aid the proclamation of the gospel around the world.
For all those in positions of leadership and
influence in the Anglican Communion,
that they would seek to honour and obey God above all else
And now
a word from our sponsor
“Tell
us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But
Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show
me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to
them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar's.” Then he
said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to
God the things that are God's.”
Matthew 22:17-21 ESV
Then
God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… So God created man
in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he
created them.
Genesis
1:26-27 ESV
He is
risen! Alleluia!
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