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  ANiC Newsletter: 21 May, 2009 ... pdf version
    

Handle with prayer!

News – ANiC and AEN

ANiC delegates to the provincial assembly announced
ANiC delegates to the provincial assembly announced
After extensive consultation, Bishop Donald Harvey has appointed the following delegates to represent ANiC at the June 22-25 Provincial Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). In addition, Executive Archdeacon Charlie Masters, as General Secretary of ACNA, will be at the assembly.

Active Bishops:
The Right Reverend Donald Harvey (Moderator)
The Right Reverend Malcolm Harding (Suffragan Bishop)
The Right Reverend Ronald Ferris (Assisting Bishop)

Clergy (4)
The Venerable Trevor Walters – St. Matthew’s, Abbotsford, BC
The Reverend Canon David Short – St. John’s, Shaughnessy, BC
The Venerable Paul Crossland – Church of the Resurrection, Brandon, MB
The Reverend Stephen Leung – Church of the Good Shepherd, Vancouver, BC

Lay (4)
Marilyn Flower – St. Stephen the Martyr, St. John’s, NL
Claus Lenk – St. George’s, Lowville, ON
Patricia Hyttenrauch – St. Aidan’s, Windsor, ON
Keith Levenick – Church of the Resurrection, Brandon, MB

Youth (3)
Alexander Pryor – Church of the Good Samaritan, Newfoundland
Christopher Abadir – St. Timothy’s Anglican Bible Church, Montreal, PQ
Jeff Wilson – St. Matthew’s, Abbotsford, BC

Alternate Lay
Robert DeJean – St. Timothy’s Anglican Bible Church, Montreal, PQ
Michael Davenport – St. John’s, Richmond, BC


Bishop Don to celebrate with St John’s Sudanese Anglican Church this Saturday

Bishop Donald Harvey will celebrate with St John's Sudanese Anglican Church on May 23 (Saturday) at 3pm. At the service, the Rev Emmanuel Sadarak will formally receive an interim ANiC licence while we await the transfer of his credentials from the Episcopal Church of the Sudan. Guests are most welcome!

Time: Saturday, May 23, 3pm
Place: Southside Community Church (Robson Park), 12642-100 Ave , Surrey, BC

An informative article in the May Anglican Planet on St John’s Sudanese Church tells us that many parishioners were refugees – including Pastor Sadarak – and that the growing congregation is largely under 40.


Court update
After the mediation process – initiated by the ANiC parishes – failed, lawyers for the four ANiC Vancouver-area parishes are set to appear in court on May 25 for a trial that is expected to last up to three weeks. See our news release. A Canadian Christianity article examines the issues in the court case. And Glenn Davies, on the Sydney Anglicans website, reports on a talk given by Lesley Bentley at a Sydney (Australia) parish about the situation in Canada and the upcoming court case. Religious Intelligence also carried an article on the upcoming case.

Please pray for our 3 witnesses that will be cross-examined by the diocese’s legal counsel on Friday and Saturday, May 22 and 23. Linda Seale from St. Matthew’s Abbotsford and Bishop Don Harvey will be cross-examined on Friday, while Bishop Ron Ferris will be cross-examined on Saturday. A fourth witness may be examined on Saturday but this is uncertain at this time.

Please pray for our legal counsel, particularly Geoff Cowper and Stanley Martin as they prepare for the opening of the trial on Monday, May 25.

Messages of prayer support are coming in. Bishop Bill Murdoch wrote Bishop Don:
“…I am very aware of how hard you have all been working for the sake of gospel witness in the Anglican Church in Canada and around the whole communion…Our parish and diocese will add you all to our prayers during the increased intensity of these next few weeks and months of what we hope will be the conclusions of many years of struggle. Your struggle is not against flesh and blood but principalities and powers.” Others have promised to pray daily, including many of the bishops in the Anglican Church in North America.


If you plan to attend any or all of the court hearing…
You are most welcome to attend.
Location: 800 Smithe Street, Vancouver (The court house block is bound by Smithe on the north, Hornby on the west, Howe on the east and Nelson on the south)

Date: Monday – Friday, May 25 - June 12
Daily Hours of Court: 10:00 am – 12:30 pm and 2:00 pm – 4:00 each day

Getting there: Taking the bus or Skytrain may be easiest. Pedestrian entrance to the court building is from Smithe Street or Nelson Street.

Parking: Court House underground parking is available for a fee. The parkade entrance is at the NW corner of Howe and Nelson (enter off Howe Street). Alternatively, you can park at the Pacific Center parkade - enter at the NE corner of Robson and Howe (going into the Sears underground passage).


Calendar of events – for your interest and prayer support
May 27-31 – Christ’s Church (Nanoose Bay, BC) – Mission with Steve James
May 30 – St George’s (Lowville, ON) – Women’s retreat
May 30 – St John’s Richmond – Bible in a Day course
June 6 – Niagara Essentials – Youth and the Church conference
June 7 – ANiC Atwater Project (Montreal, PQ) – first regular service
June 10 – Toronto Centre ANiC project meeting
June 21 – St Chad’s (Toronto, ON) – 100th Anniversary celebration service


Dr J I Packer honoured
Canon Dr J I Packer, ANiC’s theologian emeritus, was honoured recently by Nashota House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin, an Episcopal Church school, with a honourary Doctor of Divinity degree.


News shorts – Anglican Church in North America (ACNA)

Registration filling up for ACNA’s inaugural Provincial Assembly
The inaugural Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), June 22-25 at St Vincent's Cathedral, Bedford, TX, is filling up fast. The program features daily worship, teaching, and information sessions. A reduced registration fee of $200 for the week or $75 per day is only available through June 1. You don’t have to be a delegate to attend; just to vote. So, if you are thinking about going to this historic event, don’t hesitate any longer! Because of limited space in the cathedral there is a cap on registrations. For information and to register, see the brochure.


Anglican Journal coverage of ACNA
The Anglican Journal has posted an article entitled “The birth of a new, conservative denomination”, saying the creation of ACNA is a move that should be “both respected and mourned”. However, the article asserts that only the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Consultative Council is able to recognize a new province, but fails to point out this is a very contentious assertion. The article admonishes,
“…the creation of a theologically conservative province, if it comes to that, should be done properly. It should follow canon law; it needs both the blessing of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Consultative Council. The Anglican Church in North America seems determined to move forward, whether or not it is duly recognized within the Anglican Communion.” The article then goes on to question the unity within ACNA:

“Will this newly formed Anglican Church in North America become as united around what they stand for as they are united around what they stand against? Will they embrace conservative, evangelical Anglicans or will they strive to recreate the historic episcopate? The inaugural provincial assembly will face a true test of just how wide its conservative arms are when it considers its draft constitution and canons.”


ACiC hosts spiritual retreat in Vancouver area – July 24-27

The Anglican Coalition in Canada (ACiC) – a partner diocese with ANiC in the Anglican Church in North America – is holding a three-day spiritual retreat with keynote speakers the Rev David Rich (Anglican Mission in the Americas) and the Rev Rod Ellis (Reformed Episcopal Church). Music, youth and children’s ministries are included. For more details and to register, see the brochure.


Youth pastor wanted
St Simon’s (North Vancouver), an Anglican Coalition in Canada parish, is looking for a part-time youth pastor.


Solid Ground opposes merging of Churches
Our counterpart in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), Solid Ground, is opposing the merger of some aspects of the ELCIC’s operations with the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) – seeing this as signaling a future “take over” by the ACoC. Their petition details differences between the two organizations in terms of polity, property ownership and comparative size – although some of what they state about the ACoC is subject to court interpretation in the upcoming ANiC trial.


News shorts – United States

Legal battles in US

Diocese of Pittsburgh – VirtueOnline reports that the Episcopal Church (TEC) has asked a Pennsylvania judge to “make a declaratory judgment as to who is the "real" Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh and is thus entitled to oversee all its assets, property, and parishes. The Episcopal Church is attempting to seize all the parishes and diocesan headquarters property arguing that Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan has been deposed and is therefore not the rightful owner of diocesan assets.” For those with legal training, the Anglican Curmudgeon analyzes TEC’s strategy and vulnerability.

Bishop Bob Duncan (Pittsburgh) has responded to TEC’s move, saying that the Diocese of Pittsburgh (which is now under the jurisdiction of the Southern Cone) is the rightful owner of diocesan property. David Virtue summarizes Bishop Duncan’s position as:
“TEC is a confederation of equals and… General Convention was not designed as the highest branch of TEC, nor does it have hierarchical authority over a diocese. Dioceses are constitutionally and canonically free to nullify any legislative enactment by the General Convention with which they disagree… The General Convention had nothing whatsoever to do with the creation of the founding dioceses; it was the founding dioceses that created the General Convention in 1789.”


In the US news
Church of England Newspaper – May 14 09 – Fort Worth moves to dismiss Church lawsuit
Church of England Newspaper – May 15 09 – Supreme Court to decide on California property case


News shorts – International

Prayer requested for Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) general assembly, May 21-23

The same issues that are splitting the Anglican Communion are now beginning to wrack the Church of Scotland. The critical debate regarding openly and actively homosexual priests will take place Saturday (May 23) at 6:30pm (Scotland time). Please pray for those who will speak for the orthodox truth of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. May they speak with wisdom and winsome grace. For more information see the Confessing Churches website. You can also watch a live webcast of the debate.


More on the recent Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) meeting
The Church of England Newspaper, in an article entitled “Chaos as ACC battle on Covenant plan”, documents the confusion and irregular procedures leading up to the vote to send the Covenant back for further review – resulting in a further delay of up to a year. Delegates quoted in the article blamed the Archbishop of Canterbury for at least some of the chaos. One delegate called him a “very weak leader” and asked
“couldn’t he be courageous for once?” Bishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East, Dr Mouneer Anis expressed great disappointment with the “manipulation” of the meeting. “It was not right. It was absolutely wrong,” he said. Another delegate, Abraham Yisa of Nigeria said he was “amazed” by the proceedings, which were “contrary to all known rules” of parliamentary procedure.

You can watch a summary of the decisions of the meeting on AnglicanTV, the critical day of the ACC meeting, the official press conference where the ACC officials attempted to explain their questionable decisions, as well as an “alternative press conference” held immediately following the meetings with orthodox Anglican delegates – including Bishop Mouneer Anis – discussing the manipulation. Notes from this press conference are posted to Anglican Mainstream.

Other delegates from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada were very pleased with the outcome. The Anglican Journal quotes a Canadian delegate saying,
“I came to this meeting quite burdened, quite worried. I have come home with evidence, not just hope, that the Communion will last and that we will be a part of it.”

Dr Ephraim Radner of the Anglican Communion Institute, in his extensive reflections on the debacle, includes these comments:
“[T]he sequence of events in the debate and resolution-voting, amending, and re-voting maintained a skewed dynamic of direction… the ACC was granted a perceived power to order the Covenant’s actual content that it simply does not and should not hold. It is a consultative body whose purpose is to coordinate common mission and to advise: it is neither the guarantor nor the originator of Communion doctrine and polity…the ACC ended up being the locus of… obvious political maneuverings… To have the ACC deal with the Covenant in a way that many do not trust, that has turned out to lack credibility in its prosecution, and that has taken many by surprise in the midst of a plea for expected forms of common life, is to promote a certain kind of contradiction… Given the worries, anxieties, and prejudices held around the Communion with respect to the ACC’s work already, this represents a confirmation of all the negative feelings in place… this blow to credibility will encourage more movement by some Anglicans away from engagement with the standard processes of Communion consultation and decision-making… there will not be a stemming but a continued and possibly strengthening of the rejection of the Communion instruments altogether, in favor of alternative realities.”

Bishop Mouneer Anis (Jerusalem and the Middle East) wrote on his diocesan website:
“…the Episcopal Church in America (TEC) and a few other churches were strongly opposing the idea of the Covenant…I personal believe that we will never have a perfect Covenant that could be accepted by all, even if we spend another 10 years working in it… Sadly, the way many things were planned for the ACC 14 meetings helped to undermine the Covenant supporting voices… As a result of this manipulative process, the sending of the Covenant text to the provinces was deferred with the hope of playing further games. The postponement of the Covenant was perceived by some, especially TEC, as a great victory… In view of all this, I am now convinced that we have a great opportunity to turn around the whole situation. We can do this if we, as dioceses and Provinces, started to discuss, make comments and adopt the Covenant without any further delay. Those who will sign the Covenant will form a strong covenantal fellowship.”


The Episcopal Church of the Sudan demands TEC remove “missionary”
A missionary appointed by the Diocese of Virginia has been sent home <http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/5/14/sudan-asks-for-removal-of-va-missionary> by Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul (Sudan) because of her promotion of same-sex blessings. She had been serving as a lecturer at a theological college in the Sudan.


Agnostic bishop finds room in the Anglican Church
The retired Bishop of Edinburgh, Richard Holloway, became an agnostic in 1998 but doesn’t see any need to stop celebrating the Eucharist or performing other ecclesiastical duties. He considers himself a “Christian agnostic” and wants to church to accommodate clergy like him. He told the Sydney Morning Herald, “
The congregation I belong to in Edinburgh knows my position and is hospitable enough to include me." His vision of the church is a “…social club, welfare organisation and counselling service as a community of believers - or doubters”.


Sri Lanka – rebuilding a nation
With the civil war at an end, the rebuilding of the nation must begin. Anglican Bishop Duleep de Chickera is quoted saying,
"We must become a nation in which every woman, man and child, regardless of religion or ethnicity is made to feel equal, free and proud to call themselves Sri Lankan. Now is the time… to take prayerful, purposeful and collective steps towards an integrated, united and just Sri Lanka that has eluded us for decades… We will be required to address the grievances of all communities, eliminate social fear and suspicion, restore the people's confidence in law and order."


Soul food

Worth noting
“Gay gene” – The American Psychological Association is quietly toning down its bias that sexual orientation is biologically determined – reflecting the failure to demonstrate a genetic basis for sexual orientation. Chuck Colson, in a passionate Break Point commentary, says, “We must learn, as the apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:5, to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.” If we don’t make the case for natural marriage—or fight attempts to shut us up or shut us down—sooner or later, we will all find our most sacred liberties sacrificed on the altar of the gay agenda.”

Prolife March – In an event ignored by mainstream media, nearly 10,000 Canadians marched in Ottawa May 14 to “pay respect and draw attention to the millions of Canadians killed by abortion since 1969”. An exception was an excellent article in the National Post by Michael Coren.

National day of prayer – Sunday, June 28, 2009 – The National House of Prayer in Ottawa and the Nation at Prayer are encouraging churches and individuals to take part in this annual national prayer initiative. The website www.nhop.ca contains resources for this special day.


Resources
David Virtue highly recommends Mortal Follies:
Episcopalians and the Crisis of Mainline Christianity, by William Murchison. Murchison documents how the Episcopal Church was taken captive by the culture of our day – and rejected its godly heritage. Virtue concludes his review: “In brilliant prose, Murchison exposes the soft underbelly of the Episcopal Church's reductionism in faith and morals. Murchison is a stylist of the first order. His book is a small masterpiece, an eye into the mordant and spiritually corrosive world of The Episcopal Church. It is a sad but must reading for anyone wanting a window into the soul not only of The Episcopal Church, but of a culture in decline and the church that is following it.”


Just for laughs
1) A minister was planning a wedding at the close of the Sunday morning service. After the benediction he had planned to call the couple down to be married for a brief ceremony before the congregation. For the life of him, he couldn't think of the names of those who were to be married. "Will those wanting to get married please come to the front?" he requested. Immediately, nine single ladies, three widows, four widowers, and six single men stepped to the front.

2) A minister in a little church had been having trouble with the collections. One Sunday he announced, "Now, before we pass the collection plate, I would like to request that the person who stole a scarf from our Church wardrobe, please refrain from giving any money to the Lord. The Lord doesn't want money from a thief!" The collection plate was passed and, for the first time in months, everybody gave.


Please pray...
For
ANiC delegates as they prepare for the Anglican Church in North America provincial assembly, June 22-25.

For ANiC congregations holding ministry events in the next few days:
Christ’s Church (Nanoose Bay, BC) – Mission with Steve James (May 27-31)
St George’s (Lowville, ON) – Women’s retreat (May 30)
St John’s Richmond – Bible in a Day course (May 30)

For
new ANiC congregations, church plants and projects. May they know the Lord's leading and experience His blessing on their congregations.

For wisdom as ANiC seeks to find more effective ways of ministering to and encouraging
“Orphaned Anglicans” who have no orthodox Anglican church in their community.

That we would
share the Good News with those around us who need to be introduced to our Lord and Saviour.

For the
Church of the Sudan and other Global South churches being wooed by those promoting a false gospel.

For Anglicans and other Christians in
Sri Lanka. May God use them to bring peace to the land and introduce many to the Prince of Peace.

For the
unity of orthodox Anglicans in the Communion.

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.


And now a word from our sponsor
Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.
Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities.
Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.
For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God.
For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.
This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you.
For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones.
All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.
In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you.
Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy; no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.


Isaiah 54 (ESV)


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