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News – ANiC and AEN
ANiC synod set for November 11-13; bishops to be consecrated November 13
God willing, Synod 2009 will take place November 11-13 in St Catharines (Ontario) culminating in the ordination and consecration of our three new bishops on the Friday afternoon, 1pm, November 13. The meetings will be held at Bethany Community Church in St Catharines and hotel accommodation has been arranged at Niagara Falls (only 15 minutes away). Information about synod plans, including additional activities available for non-delegates, will be available soon.
You can help fly delegates to synod
Recognizing the expense to parishes of sending delegates to synod, ANiC has devised some ways to help. First, a cost equalization program will help spread the costs of travel among delegates/parishes. So, for example, the travel costs of delegates coming from Newfoundland or Vancouver Island will be partially borne by parishes which are close to the synod venue.
Secondly, ANiC is appealing to members and friends to collect Air Miles™ during July and August specifically to reduce the cost of transporting synod delegates. You can simply download the Anglican Network in Canada Air Miles “card” from our website – together with full details on how this innovative program works. Then every time you shop where Air Miles™ are given – including most grocery stores – just present the ANiC “card” to the cashier – or give the cashier ANiC’s “collector number”: 84021361790.
Together, we can dramatically lower our costs of sending delegates to synod – with very little extra effort on our part. In subsequent newsletters, we’ll keep you posted on how many “miles” we’ve collected to date. As a point of reference, 2850 will fly one person from Vancouver to Toronto.
A third way you can help send a delegate to synod is to donate existing Air Miles™ (or Aeroplan™ points). Full details are on our website.
Youth leadership conference, August 31 (Monday) – September 3 (Thursday)
The 4th annual Vancouver Youth Leadership Conference (VYLC) is designed to build Christian disciples. Youth leaders will be trained by experienced teachers and equipped with leadership skills, Biblical strategies and confidence in teaching the Bible.
| Who: |
Leaders and potential leaders. |
| Age range: |
>From those entering grade 11 to 99 years |
| Where: |
St John’s Shaughnessy (Vancouver) |
| Cost: |
$90 (includes all materials, lunches and snacks) |
| Speakers: |
David Short, Ken Moser, Graham Stanton |
| Register: |
Download form. Email completed form to Julie@stjohnsshaughnessy.org, or mail to: Julie Moser, 1490 Nanton Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6H 2E2 |
| Information: |
Contact Julie at julie@stjohnsshaughnessy.org |
| Accommodation: |
Billets are available for those who live outside of Vancouver. Contact Julie as earlier as possible at Julie@stjohnsshaughnessy.org or call 778 861 9500. |
Welcoming new clergy
Bishop Don has issued ANiC licences to both the Rev Bob and the Rev Marion Bryce after they relinquished their Anglican Church of Canada licences. They will be ministering in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, starting a house church with Marion as the priest-in-charge. Bob will help while continuing work on an OjiCree New Testament translation as well as hospital ministry to OjiCree and Ojibwe patients. Please pray for the Bryces during this transition and for their ministries in Sioux Lookout.
St Luke’s Pembroke
Please pray for St Luke’s (Pembroke, ON) as they work out the financing to purchase and renovate a building. Praise God that the full amount needed for the down payment has been raised.
New communication tools for parishes
All ANiC priests were sent an email outlining available low-cost communication support for parish ministries – including professionally developed parish websites, invitation cards for distribution to friends and neighbours and church signage.
Calendar of events – for your interest and prayer support
July 22 – Toronto Centre ANiC project meeting
July 26, 11am – Church of the Ascension (Langley, BC) – 2nd monthly summer Sunday service
Aug 31 - Sept 3 – St John’s Shaughnessy (Vancouver) – Youth Leadership Conference
News shorts – Anglican Church in North America (ACNA)
Church of England General Synod to consider full communion with ACNA
Anglican Mainstream reports that a future synod of the Church of England (CoE) “…will be asked to decide whether it wants to be in communion with the newly founded Anglican Church in North America after a Private Members Motion (PMM), tabled on Friday [at the just concluded CoE synod] by lay member Lorna Ashworth calling for recognition of the ACNA has gained support from more than 1 in 4 of the Synod.”
The motion, which reads that “this Synod express the desire that the Church of England be in communion with the Anglican Church in North America”, gained 126 members’ signatures at the just concluded CoE General Synod in York, so the synod’s business committee, which meets in September, must decide when the debate will take place. Among the signatories were: “…the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt, as well as the Diocesan Bishops of Ely, Europe, Rochester, Blackburn, the suffragan bishops of Willesden, Beverly and Burnley, the Prolocutors of the House of Clergy both of the Provinces of Canterbury and of York, and the vice-chairman of the House of Laity. The House of Bishops’ Theological Group met on Friday morning in private session to table the new ‘Canons’ and ‘Constitution’ of ACNA and they will be considering these at their next meeting in September.”
The Living Church provides additional context.
News shorts – Canada
Diocese of Niagara institutes rites to bless same-sex marriages
The Anglican Journal reports that the Diocese of Niagara will, effective September 1, “…allow its priests to bless same-gender couples who have been civilly married…[becoming] the second diocese in the Anglican Church of Canada, after the Vancouver-based New Westminster, to offer a sacrament for same-sex blessings… A parish is not required to get the approval of its vestry before it can offer such blessings. Two other dioceses – Montreal and Ottawa – have also informed the house of bishops about their intention to move ahead with same-sex blessings… The issue of whether dioceses can offer same-sex blessings is likely to be revisited at the 2010 meeting of General Synod, the governing body of the Anglican Church of Canada. In 2007, General Synod had agreed that blessing rites for gay couples are “not in conflict” with core church doctrine, but refused to affirm the authority of dioceses to offer them.” The rite is posted to the diocese’s website.
Engaging a secular society for Christ
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada – of which ANiC is a member – is offering pastors and church leaders a workshop, called “Christian Leaders Connection”, designed to explore societal trends and strategies for outreach in a secular Canada. Check out the schedule of workshops.
News in Canada
Vancouver Sun – July 17 2009 – Why Anglican church (& Jews & Catholics) support homosexuals
News shorts – United States
TEC convention and bishops throw down the gauntlet
The Episcopal Church (TEC), at its triennial general convention, decisively passed a motion clearly opening the door to further consecration to the episcopate of those openly living a homosexual lifestyle. Positioning it as a justice issue – an argument Bishop N T Wright deftly dismantles – they passed motion D025 which is widely seen to “repeal” the presumed moratorium on consecration of homosexually-active bishops. At the end of the convention, motion C056 was also passed which essentially encouraged the development and use of rites to bless same-sex partnerships. Dr Albert Mohler looks at the broader implications of the convention.
The action of TEC general convention have been received in the broader Anglican Communion as a repudiation of the Windsor process, a snubbing of the vast majority in the Communion, and a personal affront to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who attended the convention prior to the vote and warned that passing the motion would mark a further distancing of TEC from the Communion.
A number of orthodox TEC bishops signed a minority statement expressing their continued commitment to the Windsor process and to abiding by the moratoria imposed by the Communion – yet, puzzlingly, several of those signing also voted with the majority on one or more of the two key motions, D025 and C056.
Much media – and blog – attention has been devoted to the convention and the decisions taken. The American Anglican Council has been providing daily summaries including an analysis of the critical vote on DO25 which passed by the House of Deputies prior to being sent to the House of Bishops where the vote was 99 in favour, 45 opposed and 2 abstentions. A Living Church commentary is also informative.
Bishop Love (Albany) and Bishop Beckwith (Springfield) shared their disappointment with the decisions of the convention in a lengthy video interview with AnglicanTV. Bishop Lawrence (South Carolina) wrote his clergy saying, “I write to you in the aftermath of General Convention 2009… TEC has contravened the clear teaching of Holy Scripture and breached the bonds of affection within the Anglican Communion… I will be meeting with the Standing Committee, Deans and others after my return late Wednesday evening… Please keep me in your prayers… God has prepared us as a diocese to address this hour in the life of our Church—of that I am confident. It is not a time for alarm. It is a time for thoughtful and steady resolve… This cannot be brushed aside as if it is of little consequence.”
Sarah Hey (of StandFirm), who was blogging from the floor of the convention, offered an “insider’s” perspective at the conclusion. In her view, “The finest hour for the conservatives was in repeatedly standing up and stating clearly -- on the record -- what they believed, as well as putting key votes on the record, either through roll call votes or votes by orders. Well done. This kind of stuff is not for weak-minded or weak-hearted people. It would have been far, far easier to keep silent, suffer through it, and escape early.”
Response to TEC convention decisions
Perhaps most interesting has been the response from those in the Communion who hold to theological orthodoxy but have opposed the GAFCon conference, the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and the constitution of the Anglican Church in North America – including the Anglican Communion Institute (including Dr Ephraim Radner), Fulcrum (an orthodox “think tank” in the Church of England) and Bishop Tom Wright.
While still not a fan of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans or of the Anglican Church in North America, Bishop Wright in a well-written piece in the Times says, “In the slow-moving train crash of international Anglicanism, a decision taken in California has finally brought a large coach off the rails altogether… This marks a clear break with the rest of the Anglican Communion… Both the bishops and deputies (lay and clergy) of TEC knew exactly what they were doing… They were formalising the schism they initiated six years ago when they consecrated as bishop a divorced man in an active same-sex relationship, against the Primates’ unanimous statement that this would “tear the fabric of the Communion at its deepest level”. In Windsor’s language, they have chosen to “walk apart”… Granted, the TEC resolution indicates a strong willingness to remain within the Anglican Communion. But saying “we want to stay in, but we insist on rewriting the rules” is cynical double-think. We should not be fooled.”
Fulcrum recommends: “A formal expression of distance, with consequent limiting of involvement in Communion counsels, must now follow if the Windsor and covenant processes are to retain credibility in the wider Communion… Over coming weeks, in discerning a proportionate response to this latest development it is important that:
1. a clear differentiation is made between the majority in TEC who voted for the resolution and those – centred on the Communion Partners – who upheld the mind of the Communion...
2. similar disregard for the moratoria in a significant number of dioceses in the Anglican Church of Canada are not ignored
3. critical attention also be given to the relationship of both the Communion and the Church of England with the Anglican Church in North America.
And in a subsequent post, Fulcrum adds: “…the rest of the Communion has – in faithfulness to Christ’s call to seek reconciliation - walked patiently with our brothers and sisters in TEC for many years, constantly inviting them to turn around in freedom and relocate themselves within the story of God that we collectively tell as a Communion, a story in which mutual subjection out of reverence for Christ, synodality, and mutual interdependence play key roles. At every stage attempts have been made to interpret TEC responses to requests as generously as possible. Now, however, TEC has spoken resoundingly and clearly through its supreme governing body of General Convention and addressed the question it avoided addressing in 2006.”
The Anglican Communion Institute: “The Episcopal Church is already out of communion with the majority of the world’s Anglicans. It is our expectation that many dioceses will not follow… Instead, they will take immediate action to assure the Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury of their continued commitment both to observe the Communion’s moratoria and to preserve and restore their structural bonds to the Communion… The continued flouting of Communion Instruments by The Episcopal Church demonstrates the compelling need for Section 4 of the Covenant and indeed for the strengthening of that section. Communion Partner Bishops and Rectors, and their concerned allies, wish to remain in the Communion and abide by its requests.”
Media reports of TEC’s convention
While media reports have been too numerous to list, several excerpts provide some context:
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, professor and author Phillip Jenkins said, “In approving gay bishops, ECUSA is defying the global Anglican Communion, which had begged Americans not to take a move that could provoke believers in other parts of the world. The Anglican Communion, though noticeably "progressive" in its American and British forms, is a world-wide church of 80 million. Indeed, the majority of Anglicans today live in African and Asian countries where progressive views are not so eagerly embraced. For American conservatives, it is Bishop Jefferts Schori's church that has seceded from global Anglicanism.”
The religion reporter for the Telegraph writes: “…the Americans have clearly shaken [the Archbishop of Canterbury] warmly by the hand before stabbing him in the front. They have delivered a fatal blow to his hopes for unity and now there can be no more fudging the issue. The Archbishop must act, and act decisively… The decision by the Americans to go their own way won’t just cut them off from the rest of the Anglican Communion, but could split the whole Church as it draws a line in the sand, demanding churches declare where they stand. It means Rowan Williams also must decide where he stands…. Now the line has been drawn, he has no option but to act. The Anglican Communion will be looking to see how he responds.”
Ruth Gledhill writes in the Times, “Bishops in the US dealt a death blow to hopes for unity in the worldwide Anglican Church when they approved in principle services for same-sex partnerships. The decision will finally split the Communion between Bible-based conservative evangelicals and liberal modernizers… Church leaders led by Dr Williams must now manage the disintegration of a 70-million strong Communion of 38 provinces that can no longer maintain the facade of unity.”
The Los Angeles Times reports an interview with the Presiding Bishop: “In an interview Friday, the Episcopal leader spoke of the need to balance the aspirations of her church with the broader goal of unity. "Change doesn't happen overnight," she said, predicting that the church would continue to deepen its relations with the Anglican Communion… Jefferts Schori also said she believes that the tensions between the church and some Anglicans are less the result of theological differences than varying social norms in different regions of the world. "I think we are learning more about each other's contexts," she said of the relationships in the communion. "We know more about what it means to be a Christian in Pakistan or North India or Kenya."”
Presiding Bishop calls confessing Christianity heretical
Opening TEC’s general convention, Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori identified the heresy she believes to be at the root of the crisis in the church: confessional Christianity! She said, “…The overarching connection in all of these crises has to do with the great Western heresy – that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God..." Dr Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminar, responds, “… the Bishop identified as heresy what the church – throughout all the centuries and in every major tradition – has recognized as central to the Christian faith.” The Living Church also comments as does Religious Intelligence.
Presiding Bishop tells Communion nothing has changed
As the convention was coming to a close, Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori wrote all the Primates in the Communion to provide her interpretation of the actions of the general convention. She said, “…we understand D025 to be more descriptive than prescriptive in nature, acknowledging the realities we face in various parts of our own Church while reaffirming our ongoing commitment on all levels to our relationships within the Anglican Communion.” She also wrote the Archbishop of Canterbury saying, in essence, that the decisions of the general convention have changed nothing and TEC is “…deeply and genuinely committed to our relationships in the Anglican Communion.”
Responding to these letters from the Presiding Bishop, the Anglican Communion Institute points out that these letters demonstrate that TEC has released all its dioceses from observing the moratoria so the Communion should now allow TEC dioceses to sign on to the Anglican Covenant. They say, “This explicit recognition that some bishops and dioceses will conform to Communion teaching while others will not requires that the Communion now look to individual dioceses and parishes for communion commitments. The General Convention has decided it cannot speak with one voice in committing to the Communion’s moratoria. The Communion has no choice but to acknowledge those who are ready, willing and able to make these commitments.”
TEC convention refuses to force disclosure of funding for litigation
The Living Church reports that a motion to force TEC leadership to disclose where it was getting the money to sue orthodox dioceses and parishes and how much it had spent and planned to spent for this purposes was defeated by the TEC House of Deputies.
Call to pray, fast and resist
In light of TEC’s general convention, the Rev Philip Ashey, COO of the American Anglican Council, is calling on orthodox Anglicans worldwide to join in fasting and praying. He asks for specific prayer for the following (among others):
| • |
that the current draft of the Anglican Covenant would be released immediately and without change for affirmation by the provinces |
| • |
that the Archbishop of Canterbury ask all TEC representatives to withdraw immediately for participation in any office within the Anglican Communion |
| • |
that the Primates and Provinces formally recognize the ACNA as “the only Anglican body in North America fully compliant with the three moratoria” requested by the instruments of unity |
Rev Ashey says:
“A false gospel has overtaken and consumed TEC… If not contained, this disease and dysfunction will spread to the rest of the Anglican Communion… The decisions… of TEC have brought clarity and crisis (again) to the Anglican Communion. Will the Communion surrender to these moratorium-breaking resolutions and the false gospel that drives them… or will the Anglican Communion renew its commitment to the uniqueness and universality of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of all, and reaffirm the faith and order of the Communion? The choice is as clear as it was for the people of Israel on Mt Carmel.
“We invite you to pray and fast for the Anglican Communion… Pray for the faithful remnant of orthodox Episcopalians who will be facing difficult times ahead. Pray for those who have been seduced by the false gospel, that their hearts may be turned back to true worship of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior… Pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our leaders – Archbishops, clergy and lay leaders throughout the Anglican Communion – and for the courage and wisdom to do what is necessary to preserve the faith and order of the Anglican Communion.”
California ACNA church wins a battle in legal war with TEC
A California judge has ruled against an attempt by the Episcopal Church (TEC) to prevent an appeal by St James Anglican Church in Newport Beach, California – a parish in the Western Anglicans Diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) – of a California Supreme Court decision to the United States Supreme Court. Full details are here. A S Haley (aka the Anglican Curmudgeon) provides his usual excellent legal analysis on the case.
News shorts – International
Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans launches in Britain
1600 people from 400 parishes attended the July 6 launch in London of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans – Be Faithful! – including a cross-section of Anglo-Catholics, Evangelicals and Charismatics. You can watch online AnglicanTV videos of the key talks, including addresses by Archbishop Bob Duncan, Archbishop Greg Venables, Archbishop Peter Jensen (Australia), Bishop Keith Ackerman (US), Bishop Wallace Benn (UK), Bishop Ali-Nazir (UK) and others.
In a stirring message, Archbishop Greg said: “If we consider the track record after Lambeth '98, the primates meetings, Lambeth '09 and the recent ACC meeting, the message is that the Communion will continue to seek to accommodate incompatible and antithetical positions even though the Primates clearly said in this year's meeting, “We don't believe the same things and something needs to be done.” If the system is given its head, the liberal agenda will be pushed forward and since no synthesis can replace the gospel, non truth will simply swallow up true truth. Unless there is a robust and clear voice in this part of the world as well as elsewhere, the very truth of Christianity will not only not be affirmed and proclaimed, it will be silenced in Anglicanism.”
Archbishop Peter Jensen (Sydney, Australia) told those gathered that Britain was “facing a battle for the soul of the nation.” In his address, titled “The Jerusalem Declaration – Why it matters”, Archbishop Peter Jensen’s made the following statements:
| • |
“The [Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans] exists to keep Anglicanism united, to enable those whose spiritual existence as Anglicans is threatened to remain Anglicans with integrity.” |
| • |
“Unless you develop a deep confidence in the gospel of the saving work of God through Jesus Christ, a willingness to work together for Christ, and a determination to submit to the teaching of scripture… The culture will swallow you alive.” |
| • |
“The culturally captivated churches of the West are sending their gospel to the rest of the world. … this is not the time to wring hands… it is no time to say ‘peace, peace’ – for there is no peace.” |
| • |
“The conflict is over the authority of Jesus Christ. The fact that sexual ethics is where the contest is sharpest should not divert us from this basic truth.” |
In a message delivered on behalf of Archbishop Peter Akinola by a bishop from the Church of Nigeria House of Bishops concluded: “We call on all faithful servants of God to stand up and be counted in this move of the Holy Spirit to renew the Church… let me pray that what we have begun today in this city of London… will reverberate all over Europe, and indeed all over the world to the glory of God. I pray you will live up to God’s expectation, and later be celebrated like some earlier Anglicans, the Clapham Sect, Church Missionary Society, SPCK and others.”
The Church Times provides a summary of the meeting, as does the Telegraph. and VirtueOnline.
Church of England synod rejects move to centralize power
The Times reports that “The General Synod, being held in York, overwhelmingly rejected the proposals which would have made Dr Rowan Williams one of the most powerful Archbishops of Canterbury since the Reformation. Church bodies responsible for education, mission and finance were to have been abolished with the powers of the Church’s main boards and councils instead passing to Canterbury and York. But tonight the laity, clergy and even some bishops threw the plans out in a rebellion that will keep the balance of power within the democratically elected Synod.”
Church of England condemns Church of Sweden for same-sex rites
The Living Church reports that the Church of England’s Archbishops’ Council has written the Archbishop of Uppsala (Sweden) condemning the Church of Sweden’s “authorization of rites for the blessing of same-sex unions, saying the decision will impair relations between the two churches and threatens the “fragile unity” of the Anglican Communion”. The Archbishops’ Council said that what the Swedish Church was doing was a “fundamental re-definition of marriage and of basic Christian anthropology” and “at odds with the Biblical teaching about the significance of God’s creation of human beings as male and female as this has been received by the Church of England and by the Catholic tradition in general.” They added that this action would have “immediate and negative ecumenical consequences” and would “lead to the impairment of the relationships” with “particular limitations of the inter-changeability of ordained ministry.”
New Kenyan Primate installed
When the Most Rev Dr Eliud Wabukala was recently installed as Archbishop of the Church of Kenya, ACNA Primate Bob Duncan was an active participant in the proceedings.
In international news
Telegraph – July 4 2009 – Change and repent, bishop tells gays
Soul food
Just for laughs
A small boy started pulling handfuls of money out of his pockets - nickels, dimes and quarters.
Stunned, his mother asked, "Where did you get all that money?"
"At Sunday School," the boy replied nonchalantly. "They have bowls of it."
A husband and wife were getting ready for bed. Standing in front of a full length mirror, the wife stops to take a hard look at herself.
"You know, dear," she says, "I look in the mirror and I see an old woman. My face is all wrinkled, every thing else is either sagging or bloated. I've got fat legs, and my arms are all flabby."
Turning to her husband, she wistfully asks, "Please tell me something positive to make me feel better about myself."
He studies hard for a moment as he thinks about it and then says in a soft, thoughtful voice, "Well, there's nothing wrong with your eyesight."
Joe's wife liked to sing so she joined the church choir and would practice while preparing dinner. But whenever she would start in on a song, Joe would head outside to the porch.
Reproachfully, his wife asked, "What's the matter, Joe? Don't you like my singing?"
Joe replied, "Honey, I love your singing, but I just want the neighbors to know I'm not beating you."
Courtesy www.mikeysFunnies.com
Worth reading
Following TEC’s general convention, a former homosexual activist has posted his testimony on the StandFirm blog in which he appeals for a more civil dialogue in the “blogosphere”. He says, “I may be somewhat biased, but I happen to think that the number of repentant homosexuals, committed to a lifestyle grounded in Biblical faithfulness and sexual chastity, is one of the best kept secrets of the Episcopal Church. We will have to do something about that. One of the things we will have to do is strive to make, not only our local church, but our part of the internet a place where such folks are not afraid to “come out,” to find their voice and give expression to it along with other orthodox Christians. We are members of the Body of Christ and this is our struggle too.”
On a similar note, a recent press conference in Wheaton, Illinois announced the merger to three ministries to people battling same-sex attractions: Exodus International, Transforming Congregations (United Methodist Church), and OneByOne (Presbyterian Church in the US). By working more closely, the effectiveness of the ministries is expected to be expanded.
Please pray...
For those planning and preparing for ANiC’s November 11-13 synod – and consecration of our new bishops – in St Catharines, ON.
For St Luke’s (Pembroke) as they finalize arrangements for the purchase on a meeting facility.
For the many ANiC “projects” across the country building congregations and setting the framework to launch as church plants – especially for the Bryces and their ministries in Sioux Lookout.
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 meet our Lord & Saviour.
For the legal cases
| • |
For Mr Justice Stephen Kelleher as he reviews all the written material and considers his decision in the Vancouver court case. May God grant insight and discernment. |
| • |
For the Windsor case (involving St Aidan’s) which is being dealt with in London. |
| • |
For the congregations involved in court proceedings and disputes. Pray for peace, particularly for the wardens and trustees who are on the front lines and bear the burden of responsibility. Pray for a continued focus on, and blessing upon, their ministry in the midst of this turmoil. |
| • |
For continued contributions to the Legal Defence Fund so that legal costs can be covered and the churchwardens and trustees are not at personal financial risk. |
| • |
For the leaders and parishioners of the dioceses pursuing eviction of and damages against ANiC congregations and wardens in court. |
| • |
For repentance and healing, and that those being persecuted will be able to forgive so there can be hope for future reconciliation. |
For the Anglican Church in North America, Archbishop Robert Duncan and the 28 dioceses.
For the orthodox in TEC and the response to TEC by the Primates and Provinces.
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
My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.
Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
Proverbs 3:1-12
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