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Handle with prayer!
News – ANiC and AEN
Welcome
ANiC’s
moderator, Bishop Donald Harvey, has officially welcomed New Life Anglican
Church in Sturgeon Falls, ON (located near North Bay), into ANiC. This new
church plant is led by the Rev Nicole Poitras, who was received by Bishop
Donald Harvey earlier this year. Please remember this new congregation in
prayer as they become established and reach out to their community.
Bishop
Don welcomed the Rev Philip Ruch to ANiC this past week. Rev Ruch, who lives in
Dundas, Ontario has been licensed to serve as an Honourary Assistant at the
Church of the Epiphany, Hamilton. Bishop Masters will be present at Epiphany
on Sunday, September 12 to welcome him on behalf of Bishop Harvey and all the ANiC
family.
Please
pray for the Vancouver court appeal, September 13-16
Please
continue to uphold the ANiC Vancouver area parishes involved in the appeal of
the 25 November 2009 court decision. The hearing is set for September 13-16
and encompasses both the original decision and the subsequent awarding of court
costs.
The Abbotsford
News reports that the parish council and trustees of St Matthew’s
(Abbotsford, BC) met and agreed to the Diocese of New Westminster’s proposal
that it hold a service in the parish hall, rather than in the sanctuary on
Sundays, commencing August 29. The Diocese of New Westminster website
provides a report on the service which a commenter on
the Anglican Samizdat blog estimated was attended by about 30 people
– six of whom were thought to have attended the church in the past.
“We
have always said that we were open to negotiated settlements in respect of the
church properties,” said Chancellor Cheryl Chang. “This agreement to
share the premises pending the outcome of the trial ensures that the ANiC St
Matthew’s worship and ministries are not disrupted while the case wends its way
through the courts. A negotiated settlement providing some certainty to
both parties is always preferable to wasting resources upon unnecessary court
proceedings with uncertain outcomes.”
Pray
for mediation meeting in Ottawa, September 10
Please
pray for the mediation process that our Ottawa parishes – St George’s and
St Alban’s – will be engaging in on Friday, September 10 with the Diocese
of Ottawa regarding their church properties and assets. Pray that a
mutually agreeable solution will be found.
ARDFC update
We’ve
now posted a graphic showing the funds raised
to date toward our Kenya malaria project. As you can see, we have a long way
to go to reach our goal of raising the money needed by the Diocese of Maseno to
combat the scourge of malaria in its communities.
Also, ARDFC
is now collecting donations to assist with diocesan relief efforts in Pakistan – a country devastated by floods. The Church of
England Newspaper reports that millions have been driven from their
homes by the flood waters which covered about 1/5th of the country
at one point. Bishop Humphrey Peters (Peshawar, Pakistan) told the Newspaper
that the “floods have devastated everything in Pakistan and especially in our
part of the world… In Khyber Pakhtunkwa the worst hit area is Swat. The people
of Swat were first hit by militancy and now they are terrorized by the natural
disaster, worst of its kind in the living memory. Thousands are still trapped
in floods, as roads and bridges have been washed away.”
Finally,
on September 18-19, Archbishop John Chew (Southeast Asia) will be ARDFC’s guest
at a series of meetings held at Good Shepherd (Vancouver). If you are in the
Vancouver or Vancouver Island area, consider coming to the September 18
(Saturday) session at 2:30pm followed by a celebration dinner at 5:30pm.
Information on both events is on the ARDFC website. Archbishop
Chew was in Uganda last week attending the All Africa Bishops Conference.
Last
chance to register for ACNA church planting workshop, Sept 9
All clergy and lay people interested in church planting are invited to
take advantage of this rare opportunity to network and learn more without
having to travel outside of BC.
Time: September 9 (Thursday), 10am-4pm
Location: Delta Town & Country Inn (Terrace Room), 6005 Highway #17,
Delta, BC
Registration: Pre-register by contacting Bishop Ron Ferris by August 31 bishopronferris@ymail.com or 778-278-6525.
Workshop leader: Canon
Ron McCrary, from Anglican 1000, ACNA’s visionary church planting initiative
More information: www.anglicannetwork.ca/event_090910.htm
Associate
priest wanted for largest Chinese congregation in Canada
Anglican Network Church of the Good
Shepherd (Vancouver, BC) is eagerly seeking an associate priest to
work with Bishop Stephen Leung. It would be helpful if the individual was
conversant in Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese). Both a job description and a
parish profile are posted on the ANiC website.
Please remember this need in prayer. Also, please pray for other ANiC congregations
seeking pastoral leadership, including Emmaus (Montreal).
Parish,
church plant and ministry news
Toronto
Centre Project (Toronto, ON) is rejoicing at God’s provision of Blythwood Baptist Church,
80 Blythwood Road, Toronto as the new venue for their Sunday evening services
starting September 26, 6:30pm. All are welcome! See the ANiC website for more
information.
Mill
Bay, BC – The Rev Andrew Hewlett (associate pastor at The Open Gate,
Victoria) is shepherding a small group in this Vancouver Island community
north-west of Victoria. The group plans to apply to ANiC as an official
project in the near future. If you know of anyone in the Cobble Hill –
Shawnigan Lake – Mill Bay area, please let them know about this forming
congregation.
St
Stephen the Martyr (St John’s, NL) launched its first ever Alpha for
youth on August 27 with a fun launch party. The youth Alpha will run
each Sunday evening at 6pm beginning September 12 – and include a meal
together. The church also offers an adult Alpha this fall beginning September 9.
St
Matthew’s (Abbotsford, BC) has an attractive, inviting, easy-to-use, new website. Check it out!
If your
parish has news that would be of interest to others in ANiC, please email Marilyn or call
1-866-351-2642 extension 4020.
Calendar
of upcoming events – for your interest and prayer support
Sept 9,
10am-4pm – Church
planting workshop, Delta, BC
Sept 10
– Ottawa parishes in a mediation meeting with the Diocese of Ottawa
Sept
13-16 – BC Court of Appeal hearing in Vancouver
Sept
17-19 – St Luke’s, Spiritual renewal seminar with Bishop Malcolm & Ven
Paul Crossland
Sept 18
– St George's Ottawa, Day of Prayer in preparation for ANiC synod
(with Garth Hunt)
Sept
18-19 – Archbishop Chew visits Vancouver on behalf of the ARDFC
September
23 - 26 - Clergy retreat in New England
Sept
24-26 – St Timothy’s (Montreal), Pursuing Intimacy with God led by the
Rev Garth Hunt
Sept 25
– ACA
conference at St Brides, Clarkson, ON entitle “The plans I have for
you”
Sept 29
– Holy Trinity, Marlborough, MA - Ordinations to the priesthood
Oct 16
– Billy Graham Association Cross the
Street conference, Burlington, ON
Nov 3
– Clergy day, Ottawa, ON
Nov 4-6
– ANiC synod with featured speaker Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, Ottawa, ON
Jan
25-27 – ACNA 2011 church planting summit in Plano, TX with speaker Tim
Keller
March
29-31 – ANiC’s 2011 pastors’ retreat near Abbotsford, BC
News shorts – Anglican
Church in North America (ACNA)
The Table featured
A non-traditional
church plant in Victoria, BC, known as The Table, was featured on
Virtue Online. The Table – which is a cooperative venture
involving the ANiC, a Victoria Reformed Episcopal Church, The Church of Our
Lord, and the Anglican Coalition in Canada – is said to have grown in one
year “…from five people meeting for coffee to a network of over 100 people,
most of whom are in their twenties.” The church planters, the Revs Josh Wilton
and Andy Withrow, have found that the best way to get to know the community is
to follow “Jesus' example of eating with people”. They also say that more than
a “third of those coming regularly [to the dinner/discussions] are not
Christians”. The Table will launch
officially this September. Please pray for this congregation.
First Anglican 4th Day Ultreya is a
rousing success
ACNA members from the US and two
Canadian provinces gathering in Texas for the first Anglican 4th Day
(A4D) Ultreya. (The word Ultreya means “onward and upward”.) According to
the A4D newsletter, Archbishop Bob Duncan addressed the group, emphasizing the
importance of the 4th Day movement in ACNA to help develop leaders
and meet the goal of planting 1000 new ACNA churches in the first five years of
our province’s existence. A4D is the ACNA version of Cursillo.
Concern over new ACNA bishop ill founded
Bishop Bill Atwood, chairman the
ACNA’s Episcopal Task Force, called the criticism of a bishop recently received
by ACNA, superficial. The criticism of Bishop
Derek Jones who
was formerly with the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches (CEEC)
focused on the validity of his apostolic succession. Bishop Atwood said that
ACNA requires that bishops demonstrate a “significant standard
concerning Christian testimony, character and manner of life, Biblical
qualification, evidence of call, and demonstration of apostolic fruit for any
candidate that is considered by the College of Bishops.” Upon investigating
the case, the Church of
England Newspaper found the consecration of Bishop Jones to be
valid.
Update
of litigation involving ACNA US churches
Fort
Worth – The Episcopal Church (TEC) is amending
and refiling its lawsuit against the ACNA Diocese of Fort Worth
after a judge ruled that TEC’s attorneys could not represent a TEC entity
purporting to be the Diocese of Fort Worth. In essence, the judge had ruled
that the ACNA diocese was the real Diocese of Forth Worth.
San
Joaquin – TEC continues to launch lawsuits against individual churches –
and individual parishioners – in ACNA’s Diocese of San Joaquin. The news story in
the Central Valley Business Times quotes Canon Phil Ashey (American
Anglican Council) saying, “This policy of litigious terrorism finds no
justification in the corporate and non-profit law of California, and is
intentionally designed to inflict emotional and monetary distress on
individuals who have simply exercised their conscience”. TEC’s case against
the ACNA Bishop of San Joaquin, Bishop John-David Schofield and the ACNA
diocese, is scheduled to be heard in the Court of Appeal beginning September 8.
News shorts – Canada
Igloo
cathedral rises again
St
Jude’s Cathedral in Iqaluit on Baffin Island, NWT is being rebuilt after it was
destroyed by an arsonist in 2005. The National Post
reports that this unusual, igloo-shaped church building serves the
4000 Anglicans in Iqaluit and is the cathedral of the Diocese of the Arctic led
by Bishop Andrew Atagotaaluk. Geographically, the Arctic is the largest
diocese in the Anglican Church of Canada, covering 4-million square kilometres
in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Nunavik (in northern Quebec). Over
$2 million is still needed to finish the interior of the church.
Upcoming
conferences and opportunities
| • |
Reaching out
to the Muslim Community – An Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
conference to be held in Calgary, November 11-14. |
| • |
Hinge – An Evangelical Fellowship of Canada conference regarding the changing
church & mission landscape to be held in Toronto, November 16-18 |
| • |
Relationships that Work –
Women’s conference, People’s Church, Toronto, October 22-23. |
| • |
Equipping Evangelist is an Evangelical Fellowship of Canada ministry partnership. |
Dioceses
of Montreal and Quebec explore possible merger
The Diocese
of Saskatchewan website reports that two Anglican Church of Canada
dioceses are exploring a possible merger. The Dioceses of Montreal and Quebec
are said to be in a two-year “discernment process”.
News shorts – United States
Lutheran
congregations leave over Biblical authority and cultural accommodation
The National Post
reports that, hundreds of congregations have held votes on leaving
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) – a US denomination
numbering more than 4-million. Mirroring the crisis in North American
Anglicanism, many other congregations are refusing to send funds to the
national church and “Bishops in Africa have condemned the actions taken by
their North American counterparts”. The last week of August, departing
Lutherans were meeting in Ohio to reconfigure “North American Lutheranism”,
forming the North American Lutheran Church.
Integrity
USA plans expansion
The
organization “dedicated to the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people in the Episcopal Church” is planning to expand its current
network of local chapters from 57 to 109 – a chapter in each TEC diocese.
The organization is also planning a new push to disseminate information and
put down roots in parishes. Integrity’s newly hired executive director told Episcopal
Life Online, "We will really focus on integrating our
organization from the smallest parish anywhere in the country to General
Convention." Integrity will also focus on “creating welcoming
environments in individual churches, and marriage equality and ensuring
appropriate implementation of General Convention 2009 decisions concerning
same-gender blessing and equal access to positions of authority.”
Other
US news
Huffington
Post – August 18 2010 – Charles
Bennison, embattles Episcopal bishop, vows to stay…
Philadelphia
Inquirer – August 22 2010 – Sins of
omission
News shorts – International
All
Africa Bishops Conference
The All Africa Bishops Conference in Uganda
concluded on the weekend with the release of a conference
statement, as well as a communiqué from the Primates present. In the communiqué, the Primates expressed concern
about both the recent actions in the Episcopal Church (US), Canada and the
United Kingdom – as well as the reluctance of the Instruments of
Communion to follow through on the recommendations of the Windsor Report and
the 2007 Primates Meeting. They committed to meeting more regularly as Global
South Primates, to focusing on sound theological education, and to working with
orthodox Anglicans around the world – including the Communion Partners
(in the US) and the ACNA.
In the conference
statement, the Bishops of Africa recognized the enormous task ahead
for the Church in Africa and committed to addressing many of the spiritual,
social and economic ills of the continent. They affirmed the Biblical standard
of heterosexual marriage; said the Covenant needed to be improved; agreed to
enhance lay participation in the church; committed to a renewed engagement in
global mission, to defend “the human and constitutional rights of [persecuted] Christians
and churches”, to focus on the biblical upbringing of children and youth, to
develop new theological curricula, and to foster hope and healing in their
communities through prayer and home fellowships. Much of the statement
addressed pressing health and social issues, as well as urgent needs in
specific African countries. The Anglican
Communion News Service provides a good summary of the social,
political and development issues in the statement.
ACNA
Primate Bob Duncan – who was pictured serving the
Eucharist with Archbishop Rowan Williams and seated
together among a group of African primates and bishops –
seemed disappointed in the conference. In a Virtue Online
interview, he characterized the conference as “dominated by
Millennium Development Goals and social issues where the gospel of Jesus is not
the driving force”. He said, “The agenda, apart from worship and Bible
studies, was far more dominantly social than spiritual. Nevertheless and as
always, the Lord did great things for many who shared in the conference and He
is able to work all things together for good.”
Speaking of ACNA, he said, “The only future for ACNA, as the only future for
Anglicanism, is the kind of confessional Anglicanism as represented in the
Jerusalem Declaration.” He added that his being included among the GAFCon
Primates “reveals something of the trajectory we are on”.
In his
unflinching opening address, Archbishop Ian Ernest (Indian Ocean and Chairman
of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa) told the 396
bishops that the Communion structures were broken and increasingly
irrelevant to African Churches. He added that the Covenant remains “our best
hope for a stable and united future for the Communion”, but it would require
changes to both give the Primates their rightful role and to establish mutual
accountability. He said, “I believe that we need a Covenant that will recognise
the role of the Primates and empower them to fulfil their proper function as
those entrusted with the oversight of faith and order in the Communion. This
Covenant should bind our Provinces into an accountable union. Accountability
also demands that membership of the Covenant be co-terminus with membership of
the Communion.”
African
Primates held closed-door meetings with Archbishop of Canterbury. CNN reports that “Bishops… told Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in closed-door
sessions… that there should be no more diplomacy on homosexuality, an issue
that has split the Anglican communion…” Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi (Uganda)
told journalists afterward that “the Archbishop of Canterbury… spoke what was
on his mind and we also spoke. We impressed it on him that he had totally
gone in a different direction and he has to sort it out,"
The Guardian
reports that Archbishop Henry Orombi (Uganda), the host for the
conference, “…urged hundreds of African bishops to shake off their fears, shame
and superficial dependency and re-evangelise the "ailing" churches of
the west”. He added that African Anglicans should be free to go to Europe and
North America to revive the “Mother Church desperate for the gospel”.
New Vision, which bills
itself as Uganda’s leading website, reported, “Anglican bishops attending the
All Africa Bishops Conference in Entebbe have reiterated their firm stand
against homosexuality... As most clergy stood to clap at speeches critical of
homosexuality, Archbishop Williams and two aides, who sat in the front row,
were the only ones who remained seated.”
Episcopal
Life Online reports that two of the twelve provinces represented at
the conference issued a statement disassociating from the majority conference
statement. The representatives of Central Africa and Southern Africa said they
were not yet prepared to break with the Episcopal Church nor did they recognize
ACNA.
The
Rwandan House of Bishops made a statement calling for a new Communion and
saying the proposed Covenant is inadequate. They called for a renewed Anglican
identity founded on the Jerusalem Statement issued by Global Anglican Future
Conference (GAFCon) in 2008 which affirmed the authority of Scripture, and
upheld Anglican Formularies. Virtue Online
reports that the letter said the erosion of faith in the western
church has negatively affected the witness of Anglicans in Africa. The letter
calls for the Global South to form a new Communion structure based on a council
of church leaders.
AnglicanTV and VirtueOnline have provided coverage of the
conference, including the text of a number of Archbishop’s addresses.
TEC retains
influence in Global South through funding
Episcopal
Life Online reveals that there was considerable Episcopal Church
(TEC) presence at the just-concluded All Africa
Bishops Conference in Uganda, which was partially funded by TEC. TEC’s
partnership officer, the Rev Canon Petero Sabune attended for the purpose of
conveying to the bishops that, in the Episcopal Church of the US, “those in
prison are being visited, the hungry are fed and the homeless have homes. Jesus
is proclaimed as Lord and Savior in small rural churches and in large urban
cathedrals. The Episcopal Church is low church evangelical and high church
Anglo-catholic.” In addition, “Episcopal Relief & Development is
represented by six staff members, who are attending the gathering as observers
and to connect with partners in Anglican dioceses and provinces throughout
Africa…. Trinity Church, Wall Street, which
through its grants program supports projects throughout Africa, also will be
represented at the gathering. Representatives also are expected from the
Anglican Communion Office, Lambeth Palace, United Nations bodies and the
African Union.”
However,
near the end of the conference, Archbishop Ian Ernest, Chairman of the Council
of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) which organized the conference, issued a
written apology for embarrassing the host church, the Church of Uganda, by
accepting a $25,000 grant for the conference from TEC. The emailed statement
from the Church of Uganda states that “In 2003, the Church of Uganda broke
communion with the Episcopal Church (TEC) over their unbiblical theology and
immoral actions that violated historic and Biblical Anglicanism and tore the
fabric of the Communion at its deepest level. At the same time, the Church of
Uganda resolved to not receive any funds from TEC.”
The
Covenant
The statement
issued at the end of the All Africa Bishops Conference noted: “Whereas
we accept the rationale for an Anglican Covenant, we realise the need for
further improvement of the Covenant in order to be an effective tool for unity
and mutual accountability.”
Similarly,
the Anglican Communion Institute, long-time proponents of the Covenant recognize the
flaws in the current (and supposedly final) draft. They are now
urging Provinces and Churches adopting the Covenant to append a statement of
clarification which would make the adoption subject to the body responsible for
overseeing the Covenant consisting, initially at least, of the Primate or
designate of each Church adopting the Covenant.
The American
Anglican Council has posted the Rev Dr Stephen Noll’s paper, “Communion
Governance: A Revised Anglican Covenant”. Dr Noll recommends the Covenant be
revised to:
| • |
Strengthen
the historic and normative role of the Anglican Formularies |
| • |
Explicitly
affirms God’s standard of marriage and abstinence (Lambeth 1:10, 1998) as
binding on all members of the Communion |
| • |
Constitutes
the Anglican Communion under the Covenant |
| • |
Restores
the Primates to their proper oversight of Communion faith and order |
| • |
Binds
the Communion into an accountable union |
| • |
Makes a
Council comprised of the Primates the body entrusted with administering
Communion discipline under the Covenant |
News in
brief from around the world and around the Communion
Russia – Christianity,ca
reports that the governments in Russia and the Ukraine have decided
to supply Bibles to all elementary and secondary school children. This has
been the fruit of 15 years of work by a Vernon, BC-based couple, Dr Olga and
Fred Lutsenko, who have been working with these governments to establish a
Bible-based curriculum in the schools. “In February 2009 Russia’s president
Dmitry Medvedev noted publicly that biblical moral education should be required
in all Russian schools.” Dr Olga, a former high-ranking official in the
Russian Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, was asked, after the fall of
Communism, to lead a team researching the best ideological system for providing
good moral training for Russian’s 30 million children. “Her team concluded that
the Bible not only represented a return to the faith of their ancestors, but
was also the best tool for building moral and ethical character. Her research
also led her to personal faith in Christ.”
When Dr
Olga immigrated to Canada in 1995, she founded the Canadian Kindness Society a charitable organization that is “the only government-sanctioned organization
mandated to provide moral biblical education to Russian and Ukrainian schools.” However their ability to supply these materials is limited by funding. Fred
Lutsenko says, “The doors to Russia are now wide open. We must take advantage
of the opportunity and place as many Bibles in people’s hands as we can. We
must train as many educators as possible, so that if doors close, teachers can
carry on for decades doing what they have been trained to do.”
India – Compass
Direct News reports that many Christians, particularly women and
girls, who were targeted two years ago in the wide-spread violence in tribal
state of Orissa, have subsequently been sold into slavery. A team working to
thwart human trafficking recently rescued a 16-year old Christian girl who was
one of at least 60 kidnapped and sold into slavery in other parts of India
following the Orissa violence and subsequent displacement of Christians. The
police have refused to assist in the rescue efforts.
England – The Telegraph
reports that one in ten church buildings in the Diocese of
Manchester could be for sale because they have become a financial burden to the
dwindling congregations.
High
profile Church of England former vicar and homosexual activist, the Rev Colin
Coward, has announced he plans to “marry” a male Nigerian model 40 years his
junior.
The Daily
Mail reports that “Mr Coward and his African partner are due to hold
a civil partnership later this year, followed by a service at the vicar’s
church, St John the Baptist church in Devizes, Wiltshire.”
Sudan –
The Church of
England Newspaper reports that Church leaders in Sudan are calling
on “the Islamist government… to honour its pledge to hold a referendum on
independence for South Sudan on Jan 9 2011.” In an open letter, five bishops
warned that delays or reneging on the promise could throw the country back into
a bloodbath. The bishops are pleading for prayer and for foreign diplomatic
pressure to end bureaucratic delays and ensure a fair referendum.
Addressing
the All Africa Bishops Conference, Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul Yak (Sudan) echoed this
call and explained the background: “Christianity has been under
pressure in Sudan, and in the past 20 years there have been attempts to legally
suppress it following the compulsory introduction of Sharia Law in 1983. This
reduced many millions of Christians to second class citizens in their home country.
The Government of Sudan declared jihad against Sudanese Christians, and between
1983 and 2005, around 2.5 million people died, millions were maimed, and over 4
million more were displaced to camps—some of whom have not been permitted
to return until this day.”
Pakistan – Compass
Direct News is reporting that the Taliban kidnapped and killed three
foreign Christian aid workers who were in Pakistan to help flood victims. The names
of the victims and the agency they were with have been withheld and the
military is attempting to suppress the news in order to not cause panic among
other relief workers. In March, Islamic militants attacked a World Vision
office killing six and wounding seven. Compass Direct News also reports that
Christians are being discriminated against in the refugee camps, with some
camps turning away Christians seeking refuge. A local Christian reports, “There
are reports that the Christians are not given tents, clean water and food. In
most of the camps the Christians have totally been ignored.”
South
Africa – The second annual Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans conference
in South Africa is slated for Port Elizabeth, October 27-29. Speakers will include the Archbishop Eliud
Wabukala of Kenya and a member of the GAFCon Primates Council,.
Other
international news
Church
of England Newspaper – August 20 2010 – Australian
church court bans diaconal presidency at the Eucharist
Church
of England Newspaper – August 27 2010 – ACC not bound
by UK or EU equalities laws…
Anglican
Communion Institute – August 20 2010 – The new ACC
articles: Procedural issues
Church
of England Newspaper – August 18 2010 – Kenya adopts
new constitution over…protests
Soul food
Do you
need encouragement?
John
Maxwell (Giant Impact), who writes prolifically on leadership, has posted
several articles on the theme of encouragement:
Reaching
out to our communities through prayer
The Living Church
highlights the ministry of a New York parish which sets up a prayer
table near the sidewalk in front of the church building. Parishioners manning
the table offer to pray for pedestrians passing by. While some keep walking,
many stop long enough to receive prayer.
How
shall they come without an invitation?
Back to
Church Sunday’s US spokesman
says that a US research study done by LifeWay Research found “…that
63 percent are willing to receive information about a local congregation or
faith community from a family member, and 56 percent are willing to receive such
information from a friend or neighbor”. It also found that personal
invitations are the best way to encourage non-church-goers to visit a church. September
12 is designated Back to Church Sunday
Worth
reading/viewing
Sydney
Anglican recommends Hilary Mantel’s award-winning Wolf Hall, a 650
page novel chronicling the tumultuous and pivotal period in which the Anglican
Church was birthed and the printing press made Scripture readily available for
the first time.
Writing in
the National Post, Charles Lewis profiles Peter Hitchens, the
Christian brother of rabid atheist Christopher Hitchens. In his book Rage
Against God, Peter Hitchens responds to his brother’s book God is Not Great.
Lewis writes, “Mr. Hitchens sees
Christianity as not just a set of religious beliefs but as essential to shaping
western culture — from law to music to architecture — as well as
the essential bulwark against tyranny. So the danger with his brother and the
cadre of “new atheists” is that they not only deny the link between religion
and culture “but argue for its repudiation” — much as atheist communist
revolutionaries argued repeatedly in the 20th century.”
Written
from a Roman Catholic viewpoint, George Weigel
examines the Anglican Church’s “tradition of compromise” and finds
it to be a fatal flaw rather than a virtue. In a piece dealing with the “death
of that once-promising [Anglican – Roman Catholic] dialogue”, he
concludes: “The sad truth of the matter is that the “tradition of compromise”
is what is destroying the Anglican Communion. For that “tradition” has come to
mean that the apostolic tradition of the Church—the essential
constitution bequeathed to the Church by Christ, which can be discerned in the
Scriptures and which was articulated in the creeds—has ceased to have any
normative claim within Anglicanism.”
Resources
A video
recommended by the Diocese of Sydney helps parents navigate the
digital world and protect their children from the dangers that lurk online.
The video, God’s Technology, is by Dr David Murray, a professor of Old
Testament and Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. “After
laying the foundation of four biblical principles, [Dr Murray] makes the case
for disciplined discernment in our use of technology. He then presents a
practical seven-step training program to develop disciplined discernment in our
children, and he concludes by showing how to apply these seven steps to
Facebook use.”
Writing
for the Gospel Coalition, Pastor Kevin DeYoung has posted a very good
three-part series entitled “The Ministry of Rebuke”. See part 1, part 2 and part 3.
The series covers: Why we rebuke; When to rebuke; How to rebuke; and How to
receive rebuke.
Toronto-based
author and blogger Tim Challies highly
recommends two books for pastors: The Trellis and the Vine, by
Collin Marshall and Tony Payne, and the Archer and the Arrow, by Phillip Jensen
and Paul Grimmond. Dean Phillip Jensen is from the Diocese of Sydney,
Australia.
Just
for laughs – How NOT to treat your pastor
A
pastor places his order at the pet store: "I need at least 50 mice, 2000
ants and as many of those little silverfish as you can get."
The
clerk replies, "We can probably do that, but it might take some time. Mind
if I ask why you are placing such an unusual order?"
The
pastor replies, "I've accepted a call to another church and the church
council here told me to leave the parsonage the way I found it."
During
the last Sunday service that the visiting pastor was to spend at the church he
served for some months, his hat was passed around for a goodwill offering.
When it
returned to the pastor, it was empty. The pastor didn't flinch. He raised the
hat to Heaven and said, "I thank You, Lord, that I got my hat back from
this congregation."
www.mikeysFunnies.com
Thoughts
on perseverance and encouragement
The
road to success is always under construction. (www.mikeysFunnies.com)
"In
everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into
flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for
those people who rekindle the inner spirit." ~ Albert Schweitzer
"Our
chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Correction
does much, but encouragement does more." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"There
are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through
encouragement from someone else. I don't care how great, how famous or
successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause." ~ George
Matthew Adams
Giant Impact – Leadership Wired newsletter
(John Maxwell)
Please pray...
For New Life Anglican Church (Sturgeon Falls, ON), as this new congregation becomes established. Also for The Table (Victoria, BC) as it launches September 12.
For our bishops and clergy and their families – especially those battling illness. For renewed passion and energy for the ministry this Fall.
For ANiC projects, church plants and parishes, and for their proclamation of Good News to those in their communities who desperately need new life in Christ.
For the planning and preparations for ANiC’s 2010 synod in Ottawa, November 4-6.
For Archbishop John Chew as he ministers in Vancouver on behalf of ARDFC, Sept 18-19
For funding of the ARDFC’s malaria prevention project in Kenya.
For the various legal challenges faced by ANiC parishes.
| • |
For the Vancouver-area parishes appealing the earlier court decision,
including the costs awarded against the parish trustees, as well as for the parish’s
legal counsel Geoff Cowper & Stanley Martin as they prepare for the appeal
on Sept 13-16. Particularly pray for St Matthew’s Abbotsford as they share
facilities with the Diocese of New Westminster on Sundays pending the outcome
of the appeal process. |
| • |
For the September 10 mediation meeting involving St George’s & St
Alban’s (Ottawa) and their former Anglican Church of Canada diocese. |
| • |
For St Aidan’s (Windsor) as litigation is about to move forward,
increasing 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 dioceses pursuing eviction of
and legal damages against ANiC congregations and wardens. |
| • |
That we would seek to glorify God by our conduct in all court
proceedings. |
| • |
For much needed donations to the legal cases and disputes involving ANiC congregations. |
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.
For Christians in Pakistan and India who are severely oppressed, especially those struggling to survive the devastation brought by the floods.
For the necessary steps to be taken in the Sudan to ensure a fair and peaceful referendum in January.
For repentance and revival in our nation – as well as a hunger for God and a thirst for His Word.
And now
a word from our sponsor
Now the
Philistines gathered their armies for battle… And there came out from the camp
of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath… He stood and shouted to
the ranks of Israel… “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that
we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the
Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid… All the men of Israel, when
they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid…
And
David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will
go and fight with this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “You are not able
to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and
he has been a man of war from his youth.” But
David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when
there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him
and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I
caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck
down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one
of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from
the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul
said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”…
And the
Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And
the Philistine cursed David by his gods… Then David said to the Philistine,
“You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to
you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of
the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand… that all the earth
may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know
that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For
the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you
into our hand.”
1 Samuel 17 (ESV)
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