 |
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
Did someone you know try to join the Network recently?
Do you know of anyone who signed up for membership online in the past few months? We’ve recently discovered – to our horror – that the Network website application form has been malfunctioning over the summer. Our concern is that people who completed and submitted the form online will think their application has been rejected since they have not heard from us!
We really do value our members! So, please help us contact these (phantom) new members. You can forward this newsletter to them and ask them to contact us. Or, you can simply contact these folk on our behalf and ask them to give us another chance! Now that the technical problem has been resolved, please ask them to resubmit their application as soon as possible using the online form. Those applying for membership should receive a confirmation email from the Network within days of submitting their online application.
Please pray
Please pray for Gerry Stewart, a member of our Network servant leadership team, who is having serious health concerns. Also, remember Ceri Hynes, wife of the Rev Canon Howard Hynes, who is slowly recovering from surgery – and for Howard as he juggles the added home responsibilities, as well as their three children.
Pastors’ retreat, February 26-28
Calling all clergy… Block off February 26-28, 2008. This retreat, held once again at beautiful Cedar Springs Christian Retreat Center near Vancouver, will be a wonderful time of fellowship and renewal.
September 30th deadline looms
Only two weeks remain in the grace period given by the Primates to the North American churches. Activity throughout the Communion is focused on this critical deadline. See a dramatic short video calling bishops to stand for truth.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is meeting with the Episcopal Church (TEC) House of Bishops for the first two days of their session in New Orleans, September 20-25. Will the Archbishop convince TEC to alter course? Or will the TEC try to persuade Dr Williams to give it a “clean bill of health”? See: www.virtueonline.org
A group of 18 TEC bishops who have publicly committed to the Windsor process (and so are known as Windsor bishops) have formally asked Dr Williams to be “clear and articulate” in explaining to the House of Bishops what the consequences will be if TEC fails to give the assurances sought by the Primates. See: www.livingchurch.org
The Diocese of Pittsburgh has begun a formal process that, if passed by its Diocesan Convention, November 2-3, will “open the door for the diocese to remain within mainstream Anglicanism even as the Episcopal Church (TEC) continues to cut those ties. ‘We are praying that the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops makes these votes unnecessary by unequivocally accepting all the requests of the worldwide Anglican Communion…’ said the Rev. David Rucker, president of Diocesan Council.” See: www.pgh.anglican.org
The Diocese of Quincy (led by Bishop Keith Ackerman) is also reported to be bringing proposals to its Diocesan Synod in October that would allow it to break away from the Episcopal Church in order to stay with the global Anglican Communion. See: www.pjstar.com
TEC diocese names lesbian among finalists for bishop: The Rev. Tracey Lind, an openly gay priest, has been named one of five candidates for bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. The timing of this action, just weeks prior to the September 30th deadline, demonstrates again TEC’s disdain for the Communion. www.suntimes.com
Is God uniting North American orthodox Anglicans? Around 60 orthodox North American bishops, including Network moderator Bishop Donald Harvey, are set to meet September 25-27 in Pittsburgh in the first-ever Council of Bishops of the Common Cause Partners. TEC Bishop of Fort Worth, Jack Iker, sees this meeting as a key element in the realignment in world Anglicanism that is now underway. See: www.fwepiscopal.org
An Anglican revolution: Chris Sugden calls the events in the Communion a “revolution”, not a schism. Saying, “when a wheel has completed one revolution, a point on its circumference has returned to its point of origin. And a revolution is a return to the beginning, a restoration.” Read his article at: www.anglican-mainstream.net
Retired bishop rips into the Archbishop of Canterbury
Retired TEC Bishop John Spong has written Dr Williams a blistering letter that can only be described as breathtaking in its hubris and insolence. Bishop Spong is well known for his controversial, some would say heretical, views. See: www.virtueonline.org
Postpone Lambeth, suggests Nigerian House of Bishops
In an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Nigerian House of Bishops has asked Dr Williams to convene a special session of the Primates to consider the response of TEC, achieve consensus on applying the Windsor process to wayward Provinces, and push to finalize the Anglican Covenant process. The letter also proposes postponing the Lambeth Conference to allow tensions to ease and ensure that those attending Lambeth have endorsed the Covenant and are thus of common faith. See: www.anglican-nig.org
More on the consecrations of American bishops in Africa
Immediately following the consecrations of Bishops Bill Murdoch and Bill Atwood in Kenya, the Province of Uganda consecrated Bishop John Guernsey on September 2. The six-hour ceremony took place in the open air because the local cathedral was not large enough to accommodate the estimated 8-10,000 in attendance. Bishop Guernsey, a dear friend of the Anglican Network in Canada, is responsible for orthodox US parishes that have sought refuge in the Church of Uganda. See: http://news.bbc.co.uk;
Bishop Nazir-Ali and CoE general synod members endorse consecrations: The Bishop of Rochester and 30 members of the Church of England (CoE) General Synod wrote an open letter warmly supporting the consecrations of Bishops-elect Atwood, Murdoch and Guernsey. Their letter said in part:
“As with the calling and consecration of any other Bishop, we recognise the calling of the global Church to you to exercise an Episcopal ministry. Yours will be an Episcopal ministry that is out of the ordinary. You will represent vibrant and growing Churches in Africa in their love and care for those in the United States who are suffering for their commitment to the faith once delivered to the saints, in the face of a determined capitulation by The Episcopal Church to the forces of contemporary North American culture.
“We see in your ministry a wonderful expression of the Gospel promise that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but all are one in Christ Jesus. For African Christians who live in economically poorer countries are taking considerable risks in their relations with powerful institutions in order to care for American Christians in economically privileged countries. We see here the universal church responding to the needs of local churches, and the local church responding to the need of the universal church, to find a way to preserve global orthodox Anglican witness and fellowship, that is not impaired by man-made intermediate structures.”
See: www.anglican-mainstream.net
Bishop Colin Bazley, who represented orthodox Church of England Anglicans at the consecrations, sees these events as the start of a new reformation in the Anglican Communion. See: www.virtueonline.org
Rwanda nominates bishops to further missionary work in America: To further its missionary work in North America, the Province of Rwanda has elected three bishops – the Rev. Terrell Glenn, the Rev. Philip Jones and the Rev. John Miller – to be consecrated January 26 in Dallas.
Nigeria also plans to consecrate four new Suffragan bishops for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). The bishops-elect are: the Rev Canon David Anderson (of the American Anglican Council), the Rev Canon Roger Ames, the Ven. Amos Fagbamiye, and the Rev Canon Nathan Kanu. www.virtueonline.org
Demanding the TEC be transparent in its use of funds
In a second letter to the Episcopal Church (TEC), five retired bishops have called on the TEC to open its books, reveal how much it is spending to take dissenting parishes to court, and specify where this money is coming from. In addition, over 5,000 names have been collected on an online petition demanding the Episcopal Church (TEC) reveal how much money it has “spent since 2004 on litigation against individuals and parishes.” Litigation in the States has only intensified since the Primates requested in February that the TEC back away from property litigation. www.christianpost.com
Remember to pray for the Archbishop of Canterbury
These are excruciatingly difficult days for all leaders in the Communion, but particularly the Archbishop of Canterbury. Remember him in your prayers. For an interesting profile of Dr Williams, see: www.virtueonline.org; Also, an interview with him: www.telegraph.co.uk
Good news: Walking with style and dignity
Church congregations across North America are facing the prospect that following Christ and remaining in the Communion may require walking away from their diocese and possibly their buildings. While God is leading some to contend for their properties, He is leading others to simply walk away. One West Chicago congregation chose to walk away in style with flags waving and crosses held high. Read the God-honouring story in the secular media: www.suntimes.com
Parish profile: St Barnabas Anglican Church
St Barnabas is located in Medicine Hat, a growing city of 55,000 in southern Alberta.
The Rev Gene Packwood, and his wife Judy, minister to the congregation of about 150. Although currently in transition – having lost seven key families due to the crisis in the Anglican Church of Canada – the church is focusing on its vision, “To follow and enjoy Jesus Christ in worship and service so everyone will come to know Him.”
Learn more about St Barnabas at: www.stbarnabasmedicinehat.ca
Learn more about Gene at: www.anglicannetwork.ca; http://kiwirev.wordpress.com
Please stay in touch…
We value our members and want to stay in touch. Please feel free to contact us anytime.
Also, let us know if you plan to move or change your email address so we can update our records and ensure you continue to receive information about happenings in your Church and Communion.
... back to "Newsletters" main page
|
|
|
 |
