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News shorts – ANiC and AEN
More sessions booked: “Looking to Jesus”
With the first meeting just a week away, a number of additional gatherings have now been booked. These meetings will be an opportunity to learn more about recent events – like the Lambeth and Global Anglican Future conferences – and about plans for Common Cause Partnership and the Anglican Network in Canada. You’ll also have an opportunity to ask questions and offer your thoughts. Please do come and bring friends.
These are the meetings currently booked. Please note: an incorrect date for the Winnipeg meeting was given in the last newsletter.
| Sept 23 (Tues) |
Montreal, PQ |
Oct 24 (Fri) |
Windsor, ON |
| Sept 24 (Wed) |
Ottawa, ON |
Oct 25 (Sat) |
Burlington, ON |
| Sept 28 (Sun) |
Brandon, MB |
Oct 25 (Sat) |
Calgary, AB |
| Sept 29 (Mon) |
Victoria, BC |
Oct 26 (Sun) |
Toronto, ON |
| Sept 29 (Tues) |
Winnipeg, MB |
Oct 28 (Tues) |
Athabasca, AB |
| Sept 30 (Tues) |
Oceanside (Parksville), BC |
Nov 2 (Sun) |
St John’s, NF |
| Oct 2 (Thurs) |
Vancouver, BC |
Nov 3 (Mon) |
Halifax, NS |
| Oct 3 (Fri) |
Abbotsford, BC |
Nov 4 (Tues) |
Moncton, NB |
Dates are yet to be confirmed for: Edmonton, Medicine Hat and Kingston. Please check our website for details of times and locations of all meetings. If there is no meeting planned for your area and you believe there are a number of people in the community interested, please contact Jude in the ANiC office by email or by calling 1866-351-2642 (ext 4015).
Archbishop Greg comments on Archbishop Hiltz’ meeting
David Virtue reports that Archbishop Greg has said that proposal by Archbishop Hiltz’ (of the Anglican Church of Canada) for a meeting of select Primates to discuss cross-border interventions “would serve no new purpose since we have all made our positions perfectly clear. It would make much more sense for these primates to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury together with those who are responsible for the present crisis in the Communion. All we are doing is to provide a temporary holding place for those who don't accept the blessing of sexual sin. Once there is repentance and a return to biblical principles our intervention will no longer be necessary." In an earlier Anglican Journal article, Archbishop Hiltz called for a meeting involving the Primates of Canada, US, Brazil, the Southern Cone and the Archbishop of Canterbury saying it was intended to allow participants to “hear one another”.
In the same article, Bishop Don is quoted as saying, “I am deeply grateful that Archbishop Venables so courageously and willingly took us under his protection, allowing us to remain an integral part of the Anglican Family. I commend him for refusing to enter into a one sided "dialogue" with three of the most liberal Primates in the Communion who are all too eager to find a cure without dealing with the cause of the disease in the first place. Indeed, had they fulfilled their responsibilities in a faithful manner consistent with the Gospel, none of us would have had to seek the protection of other Primates in the first place. We stand firmly with our new Primate in this matter."
In a Living Church article, Archbishop Greg is quoted as saying, ““I talked to Fred about this at Lambeth, but it never occurred to me that a private discussion would become public without us both agreeing first,” Bishop Venables told The Living Church. “It looks more like a publicity stunt than a serious desire for dialogue. What more is there to discuss? I told him why I was doing this and he told me how he felt about it,” Bishop Venables said. “Boundary crossing is not the primary issue. It is a secondary issue resulting from the communion-splitting action of blessing sexual sin by the U.S. and Canadian churches.”
Update: Vancouver-area parishes
In its version of events, an article on the Diocese of New Westminster website states, “At their regular meeting September 9 the Diocesan Council voted unanimously to confirm the Bishop’s action.” The article concludes, “A letter from the Anglican Network that was distributed at the Diocesan Council meeting stated that it is open to ‘dialogue and alternative dispute resolution.’ The Chancellor said the Diocese was willing to discuss the timing of the former priests’ departures from diocesan properties, but saw nothing else to talk about at the present time. The letter was received for information.” The Anglican Journal article added that the diocese has 14 days to file its statement of defence.
ANiC legal fund donations
If you wish to support the ANiC legal fund, please clearly designate your donations: “ANiC legal fund”. Donations to this fund will be used to ensure the best protection possible for clergy, trustees, congregations and ministries under attack, including protecting the right to continue worshipping, preaching and carrying out their ministries in their church properties. No other donations to ANiC will be used for legal defence purposes. You can support ANiC ministries and/or the ANiC Legal Fund by sending a cheque or by donating online using your credit card. (And “thank you” to all who generously and sacrificially support ANiC!)
Upcoming events
St. Chad (Toronto West) is holding a special community service on October 19 with Bishop Malcolm. All are welcome! See here for information or call Rev Barbara Richardson, 905-873-8962.
Women’s conference (Vancouver) – St John’s Shaughnessy is hosting a one day LIVEWORD women’s conference, October 18. The conference is designed to edify and strengthen women through solid Bible teaching, encouraging fellowship and great music. With the theme, Songs of the King, the day will focus on discovering the riches in Psalms 22, 23 and 24 which point to our true and eternal King, Jesus. Register by October 14.
If your parish has an event you’d like announced, please let Marilyn know.
Help (still) wanted!
ANiC is looking for part-time help in the national office at the Crossroads Centre in Burlington, Ontario as soon as possible. We need someone with computer skills and office experience. Bookkeeping experience is a definite asset! Resumes should be sent to Ron Bales at rbales@anglicannetwork.ca or call 1-866-351-2642 ext 4013.
Tour of the Holy Land
There are still spaces left in the 15 day Holy Land tour lead by ANiC priest, Sharon Hayton, 26 April – 10 May 2009. The price is hard to beat and the knowledgeable guides are provided by a highly regarded Jerusalem-based Anglican tour ministry. Check it out!
News shorts – Canada
In the Canadian media
Religious Intelligence – Sept 9 08 – Lambeth cease-fire ‘collapses’
Toronto Star – Sept 11 08 – Anglican primate seeks faceoff with rival leader
Anglican Planet – Sept 08 – Bishops at Lambeth: mixed feelings
Anglican Planet – Sept 08 – Lambeth and beyond
Anglican Planet – Sept 08 – African bishops … continue to count the cost of fidelity to the gospel
Anglican Planet – Sept 08 – Three facts about GAFCon
Anglican Planet – Sept 08 – Beckwith on GAFCon
News shorts – USA and North America
Bishop Bob Duncan faces deposition
Bishop Don is asking for special prayer this week for Bishop Bob Duncan, bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh and leader of the Common Cause Partnership, for his diocese and for the Episcopal Church (TEC) house of bishops. As anticipated, TEC Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori has written TEC bishops informing them of her plan to have Bishop Duncan deposed at their meeting on Thursday of this week (Sept 18) in Salt Lake City. She will be charging Bishop Duncan with abandoning the communion of the church. Previously, an attempt to depose Bishop Duncan was thwarted when the three senior TEC bishops did not all consent.
Bishop Duncan’s attorney states that it is clear “…the presiding bishop and her chancellor have decided to violate the canons of The Episcopal Church in order to "remove" Bishop Duncan prior to the diocesan convention in October.”
George Conger also reports that the presiding bishop has flaunted the rules of the house of bishops in modifying the agenda with her intended deposition. Up until September 12, the presiding bishop had consistently stated the meeting was to “…reflect and deliberate together following the Lambeth Conference… [T]he canons specifically forbid the Presiding Bishop from amending the agenda once she issued her March 25 and Aug 20 call for a special session to review the Lambeth Conference.”
Bishop Duncan has written a pastoral letter to his diocese saying, “…whatever happens on Thursday as to my status, the Diocese will carry forward under rules long-ago established. If I am “removed,” the Standing Committee will be the Ecclesiastical Authority. Together with all the leadership presently in place, both appointed and elected, the Standing Committee will carry us through to our October 4th Annual Convention and beyond. We as a Diocese will not be intimidated or turned from our over-riding commitment, which is faithfulness to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ within the mainstream of Anglicanism... It is confidence in our faithful God that will carry us all through to a better day, to the other side of the vote on September 18th and the other side of votes on October 4th. I expect that God will still grant me many years of service to the people and the place I have come to love so much.”
Bishop Duncan also shared a letter he had written the House of Bishop in late August. In part, this letter said: “The moral abyss into which our beloved Church has descended could scarcely be plainer than in this matter. Never mind what is right or noble or holy. Never mind what the apostles and saints who went before us intended as they laid the foundations upon which we have been called to build. It is all about what is expedient. It is all about what can be achieved by short-cuts and misapplied power, about winning by whatever means are available.”
In his analysis, commentator Gary L’Hommedieu says that by declaring Bishop Duncan to have abandoned communion for contemplating a move to the Province of the Southern Cone, TEC would, in effect, be acknowledging “…that it is no longer in communion with the Province of the Southern Cone and all the Provinces in communion with her.”
Pray for orthodox bishops attending TEC’s House of Bishops meeting to act courageously. Pray for Bishop Duncan and his family. Pray for diocesan leadership. Pray for God’s will to be done and for His Name to be glorified. Lent & Beyond has some specific prayers.
Diocese of Fort Worth Executive Council endorse report to realign
Bishop Jack Iker and the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Fort Worth have made a recommendation to the upcoming diocesan convention that the diocese “…affiliate with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone as a member diocese, on a temporary, pastoral basis, until such time as an orthodox Province of the Anglican Communion can be established in North America.”
Lay organization announced plans to support new Province
Remain Faithful, a lay organization comprised of orthodox Episcopalians and Anglicans with members from 16 countries including Canada, has announced plans to actively “…support the establishment of an orthodox Anglican Province in North America.” Their news release says:
“The Anglican communion in North America has been split into two separate churches with polarizing differences in beliefs over the past 30 years. It is apparent that a reconciliation is not going to occur as the orthodox historic faith is being compromised by new age revisionist theology… Remain Faithful believes strongly that the answer lies in the formation of an orthodox Anglican Province in North America as has been outlined by the Common Cause Partnership, and endorsed by GAFCON… Remain Faithful is in the planning stages for how the laity can stand beside and complement faithful Clergy to move forward rapidly with this new Province formation and will be working in conjunction with Common Cause Partnership to provide lay leadership and support for the new Province.”
Remain Faithful invites orthodox Anglicans to a conference on September 27, 2008 in Texas.
In the media – US
Los Angeles Times – Sept 10 08 – California’s top Episcopal bishops oppose gay marriage ban
Washington Post – Sept 12 08 – Martyn Minns: A future for traditional values…
World Mag.com – Sept 13 08 – Values worth fighting for
Pittsburgh Post Gazette – Sept 14 08 – Episcopal bishop Duncan facing ouster
Washington Post – Sept 12 08 – Anglicans can find common ground at the cross
News shorts – International
Archbishop Gomez hopes to speed up process to arrive at Covenant
Speaking in Maryland, Archbishop Drexel Gomez said the Covenant must be finalized quickly to preserve the Communion. He hopes to have a revised Covenant to the Anglican Consultative Council by May and then on to the Provinces for deliberation and approval in time for the TEC’s General Convention next summer. He is reported to have said, “If the Communion doesn't hurry up and gets its act together, we will be in for more [fragmentation].” He anticipates that the next draft of the Covenant will incorporate more mutual accountability and be clearer on how a province might place itself outside the Communion by its actions. "Without that, the covenant is meaningless," said Gomez.
Speaking of the emerging orthodox North American province, he said, "Even if you went with some form of a structure for North America, if it is kept within the bounds of 'GAFCON', that would at least hold it in a place in which it can relate to the rest of the Communion," the Archbishop said. He also indicated that the January Primates meeting would have to deal with the reality of what is going on “…on the ground. Anything else would be foolhardy.”
Dr Radner entertains split in Communion
The Rev Dr Ephraim Radner of Wycliffe College and the Anglican Communion Institute concludes a lengthy paper by referencing a recent statement by Bishop Scott-Joynt (Winchester) in which he said, “I continue to see a negotiated ‘orderly separation’ as the best and most fruitful way forward for the Anglican Communion.” Dr Radner concludes, “… it now looks as if separation is simply necessary, not historically so much as logically and morally.” He then offers this thought on how the Covenant could be a tool in such an orderly separation:
“Some have suggested that the Covenant and the process leading to its adoption would, of itself, if not deliberately at least as a matter of course, provide the “orderliness” by which a separation, if needed, could indeed unfold. If it is to be the Covenant and its process, this indicates that we must not fear the kind of clarity and accessible steps of implementation that would allow for such differentiation if that is indeed the end towards which the present logics turn out to be moving… A Covenant that makes clear that diversity has its limits and attaches consequences for violation of those limits preserves Communion while holding open the possibility of reconciliation…”
Bishop Nazir-Ali says the British suffer cultural amnesia
In a speech to the Prayer Book Society and reported in The Telegraph, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali (Rochester) decried British populations’ ignorance of the religious roots of their culture. “What amazes me is how people in this country don't take account of the brute fact that the Bible and the prayer book have shaped so much of its literary and cultural achievements. Without the translation of the Bible into English and the creation of the prayer book, it would have been impossible to have a Donne or a Shakespeare or a Milton. Certainly with art, poetry and music, people aren't exposed to the Biblical root of what has inspired people to create these themes.”
American Anglican Council responds to Fulcrum’s criticism
In his weekly email update, Bishop David Anderson of the American Anglican Council responds sharply to Fulcrum’s attack on the GAFCon Primates Council meeting. He writes:
We note that a group in the UK called Fulcrum has issued a critique of the GAFCON Primates' Council meeting. One of the highly objectionable suggestions of Fulcrum is that the deeply flawed "Pastoral Forum" is an answer for the orthodox Anglicans in North America… For example, why are pastoral plans being drawn up to deal with people who have not been consulted, and have had no part in formulating the plan? … I would urge those who speak and write for Fulcrum to consider the following: most of those who have left TEC have already made a physical, emotional, spiritual and legal break with the Episcopal Church, and are now a constituent part, legally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically, of a separate Anglican church. …Why would you ever think that sending them back into an organization with which they have made a complete break makes any sense, or has any chance of agreement? …Why shouldn't the survivors who have successfully fled from the Anglican Church of Canada and TEC have an orthodox Province of their own?
Archbishop Akinola (Nigeria) shares his views on a variety of subjects
In a wide-ranging interview, Archbishop Peter Akinola tells of being raised in poverty by a single mother and his diverse current leadership responsibilities. He says he embraces the term conservative, because it describes a “…person [who] is conserving what he has…You have something and it is very precious to you, and so you conserve it. Alleluia! So, we have the written word, we have the faith, we have Jesus Christ, and I conserve...”
Regarding the Church and the culture he said: “For me, the gospel of Jesus Christ must always be allowed to challenge whatever is ungodly in any culture. If the gospel cannot challenge and reform any culture, then it ceases to be the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, whatever in my culture is not consistent with the mind of God must go. It has to go. The tendency in the West to accommodate cultural trends with the Christian religion is one of the big problems we are facing today in the world. Christian leaders seem to have lost the sense that their duty is first and foremost to proclaim the gospel of Christ - the same gospel their forefathers brought to my own country 150 years ago. My forefathers engaged in human sacrifice. Whenever twins were born, they would kill them - this was a taboo. But when the gospel came, it changed all that. Alleluia! It changed all that.
“In… [Britain], this same gospel led people like… William Wilberforce, Charles Wesley, John Wesley, to stop and say, 'This is the word of God' – and it changed the culture. They looked at slavery and said, 'This is ungodly, you can't do this.' They fought and fought and fought for decades; in the end, they won. The gospel transformed society. But Christians today say, 'Oh no, no, no, no, no, just acquiesce! Just be gentle! Just be politically correct! Just be moderate! Just be tolerant!' Now, that's arrant nonsense.
“Your culture, your achievements are by-products of Christianity. If you remove your Judaeo-Christian tradition, your heritage, what do you have left? You're just hanging in the air. You lose your identity. And England is fast losing its identity. And the earlier your politicians are called back to embrace that identity, the better for this country. And only Christian politicians, helped by their clergy and bishops, will do that. It's not too late.”
Zimbabwe political solution
Archbishop of York has given a cautious welcome to news of a tentative power sharing solution to Zimbabwe’s long standing political problems. He said, "This is a step in the right direction on a path that will hopefully lead to a full restoration of justice, democracy and a final end to the brutal regime of Robert Mugabe.” The immediate concerns are an end to food shortages and to the violence perpetrated by the Mugabe government.
Church of England to apologize to Darwin
The Church of England has created an entire section of its website as a tribute to Charles Darwin. On one page entitled, “Good religion needs good science,” the following apology appears: “Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still…” Jonathan Petre reports in the Daily Mail that the apology has met with some derision.
In the international media and blogs
Church Times – Sept 12 2008 – Akinola criticizes West for cultural laxity and timidity
Church Times – Sept 11 08 – Network moderator condemns parish ‘seizure’ in Canada
Jamaica Gleaner – Sept 14 08 – A fellowship of wimps
LifeSiteNews – Sept 12 08 – Future of Anglican Communion resides with Global South bishops…
Soul food
Just for laughs
From: www.reverendfun.com
Prayer and Praise
Please pray for the upcoming Looking to Jesus meetings across Canada. Pray for the preparations, for those leading the meetings and for those attending.
Pray for clergy and trustees of Vancouver area ANiC parishes – Please continue to pray for wisdom for parish leaders and legal council as they discern God’s leading for the churches. Pray for peace and joy for parishioners. Pray that people from across Canada will support the ANiC legal fund to ensure the best protection possible for the clergy, congregations and ministries that are under attack. May the gospel continue to be faithfully preached in their places of worship and may the ministries flourish during this period of persecution.
Charlie and Judy Masters – Please pray for the Masters who are on a long-over due vacation. May they be refreshed and renewed in body and spirit.
Pray for Bishop Bob Duncan, for the leadership and people of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, for the orthodox bishops in the TEC house of bishops, for God to be glorified in this attempted disposition of a godly bishop.
Pray for those devastated by hurricanes in Haiti, Cuba, Texas and elsewhere.
Pray for Muslims during their holy month of Ramadan (Sept 1-30).
Continue to pray for persecuted Christians in India, for the victims of the violence and for those whose churches and ministries have been attacked and whose homes and buildings were destroyed.
And now a word from our sponsor
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us."
He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill."
I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel."
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Psalm 2 (ESV)
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