VirtueOnline Digest, Vol 17, Issue 30

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VirtueOnline Weekly News Digest
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Today's Topics:

1. Table of Contents (David Virtue)
2. VIEWPOINTS: August 11, 2017 (David Virtue)
3. Nashotah House is again undergoing transition (David Virtue)
4. Episcopal Church schism enters new chapter of uncertainty
after court ruling (David Virtue)
5. Pastoral letter from Mark Lawrence following the SC Supreme
Court decision (David Virtue)
6. Diocese of South Carolina: Standing Committee will file for
Rehearing (David Virtue)
7. Forward in Faith-North America changes focus (David Virtue)
8. DELAFIELD, WISCONSIN: St. Michael's Anglican Church to get
its own home (David Virtue)
9. Archbishop of Canterbury caught between a rock and a hard
place (David Virtue)
10. Traditionalist bishop exposes soft under belly of Evangelism
in Church of England (David Virtue)
11. Church of England Evangelical Council will not go along to
get along over human sexuality doctrine (David Virtue)
12. First same-sex wedding deepens Anglican divide (David Virtue)
13. Unity and division as Justin Welby visits Africa (David Virtue)
14. "They Became Fools" (David Virtue)
15. South Carolina: Courts, Referees, and Chasing Squirrels
(David Virtue)
16. ON LAWSUITS AND LOSSES: A MEDITATION FROM PSALM 37 (David Virtue)
17. The South Carolina Supreme Court ruling (David Virtue)
18. Massive Conflict of Interest Taints South Carolina Ruling
(David Virtue)
19. FAITHFULNESS: What does it Mean to be A Mature Christian
Disciple? - Hebrews 11:1-19 (David Virtue)


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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:12:31 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Table of Contents
Message-ID:
<1502406751.1354826....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

VirtueOnline Weekly News Digest - Desktop & Mobile Edition
www.virtueonline.org
August 11, 2017

*************************************
VIEWPOINTS
*************************************

1. Are we living in End Times? * Diocese of South Carolina Seeks
Rehearing * Nashotah House President Resigns...
http://www.virtueonline.org/are-we-living-end-times-diocese-south-carolina-seeks-rehearing-nashotah-house-president-resigns


*********************************************
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
*********************************************

2. Nashotah House is again undergoing transition
http://www.virtueonline.org/nashotah-house-again-undergoing-transition

3.Episcopal Church schism enters new chapter of uncertainty after court
ruling (UPDATED)
http://www.virtueonline.org/episcopal-church-schism-enters-new-chapter-uncertainty-after-court-ruling-updated


*********************************************
ANGLICAN NEWS IN NORTH AMERICA
*********************************************

4.Pastoral letter from Mark Lawrence following the SC Supreme Court
decision
http://www.virtueonline.org/pastoral-letter-mark-lawrence-following-sc-supreme-court-decision

5.Diocese of South Carolina: Standing Committee will file for Rehearing
http://www.virtueonline.org/diocese-south-carolina-standing-committee-will-file-rehearing

6.Forward in Faith-North America changes focus
http://www.virtueonline.org/forward-faith-north-america-changes-focus

7. DELAFIELD, WISCONSIN: St. Michael's Anglican Church to get its own
home
http://www.virtueonline.org/delafield-wisconsin-st-michaels-anglican-church-get-its-own-home


*********************************************
CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEWS
*********************************************

8. Archbishop of Canterbury caught between a rock and a hard place
http://www.virtueonline.org/archbishop-canterbury-caught-between-rock-and-hard-place

9. Traditionalist bishop exposes soft under belly of Evangelism in
Church of England
http://www.virtueonline.org/traditionalist-bishop-exposes-soft-under-belly-evangelism-church-england

10. Church of England Evangelical Council will not go along to get along
over human sexuality doctrine
http://www.virtueonline.org/church-england-evangelical-council-will-not-go-along-get-along-over-human-sexuality-doctrine


***************************************
GLOBAL ANGLICAN NEWS
***************************************

11.First same-sex wedding deepens Anglican divide
http://www.virtueonline.org/first-same-sex-wedding-deepens-anglican-divide

12.Unity and division as Justin Welby visits Africa
http://www.virtueonline.org/unity-and-division-justin-welby-visits-africa


********************************
CULTURE WARS
********************************

13."They Became Fools"
http://www.virtueonline.org/they-became-fools


********************************
AS EYE SEE IT
********************************

14.South Carolina: Courts, Referees, and Chasing Squirrels
http://www.virtueonline.org/south-carolina-courts-referees-and-chasing-squirrels

15.ON LAWSUITS AND LOSSES: A MEDITATION FROM PSALM 37
http://www.virtueonline.org/lawsuits-and-losses-meditation-psalm-37

16.The South Carolina Supreme Court ruling
http://www.virtueonline.org/south-carolina-supreme-court-ruling

17.Massive Conflict of Interest Taints South Carolina Ruling
http://www.virtueonline.org/massive-conflict-interest-taints-south-carolina-ruling


*********************************
DEVOTIONAL
*********************************

18.FAITHFULNESS: What does it Mean to be A Mature Christian Disciple? -
Hebrews 11:1-19
http://www.virtueonline.org/8-faithfulness-what-does-it-mean-be-mature-christian-disciple-hebrews-111-19


END



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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:13:18 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: VIEWPOINTS: August 11, 2017
Message-ID:
<1502406798.1355354....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

The historic Christian faith. At the risk of oversimplification and of
the charge of arrogance, I want to argue that the evangelical faith is
nothing other than the historic Christian faith. The evangelical
Christian is not a deviationist, but a loyalist who seeks by the grace
of God to be faithful to the revelation which God has given of himself
in Christ and in Scripture. The evangelical faith is not a peculiar or
esoteric version of the Christian faith -- it is the Christian faith. It
is not a recent innovation. The evangelical faith is original, biblical,
apostolic Christianity. --- John R.W. Stott

We must learn to know the Scriptures again, as the Reformers and our
fathers knew them. We must not grudge the time and the work that it
takes. We must know the Scriptures first and foremost for the sake of
our salvation ... one who will not learn to handle the Bible for himself
is not an evangelical Christian. --- Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Life
Together.

Over the last several decades mainline Protestantism has withered. The
country became more diverse. The WASPs lost their perch atop society.
The mainline denominations lost their vitality. --- David Brooks

The Catholic Church in the United States is only doing "exceptionally
well" by comparison to the Catholic Church in Europe. Political
scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell found that if not for Latino
immigration, the US Catholic Church would be hemorrhaging members at the
same rate of Mainline Protestantism. --- Rod Dreher

"Our saints are our models in this journey of faith and life, and it is
good to be led by the example of their commitment to fulfilling God's
will rather than our own particular desires. As Catholics we pray always
for the wisdom to make wise choices and to be guided by Christ rather
than the world around us." --- Catholic Bishop Joseph Toal of Motherwell

The Apocalypse of Donald is not mindless or careless or mad: it is
purposely and purposefully incendiary -- it sets ablaze the imagination
and boils the fat out of an obese culture of politically-correct
pontifications and interminably immoral compromises. There is good and
evil; love and hate; war and peace; truth and lies; purity and
perversion. And there is heaven and hell.--- Archbishop Cranmer

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
www.virtueonline.org
August 11, 2017

Are we living in the End Times? Are these the "Last Days"? You might
think so if the rhetoric of our president is anything to go by. Is this
the Apocalypse of Donald Trump? Is he fulfilling the Book of
Revelation's dire predictions on the rampancy of evil and the end of the
world as we know it? This is "fire and fury like the world has never
seen" he said from his golf lair in New Jersey this week, and many
Christians scrambled for their bibles wondering if The Donald is God's
apocalyptic answer to the West's moral degradation, its acceptance of
pansexuality, pornography, child abuse, abortion, "gay" marriage, opioid
abuse, inequality and much more.

Of course, the End Times has been around for over 2,000 years and might
be extended a millennium or two as no one knows when the End will come,
only the Father, said Jesus. Even Jesus said He didn't know. What people
mean is; is this the end of the End Times. Again, who knows, and it is
not for Christians to speculate. I doubt you will hear apocalyptic
sermons this week from an Episcopal or even an Anglican pulpit. You
might perhaps hear a lecture on climate change quoting Gore not God.

While the signs of the Lord's soon return seem to focus largely on
traumatic events and great troubles, deliverance from these (or from our
own personal troubles) should not be our reason for wanting the Lord to
come. We want Him to return in order that He might finally be accepted
and honored in the world He created, not just to keep us from going
through death or for relief from our own problems. Even when Paul knew
he was about to be executed, he still "loved His appearing", said one
commentator. (II Timothy 3:8).

Hold that thought. We should not be concerning ourselves overly with the
ups and downs of earthquakes, floods or even the stock market; even the
give and take of our lives, which, by the mail I get, would have me on
my knees 23 hours a day praying for people. I grew up in earthquake
prone New Zealand where we were taught in school what to do if an
earthquake struck. It happened, a few died. Life went on. "Give us this
day our daily bread" and "forgive us our sins" should still be our cry,
and we should continue to trust that God is working out His purposes
regardless of who is running the country. Cosmic catastrophe is in His
hands, not ours.

Who is running the Church is far more important and pertinent question
as the eternal destinies of millions are at stake in the message we do
or do not proclaim from pulpits and with our lives.

That is why, in the end, VOL will continue to focus on God's kingdom,
His work, the Good News, exposing the evil deeds of the wicked,
occasionally pronouncing anathemas, but confident that the work He has
begun in us, He will bring to fruition "in that day," even if North
Korea is a sea of diabolical godlessness. "Be still, and know that I am
God," even as all creation groans.

*****

The Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina Mark Lawrence got a stomach
punch this past week when the Supreme Court of SC reversed an earlier
lower court ruling and said The Episcopal Church owned and had a right
to 29 parishes that had gone over to the ACNA.

However, the Standing Committee has asked for a rehearing of the case,
so perhaps we may yet see some better outcome on all this.

The deciding vote was an Episcopal judge Kaye Hearn who should have
recused herself because she is up to her neck in Episcopal Church
politics and had no business being on a jury of judges.

What was doubly sad was that Lawrence's lawyers did not call her out
when this all began, but they didn't and they may have paid a
half-billion dollar price for their dysfunction.

I am sure that as the four or so remaining and watching orthodox
dioceses in TEC must realize is that a guillotine hangs over their heads
and if Brewer (Central Florida); Martins (Springfield); Love (Albany)
and Sumner (Dallas) think about departing, then David Booth Beers and
his team of lawyers will be all over them like a ton of bricks hot out
of the oven and their ecclesiastical lives will be over. Of course,
there is not a shred of evidence that they plan to depart. They will
ride the TEC train right off the cliff and jump off just in the nick of
time to collect fat pensions.

Of course, at the divine bar of justice when the Judge of all the earth
convenes He might have other things to say and other places to send
them. Winning (or holding out with evil...in the name of saving a
remnant) in this life does not guarantee you a place with Christ in the
next. Jesus did not die on the cross to compromise with sin and give
sodomites a pass because a series of sodomite and pro-sodomite bishops
and archbishops think He has changed his mind. He hasn't.

*****

The Board of Directors of Nashotah House announced this week that they
had accepted the resignation of the Very Rev. Steven A. Peay, Ph.D. as
Dean and President of Nashotah House. Peay has served as Dean and
President since February, 2015. Peay notified the Board that his
decision to step down is based upon a number of personal factors,
including the need to assist full recovery from a recent,
non-life-threatening health issue and a desire to facilitate new
leadership at the House. Peay has accepted an appointment as Research
Professor of Homiletics at Nashotah House, effective September 1, 2017,
and will remain a member of the House community after he steps down as
Dean and President on August 31.

VOL writer, Mary Ann Mueller, wrote that "In modern times Nashotah deans
have inherently had short tenures and Dean Peay accomplished much in his
short term. Reportedly the dean with the longest tenure in The House's
175 history is former Dean, Robert Munday, who was at Nashotah's helm
for a decade from 2001-2011."

But a source told VOL, that Peay had always been in favor of women
priests, but he kept it a secret from most of the trustees. He was
starting to become more open about working toward women celebrants at
the House, and the hiring of a woman priest as an assistant dean and the
composition of the Alumni Council were indications of this. Even most of
the trustees/directors who are in TEC do not support changing the
House's policy against women celebrants.

Dr. Garwood P. Anderson, Ph.D., Academic Dean and Professor of New
Testament studies, will assume the position of Acting Dean, effective
September 1.

*****

A senior evangelical bishop in the Church of England is spearheading
resistance to a perceived drift in teaching on sexuality, hinting that
some form of schism may be necessary.

Julian Henderson, the Bishop of Blackburn and president of the Church of
England Evangelical Council (CEEC), told evangelical leaders across the
CofE that 'behind the scenes' initiatives were under way to bolster
traditionalist teaching and support in the Church.

But he went on to warn that some form of split or church-within-a-church
may be necessary if the apparent liberalizing trajectory continues.

"We are being realistic and thinking through what visible
differentiation might look like, should the Church depart from its
current teaching, whether in law or in fact, and make such
differentiation necessary," he wrote in a letter to evangelical Anglican
leaders this week.

All this comes prior to an October meeting of Global Primates in
Canterbury who are watching with dismay the unraveling of the Church of
England over homosexuality.

*****

In an emergency letter to South Korean president Moon Jae-In, the
National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) urged immediate dialogue to
ease military tension in the Korean Peninsula.

In the letter, the NCCK reiterated its hope to see a peaceful
reunification of South and North Korea, but tension has caused grave
concern. "To make matters worse, President Trump has declared that
'North Korea would face fire and fury, one never witnessed by the
world'," states the letter. "Military tension is at its height in the
Korean peninsula and there is fear of war spreading among the people."

The lives of the people in South Korea should not be threatened by the
provocative acts of the US and North Korea, said the letter. "The road
to peace is a difficult one, but the harder it gets the more important
it is that we keep the principle," the letter states. "We cannot start
sincere dialogues when we place blame for the opponent's extreme actions
or when we insist various pre-conditions for dialogue."

*****

The Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem in looking for a new bishop after the
disastrous reign of Paul Marshall. A blurb said this:

The Diocese has had a bishop provisional since 2014, when The Rt. Rev.
Sean Rowe was elected following the retiring of The Rt. Rev. Paul
Marshall, the Diocese' eighth bishop. At the time, the search committee
felt that they were not ready for a new bishop. "Leadership had
atrophied, committees were stressed and not functioning well, financial
resources were in need of realignment and transparency. Relationally,
some among us were hurt, and we were in need of healing," wrote Rowe.

*****

In the last 30 years, more mosques and Muslim prayer centers have been
built in France than all the Catholic churches built in the last
century.

The Church of Santa Rita used to stand in the fifteenth arrondissement
of Paris. A few weeks after Father Hamel was murdered by Islamic
terrorists, the French police cleared the church. It is now a parking
lot. Police dragged the priests out by their legs as a Mass was being
celebrated.

In France, there are laws protecting old trees. But the state is free to
flatten old Christian churches. The vacuums created in the French
landscape are already being filled by booming mosques. Cowardly French
authorities would never treat Islam as they are now treating
Christianity, a news report said.

*****

Pope Francis currently has the highest Twitter following of all the
world's leaders, though Donald Trump could soon overtake him.

Across his nine Twitter accounts in different languages, the Pope has a
following of 36.2 million, according to The Tablet.

A May study by the global social media analytics group Twiplomacy ranked
the Twitter popularity and activity of the world's leaders. It recorded
the pontiff's two most popular Tweets, both fraught with political
reference to the policies of Donald Trump -- without naming the
President.

"I invite you not to build walls but bridges, to conquer evil with good,
offence with forgiveness, to live in peace with everyone", Francis
posted on March 18, 2017.

An earlier Tweet from Francis wrote: "How often in the Bible the Lord
asks us to welcome migrants and foreigners, reminding us that we too are
foreigners!"

Close behind the Pope lies Trump with 35.3 million followers, who could
overtake the Pope by the end of August if his current growth rate
continues.

*****

In the category of Ripley's Believe It or Not comes word that Hillary
Clinton wants to be a United Methodist preacher, and a Duke Divinity
School alum who served as her spiritual adviser during the 2016
presidential campaign says Clinton would be powerful in the pulpit. "I
think she would be a terrific preacher," said the Rev. Bill Shillady,
who has been a friend and a pastor to the Clinton family for 15 years.
"She knows her Bible, and she loves people and she loves God."

Dr. Everett Piper, President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, wondered
if Clinton believes "that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian
teaching." The United Methodist Church officially teaches this.

Now cast your mind back to a certain governor of New Jersey, Jim
McGreevey whose homosexual lover Golan Cipel blew the whistle on him
accusing him of sexual harassment. McGreevey had two previous
heterosexual marriages, resigned as governor and is now an Episcopal
priest working in a NJ prison. He lives with an Australian businessman
in Plainfield, NJ.

You can't out satirize this stuff.

In other news, approval of Donald Trump is slipping among evangelicals
and other Christians, a new survey says.

However, the Politico/Daily Caller survey does not separate out white
evangelicals -- around 80 per cent of whom voted for Trump last November
-- and it is probable that the declining support is among Latino
evangelicals who were less supportive of Trump in the first place.

In March, evangelicals approved of Trump by a margin of two to one: 63
per cent to 32 per cent, according to the original Politico/Daily Caller
survey.

Five months later, the same surveyors have found that the margin has
shrunk by more than half, to 56-42.

An even bigger slip in support has been recorded among non-evangelical
Christians, both Protestant and Catholic. In March, they approved of
Trump's performance 58 per cent to 40 per cent, and now, they disapprove
of it by a margin of 56 per cent to 40 per cent.

The new survey comes after reports that evangelical leaders are,
nonetheless, tightening their grip on the White House under Trump, with
a series of prayer and policy meetings and apparently growing influence.

*****

Now if you don't think the country is going down the drain then consider
this: Lesbians are behind a Disney cartoon pushing LGBT to preschoolers.
One of the creators of a Disney cartoon that promoted same-sex
"marriage" to preschoolers has admitted that they specifically aim to
promote political messages on the show. Ellen Degeneres (a lesbian)
admits that what she's doing with the show is making sure the characters
are "accepting." The show is about an aspiring doctor who "fixes" toys.

*****

The Episcopal Church made the right move with Bishop Bruno, said a
Letter to the Editor of The Daily Pilot.

"I was gratified to hear that Bishop J. Jon Bruno was repudiated for
trying to complete a backdoor sale of an iconic Newport Beach church
landmark to developers. Isn't anything sacred anymore? Kudos to the
hierarchy of the Episcopal Church for stepping in and preventing the
sale so that the sanctity of the church can be preserved. It's sad that
the original St. James couldn't have continued along a path that had
been cherished for decades!

Pete Rabbitt
Newport Beach

PS. The "original" St. James was run by the Rev. Richard Crocker, an
evangelical priest who experienced the wrath of Bruno. The irony is that
the Rev. Cindy Voorhees, his successor, is not unlike Bruno in theology
and inclusiveness.

*****

Dear VOL readers,

We urgently NEED your financial support to continue. We are faced with a
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In Christ,

David



------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:13:36 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Nashotah House is again undergoing transition
Message-ID:
<1502406816.1355405....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Nashotah House is again undergoing transition
Nashotah has had 20 deans in its 175-year history

By Mary Ann Mueller
VOL Special Correspondent
www.virtueonline.org
August 8, 2017

Nashotah House, the Anglo-Catholic Episcopal theological seminary in
southern Wisconsin, is again undergoing a transition.

The 175-year-old theological seminary announced on August 7 that its
current president and dean, the Very Rev. Steven Peay, was stepping
aside to deal with some health issues which have been plaguing him
recently and to recover from surgery.

"Fr. Peay notified the Board, late last week, that he had decided to
step down as Dean and President, based upon a number of personal
factors, including the need to concentrate on full recovery from a
recent, non-life-threatening health issue and a desire to facilitate new
leadership at The House," Nashotah's announcement said.

Concern was raised about six weeks ago when word leaked out that there
was an apparent misunderstanding on disbursement of funds at the hands
of Dean Peay concerning seminarians from Resurrection Episcopal Church
in Sarasota, Florida.

That erroneous information was bogus but it did cause a stir and started
rumors flying about misappropriation of funds.

"Redeemer gave Nashotah House a donation that was to be used for
scholarships for Episcopal seminarians. Somehow that designation got
lost and when we realized that we hadn't heard from any of the
seminarians we were supposed to have helped, we contacted the Seminary,
called it to their attention, and it was immediately rectified,"
explained Fr. Fred. Robinson, Redeemer's rector. "The Episcopal
seminarians were given credit, and we immediately received letters of
thanks."

"This is an excellent example of how a partial truth can be distorted
into a very damaging accusation," the rector continued. "Someone at the
seminary obviously heard something from someone and spread the rumor."

Bishop Daniel Martins (XI Springfield), who is Nashotah House chairman
of the board of directors called the June dustup "scurrilous gossip."

Concerning Dean Peay's unexpected resignation Bishop Martins said, "Fr.
Peay has provided extraordinary leadership to The House at a pivotal,
and critical, moment in its history."

Steven Peay became Nashotah's dean and president during the fall of 2014
following the preplanned resignation of the late Bishop Edward Salmon
(XIII South Carolina) who ultimately ran into trouble when in early 2014
he invited the Episcopal Presiding Bishop to preach at The House.

Katharine Jefferts Schori's invitation had immediate reaction. Bishop
Jack Iker (IV Fort Worth) resigned as a Nashotah House trustee after 21
years of service and Bishop William Wantland (IV Eau Claire-retired)
signaled that he "will not take part in any functions at Nashotah" nor
continue "to give financial support to The House as long as the present
administration [Bishop Salmon] remains."

"The timing of his (Bishop Salmon's) departure was planned from the
inception of his tenure. The circumstances emanating from the visit of
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to The House, while immensely
unpleasant, in no way contributed to his decision to step down as Dean
and return to his seat on the Board of Trustees (as it was styled at the
time), Bishop Martins explained. " Fr. Peay was not hired to 'fix' any
supposed damage caused by Bishop Salmon."

"He (Peay) has worked tirelessly over the course of the past
two-and-a-half years to lead The House through a period of transition
and institutional restructuring -- and he has done a magnificent job,"
Bishop Martins explained. "The Board is grateful for his ministry and
service in leadership and is pleased that Fr. Peay will remain
affiliated with the seminary in the days ahead."

While dean and president of The House, Fr. Peay was also Professor of
Homiletics and Church History. Now he plans to stay on at Nashotah as
the Research Professor of Homiletics but without the added
responsibility and weight of the seminary's leadership. He finds it is
time to move on and redirect his energies so he can regain his health.
He feels that he has fulfilled his purpose as Nashotah dean and he
leaves a list of accomplishments in his wake.

During Fr. Peay's tenure as Nashotah's president and dean he is credited
"for leading The House through a critical period of restructuring and
renewal." He also instituted a new institutional governance structure
when the seminary switched from a trustees form of governance to a board
of directors.

The out-going dean was also able to raise $7 million for the seminary's
endowment fund making it the "single largest fundraising effort in the
history of The House, and thus moved the institution closer to its goal
of ensuring long-term financial viability."

As a traditional seminary, which trains priests for parish ministry,
Nashotah House crosses denominational lines and is recognized as a
theological seminary for The Episcopal Church (TEC); the Anglican Church
in North America (ACNA); the Episcopal Missionary Church (EMC); and the
North American Lutheran Church (NALC).

Another accomplishment that Dean Peay can put under his belt is that in
January the entire Nashotah House 345-acre campus was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Nashotah's Chapel of St.
Mary the Virgin had already been listed on the NRHP in 1972.

Questions have been raised as to why Dean Peay was stepping down at this
particular point in time. Was there anything untoward happening behind
the scenes other than known health issues and a desire to lighten his
load.

Bishop Martins emphatically replied, "The press release from Nashotah is
the truth, and nothing but the truth. There is no falsehood in it."

"There was no conflict between him and the Board of Directors, or within
the Board of Directors," he said explaining that Dean Peay's desire to
step down doesn't point to any "bad guys" or "malefactors" within the
seminary community nor is there is "scandal" or any "malfeasance" and
"misfeasance" to be found. It is also reported that there is no
animosity and rancor between Dean Peay and the board of directors.

In modern times Nashotah deans have inherently had short tenures and
Dean Peay accomplished much in his short term. Reportedly the dean with
the longest tenure in The House's 175 history is former Dean, Robert
Munday, who was at Nashotah's helm for a decade from 2001-2011.

Stepping in as acting dean is to be Garwood P. Anderson, Ph.D. a layman
who is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of New
Testament Studies. He is to come on board on September 1, the week that
the 2017 Fall term begins.

Dr. Anderson received his higher education from University of Wisconsin
- Eau Claire in Wisconsin; Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, an
Evangelical Free Church seminary in Illinois; and Marquette University,
a Catholic Jesuit university in Milwaukee. He has been at Nashotah for
10 years joining the seminary's faculty while Dean Munday was still at
The House. The incoming acting dean is also senior warden at Zion
Episcopal Church in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular
contributor to VirtueOnline



------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:13:53 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Episcopal Church schism enters new chapter of uncertainty
after court ruling
Message-ID:
<1502406833.1355453....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Episcopal Church schism enters new chapter of uncertainty after court
ruling

By Adam Parker and Jennifer Berry Hawes
Post & Courier
http://www.postandcourier.com
August 5, 2017

In the aftermath of the S.C. Supreme Court's ruling Wednesday on the
dispute between The Episcopal Church and a breakaway diocese, many
parishioners, clergy and others with a vested interest in Anglican life
are wondering when -- or whether -- another exodus will occur.

The court decided in a set of five distinct opinions that most of the
church buildings in the Diocese of South Carolina, as well as Camp St.
Christopher on Seabrook Island, belong to The Episcopal Church. These
properties include historic parishes such as St. Michael's and St.
Philip's downtown, Old St. Andrew's in West Ashley and Christ Church in
Mount Pleasant, as well as buildings in Beaufort, Edisto, Summerville,
Georgetown, Myrtle Beach, Florence and elsewhere in the coastal half of
the state.

The Diocese of South Carolina under the leadership of Bishop Mark
Lawrence was granted an extension on Friday for filing a request for a
rehearing, giving lawyers 30 days to submit their petition with the S.C.
Supreme Court.

If granted the petition, attorneys will argue the case again, this time
before a court whose members have partially changed. If the petition is
not granted, the Diocese of South Carolina still can submit a writ of
certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking for its intervention. The
high court generally has not chosen to hear cases of this type in the
past.

At Grace Church Cathedral in downtown Charleston, leaders of The
Episcopal Church in South Carolina gathered Friday to discuss the S.C.
Supreme Court opinions and then attended a prayer service.

The Very Rev. Michael Wright, rector and dean of Grace Church, said the
cathedral has served as "a refuge from the storm" for many, gaining a
large number of worshipers from parishes that left The Episcopal Church.
They must now contemplate "the next phase" in the life of the diocese,
he said.

That phase holds much uncertainty, said Bishop Skip Adams.

"We have made no decisions," Adams said. "We came together to express
faithfulness, to worship together and to have a chance to hear from
folks."

Most people came to the meeting with the question, "Where do we go
next?" But there are no answers yet, and rumors and speculation are not
helpful, he said. Instead, he called on his colleagues to acknowledge
the pain on both sides and to keep paths as wide open as possible.

"In the middle of it all, we still have our mission: to share the Good
News, to worship together" and, as the catechism in the Book of Common
Prayer states, to restore all people to unity with God and each other in
Christ. "Our goal still is reconciliation."

In the meantime, they wait.

"That's the hard part," Adams said.

What has happened

The Diocese of South Carolina under the leadership of Bishop Mark
Lawrence left The Episcopal Church in 2012 after years of wrangling over
theological and administrative issues. Lawrence and most of the diocesan
leadership disliked what they considered The Episcopal Church's emphasis
on political correctness and inclusiveness over sound Christian
doctrine.

The dissatisfaction was exacerbated by the 2003 consecration of Gene
Robinson in New Hampshire, the church's first openly gay bishop. The gap
of disagreement became a chasm as Lawrence and other like-minded
Anglicans within the church tussled with then-Presiding Bishop Katharine
Jefferts Schori, whose church continued to address issues of equality
and diversity.

In the years that followed, congregations in four other Episcopal
dioceses -- San Joaquin, California; Quincy, Illinois; Fort Worth,
Texas; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- split from The Episcopal Church,
as well as several individual parishes, all claiming ownership of their
properties.

When the Diocese of South Carolina followed suit, it too kept control of
the church buildings, as well as Camp St. Christopher. It also retained
intellectual property such as the name of the organization and its seal,
forcing those still associated with The Episcopal Church's local diocese
to come up with a new name: The Episcopal Church in South Carolina.

Lawrence's group, which far outnumbered the Episcopalians left in the
continuing diocese, eventually joined the Anglican Church in North
America but maintained its identity as a distinct organization.

Those who chose to remain with The Episcopal Church often found
themselves with no sanctuary in which to worship. Their congregations,
now a fraction of their former sizes, convened in borrowed spaces, and
many soon formed mission churches in need of permanent buildings.

In 2015, the officials of the continuing diocese of The Episcopal Church
proposed a settlement to the disaffiliated diocese that would have
enabled Lawrence's group to retain 35 church properties, worth hundreds
of millions of dollars, in exchange for Camp St. Christopher, the
identifying marks and other assets. But the breakaway group argued the
offer was an illegitimate "public relations illusion," not a proper
offer made in good faith. The legal battle raged on.

Wait-and-see approach

The court's ruling will have profound implications on thousands of
clergy and congregants, many of whom could face difficult decisions over
whether to stay or leave their physical church homes.

Archbishop Foley Beach of the Anglican Church in North America called
for a day of prayer and fasting.

"Many of you have heard of the mixed decision by the South Carolina
Supreme Court, ruling that most of the parishes in the Diocese of South
Carolina may have to turn over their properties to the Episcopal
Church," he wrote in a pastoral letter on Thursday. "The legal process
is still unfolding and I am asking you to join me in a day of prayer and
fasting for the Diocese on this Friday, August 4."

Charles W. Waring III has worshiped at St. Michael's Church, the oldest
church structure in Charleston, for almost his entire life. His family's
legacy at St. Michael's reaches back about four generations, so the
parish isn't just a building to him, he said. Its walls hold a lifetime
of memories and the whispers of his ancestors.

The Supreme Court ruling, however, doesn't worry him yet.

"It took years to get to this point. I'm not expecting we'll be going to
church on Sunday and have police tape around the building," said Waring,
publisher of the Charleston Mercury, which once was affiliated with The
Post and Courier.

The legal battle isn't over and, in any case, reasonable people on both
sides will come to a resolution that respects everyone, he said. For
now, he will focus on worshiping where his family has prayed since the
end of the Civil War.

"It's full of meaning and memories, but the congregants are my primary
focus, along with the faith message," Waring said.

Maybank Hagood grew up attending historic St. Philip's Church downtown
and raised three children there with his wife, Elizabeth. He has
relatives buried in the picturesque graveyard.

"It's a beautiful, historic place," Hagood said. "But it's a lot bigger
for us. It's a church community, a body of Christ we've lived with and
worshiped with our whole lives."

Instead of worrying about the impact of the court ruling, he has tried
to take a wait-and-see approach to the property's future.

"This has been going on for a long time," Hagood said. "The court
process is going to have to play itself out." Like Waring, he believes
that the faithful on both sides will reach an agreement.

Tough decisions ahead

Jean Bender, canon for pastoral care at Grace Church Cathedral, said the
schism has been traumatic for many on both sides.

"It didn't only split the diocese, it split families," she said.

News of the court's decision was soothing to some but it also served as
a sudden reminder of the distress endured by many.

"There was a PTSD-type response for some because of the pain they've
been through," she said.

Bender identified three main groups of people in most parishes affected
by the schism: a group strongly opposed to The Episcopal Church and its
liberal theology, a group strongly loyal to The Episcopal Church and a
group somewhere in the middle whose members do not necessarily embrace
in full the theology and practices of either faction but prefer to
remain in the building where they have long worshiped.

As this long legal battle eventually concludes, all of these people will
need to decide what to do, she said.

*****

Church members continue on following court ruling on separation from
Episcopal diocese

By Brad Streicher
WCSC LIVE 5 NEWS
http://www.live5news.com/
Aug. 6, 2017

CHARLESTON, SC -- Episcopal churches in Charleston that separated from
the national Episcopal Church had normal services on Sunday.

That's despite the fact that the state Supreme Court ruled that the
church structures don't belong to the churches themselves.

For St. Michael's church, Sunday was business as usual.

"We are so happy to gather here together and to worship as we do every
Sunday," said Elizabeth Scarbourough, a member of St. Michael's.

"I come every day. I come every Sunday," said Jeffrey Moll, another
member of the church.

But this Sunday was a little different than most.

"This is the start of the next chapter of the book and that we go into
finding out where go from here," said Frank Farmer, a church member of
St. Michael's.

St. Michael's is one of 36 churches in eastern South Carolina that broke
away from the Episcopal Church.

Last week, the state Supreme Court ruled that many of the churches
themselves do not own the buildings where they hold service.

That means the people at St. Michael's could have to find a new place to
worship.

"We're all gathering as a core congregation of St. Michael's Anglican
Church, discussing what that means for us, and where we move from here,"
Scarbourough said.

The people at St. Michael's say that losing the property wouldn't
necessarily be the end of the world.

For them, church isn't about the building. It's about the people and
practices inside.

"The church is the people," Farmer said."I mean that's what we've been
taught, that's what we believe is that the people are the church, and
not the building."

Farmer moved to Charleston in 1993 and at that time he didn't know
anyone.

That changed because of St. Michael's.

"I found a family there," Farmer said."I started going in 2000. And
that's what I would say is my family."

A family he's confident isn't going anywhere.

"If that is the outcome, then we'll go somewhere else," Farmer
said."It's not the end of the family, it's not the end of the service.
We'll continue somewhere, we'll find somewhere else to go. It just won't
be here."

The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of South Carolina are giving each
other 30 days to decide where the lawsuit between the churches will go
from here.



------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:14:10 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Pastoral letter from Mark Lawrence following the SC Supreme
Court decision
Message-ID:
<1502406850.1355454....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Pastoral letter from Mark Lawrence following the SC Supreme Court
decision

By Mark Lawrence
August 6, 2017

Eve of the Transfiguration

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I
shall not be shaken." Psalm 16:8

Thursday evening Allison and I returned to Charleston. We were on
vacation with family in California when the South Carolina Supreme Court
issued the long awaited ruling. Obviously, it was not the favorable
ruling we were seeking. Therefore, we returned home as soon as possible.
Frankly, it is a grievous decision for us on so many levels. Perhaps
you, as do I, have to fight despondency as I consider its many
ramifications for us as a diocese, and especially for our congregations
and clergy. For make no mistake--if this ruling stands how we carry out
God's mission and the ministries he has given us will dramatically
change. You may already have received from previous diocesan
communications , the diocesan website or from local news, the gist of
the court's conflicted 77-page opinion. Therefore, I will not rehearse
it here. My purpose is more personal.

Today, thousands of Christians around the world are holding you, the
congregations of the diocese, as well as our clergy and bishop in
prayer. Even more specifically, yesterday Anglicans on this continent
were lifting us in constant prayer. As you may know, we recently voted
as a diocese to affiliate with the Anglican Church in North America, and
this summer their Provincial Assembly joyfully received us as full
members therein. What a comfort it is to know that our Archbishop, the
Most Reverend Foley Beach, asked the bishops, clergy and laity of the
ACNA to pray and fast yesterday on our behalf.

Many of those praying and fasting have in the past walked away from
their church buildings, buildings they built and maintained, and in some
cases, where their families worshiped for centuries. Some left by
choice; others after years of litigation. I do not mention the latter,
however, as if the legal issues in our case are fully resolved. They
most certainly are not, though they are clearly challenging. Rather, I
want you to know the sort of Christians who are praying for us; and
while holding us in prayer, many are fasting. They have paid a price to
follow their Lord. We are part of a provincial body of Anglican
Christians and they are walking this hard road with us. Their fellowship
at such a time is greatly comforting to me and I hope it is for you.

I also want to tell you what our next steps are. First, this Monday,
August 7, the Standing Committee and I will meet with our lead legal
counsel, Mr. Alan Runyan. I assure you that our legal team is looking at
the various options before us. Second, this Wednesday I will meet with
the deans of the various diocesan deaneries, and that afternoon, Mr.
Runyan, Canon Lewis and I will meet with all the clergy of the diocese.
Please keep us in your prayers. Many important decisions are before us
and we want to be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ and walk in step
with the Holy Spirit.

Finally, I am honored to be your bishop, and, God willing, I will remain
so as long as you and he will have me. I have been deeply encouraged by
Psalm 16 where David, as psalmist, confesses that he has no good apart
from God. The LORD is his chosen portion, his cup and his lot. Yet in
verse 3, he also acknowledges that along with finding comfort in God in
the midst of dreadful setbacks he also finds encouragement from the
people he serves: "As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent
ones, in whom is all my delight." Serendipitously, as if to illustrate
this truth to me, when Allison and I arrived in the Charleston airport
late Thursdayafternoon walking to get our luggage we saw two familiar
faces-- members of St. Michael's and the diocese--Dr. Alston Kitchens
and her husband, Greg. They greeted us with smiles and hugs, and
assurances of their prayers. They embodied many of you; the ones with
whom we have cast our lot. Ten years ago, when I was going through a
difficult consent process as your Bishop-Elect I wrote, "I have lashed
myself to the mast of Christ and will ride out this storm wherever the
ship of faith will take me." As you know, it brought me here.

Someone, clearly pleased with this judicial ruling, recently sent me an
email sardonically asking when I was leaving town. I wrote back, "I'm
not leaving town." I am lashed to Christ and lashed to you. We will see
in the midst of this present storm where the ship of faith will take us.
Ironically, I do not suspect that means leaving town, regardless of what
else may change. This, dear friends, is what I know and want to remind
you of--in favorable and unfavorable rulings from human courts, Christ
is still Lord, he will come again to judge the living and the dead. His
kingdom will have no end.

Yours in Christ,

Mark Joseph Lawrence
XIV Bishop of South Carolina



------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:14:26 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Diocese of South Carolina: Standing Committee will file for
Rehearing
Message-ID:
<1502406866.1355450....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Diocese of South Carolina: Standing Committee will file for Rehearing

August 7, 2017

The Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina, having met
together with our bishop, The Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence, in Charleston
this day, sends to all of our brothers and sisters of the diocese our
love and our greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. We are so profoundly
thankful for all who have fasted and prayed for our diocese and our
Standing Committee during the past week from across South Carolina,
throughout the Anglican Church in North America, and among all the
faithful in global Anglicanism.

We have spent this time together in prayer and discussion regarding the
decision by the South Carolina Supreme Court last Wednesday. In light of
the conflicting opinions issued by the court, we met with the legal
counsel for our diocese and have approved a strategy on how we go
forward seeking clarity. We want you to know this: the legal process
continues. We will be filing a motion for a rehearing from the Supreme
Court, the deadline for which is September 1st. We are convinced there
are compelling reasons to make this motion. There will be other avenues
along with and following that action.

Finally, while we cannot tell you what tomorrow brings, we want to
reiterate three things that you already know. First, again, the legal
process continues. Second, we are stronger together. Third, we will
continue in all circumstances our God-given mandate of making biblical
Anglicans for a global age. Know that we love you, our brothers and
sisters in Christ, and that we remain,

Yours in Christ Jesus,

The Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina

The Rev. David Thurlow, President
The Very Rev. Craige Borrett
The Rev. Karl Burns, Vice-President
The Very Rev. Peet Dickinson
The Rev. David Dubay
The Rev. Marcus Kaiser
Mr. Alonso Galvan
Mr. Gerry Graves
Mrs. Susan McDuffie, Secretary
Mr. Foster Smith
Mrs. Anne Walton
Absent:
Mr. Brandt Shelbourne



------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:14:39 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Forward in Faith-North America changes focus
Message-ID:
<1502406879.1355530....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Forward in Faith-North America changes focus
FiF-NA is in transition; furloughs paid staff

By Mary Ann Mueller
VOL Special Correspondent
www.virtueonline.org
August 3, 2017

Forward in Faith-North America (FiF-NA) is in the throes of transition
in part caused by a drastic drop in income and part by a refocusing on
the mission of the organization.

Executive Director Michael Howell announced that income for the
non-profit organization dropped from $49,815 in 2016. So far only
$28,993 has been added to the coffers in 2017.

However, ACNA Bishop Keith Ackerman, FiF-NA's past president, would take
issue with the definition that Forward in Faith is an "organization."

"Forward in Faith is not really an organization but it is a living
organism," the bishop corrects. "It is the inheritor of the Oxford
Movement, proclaiming the historic Catholic faith of the undivided
church."

So as a living organism Forward in Faith's proclamation of the historic
Catholic faith of the undivided church has not changed as much as it is
being refocused.

Forward in Faith is refocusing its understanding of its place in mission
by putting a renewed emphasis upon the financial support of men headed
for the priesthood and training already ordained priests to better
evangelize and present the Gospel message in today's world.

To help meet this goal Forward in Faith has been gifted with a half a
million dollar grant by Schwartz Trust. Income generated by interest and
investments will be channeled to support Forward in Faith's redefined
mission. The breakdown will be 75% going toward funding seminarians and
training priests to evangelize with the remaining 25% being plowed back
into the trust to help sustain it and make it grow.

The recent FiF-NA Assembly was held at St. Stephen's Church in Hurst,
Texas. Usually Forward in Faith Assemblies are held at Our Lady of the
Snows, Illinois located just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. But the
move to the smaller Texas venue was a cost cutting measure. Even with
the use of a scaled down setting, Forward in Faith is not planning on
hosting a 2018 Assembly.

Forward in Faith is not the only non-profit ministry to have to
tightening its financial belt in recent days. Only about 19% of FiF-NA's
membership monetarily support it. Since 2014 only 464 members has been
financial donors. The result is that Forward in Faith has had to
"furlough" its paid staff: Executive Director Michael Howell and
Executive Secretary Julia Smead.

It is hoped that at sometime in the future, when the nonprofit's giving
again increases, that Forward in Faith will be able to afford to rehire
its executive director and executive secretary. Until that time their
collective duties will be parceled out to various FiF-NA council members
and other cost cutting measures will be implemented to insure that
Forward in Faith keeps a strong internet presence and fulfills its
refocused mission and ministry.

Forward in Faith's President, Fr. Lawrence Bausch, said that FiF-NA's
internal restructuring does not signal the ending of a season but rather
a turning of a season.

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular
contributor to VirtueOnline



------------------------------

Message: 8
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:14:54 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: DELAFIELD, WISCONSIN: St. Michael's Anglican Church to get
its own home
Message-ID:
<1502406894.1355528....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

DELAFIELD, WISCONSIN: St. Michael's Anglican Church to get its own home

By Alec Johnson
LAKE COUNTRY NOW
http://www.lakecountrynow.com/
Aug. 8, 2017

An area church will be getting a building of its own to call home.

St. Michael's Anglican Church, a member of the Anglican Church in North
America, is moving from its current location at Lake Country School to
an existing building on 612 Milwaukee Street. The building will undergo
some minor renovation work, which will start this month, and is expected
to be complete in time for services to be held Sunday, September 10.

According to the chairman of the church's vestry, or board Dick Schwaab,
the church had been keeping an eye open the last couple of years, and in
particular the last four to six months.

"We're fortunate to have some properties to look at. It's very, very
difficult to find space suitable for a church, particularly one of our
size," said Dick Schwaab, the chairman of the church's vestry, or board.
"This one came into the picture later in the game of looking around, and
because it had been a church, and used as a church, it really was a
great opportunity for us, which we took advantage of as quick as we
possibly could."

St. Michael's has been around since the spring of 2010, and it had been
leasing space at Lake Country School since May 2015. It replaces Mercy
Hill Church, the former building occupants, who have since moved to Lake
Country Lutheran High School after outgrowing the space. Mercy Hill
Church's parent organization sold the building to St. Michael's,
according to Schwaab. He said the new space is about having a dedicated
space to call home and to be more involved with the community.

"That's the main focus for us, was to be able to interact in a community
of people and serve that community, and that's what we were missing at
the school," Schwaab said.

Schwaab said the congregation is looking forward to worshipping in the
new space and have their own home.

"We couldn't really ask for a better place to be than in downtown
Delafield," Schwaab said. "It's just a vibrant little community."

END



------------------------------

Message: 9
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:15:08 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Archbishop of Canterbury caught between a rock and a hard
place
Message-ID:
<1502406908.1355580....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Archbishop of Canterbury caught between a rock and a hard place
Justin Welby faces revolt from Global South Primates

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
August 7, 2017

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby is caught between a rock and
a hard place.

On the one hand, he faces a revolt from a growing number of Global South
Primates who say his views on homosexuality do not comport with their
own and they will not appear in Canterbury in October where he has
called yet another gathering of archbishops to discuss the Communion's
future.

On the other hand, his increasingly pro-homosexual stance in the name of
"radical inclusion" is finding himself more closely aligned to western
pansexual provinces.

jayne ozanne It is clear that he is prepared to sacrifice the Anglican
Communion on his personal cross of sodomite inclusion and acceptance.
Welby's theology on homosexuality, if he has any, has been reduced to
emotion and felt pain. The slow-burning sexual revolution in the Church
of England to destroy traditional morality has been due to the ability
of sexual revolutionaries like Jayne Ozanne to dominate the language
with the siren call of "hurt feelings."

"The vogue is to vocalize experience and 'tell stories'. In particular,
the victimization and injustice narrative holds sway. Any serious
theological input is viewed with growing impatience and embarrassment.
Theology is seen to get in the way of real life," wrote Dr. Chik Kaw
Tan, an Anglican layman.

Apparently, the Ugandan-born Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, agrees
with Welby.

What is now apparent and obvious is that the GAFCON primates led by
Nicholas Okoh, Archbishop of Nigeria, is steadily distancing itself from
the ABC with each passing month, creating a division that amounts to an
informal schism.

GAFCON's theologian in chief, Dr. Peter Jensen, writes continually about
the state of the Communion and he hasn't got a good word to say about
the ABC, the recent actions of the Scottish Episcopal Church and, more
recently, the Anglican province of Aotearoa's attempt to walk down the
middle of the road on the blessing of same sex unions. Jensen called it
the "mythical middle" and defiantly wrote, "It has not worked. It cannot
work. It will not work." Could one be any clearer?

He slammed such talk saying that trying to find a middle ground, where
one can be quietly or relatively conservative, while allowing for a
denominational variety which blesses sexual relations outside the bonds
of traditional marriage, is a non-starter. Welby will get nothing past
Jensen when the primates meet in October. Welby will try and pitch it to
the primates the CofE has not changed its teaching so you can remain
'under the radar' while holding your point of view, but that simply
won't wash. You cannot parse sexual sin and expect the thriving Global
South to buy it. They won't.

Jensen will have none of it, and he speaks for all of GAFCON's fifty
million Anglicans!

Welby made a recent trip to Africa to open a new Anglican province in
the Sudan, the 39th in the Anglican communion with much fanfare, but
then he visited the province of Uganda, where the reception was
outwardly one of bonhomie but behind the scenes it was anything but.

A week earlier, the primate of Uganda, the Most Rev. Stanley Ngatali had
signaled that he would not be attending the October gabfest called by
Welby because of the blasphemous behavior of the Episcopal Church for
its embrace of homosexual marriage. The last time Welby called such a
gathering, the Uganda archbishop walked out of Canterbury the next day,
because his province had voted overwhelmingly that it would not allow
him to be seated in the same room with Michael Curry, TECs presiding
bishop. This time Ngatali won't even bother coming to Canterbury.

Reliable sources tell VOL that Nigerian primate, Nicholas Okoh, won't
attend either. The deeper question is can he persuade his fellow African
GAFCON primates not to attend, or will the siren call of unity, even if
faux, be too hard to resist. In truth, the "bonds of affection" have
effectively been broken.

There were also charges of bullying at the last Canterbury gathering and
who wants to experience that again?

Western pro-homosexual liberals and revisionists are relentless in their
desire to spread their inclusive "gospel" of sodomy on to African
provinces. Michael Curry said as much at the last Canterbury gathering,
and TEC has the financial resources to pursue its agenda of inclusion on
the African sub-continent.

TECs relentless property battles against orthodox Episcopalians at the
cost of tens of millions of dollars, is living proof that they will
spare no efforts or money to break African provinces with their
pansexual gospel.

Who are the real haters?

It is widely believed and broadcasted abroad that Anglicans who disagree
about homosexual behavior are homophobes and haters. It is a lie that
goes on being repeated day in and day out. One of the chief promulgaters
of this lie in the Church of England is Jayne Ozanne, whose constant
whine about her lesbian proclivities caught the attention of Welby, who
was so overcome with profound remorse at the church's homophobia, (while
excluding any mention of Islamic madmen like Boko Haram persecuting
Christians), that he called forth the Church to rethink its position
with a call for "radical inclusion", words right out of the TEC
playbook. Sycophantic followers of Welby like the Dean of St. Paul's,
London, one David Ison, (who would love to be the next Bishop of London)
quickly came to the side of Welby and wrote, "God's burning love is
inclusive and challenging," but it doesn't include sexual sin however
much Ison would like to parse it.

The more open the Church of England becomes moving the church beyond
Biblical boundaries, the more people walk out the door. People want a
'just saith the Lord', not 'come as you are stay as you are.' There is
nothing salvific in that.

The slow liberalizing of the Church of England by Welby is a red rag to
an African bull like Okoh, who had no compunction ripping the snot out
of Rowan Williams ere he departed for academe, and he will do exactly
the same to Welby when the time comes...if not sooner. He is not going
to let Welby off the hook just because he calls himself an evangelical.
If you depart from scripture's clear teaching on sexuality, you had
better learn fast that the leader of 25 million Anglicans is not going
to take any nonsense from a man whose own constituency is barely one
million. "Bonds of affection" won't cut it when the souls of millions
are at stake.

The Bishop of Burnley, Philip North, recently noted that despite some
US$130 million invested in mission initiatives in England, the impact
has shown nothing more than an "accelerated decline," which begs the
question why should the Global South listen to anything Welby has to say
about anything! The truth is, he is irrelevant.

By all accounts Welby, is digging in and he hopes he can persuade the
communion to stay together holding on to their differences. It won't
work. Too much is at stake. African Christians have died at the hands of
Islamic extremists who have accused African Christians of capitulating
to western pansexuality, so they will not cave into Welby or the Church
of England's House of Bishops, who grow weaker by the day on same sex
unions. (The last Synod had more resolutions on LGBTQ sex than any other
issue).

The deep and abiding hatred of orthodox Christians by liberals and
revisionists comes directly from the homosexual LGBTQII lobbies in the
church and they will relentlessly push their agenda till they win,
deeply hating anyone who opposes them, doing their best to kill free
speech and press to jail anybody who dares to say, 'sodomy is morally
wrong.' The property battles are a symbol of their hatred.

While constantly talking up reconciliation, the exact opposite is taking
place. Reconciliation is a myth, and the more western liberal bishops
try to coerce Africans with money and all expenses paid gabfests the
worse it all becomes and GAFCON spines are stiffened against the
bellicose behavior of western Anglican liberals.

If Bishop Robert Duncan really believed change was possible, he would
never have formed the ACNA, but in his heart, he knew the depth of TEC's
apostasy and that change and metanoia would never come. He was right
then and his successor believes that now. Why else would GAFCON primate,
Foley Beach, lay hands on Andy Lines as a GAFCON bishop for Europe and
England, if he believed TEC would ever repent. Furthermore, nothing
Curry has said would indicate that; in fact, he advocates the opposite,
pushing TEC's agenda into Africa.

As things now stand, the line-up is growing clearer by the day.

On the one hand, you have provinces like TEC, the ACofC, the Episcopal
Church of Scotland, the Church of Wales, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Southern
Africa, Brazil, most of Australia and Ireland (which faces a north/south
divide on homosexuality,) versus the Global South including Africa, Asia
and South America, which is united in its antipathy and opposition to
any compromise on sexual behavior.

That divide will only grow wider in the days to come. Welby will be
viewed as a hapless idiot savant unwilling or unable to stop the flow of
the Church of England's inevitable decline into apostasy and heresy, as
his Church becomes increasingly marginalized by the English people
themselves.

The only way forward is the way back. Only in true repentance can any
hope be had to salvage the Anglican Communion, and regrettably, after
nearly three decades of waging spiritual warfare, I do not see that
happening. The Church of England is reaping what it is sowing.

END



------------------------------

Message: 10
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:15:23 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Traditionalist bishop exposes soft under belly of Evangelism
in Church of England
Message-ID:
<1502406923.1355578....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Traditionalist bishop exposes soft under belly of Evangelism in Church
of England
Despite $130.5 million in mission initiatives, evangelistic efforts have
led to "accelerated decline", says Burnley Bishop
Clergy don't want to live and work among the poor
We need to raise up leaders in, for and from the urban church.

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
August 4, 2017

Philip North, the Bishop of Burnley who was recently sidelined to be the
next Bishop of Sheffield over his opposition to women bishops, gave a
sermon entitled "Hope for the Poor" at a New Wine gathering in which he
tells of "stories where people from backgrounds living in the toughest
parts of the country have come to faith in Jesus Christ through
passionate and committed Christian ministry which has combined service
and proclamation..."

And then he said this:
"...in the poorest parts of the country, we are withdrawing the
preachers. The harvest is rich, but the labourers have been re-deployed
to wealthier areas. We are seeing the slow and steady withdrawal of
church life from those communities where the poorest people in our
nation live.

"And that matters. For the past 25 years I have been delighted to see a
vast and ever-growing industry of evangelism that now sets the pace in
the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is passionate about
evangelism and has made it one of his major priorities, backed up with
initiatives such as 'Thy Kingdom Come.' Dioceses almost all have strong
growth strategies in place.

The Church Commissioners have released ?100m ($130 million US) in assets
to invest in mission initiatives.

Planting new congregations has become an industry in itself, even having
its own Bishop and backed up by the work of New Wine, HTB, Fresh
Expressions, Messy Church and many others. We have had over two decades
of evangelical ascendancy and the majority of senior leaders will now
emphasize mission and evangelism above anything else. New evangelistic
resources appear on the scene all the time, countless new para-church
groups and agencies appear with fresh ideas or new materials. We
massively emphasize discipleship to try equip existing Christians to
share faith more successfully. I could go on and on. This is a vast and
ever-growing industry.

"And what has been the impact? Accelerated decline. In 2001, according
to census data, 71% of the UK population identified themselves as
Christian. In just ten years, that figure had dropped to 59%. And the
trend continues.

The 2016 British Social Attitudes Survey found that 48.5% of the
population said they were 'nones' (i.e. that they have no religion),
outnumbering Christians who were just 43.8%. Between 1980 and 2015, the
percentage of the population attending church declined from 11.8% of the
population to 5.0%. In the Church of England attendance decline
increases steadily each year and averages around 2% to 3% per annum.

"We are all trying massively hard to renew the Church. We are working
like crazy, we are praying like mad, we are trying every new idea under
the sun. Yet the longed-for renewal does not seem to come. In fact
decline just seems to speed up. Why? Why are we struggling so much? I
want to suggest that the answer is quite a straightforward one. It's
because we have forgotten the poor.

"...The lesson of scripture, the lesson of the past is clear. If we want
renewal, we must start with the poor. And yet in the Church of England
we have a mission approach that is almost entirely focused on the needs
and aspirations of the wealthy. Rather than speaking good news to the
poor, we are complicit in the abandonment of the poor.

"...Nationally we spend ?8 per head of population on ministry. In some
rural areas that figure rises to ?24 per head. On the estates we spend
just ?5 per head, by far the lowest. The poorer you are, the less the
church values you.

"...When my old Parish in Hartlepool, a thriving estates Church, was
vacant a few years ago, it was over two years before the Bishop could
appoint. Clergy didn't want to live in that kind of area, they didn't
want their children educated alongside the poor -- you'll know the
litany of excuses. At the same time, a Parish in Paddington was
advertised and at once attracted 122 expressions of interest. That is
the true measure of the spiritual health of the Church of England.

"...in 2011 the Synod of the Church of England passed a new table of
fees that massively increased the cost of funerals and weddings.
Normally if you want to work Synod up to a frenzy you give a rousing
speech about a bias to the poor. They love to listen to that sort of
thing, but they don't like to pay for it. That fee increase was nodded
through with just two votes against. Without any real fuss at all, we
calmly priced the poor out of the ministry of the Church.

"...If you go to a suburban church you will usually find a comfortable
and well maintained building with carpets, heating, clean toilets and
good music. Estates churches rarely have the money to maintain
themselves properly. If you're poor all you're worth is a cold and half
derelict building.

"...The Church loves to rail against social inequality. And yet we
absolutely model the social inequality we so often condemn. The Church
of England loves to boast about being a Christian presence in every
community. And yet in those communities that most need to hear the
message of hope we find in Jesus, that presence is ever weaker or
non-existent.

"...Areas characterized by social deprivation desperately need a Gospel
of hope. And yet what are we doing? We are withdrawing. We are
under-investing. What kind of church is it that turns its back on the
dispossessed, or offers them only crumbs from the table of the rich?

"...I remember once when I was running an estates Church in London I was
rung up by a member of the Diocesan finance team who said, in passing,
'Well of course you are a subsidized Parish aren't you?' And I realized
that for the previous 20 years of my ministry, that's how I had thought
of myself. A subsidized priest, only able to minister because of the
largesse and generosity of the wider Church. But who is subsidizing
whom? Yes, arguably, there may be a small financial subsidy from rich to
poor. But the spiritual subsidy flows the other way. It is the rich
church that is subsidized by the poor church, because unless it is
proclaiming good news to the poor, the Church is not the church at all.
And his solution?

"...we need to reflect on the content of our proclamation. There is a
perception that there is a single, verbal Gospel message that can be
picked up and dropped from place to place. 'Christ died for our sins.'
'Life in all its fullness.' Those well-known statements which so easily
trip off the Christian tongue. But the Gospel is not a message. It is a
person, Jesus Christ, and the way he speaks into different contexts and
situations differs from place to place. If you turn up on an estate with
nice, tidy complacent answers to questions no one is asking, they will
tear you to shreds. Successful evangelism begins with intense listening,
with a profound desire to hear the issues on people's minds and a
genuine open heart to discern how Jesus speaks into them. If you're in
debt, what is the good news? If you're dependent on a foodbank to feed
your children, what is the good news? If you're cripplingly lonely and
can't afford the bus into town, what is the good news? Simple formulae,
or trite cliches about God's love won't do as answers to these
questions.

"...We need to raise up leaders in, for and from the urban church. The
best person to speak the Gospel into an urban estate is someone who has
grown up there, so we need to be courageous and take risks in raising up
a local leadership. Catapulting in 200 white, well-educated, beautiful
people from the nice bit of town will dispossess and disempower local
residents. The impact will be to take their church away from them such
that the church will become just another service provided on their
behalf by patronising outsiders. In the Church of England our current
structures for selecting and training licensed lay or ordained leaders
are woefully unfit for purpose and deliver only white, graduate class
leaders. The time for tolerating this systemic failure is now over. We
must take risks in raising up local leadership, leadership that cannot
and will not speak the jargon-laden drivel of the contemporary church
but will instead have the Gospel energy to transform it.

"...I am astonished at the number of people Jesus is calling to plant
new churches as long as they are in Zones 1 and 2 of the London
transport system. It's the wrong place to start. Renewal comes from
courageous mission to the places where it's toughest. If you feel called
to plant, we need you on the outer estates, we need you in our northern
towns, we need you in areas where a majority of people come from other
world faiths, we need you in those areas where the trendy coffee shops
and artisanal bakers are hard to find. Come there if you really want to
make a difference in Jesus' name.

And the task is urgent, because:
"...We know the stats. Within 10 years we will have all but lost the
Church in the poorest areas. We will have become a complacent, smug
church of and for the rich.

"...church seems to me to be a symbol of too much of our contemporary
Christian life. We are so busy looking back to the church's past that we
fail to see ahead to God's future. And that is especially a feature of
the urban church where declining numbers and decaying buildings are the
norm. People are so locked in memories of what they were that they
cannot see God's future. We see the church through the eyes of grief. If
only things could be what they once were."

"The spirit of the Lord is upon Bishop Philip North, because God he has
anointed him to preach good news to the poor. He has sent him to
proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord," wrote Church of England blogger Archbishop Cranmer.

How truly ironic, while the Archbishop of Canterbury feels the pain of
pansexualists and whose recent synod totally ignored the plight of the
persecuted church, Bishop North tells the truth in a clear unvarnished
form, that not even Justin Welby can ignore.

As Cranmer wrote, "God has anointed him to preach a few prophetic home
truths to the lukewarm wing of the Church of England."

The deeper truth however, is that the Church of England's under the
cassock embrace of homosexuality in the name of "radical inclusion"
while not as blunt and obvious as the Episcopal Church of Scotland's
canon changing same sex marriage act, it is playing with fire
nonetheless. One might validly ask has the CofE sealed its fate, and has
God's Spirit moved on to Africa and China where the harvest is indeed
ripe?

END



------------------------------

Message: 11
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:15:38 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Church of England Evangelical Council will not go along to
get along over human sexuality doctrine
Message-ID:
<1502406938.1355620....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Church of England Evangelical Council will not go along to get along
over human sexuality doctrine

Church of England Evangelical Council
August 8, 2017

Dear DEF members and members of networks represented on CEEC

In February of this year (after the January CEEC meeting), Stephen
Hofmeyr, CEEC Secretary, wrote to DEF Chairs and Secretaries (you can
find the letter on our website) providing information on CEEC's
conversations around human sexuality and the challenges at that time.
You will be aware that much water has gone under the bridge since then
and we are therefore writing to offer update and comment.

The February letter was sent immediately after the House of Bishops
report (GS2055) was published. It described how the Officers were
"heartened to read that the House of Bishops is proposing no change to
the Church of England's doctrinal position on marriage and sexual
relations and that no liturgical prayers for same sex relationships,
authorised or commended, should be produced". Much work was done by
evangelical bishops to secure this outcome and we are grateful for that
and that this remains the Church's official position.

We cannot, however, ignore the fact that since then this position has
been under constant and serious attack. There have been several
disappointing developments leading to widening and deepening concerns
among evangelicals:

A small majority of the House of Clergy refused to "take note" of the
report and so, although the majority of General Synod members wished to
do so, it was not taken note of by Synod,

The Archbishops' letter following this vote left many unclear as to what
was meant by "radical Christian inclusion" and has led to many believing
there has been not only a change in tone but a change in direction,

A number of bishops have openly signalled their support for changes in
teaching and/or practice and the Bishop of Liverpool became a Patron of
Liverpool Pride,

Behaviour and decisions at the July General Synod, including the
rejection of good amendments tabled by evangelicals to the motions on
conversion therapy and welcoming transgender people, have further
heightened concerns,

The Scottish Episcopal Church has changed its marriage canon and now
permits its clergy to preside at same-sex marriages.

Alongside these it is important to note a number of recent developments
which have brought encouragement to many evangelicals around the
country. These include the consecration of Andy Lines (who represents
Crosslinks on CEEC) as a missionary bishop of ACNA, supported by GAFCON
and many Global South Primates; the planned involvement of many
evangelicals in the groups working on the House of Bishops Teaching
Document, overseen by Bishop Christopher Cocksworth; and the call for a
renewed orthodox Anglicanism gaining signatures online.

In the midst of this CEEC continues to endorse the theology of human
sexuality and biblical authority offered in 'Guarding the Deposit'
(GTD). We are also clear as a Council that these matters are not able to
be treated as adiaphora but are of prime importance. We would encourage
you to read and raise awareness of GTD (both the full text and a helpful
two-page summary are on our website).

The developments of the last six months have also highlighted the
prescience and importance of the second part of GTD in which a series of
structural possibilities are explored. We thank God that the desired
first option of maintaining current teaching and practice has,
thankfully, not yet been formally rejected. However, there are many
signs that the Church could reject it by embracing either the proposals
of the Pilling Report or an even fuller acceptance that permanent,
faithful same-sex relationships are a legitimate form of Christian
discipleship.

CEEC Officers hear the call for a clearer and louder voice in support of
the traditional teaching of the church on marriage and same sex
relationships, not least from evangelical bishops. Without being able to
be explicit, it is important to say that behind the scenes a number of
initiatives are being planned, which hopefully will bring welcome
reassurances and send clear messages to the evangelical constituency and
the wider C of E and the even wider Anglican Communion.

More explicitly, the Council is working on two major areas. Firstly, we
are seeking to help the Church of England to maintain and be confident
in biblical teaching. We are positively exploring how we might
contribute to the proposed Teaching Document being worked on.
Furthermore, we are continuing to support and facilitate meetings in the
dioceses/regions to encourage, teach and resource a biblical orthodoxy
in matters of gender, identity and sexuality.

Secondly, and whilst we are committed to praying and working for a
renewal of orthodox vision within the C of E, we are being realistic and
thinking through what ''visible differentiation" might look like, should
the Church depart from its current teaching, whether in law or in fact,
and make such differentiation necessary. We are also aware of the need
to continue to work together and support one another as evangelicals
who, in different contexts, may, at times, be called to differentiate
from the wider church to varying degrees and in different forms.

In both these areas we welcome any input from you.

In the face of recent developments in the Church of England it is
important to remember and be encouraged by the fact that the
overwhelming majority of Anglicans worldwide share both our positive
vision and our concerns about Anglicanism in England and the wider
British Isles. As evangelicals in the Church of England we seek to work
with them and ask you to pray particularly for the Primates in advance
of the Primates' Meeting in early October and for those working to
prepare for Lambeth 2020 and GAFCON 2018.

In recent turbulent months many of us have been struggling to read the
signs of the times and hear what God is calling us to do. This looks
like it will be our situation for some time to come. At various points
we are likely to find ourselves saying, with Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles
20.12, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you". As we keep
our eyes on God, confident in his grace and power and truth, please pray
for wisdom for all those in positions of leadership in the Communion,
the Church of England, and among evangelicals, including those serving
on CEEC:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials
of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces
perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature
and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you
should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and
it will be given to you. (James 1:2-5).

Yours in His service

The Rt. Revd. Julian Henderson (CEEC President)
The Revd. Hugh Palmer (CEEC Chair)
The Revd. George Curry (CEEC Treasurer)
Stephen Hofmeyr (CEEC Secretary)



------------------------------

Message: 12
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:16:12 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: First same-sex wedding deepens Anglican divide
Message-ID:
<1502406972.1356140....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

First same-sex wedding deepens Anglican divide
Problem still 'intractable', says Justin Welby, after Scottish ceremony

By Catherine Pepinster
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/05/anglican-split-first-same-sex-wedding
August 5, 2017

The first gay Anglican wedding in Britain took place last week, just a
day after the archbishop of Canterbury said the continuing row in the
Anglican Communion over same-sex relationships was an "intractable
problem".

The couple, known as "Mark and Rick", got married on Tuesday at a
Eucharist service where the Rev Markus Dunzkofer, of the Scottish
Episcopal church, officiated. Dunzkofer, rector of St John's, in Princes
Street, Edinburgh, said "history was made" at the wedding, held in the
chapel of a Dalhousie hotel.

Mark and Rick had been together 24 years, he said, and were keen to have
a service with holy communion. The couple are from the US, but with
strong Scottish connections. A copy of their order of service, posted on
Facebook, described the wedding as "the solemnisation of marriage ...
with the celebration of holy communion".

"It was a small, intimate occasion," said Dunzkofer. "This was not some
pretty, fancy occasion. They wanted a religious ceremony."

Mark and Rick's marriage is the first in the Scottish Episcopal church,
which is part of the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal church announced
in June that it was allowing gay weddings after its synod voted to amend
canon law on marriage. It agreed that the doctrine stating that marriage
was between one man and one woman should be removed.

The vote sparked a backlash from traditionalists, with the conservative
Anglican group Gafcon announcing that it was appointing a missionary
bishop, committed to keeping marriage heterosexual, to work in Scotland.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has struggled to keep the
worldwide Anglican Communion together over the issue of same-sex
relationships, with many African bishops voicing opposition to gay
weddings and to clergy being involved in gay relationships themselves.

Welby visited Africa to highlight the plight of refugees but his trip
highlighted divisions over same-sex marriage. During the trip, he spent
time with the archbishop of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali, a leading
conservative evangelical, who walked out of a gathering of archbishops
in Canterbury last year, angered by the west's liberal attitudes to
homosexuality. Ntagali said that he would not return until "godly order"
was restored.

Since then, Canadian and Scottish Anglicans have voted for same-sex
marriage; the Americans also accept it.

In an interview with Radio 4's Today programme, Welby said that the
dispute over homosexuality between the growing church in Africa and the
west was "an intractable problem". "This is more complex than having a
binary approach," he said. "There is not an easy fix, but the primates
[of the Anglican Communion] have said that they will work together."

But the situation in Scotland will make the archbishop of Canterbury's
task in keeping the Anglican Communion together much more difficult.

Simon Sarmiento, of the website Thinking Anglicans, said: "The Scottish
Episcopal church is small in numbers but this will undoubtedly have an
impact. It brings this issue that much closer. Gay Anglicans in England
will be able to travel to Scotland to get married, putting more pressure
on the Church of England."

The Scottish church, which has around 100,000 members, voted for gay
marriage after years of debate at diocesan and church level. Dunzkofer
said that about 80% of his congregation supported the move to allow gay
weddings and there had been long discussions. "It has been easier than
in the Church of England. We are a smaller church, we are not the
established church and there is less of an evangelical voice," he said.
"But we heard different perspectives and heard very different voices."

Since the vote in June, at least nine Scottish Episcopal Church clergy
have registered to officiate at same-sex weddings. The first to sign up
was the Rev Kelvin Holdsworth, the provost of St Mary's Cathedral in
Glasgow. "There were loud cheers in church when when I received
permission to do this a couple of weeks ago," said Holdsworth. "Several
members of the congregation were wearing badges saying, 'The Archbishop
of Canterbury has no jurisdiction in this realm of Scotland'."

In recent weeks politicians have also piled pressure on the Church of
England. Theresa May said she had changed her own mind on gay weddings
over the years and the church should reflect on its ban. The equalities
minister, Justine Greening, also said that the Church of England must
"keep up" with the modern world by allowing gay weddings. And in
Scotland, Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who is gay and a member of
the Church of Scotland, has often spoken of her support for gay
marriage.

END



------------------------------

Message: 13
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:16:31 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Unity and division as Justin Welby visits Africa
Message-ID:
<1502406991.1356201....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Unity and division as Justin Welby visits Africa

By Martin Bashir
Religious Affairs Correspondent
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40813408
August 3, 2017

The Archbishop of Canterbury's trip to Africa has raised the plight of
South Sudanese refugees in Uganda, but has also highlighted divisions
within the Church of England over same-sex relationships.

Above the lush plains of Uganda, two archbishops are on a mission,
flying north in a light aircraft towards refugee camps on the border
with South Sudan. We are travelling with them.

This youngest of nations, which became independent in 2011, has
descended into the oldest of enmities - conflict between ethnic groups.
The result is that almost one million South Sudanese have been
permanently displaced, living in several Ugandan refugee camps. And that
number is growing.

Despite their desperate circumstances, as soon as the Archbishops of
Canterbury and Uganda disembark near the first camp in Moyo, the
reception is joyous.

Justin Welby met a teacher in the refugee camp who has nearly 800 pupils

"These people are living through the most horrendous suffering," says
the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby as he tours the camp. "Their
sense of endurance and perseverance is incredible."

As he enters a mud-walled building, which cannot be more than 12 feet
(3.7m) square and is home to a family of five, Mr Welby asks if it can
withstand rain?

"No," says the father, who points to the single matted carpet that is
still damp from the previous day's rainfall.

"This is dreadful," is the archbishop's quiet response.

Yet compared to the horrors they witnessed in their homeland, these
camps are appreciated by most of their inhabitants.

"What we cannot fail to acknowledge," says Mr Welby, "is the
extraordinary response of the Ugandan government.

"The president of Uganda has said that they do not use the word
'refugee' because, in his words, 'We are all Africans'. This is in
marked contrast to the xenophobic and racist reaction of some European
nations to asylum seekers and refugees."

The majority of those in this camp of 20,000 refugees, rushed towards
the border carrying only their children, who must now be educated in
classrooms that are designated by markers on trees. One of the teachers,
surrounded by hundreds of five and six-year-olds, explains that his
"school" numbers almost 786 pupils.

The Archbishop shouts: "784", repeating what he had just heard from the
teacher. "That's incredible."

Throughout his visit, Mr Welby has been accompanied by the Archbishop of
Uganda, the Most Reverend Stanley Ntagali. On the issue of refugees, the
suffering of displaced persons and the desperate plight of South Sudan,
there is complete unanimity. But there are other issues that are
troubling their relationship.

Mr Ntagali is a leading conservative evangelical, whose province in
Uganda is continuing to grow in Christian converts.

The Archbishop of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali will not be attending the next
archbishops' meeting

But he was angered by the American Episcopal Church's decision to
endorse same-sex relationships and walked out of a global gathering of
archbishops in Canterbury last year.

He issued a statement saying that he would not be returning until "godly
order" had been restored and the Bible returned to what he said is its
rightful place "as the authority for our faith and morals".

Since then, the Canadian and Scottish Episcopal Churches have formally
voted to endorse same-sex marriage.

Mr Ntagali says the Bible teaches that marriage is between a man and a
woman - and that the growing Ugandan church will not remain in
fellowship with those who support same-sex unions.

"This is the basis of our faith and it is founded in the Scriptures," he
explains.

It is a theological tussle that has the potential to pull the Anglican
Communion apart - a communion that numbers no less than 80 million
Christians in 166 countries.

The next gathering of archbishops will again take place in Canterbury,
this coming October. But Mr Ntagali has written to the Archbishop of
Canterbury explaining that he will not be attending.

While Mr Welby respects the assertion of strong theological views, he
believes that the church should not be split by issues that are not, in
his words, "creedal", that is, not directly related to the creed of the
church.

"It is a constant source of deep sadness," he explained after Mr Ntagali
walked out of last year's primates meeting, "that people are persecuted
because of their sexuality". But he also said, "It is not for us to
divide the Body of Christ."

After visiting a second refugee camp near the town of Adjumani, Mr Welby
asked all of us to pray for peace and reconciliation in South Sudan. A
prayer that he probably repeated, privately, for the church that he
leads.

END



------------------------------

Message: 14
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:16:49 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: "They Became Fools"
Message-ID:
<1502407009.1356223....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

"They Became Fools"

By BILL MUEHLENBERG
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2017/08/08/they-became-fools/
Aug 8, 2017

The God we serve is a God of reality, of truth, and of rationality. Thus
it is not surprising that as men shake their fists at their Creator and
pretend he does not exist, they increasingly move into a world of
unreality, lies and irrationality. They become incapable of thinking
straight, and their feet become firmly planted in mid-air.

You can't really reason with these people. You cannot present them with
facts, evidence and data. Their minds are so messed up -- because their
hearts are so darkened -- that they are unable to live in the real world
and deal with logic, fact and rational thought.

And the Bible makes it clear that this is exactly what happens to those
who embrace sin and evil, all the while rejecting God. Their whole
person grows more and more dark, unstable, and radically bent out of
shape. The entire sexual revolution is one huge example of this very
thing.

The lies and deception of the homosexual revolution has spawned even
more grotesque and utterly bizarre manifestations, such as the
transgender revolution. Here we have people simply denying reality and
biology altogether. They simply decide to identify as whatever they
want, and pretend this is somehow normal and real.

Thus a man can simply decide that he identifies as a woman, and start
living that way the rest of his life -- or until he next changes his
mind. Never mind that every single cell in his body screams out the
truth that he is male. Now we simply choose to be whatever we want to
be.

Reality, truth, logic, reason and common sense have all been jettisoned
as we celebrate living in la la land, and we make a virtue out of
playing make believe. Children always did this of course, but we always
expected that they would eventually grow up, grow out of it, and start
living in the real world.

Now we insist that everyone permanently lives in a state of make
believe, of unreality, and irrationality. And the only bad guys left are
those who still happen to think that truth and reality actually mean
something, and that it is best to seek to know the truth and conform to
reality.

But that just makes us intolerant, bigoted, and haters! Go figure. But
as I said, Scripture has already told us about how all this works. And
Romans 1:18-32 is a key text on all this. It is one of the most
important sections of Scripture, especially as it addresses the nature
of fallen man.

But it is not just about fallen man, but man in outright, defiant
rebellion against God. It is all about the man (or woman) so soaked in
sin and immorality that as they shake their fists at God, they actually
think they are somehow being sensible. But they are nothing of the sort.

As Romans 1:21-22 puts it: "For although they knew God, they neither
glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became
futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to
be wise, they became fools."

And if that is not plain enough, it goes on to say this in verse 28:
"Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the
knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they
do what ought not to be done."

When your heart and soul is pitch black with sin and selfishness, the
mind turns to mush. Sinners simply can no longer think straight, and
they will call lies truth, and truth lies. It is just as Isaiah warned
us about: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put
darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and
sweet for bitter" (Isaiah 5:20).

And let me make one more point about these 15 verses. As Paul discusses
human rebellion, sin and moral culpability, he actually singles out one
sin -- one sin that is so utterly representative and indicative of this
depraved mind and darkened heart: the sin of homosexuality.

I say all this as an extended introduction to something I just saw and
must comment on. I refer to a recent tweet making the rounds by a major
airline. Those who made it likely thought they were being so cute and
clever to push this, but it simply backfired on them big time. It
completely and utterly unmakes their case.

I refer to KLM, the Dutch national airline, and its ongoing push to ram
homosexuality down the throats of everyone, whether they like it or not.
But the folks at KLM are obviously not all that bright, as the image
they have used completely undermines their entire case. Underneath it
has these words: "It doesn't matter who you click with. Happy
#PrideAmsterdam".

It proves the very opposite of what they intended. It features three
sets of seat belts, all in rainbow colours. As the accompanying pic
shows, only one is an actual working set of seatbelts that any
intelligent flyer would use. The other two are completely useless, and
no one in their right mind would ever consider flying with an airline
that was that idiotic to actually offer such a useless set of seatbelts.

Morevoer, why is KLM being so sexist, racist, bigoted, hate-filled and
heteronormative? Does it not know that there are way more than two types
of seatbelts? Some say there are at least 67 different kinds. Some say
hundreds. Others insist that the sky is the limit.

If my laptop identifies as a seatbelt, who is KLM to tell me I can't use
it to fasten myself in? If my can of Dr Pepper identifies as a seatbelt,
I should have every right to use it instead. Stop being so
discriminatory KLM. You are clearly living in an intolerant, bigoted
past. Get with the times!

Thus I quite love this image, because it not only fully demonstrates the
truth of what Paul told us in Romans 1, but it entirely shatters the
case for homosexual marriage. Um no, two men do not and cannot make
marriage. Nor can two women. It is the complementary nature of the
male/female union, with the possibility of procreation, that makes
marriage what it is, and always has been.

Only the biological parts found in a man and a woman can become
compatible and complementary, and result in children. Two male parts
can't and won't, and two female parts can't and won't. Moreover, the
foolish image is even more damaging.

As I said, who would ever consider flying with an airline that had two
male or two female ends to their seatbelts? No one would, and everyone
could tell you why in an instant. KLM might as well have tried to
reassure the public that this is all peachy by featuring planes with
only two left wings, or two right wings.

Yep, that will get the customers on board -- not. Everyone knows that
for a plane to fly, a right wing and a left wing is absolutely
essential. Everyone knows that for a seatbelt to work, it needs a male
end that matches a female end. Everyone knows that to bring about new
life, you need one man and one woman.

And until recently everyone knew that marriage must have one man and one
woman. But as I said, as we continue to rebel against our Creator, and
delight in sin and selfishness, our thinking goes to pot and our ability
to live with reality goes out the window.

No wonder the Bible talks so much about fools. It is one of the most
used words in the Bible. The biblical understanding of a fool is not
just someone who is not very bright, but someone who is at odds with the
God of the universe, thus their whole life is bent out of shape.

Being a fool is as much a moral and spiritual issue as it is a mental
one. And as men and women reject their Creator and his good plans for
them, they are left to only one outcome: "they became fools". The folks
at KLM are simply one clear indication and example of all this.

But thanks for making our case KLM. It actually DOES matter who you
click with.



------------------------------

Message: 15
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:17:02 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: South Carolina: Courts, Referees, and Chasing Squirrels
Message-ID:
<1502407022.1356234....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

South Carolina: Courts, Referees, and Chasing Squirrels

By Ladson F. Mills III
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
August 9, 2017

Eric Franklin Senior Tutor at St. Stephen's House Oxford liked to remind
his students that in life they will be faced with situations not unlike
a controversial call made by referees during an athletic contest.
Although the decision is final that does not mean it will not be
discussed, debated and analyzed for years to come.

If his analogy is correct the South Carolina Supreme Court's recent
decision to support the position of the National Church in its property
dispute with the Diocese of South Carolina would qualify as such a
situation. If it turns out to be the definitive call in what has become
a protratced legal contest it will be discussed, analyzed and debated
for years to come. It has been a long, hard fought, and bitterly
divisive process and regardless of the outcome a bitter pill for many to
swallow.

National Chancellor David Booth Beers' strategy to 'Litigate until they
Capitulate' seems to have proven successful, but he was aided by a
phenomena noted by Sir Winston Churchill that 'in war it is not so much
a matter of who is right but who is left.' The National Church lasted
long enough to find Justice Kaye Hearn who was very congenial to its
position.

On September 24, 2015, in a VOL Article "SC Supreme Court Justice had
Deep ties to National Episcopal Church" disturbing questions were raised
over Justice Hearn's 'highly controversial decision not to recuse
herself.' Cited in support was her membership in St. Anne's Episcopal
Church Conway, South Carolina where her husband served as a member of
the vestry. She was a member of The Episcopal Forum of South Carolina
which has sponsored several conferences under the name "Enthusiastically
Episcopalian." At the time of the hearing, the plaintiff Charles
vonRosenberg was her bishop.

In South Carolina if a Justice is not challenged prior to a Supreme
Court hearing, their input cannot be disputed.

A.S. Haley's recent article Massive Conflict of Interest Taints South
Carolina Ruling points out the many conflicts of interest in Hearn's
decision not to remove herself from the case. Despite the cultural myth
that judges are to be dispassionate dispensers of justice Hearn's
decision unmasked that in this case nothing could have been further from
the truth.

Hearn would have never acted in such a high-handed manner had she
anticipated any serious concern of being held accountable. In order to
receive an appointment to the Supreme Court even in small state like
South Carolina, requires political connection and protection.

Myra Jasanoff's book Liberty's Exiles exposes a little known and much
avoided dark side of the American Revolution. It has been generally
accepted that loyalist to British Crown either chose to return to
England or quietly accept their fate and become integrated into the new
American Nation. But Jasanoff describes it as a 'global diaspora' with
former friends becoming bitter enemies, and those on the loosing side
forced to abandon their possessions and leave. Even George Washington is
cited for refusing to intercede on behalf of his close friend Beverley
Robinson over his decision to remain loyal to England.

In many ways the modern legal process has produced something similar
between those supporting the Diocese of South Carolina and those who
support the National Church. In the early stages of the rift the major
sentiment seems to have been a mutual sadness over the breakup of
parishes and the straining of relationships. Even those with strong
opinions were quick to distinguish disagreements between opposing views
and the individuals holding the view. This sentiment is much rarer these
days.

'Litigate till they capitulate' has been only one part of David Booth
Beers' legal strategy. He appears to believe that if successful in the
courts long time church members will remain with the beloved buildings
rather than leave the place where ancestors worshiped for generations.
While his strategy may have once been sound, it has become somewhat
lessoned by the protracted and conflicted nature of the legal process.

Lawyers should not bear all the blame. A legal system that is grounded
on advocacy hardly lends itself to resolutions which are best settled
through prayerful discernment. In this both sides must accept shared
responsibility.

In the end the South Carolina Supreme Court's convuluted ruling seems to
have made things worse, at least for the moment. And how it will ever be
effectively implemented may prove as illusive as the mythical "Seven
Lost Cities of Cibola."

Many years ago my four legged jogging partner and I were out for a
morning run when she engaged in her favorite activity of squirrel
chasing. This particular morning, however proved to be different when at
long last she achieved her goal and caught one. In what was probably
only a few brief seconds but seemed an etenity time stood still. It was
hard to tell who was the more surprised, the squirrel or my dog. Both
looked at me with wide eyes as if to ask; well, what do we do now?

A very good question.

What do we do now indeed.

Ladson F. Mills III is a priest with over thirty years pastoral
expereince. He is retired and lives with his wife in South Carolina. He
serves as Scholar in Residence at Church of Saviour, Johns Island. He is
the founder of Setebos-Sixpence Freelance Writing Ltd.



------------------------------

Message: 16
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:17:16 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: ON LAWSUITS AND LOSSES: A MEDITATION FROM PSALM 37
Message-ID:
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Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

ON LAWSUITS AND LOSSES: A MEDITATION FROM PSALM 37

By Phil Ashey
https://americananglican.org/current-news/lawsuits-lossesa-mediation-psalm-37/
August 6, 2017

In his book The Contemporary Christian, John Stott writes that a
follower of Christ should have a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in
the other. Without both, he or she is unarmed. With the newspaper only,
you have the calamity and depravity in the world with no hope to offer.
With only the Scripture, you have hope but no sense of where to apply
it.

So, on this day of prayer and fasting for the Anglican Church in North
America (ACNA) Diocese of South Carolina, for the decisions that lie
before them in the face of the South Carolina Supreme Court's decision
to award 29 of their churches to The Episcopal Church (TEC), it seems
appropriate to take the decision in one hand, and the Bible in the
other, and seek God's mind in this situation to direct our prayers. As I
prayerfully and carefully reviewed the decision, the facts around it,
and all the reports and reviews published so far, I believe the LORD
directed me to Psalm 37:

"Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will
soon wither away." (Ps. 37:1-2 NIV)

Psalm 37 addresses the question "How should God's people react when
'evil men' and 'those who do wrong' succeed in their ways?"

The decision of the South Carolina Supreme Court in the matter of the
ACNA Diocese of South Carolina vs. the TEC Diocese of South Carolina
(Heard September 23, 2015 and filed August 2, 2017) appears to be such a
case. The net effect of this case seems to be the transfer of the
property of 29 congregations from the ACNA Diocese of South Carolina to
TEC. Ultimately this could mean the displacement of thousands of
families from the place where they have worshiped for generations. It
could mean the loss of all the ACNA Diocese of South Carolina offices,
the bishops residence and more.

The legal effect is to overturn the South Carolina Supreme Court
decision in All Saints Parish, Waccamaw v Diocese 385 S.C. 428 (2009)
that neither the then Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina nor the
national church (by the Dennis Canon) can create a trust in favor of
themselves in any church in South Carolina unless they already have an
express property interest in that church. This 2009 decision was based
on long settled common law principles of trusts in South Carolina law.
The legal effect of the Court's August 2 decision is to reinterpret the
facts of this case de novo, and by bare majority of 3-2 to reinstate the
validity of the Dennis Canon by turning the "neutral principles"
approach to church property disputes (see Jones v. Wolf , 443 U.S. 595
(1979) into a "deference to internal hierarchical church law,"
approach--turning "neutral principles on its head." As Justice Kittredge
concluded in his opinion (dissenting in part and concurring in part):
"The message is clear for churches in South Carolina that are affiliated
in any manner with a national organization and have never lifted a
finger to transfer control or ownership of their property--if you think
your property ownership is secure, think again."

I won't add to the superb analysis by Allan Haley (aka The Anglican
Curmudgeon) in the article on how Justice Hearn, a member of the TEC
South Carolina Diocese and one of the leaders who actively sought to
oust Bishop Mark Lawrence while he was still in TEC provided the swing
vote that transferred millions of dollars of property to the church she
was actively representing, and how her participation in this case,
rather than recusal, violated the South Carolina Appellate Rules of
Court and Rules of Judicial Conduct. "A Massive Conflict of Interest" is
an understatement, and worth reading in its entirety.

But to make matters worse, the Provisional Bishop of the TEC Diocese in
South Carolina is Gladstone B. "Skip" Adams--the same TEC Bishop of
Central New York who would not sell back Church of the Good Shepherd
Binghamton NY to the departing Anglicans (the majority) but instead sold
it below market value and the offer of the Anglicans to Muslims who
converted the church into a Mosque!

So, if the August 2 decisions stand, what will happen to the historic
Anglican Churches of Charleston? They are surely historic landmarks that
cannot be sold and turned into condos, townhomes or retail boutiques as
other TEC bishops have tried to do. These Anglican Churches left en
masse (80%) with the clear majority of their members when they left TEC.
There are not enough Episcopalians to keep the buildings open and
maintained. Will we see Skip Adams turn the steeples of the Holy City
into minarets, yet again--or museums?

This is a bad situation. Those who do wrong, and who have a history of
doing wrong, appear to have succeeded. What can God's people do?

The psalmist answers quite simply "There is a place for righteous anger
(see Psalm 35), but don't react to the wicked with their own weapons.
Don't fret." Don't be constantly and visibly worried, anxious and
distressed. Don't get heated. Don't be envious. Resist the temptation to
play the same games as those who do the wrong thing. Resist the
temptation to harbor a spirit of resentment--which is tantamount to
doubting God's final justice. Don't plot or gnash your teeth and plan to
slay those who do wrong with the sword--let God take care of that (see
vv. 10-15)

Instead...

"Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe
pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires
of your heart." (Ps. 37:3-4)

In other words, shift your focus from the wrongdoers to GOD. As
followers of Jesus Christ, rest in his perfect work of salvation,
receive the promises of the Father, and let the Holy Spirit stir up in
you and me every good gift for the furtherance of His Kingdom. Cultivate
an attitude of faithfulness--and do it right where you find yourself!
That's what it means to "dwell in the land and enjoy good pasture." Do
good in the place God has given you.

And what if that place is up for grabs? No matter. God works wherever he
sends us to wait--even those places where the wrongdoers dominate (see
37:34). God calls us to seek the welfare of the city where he has
"carried us into exile," and to put down roots however temporary our
stay may be (See Jer. 29:4-7).

I am reminded constantly of the example of The Falls Church Anglican in
Virginia. Under years of costly litigation and appeals, they planted
three churches in the DC Beltway (Arlington, Alexandria and Vienna) and
one on the outskirts of Northern VA, in Winchester. All are thriving.
TFC lost their buildings, but their congregation grew even as they gave
away hundreds to these church plants! Now they have a location and a
building that exceeds what they had before, as they are growing in
mission and evangelism where God has planted them.

How tragic it would be if litigation and appeals took our eyes off God
and the things that delight him--especially reaching those who do not
yet know the transforming love of Jesus Christ.

"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: he will
make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause
like the noonday sun." (Ps. 37:5-6)

You see, our ultimate vindication lies not with the secular courts, but
with the LORD. "He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the
justice of your cause like the noonday sun." (emphasis added)

>From the time faithful Anglicans began to leave TEC, the supreme courts
of many states have made a mess of Jones v. Wolf and the application of
"neutral principles of law" in resolving church property disputes. The
August 2 decision of the South Carolina Supreme Court not only turns
neutral principles into deference to a hierarchical church, it turns TEC
into a singularly privileged body that can impose a trust on property in
which it has no settled express interest. Unlike any other person,
corporation or non-profit, it can declare by a mere change in its canons
that it is the beneficiary under an implied trust! Such a privileged
position is certainly a violation of the Establishment Clause of the US
Constitution. And that doesn't even begin to address the constitutional
rights to freedom of association that have been violated by making TEC,
and any hierarchical church, a "roach motel" where you can check in but
never leave.

But despite the hostility of secular courts and the media, and despite
the political agendas that trump the facts and reasoned legal precedent,
the Anglican Church in North America is planting new churches and
growing. The same cannot be said for TEC. Many people who were never in
TEC and know nothing of the litigation are coming to ACNA because they
are attracted to its authenticity of both liturgy and Biblical
preaching. They are coming because of our commitment to Biblical
discipleship and local mission. Young and old, single and families are
finding a home in churches that provide both a grace-filled
comprehensiveness and Biblical boundaries that lie at the heart of
Reformational Anglicanism.

Could this be a result of the LORD causing the justice of our cause to
shine as the noonday sun?

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when
men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to
evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will
inherit the land..." (Ps. 37: 7-9)

Being still before the LORD and waiting patiently for him is no mere
resignation. It is a positive, faithful effort to replace fretting and
doubting by a trust in God, because the solution of the problem can only
come from him (see also Psalm 62:5). This nothing less than the posture
of prayer. Prayer keeps us focused on delighting the LORD and trusting
in him.

The ACNA Diocese of South Carolina has remedies available--not only the
petition for rehearing before the South Carolina Supreme Court that
Allan Haley mentions in his article, but also petition for hearing
before the US Supreme Court on the federal issues that I have mentioned
already, including the misinterpretation and misapplication of Jones v.
Wolf, it's last ruling on church property disputes. This case certainly
seems ripe for such a hearing. We can be sure that Bishop Lawrence, the
Standing Committee and their superior legal team are already working on
this.

But our job now is to PRAY for them. Pray for the Bishop, pray for the
Standing Committee and pray for the legal team. Over the years that I
have been with the AAC, I have been blessed to work with Anglican
lawyers who pray! I have been impressed by so many Anglican lawyers who
have invited the people in the churches they represent to see such
prayer as an even more important work than the research, briefs and oral
argument.

I know for a fact that these Anglican attorneys depend on our prayers!

But in this time of waiting let's not forget the other Anglicans
affected by TEC litigation--the thousands in the Anglican Diocese of San
Joaquin who have been removed recently from their churches by the
California courts, the pending litigation in the Anglican Dioceses of Ft
Worth and Quincy, and the dozen or more churches in the Anglican Diocese
of Pittsburgh that are awaiting trial or a settlement with TEC.

Perhaps we also ought to pray for the leadership of TEC. Pray that they
will let go of the anger and bitterness behind scorched earth
litigation, and seek a result which promotes "healing, repentance,
forgiveness, restitution, justice, amendment of life and reconciliation"
among all parties. After all, these lofty, even Biblical, goals are the
very language they use for reaching "accords" in their own Title IV
Canons (see TEC Canon IV.14.1) Wouldn't such an accord or settlement be
better than turning the steeples of historic Anglican Churches into
minarets or museums?

"Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many
wicked; for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds
the righteous." (Ps. 37: 16-17)

Whatever the result may be, whatever we have left will be better than
that which is confiscated and held by wrongdoers. There are so many
stories of Anglicans losing their church buildings in costly litigation,
only to find often miraculous provision of new and better buildings than
they had before. There are also many stories from Anglicans who left TEC
with only the shirt on their backs, and as a result shifting their focus
from buildings to mission! Our former Archbishop Robert Duncan summed it
up so well: "They can have the stuff; we'll take the souls."

That too is the story of our Anglican brothers and sisters who
discovered us through this awful conflict, and who remind us that where
they live, all it takes to plant a new church is a banyan tree with
enough shade and a few people willing to share Jesus Christ with the
least, the last and the lost!

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is
strong, nothing is holy: increase and multiply on us your mercy; that,
with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through the things
temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our
LORD, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever. AMEN

The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey is President & CEO of the American Anglican
Council.



------------------------------

Message: 17
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:17:29 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: The South Carolina Supreme Court ruling
Message-ID:
<1502407049.1356318....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

The South Carolina Supreme Court ruling

By the Rt. Rev. Jack Iker
http://fwepiscopal.org/news/southcarolinaruling.html
August 5, 2017

Dear Friends in Christ,

We were surprised and deeply disappointed in the ruling released
yesterday (August 2) by the South Carolina Supreme Court in the property
dispute between the Diocese of South Carolina and The Episcopal Church.
In a 3-to-2 split vote, the Court found in favor of TEC, with the
exception of eight churches that will retain their property because they
had not acceded to the Dennis Canon. This means that the Diocese and
Bishop Mark Lawrence lose everything else -- the diocesan offices, the
Cathedral, the Bishop's residence, their camp and conference center, all
those historic colonial churches and rectories in Charleston, and so on.
It is a horrendous loss, and we grieve with our brothers and sisters
there in this shocking defeat. Pray for them as they consider next steps
and finding a way forward in the face of this loss.

Many will wonder if this decision will have any effect on our case, now
pending before the Second Court of Appeals. After consulting with our
attorneys, I write to tell you, "No, it should not," for several reasons

1. South Carolina has different state laws than Texas for revoking
property trusts. South Carolina law provides that trusts are irrevocable
unless they state otherwise; Texas law says that trusts are revocable
unless they state otherwise. Since the Dennis Canon does not state one
way or the other, it was held to be irrevocable in South Carolina, while
the Texas Supreme Court has already held it is revocable in Texas. As
you know, our Diocesan Convention validly revoked it in 1989, and our
founding Convention in 1982 had not acceded to it in the first place.

2. South Carolina has a law that says religious doctrine governs
religious corporations if it differs from state law. But the Texas
Supreme Court in our case has held that under the Neutral Principles
approach state law governs how religious corporations elect officers or
amend their articles and bylaws, unless the corporate charters
incorporate religious concepts or provide for control by a church or
denomination. The charters of the Corporation of our Diocese do not.

3. A majority of the South Carolina Court held that the observation in
the United States Supreme Court decision called "Jones v. Wolf" that the
burden of establishing denominational trusts should be "minimal" means
the Constitution overrides state law on how trusts are created. However,
the Texas Supreme Court has expressly rejected this argument.

4. The South Carolina Court held that the Dennis Canon did not create a
trust because the party purporting to create the trust (TEC) did not own
the property. But one of the judges in the majority agreed with the
minority (thus making it a majority) that a trust was created by 28
parishes when they acceded to TEC's Constitution and Canons (including
the Dennis Canon), while no trust was created for eight parishes that
never so acceded--hence they will keep their property. By contrast, as I
mentioned above, our Diocese specifically did not accede to the Dennis
Canon in 1982 when our first Constitution provided that church property
could not be conveyed or encumbered without the written consent of both
the Corporation and of the parish that occupied it. This qualified
accession to TEC's charters was allowed by TEC's Constitution at the
time, as unqualified accessions were not required until the day after
our Diocese was admitted as a member diocese.

5. The appeal here in Fort Worth is governed by a remand opinion from
the Texas Supreme Court, which has established what is called "the law
of the case." This "law of the case" is significantly different from
opinions that have come out of the South Carolina Court. The Fort Worth
Court of Appeals is obligated to follow our Supreme Court's opinion,
just as Judge Chupp did in the trial court.

These are just some of the differences between the South Carolina case
and our own. For Texas courts to follow the South Carolina opinion, the
Texas Supreme Court would have to take back most of what it held to be
the law in Texas in both our case and the Masterson case (concerning the
Church of the Good Shepherd in San Angelo). That is unlikely. But it
does appear to be what happened in South Carolina. Although the 2009
opinion in that state held unanimously (5-0) in favor of a withdrawing
parish, Wednesday's opinion came out the other way, due to the addition
of three different judges. This underscores the risk that who the judges
are is sometimes just as important as what the law is. Let this be a
reminder to all of us that we need to pray for all judges, both those
who signed the 2013 opinion in our favor and those who did not, as well
as the judges on the Fort Worth Court of Appeals who are currently
considering TEC's appeal of the judgment in our favor granted by Judge
Chupp in July of 2015.

Let us remain hopeful and prayerful, and let us remain focused on
proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ as we await the Court's ruling
here in Fort Worth. May the Lord in His goodness look with favor upon
us.

The Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker is the Bishop of Fort Worth



------------------------------

Message: 18
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:17:47 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: Massive Conflict of Interest Taints South Carolina Ruling
Message-ID:
<1502407067.1356356....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Massive Conflict of Interest Taints South Carolina Ruling

By A.S. HALEY
http://accurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2017/08/massive-conflict-of-interest-taints.html
August 3, 2017

Yesterday, almost two years after hearing arguments, the Supreme Court
of South Carolina finally issued its decision in the case of The
Protestant Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, et al. v. The Episcopal
Church, et al., as I wrote in this post. Because the Court's collective
opinions were some 77 pages long, I was able in the short time after
their issuance to present only the broadest overview of the differences
that divided the five Justices on the Court.

Today, I plan to examine in depth what I consider to be the overarching
problem with the decision: the fact that it glosses over a massive
conflict of interest on the part of Justice Kaye Hearn. While she was
definitely biased when the case was first appealed to the Court, as I
explain in more detail below, that blight on her impartiality pales into
insignificance before the blatant, result-oriented bias she has exposed
in her opinion concurring in a 3-2 decision that would result in the
transfer of multiple millions of dollars' worth of real property from
the plaintiff Diocese to the ECUSA-controlled defendant, called the
Episcopal Church in South Carolina ("ECSC").

For the basic problem with Justice Hearn's role in this case is as
follows. When the case was first appealed in 2015 by the Episcopal
Church and the ECSC, Justice Hearn (the newest justice elected to the
Court at the time) had been, since at least March 2007, a member of the
Episcopal Forum of South Carolina. That was the very organization which,
through 14 of its members, brought disciplinary charges in 2012 against
Bishop Mark Lawrence, while he and his Diocese were still members of
ECUSA, in an effort to have him deposed by the Disciplinary Board for
Bishops. The Disciplinary Board's acceptance of those charges, and its
issuance of a "Certification of Abandonment" against Bishop Lawrence,
precipitated the withdrawal of his Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina
from ECUSA.

In her concurring opinion, Justice Hearn went out of her way to
castigate Bishop Lawrence and the role he played as chief pastor of his
Diocese -- ecclesiastical matters which, as her colleagues pointed out,
had no business being addressed in a secular judicial opinion. In doing
so, she only advanced, and acted as a spokesperson in black robes for,
the sectarian interests of the Episcopal Forum to which she still
(presumably -- the organization no longer publishes the names of its
members) belongs. At the same time, she contradicted her own precept
that South Carolina courts should stay out of Episcopal Church matters
and defer to its "ecclesiastical determinations."

Further, according to the minutes, Justice Hearn's husband, George, was
one of the duly designated delegates to the special convention of ECSC
called in January 2013 by ECUSA's Presiding Bishop to replace Bishop
Lawrence. That convention elected Charles G. vonRosenberg as Provisional
Bishop of ECSC, who promptly brought suit against Bishop Lawrence in
federal court and countersued in the State court action -- eventually
seeking the recovery of all the properties of each of the 36 separate
parishes involved in that litigation. George Hearn also was a deputy to
the first regular convention of ECSC held in March 2013.

One would think that Justice Hearn, given her membership in the
organization that initiated the disciplinary proceedings against Bishop
Lawrence, and given her husband's role in enabling the litigation now
before her, might have considered recusing herself from the 2015 appeal
by her own diocese (ECSC) and church (ECUSA) to her Court, which placed
directly at issue the actions of Bishop Lawrence and his Diocese that
removed them from ECUSA. But one would be wrong. She not only stayed on
the case, but she displayed a disgraceful bias in her own church's favor
during the oral arguments in September 2015.

Fast forward now to the current year. The appeal by Justice Hearn's
church and diocese has been languishing for 15 months because the five
justices have been unable to form a consensus on how to resolve it, and
are still circulating draft opinions. At some point in the process
(perhaps just a few months ago, or perhaps it was right after the oral
argument in September 2015), it has become clear that there are two
votes (Acting Justice Pleicones, and, naturally, Justice Hearn herself)
to apply ECUSA's Dennis Canon full bore to the withdrawn parishes.

They would hold that under the terms of the Canon (see the link), the
departure of Bishop Lawrence and his Diocese from ECUSA resulted in an
automatic transfer of the title to all 36 parish properties to Justice
Hearn's group, in trust for ECUSA.

On the other side, there are two votes (Justice Kittredge, and former
Chief Justice Toal) in favor of upholding the trial court's decision to
let the 36 parishes keep their properties after withdrawing, because
according to the Court's earlier unanimous decision in the Waccamaw
case,the Dennis Canon had no force in South Carolina. (Justices
Pleicones and Hearn, by the way, would also vote to overrule the
Waccamaw decision on that point, as having been erroneously reasoned
even though unanimously decided. Justice Hearn sent a strong signal to
that effect during the 2015 oral arguments.)

In the middle is Chief Justice Beatty (who joined in the Waccamaw
decision). Like Justices Toal and Kittredge, and following Waccamaw, he
thinks that the Dennis Canon does not, in and of itself, function to
create a legally cognizable trust on parish property within the State of
South Carolina. But like Justices Hearn and Pleicones, Chief Justice
Beatty also believes that individual parishes who submit (or "accede")
in their own governing documents to the national church's Constitution
and Canons, can be held to be subject to the trust imposed by Dennis
Canon -- even if they later try to change their minds (the so-called
"roach motel" argument: "You can come in, but you'll never, ever
leave").

That would mean that some twenty-nine of the thirty-six parishes would
have to surrender all of their properties to ECSC -- Justice Hearn's own
diocese. (The other seven would include the church that Justice Hearn
and her husband attended until it withdrew along with the Episcopal
Diocese -- St. Paul's in Conway, South Carolina. They each, along with a
parish trust for St. Andrew's in Mt. Pleasant, apparently never acceded
in writing to the national canons.)

Now you are Justice Hearn, with your draft opinion showing your strong
disapproval of Bishop Lawrence, and your hierarchical view of ECUSA's
authority over all of its parishes. You realize that if you adhere to
those views, and vote accordingly, your own diocese will be richer by
millions and millions of dollars in valuable real estate -- because,
along with the vote of Justice Pleicones and the split vote of the Chief
Justice, you will supply the critical third vote needed to reverse.

What do you do?

Do you regard it as improper to provide the deciding vote on a divided
court when your own church and diocese will gain a substantial monetary
benefit from your decision?

Or do you realize that your earlier failure to recuse yourself from this
dispute has now brought you to a genuine quandary?

If you rule for your own diocese, it would be just as though a judge who
belonged to a particular country club had decided to rule in its favor
against, say, another country club that claimed title to the same golf
course. But if you rule against your own diocese, your fellow church
members will accuse you of betrayal, and of having cost them all of the
property they otherwise would have acquired. You cannot win, whichever
way you go (which is why you should have recused yourself at the
outset).

Even worse: if you now belatedly recuse yourself before the decision is
announced, the result will be a tie vote, 2-2. That will mean that the
trial court's decision awarding all of the properties to the individual
parishes will stand as the final decision in the case, since there are
not three votes to reverse it. And so once again you will be accused of
betraying your fellow parishioners.

We all know now what Justice Hearn decided to do about this quandary:
she brazened it out. Not only that, but she wrote a concurring opinion
in which she declared that if she could have garnered Chief Justice
Beatty's complete backing, she would have declared that the properties
of the parishes who never signed on to the Dennis Canon (including her
own former parish) would be forfeit to ECUSA and ECSC, as well. As
Justice Kittredge wrote in his dissent:
[I]t is undisputed that eight of the local parishes were never subject
to the 1979 Dennis Canon. Yet two members of this Court would go further
and transfer to the national church ownership of the property of the
eight churches that never agreed to the Dennis Canon. That is stunning.
The effort by two members of this Court to strip the property from these
eight churches confirms Justice Toal's observation concerning their
motivation to "reach[] a desired result in this case."

Indeed, it is stunning. It shows not only Justice Hearn's egregious
degree of bias in this case, but it also provides convincing evidence of
her willful blindness to the massive conflict of interest to which she
-- and she alone -- is subject, due to her membership in ECUSA and ECSC.

If anyone needs further evidence of Justice Hearn's blatant bias, I
invite them to perform a straightforward exercise: compare the excerpts
of her comments and questions at oral argument (found here) with the
points she makes in her written opinion (starting at page 21 of the .pdf
document at this link). It is clear that she had already made up her
mind about the case before it was argued, and that she felt no need to
change or revise her views since.

What personal advantage or gain did Justice Hearn achieve with her
tie-breaking vote? She herself is silent on that point, but her vote
itself in the face of such a massive conflict speaks volumes. It is
undeniable that her vote, if the Court's decision stands, will make her
own diocese much wealthier than they are now; perhaps she and her
husband will save some money on their pledges, or perhaps the diocese
will have more money so that delegates like Mr. Hearn would not have to
pay their own way to conventions. There is only speculation as to how
she (and he) may have gained -- the point is that something had to make
it worth her while to make such a brazen decision in the face of such a
conflict of interest.

To reiterate: it is only due to Justice Hearn's biased but deciding vote
that her own diocese and church will now be millions and millions of
dollars wealthier. (They do not have the congregations to fill or even
support most of the properties, so they will probably sell them for the
money they can get.)

It is irrelevant that hers was only one of three necessary votes. It
might not have been as crucial if she were just one vote out of five to
reverse, since the result would not have changed if her vote was not
counted. But it remains an unalterable fact: The only way that ECUSA and
ECSC could profit so richly from the Court's decision is thanks to the
concurring vote of Justice Kaye Hearn.

Let us now review briefly the provisions of the South Carolina Appellate
Rules of Court (Part V of which includes the Canons of Judicial Conduct)
that would be applicable to Justice Hearn in this case. Canon 2 ("A
Judge Shall Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in All
of the Judge's Activities") states in general terms:
Public confidence in the judiciary is eroded by irresponsible or
improper conduct by judges. A judge must avoid all impropriety and
appearance of impropriety. A judge must therefore accept restrictions on
the judge's conduct that might be viewed as burdensome by the ordinary
citizen and should do so freely and willingly.

The prohibition against behaving with impropriety or the appearance of
impropriety applies to both the professional and personal conduct of a
judge. Because it is not practicable to list all prohibited acts, the
proscription is necessarily cast in general terms that extend to conduct
by judges that is harmful although not specifically mentioned in the
Code. Actual improprieties under this standard include violations of
law, court rules or other specific provisions of this Code. The test for
appearance of impropriety is whether the conduct would create in
reasonable minds a perception that the judge's ability to carry out
judicial responsibilities with integrity, impartiality and competence is
impaired.
More specifically, Canon 2.B states: "A judge must avoid lending the
prestige of judicial office for the advancement of the private interests
of others." Could it be more clear that by resolving the tie vote,
Justice Hearn was advancing the private interests of the Episcopal
Church, the diocese and the parish of which she is a member --
especially since she was prepared to overrule standing case law which
was adverse to ECUSA's interests?

Canon 4 of the Code of Judicial Conduct states in part:
A judge shall conduct all of the judge's extra-judicial activities so
that they do not: (1) cast reasonable doubt on the judge's capacity to
act impartially as a judge . . .
This would appear to prohibit voting in favor of an organization of
which one is a member, like the example of the judge who votes in favor
of his own country club against a rival.

The most specifically applicable Canon, however, is Canon 3, of which
paragraph B.5 states:
A judge shall perform judicial duties without bias or prejudice. A judge
shall not, in the performance of judicial duties, by words or conduct
manifest bias or prejudice, including but not limited to bias or
prejudice based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, disability or
age . . .
Section E of Canon 3 is even more specific to this case (the asterisks
refer to definitions here):
A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the
judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not
limited to instances where:
. . .
(c) the judge knows* that he or she, individually or as a fiduciary, or
the judge's spouse, parent or child wherever residing, or any other
member of the judge's family residing in the judge's household,* has an
economic interest* in the subject matter in controversy or in a party to
the proceeding or has any other more than de minimis* interest that
could be substantially affected by the proceeding;
Can it be concluded, on the face of things, that any economic or other
interest of Justice Hearn in the case is "de minimis" (i.e., trivial)?
Who can say, since she never has made a public disclosure of her
relationship with her parish, her diocese or her church in advance, as
is customary in such situations, and is provided for under Canon 3.F?
What one can say, however, is that the lack of any such disclosure gives
the appearance of impropriety.

Assuming that Justice Hearn's conduct in this case has violated the
Canons of Judicial Conduct, one has to ask what are the remedies
available to Mark Lawrence, the diocesan corporation, and the individual
parishes. The respective lawyers for those parties are going to have to
decide what remedies they can and will pursue, but they include at a
minimum the following:

(1) Petitioning the South Carolina Supreme Court for a rehearing, on the
ground (among others) that until the Court published its opinions, no
party could know the degree to which Justice Hearn's conflicts of
interest would influence the outcome; and

(2) Bringing a complaint of judicial misconduct against her, again on
grounds that could be known only after the Court rendered its decision.
(Indeed, under Canon 3.D.1, "A judge who receives information indicating
a substantial likelihood that another judge has committed a violation of
this Code should take appropriate action.")

The consequences of either route are difficult to predict. Presumably
Justice Hearn would not have the gall to vote on a petition based on her
own evidenced bias and partiality, so the vote might end up 2-2 again,
which would result in a denial of the petition. In that event, the only
remedy would be to ask the United States Supreme Court to review the
case.

Hopefully, however, Chief Justice Beatty would provide the decisive vote
to grant a rehearing, and he and the remaining Justices would then
engage in a thoroughly impartial and honest reassessment of the taint on
the proceedings caused by the participation of Justice Hearn, and revise
the outcome so as to eliminate all question of any such taint.

I doubt whether a disciplinary proceeding would have any power to change
the Court's vote by retroactively disqualifying Justice Hearn from
participation in the case. The best remedy for this miscarriage of
justice will be for the remaining Justices on the Court to man up, own
to their having been blind to the conflicts that influenced Justice
Hearn, and make a new decision that is free from all appearance of
impropriety.

South Carolinians on both sides of this case will be watching as matters
unfold over the coming weeks, and your Curmudgeon will report here on
all further developments.



------------------------------

Message: 19
Date: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 19:18:22 -0400
From: David Virtue <da...@virtueonline.org>
To: "virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org"
<virtue...@listserv.virtueonline.org>
Subject: FAITHFULNESS: What does it Mean to be A Mature Christian
Disciple? - Hebrews 11:1-19
Message-ID:
<1502407102.1356422....@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

What does it Mean to be A Mature Christian Disciple?
8. FAITHFULNESS (Hebrews 11:1-19)

By Ted Schroder
www.tedschroder.com
August 13, 2017

Horton Hatches the Egg is a children's book written and illustrated by
Theodor Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss and published in 1940. The
book tells the story of Horton the Elephant, who is tricked into sitting
on a bird's egg while its lazy mother, Mayzie, takes a permanent
vacation to Palm Beach. Horton endures a number of hardships but
persists, often stating, "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.
An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent!" Ultimately, the egg
hatches, revealing an elephant-bird, a creature with a blend of Mayzie's
and Horton's features.

Faithfulness is loyalty, someone who can be relied upon to fulfill his
promises, someone you can trust to do his duty, who will not be
persuaded to renege on his allegiance, to betray his friends, to give in
to pressure or be tempted to change his mind or to abandon his
principles or beliefs. Faithfulness is the character of God: "Your love,
Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies (Ps 36:9).
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his
compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your
faithfulness" (Lam 3:23). Thomas Chisholm wrote his famous hymn:
Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
thou changest not thy compassion they fail not;
as thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

"Here is a trustworthy saying: if we are faithless, he will remain
faithful, for he cannot disown himself" (2 Tim 2:13).

Faithfulness has to do with reliability, with changelessness, with
consistency, with trustfulness. Hebrews 11 lists the people of faith
down through the centuries as examples to follow: Abel, Enoch, Noah,
Abraham, the knight of faith, who "obeyed and went, even though he did
not know where he was going." He was enabled to become a father in his
old age because God "considered him faithful." They looked forward to
the fulfillment of God's promises even when they did not receive them in
this life. There was Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, David,
Samuel and the prophets. They endured much suffering. They were
destitute, persecuted and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them.
"These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received
what was promised. God had planned something better for us so that only
together with us would they be made perfect."

The New Testament is full of people, like Barnabas, who is described as
"a good man full of faith and the Holy Spirit" (Acts 11:24). That is how
a mature Christian disciple should be described. Such faith requires
courage, commitment, endurance and steadfastness. John Bunyan in
Pilgrim's Progress provided the character of Faithful who accompanied
Christian on his journey. When they entered the town of Vanity Fair
Faithful was put on trial for witnessing to the Gospel. He was condemned
to a cruel death. Bunyan writes, "Now I saw that behind the multitude
there stood a chariot and a team of horses waiting for Faithful, who as
soon as his adversaries had taken his life was taken up into it and
immediately carried up through the clouds with the sound of a trumpet.
He was taken by the nearest way to the Celestial gate."

The opposite of faithfulness is faithlessness. It is when we abandon our
faith, betray our beliefs and desert to the enemy. This was the case in
many nations in Europe during World War II. In Italy and Germany so many
took the easy road and allowed Mussolini and his Fascists and Hitler and
his Nazis to take over their countries. In France the government
capitulated and collaborated with their conquerors. Many preferred to
collaborate with the Nazis in order to survive and even prosper. They
betrayed their neighbors and former friends to informers. You could not
trust anyone. Faithfulness became rare.

Today the culture of secularism, materialism and demonic atheism presses
upon our hearts and minds through the universities, the media and the
arts. Unbelievers censor the witness of Christians who follow the
teachings of the Scriptures. Christians are persecuted for their
beliefs. There is an atmosphere of intimidation that seeks to silence
those who would uphold their right to freedom of speech and freedom of
religion. Many preachers water down their message and down pedal
anything that might be considered confrontational or provocative. The
leader of the Liberal Democratic Party in the United Kingdom was hounded
by the press and forced to resign his position because he held biblical
views on morality. He said that he could not be faithful to Christ and
be the leader of his party so he resigned under pressure.

A U.S. Senator in a tirade against the confirmation hearing for the
nominee for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget
argued that his private views that Jesus was the Savior of the world
were Islamophobic and hateful and therefore disqualifying for public
office. If you are faithful to Christ you must be prepared for
opposition and pressure to conform. The early Christians were martyred
for their faithfulness and accepted their suffering with honor and
dignity, being proud to be allowed to suffer for Christ.

What does it mean for you to be faithful? Jesus told the parable of the
talents (Matt 25:14-30) to teach that each of us is given a certain
amount of gifts and resources and opportunities by God to put to work
for him during our lifetime. To two of the servants who invested wisely
and were productive he said, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You
have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many
things. Come and share your master's happiness!" To the one who buried
his God-given gifts and did nothing with them he condemned.

Jesus concluded, "For everyone who has will be given more, and he will
have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken
from him." Faithfulness will ultimately be rewarded even though you have
to go through suffering in the short term. Remember that the people of
faith of the Old Testament did not receive what was promised. They were
looking forward to the fulfillment of the promises of God.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man (Prov. 3:3-4).

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is
faithful" (Heb. 10:23). "I saw heaven standing open and there before me
was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True" (Rev 19:11).
If we want to be a mature Christian disciple we will follow him who is
Faithful and True and be full of faith and the Holy Spirit.

END



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